André Salmon
November 15, 1951: Jean Paulhan must attend the dinner offered to André Salmon for his 70th birthday, with Kisling, Jean Follain, Dominique Aury, Denoël, Dr Fatou. He was offered to speak, but he cannot (health problem, or was he prevented from going?).
November 20, 1951: Here's what JP would have said, if he could have spoken at Salmon's birthday party:
“We met on the very day of Berthelot’s funeral. Muselli took me to your sixth floor, where we first met a lady, who seemed old to me. This lady was making rude and violent remarks towards you. It was (if I understood correctly) a young girl - this lady's own daughter - whom you seduced, out of pure perfidy. It was a curious hypothesis, which I would have gladly thought about, if I had not seen you at the same time.
You stood in the corner of the room, and listened to this person's words with obvious gentleness and boredom. Everything in your attitude screamed that, no, you were not a perfidious seducer. And I was surprised that the lady didn't notice it.
But I looked at you more carefully, and I was very disappointed.
My dear André, each of us lives with a secret: a kind of image of who we would like to be. Well, you were, as far as I'm concerned, exactly that image. Of course, I knew very well that I had neither this thinness, nor this long spiritual face, nor this fanciful generosity (which your eyes showed) nor this goat-like appearance (and the first idea that came to mind when seeing you was to tie you up, to keep you from making too big leaps.) I did not have them, but (as I realized very well at the very moment when I lost them forever) I did not despair of having them one day. I even felt them, if I may say so, in formation, but I looked at you, and the difference - however little I managed to see myself - was too great. I felt hopeless.
I have no memory of Berthelot's funeral which followed.
I never held it against you and, since you claim to be seventy years old today, let me tell you that you have always had great beauty.”
Resources
André Salmon - Internet Archive
Bibliography of texts published in the NRF
The texts below, published in La Nouvelle Revue Française, are grouped into four main sets: texts by André Salmon, notes and columns by the author, texts about the author, and, when available, translations by the author.
Texts by André Salmon
- L'Âge de l'humanité (fragments), 1919-08-01
- Mannequin d'acajou, 1920-03-01
- Vie de Guillaume Apollinaire, 1920-11-01
- Poèmes, 1921-06-01
- Saint André (Fragments), 1923-05-01
- Saints de Glace, 1930-09-01
- Odeur de poésie, 1942-03-01
- Odeur de poésie (II), 1943-01-01
- Vocalises, 1955-02-01
Notes by André Salmon
These texts by André Salmon may include reading notes, mood notes, performance reviews, miscellaneous pieces, or previously unpublished texts. They appeared in NRF sections such as Chronique des romans, L'air du mois, Le temps comme il passe, etc., or in tribute issues.
- Lettre à Jean Paulhan, 1935-03-01, Correspondance
Texts about André Salmon
These texts may include thematic studies about the author, correspondence, reading notes on works by or about the author, interviews conducted by the author, or works edited by the author.
- Tendres Canailles, par André Salmon (Ollendorff), by Jacques Copeau, 1913-05-01, Chronique du roman
- L'Entrepreneur d'Illuminations, par André Salmon (Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française), by Fernand Fleuret, 1921-11-01, Notes : le roman
- L'Âge de l'Humanité, par André Salmon (N.R. F.), by Roger Allard, 1922-03-01, Notes : la poésie
- Vénus dans la balance, par André Salmon (Éditions des Quatre-Chemins), by Roger Allard, 1927-09-01, Notes : la poésie
- Archives du Club des Onze, par André Salmon (La Nouvelle Revue Critique), by Georges Dupeyron, 1928-07-01, Revue des livres
- Carreaux, par André Salmon (Éditions de la N. R. F.), by Gabriel Bounoure, 1929-12-01, Notes : la poésie
- André Salmon ou L'ardeur vient du jeu, by Alain Bosquet, 1957-03-01, Notes : la poésie
Chronological distribution of texts published in the NRF (1908-1968)
This chart shows the chronological distribution of texts across the four categories defined above: Texts, Notes, Translations, and Texts about the author.