Outraged, André Breton settles his score with Jean Ferry. 1953.

André Breton – Jean Ferry

Autographed letter signed and autographed note signed

Two quarto pages on paper bearing Jean Ferry's monogram.

No location. April 23 [1953]

"He had no greater desire […] than to break with me, in order to align himself with the most active enemy behavior."

At the top of a letter addressed to him by the writer-screenwriter Jean Ferry (exegete of Raymond Roussel), André Breton wrote in pencil a scathing note against his correspondent.

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Jean Ferry to André Breton – “My dear friend, Here is the little menagerie. I should point out now that the dedications, all for the occasion, which accompany the texts in the offprint “Fontaine” will disappear in the published edition. Spaak will send you the other texts (apart from those included + La Société secrète) that will be part of the volume as soon as possible. There will also be the story that appeared in Da Costa under the entry “Estime.” As I will not be able to review the copy of these texts, which I am having retyped for you , I beg you in advance to excuse the monstrous typing errors that I have never expected in vain from typists. Finally, there will be two additional texts, all the more unpublished as they are not yet written , but which I promised Spaak. However, I want to write them, and produce them for you. So… In any case, you will receive them at the same time as him. There you have it, dear friend, you have all the pieces of the puzzle in hand.” This afternoon, surrounded by all these marvelous objects, in this room which is for me the lantern of the tallest lighthouse in the world, I felt, quite literally, before you, with dirty hands . Deep down, I was rather unhappy. Yours truly, Jean Ferry.

André Breton's note, at the top – “ Jean Ferry sent me the manuscript of his stories to be published under the title: The Mechanic . I had already written the preface, at his request, A Study on Raymond Roussel . Despite the false humility of this letter and so many others, once he had obtained these two texts, he was in no hurry to break with me and align himself with the most active enemy. AB”