La Dernière Nuit
One of 53 copies on vélin d'Arches, signed by Paul Éluard and Henri Laurens.
Signed presentation inscription: “à René Char, dont les poèmes ont donné au monde que nous voyons des fondations que nous voyons, son ami Paul Éluard.”
La Dernière Nuit brings together seven poems of protest against the Occupation, published clandestinely by Christian Zervos at Cahiers d’Art. Their resolutely offensive tone anticipates that of Poésie et Vérité 1942, where they would be reprinted a few months later, alongside “Liberté, j’écris ton nom.”
“Des hommes vont venir qui n’ont plus peur d’eux-mêmes
Car ils sont sûrs de tous les hommes
Car l’ennemi à figure d’homme disparaît.”
The exact publication date of this pamphlet remains uncertain. A bon à tirer signed by Éluard on 4 April 1942 shows that its preparation was already under way that spring. Its circulation is in any case established by summer: the poet sent proofs to Max Jacob on 9 July and inscribed a copy to Francis Poulenc on 1 August, now at the Musée Saint-Denis (the only other inscribed copy known being one to Jean Fraysse).
The original frontispiece by Henri Laurens, one of the leading figures of Cubist sculpture, adds to the interest of this rare publication, printed in only 65 copies. The copy confirms the friendship uniting the two poets since their meeting in the autumn of 1929, a friendship that continued throughout the war as each engaged in the Resistance by different means: Char in armed action, under the name Captain Alexandre, Éluard in intellectual resistance and the clandestine circulation of his poems.
A fine copy.