« 3 chambres à Manhattan » [Three Beds in Manhattan]

[1960].
Gouache and graphite on 1 f. canson (280 x 185 mm), studio stamp on back.

Original mock-up for a jacket design for Georges Simenon’s novel.

We apologize for the imperfect translation generated by Deepl for the purposes of the show.

Trois chambres à Manhattan was published in Paris in October 1946, the first of 61 ‘non-Maigret’ volumes reserved for Presses de la Cité. It was also the first of the 50 works that Georges Simenon would write during his stay in America.

It marked the beginning of the publishing adventure at Presses de la Cité: it was in the spring of 1945 that Simenon met Sven Nielsen, owner of Messageries du Livre, who had ambitions to become a publisher. It was the start of a long and solid friendship, and Simenon – then under contract to Gallimard – suggested to Nielsen that he give him a book that would help him to promote his publishing house; a personal text, entitled Je me souviens, which was published in the last days of 1945 when the author had already embarked for America.

‘As booksellers and readers were discovering Je me souviens…, Simenon was writing the first novel for his new publisher. Completed on 26 January 1946 in Sainte-Marguerite-du-lac-Masson (Canada), Trois chambres à Manhattan was published in Paris in October […] It was the first of 61 ‘non-Maigret’ volumes reserved for Presses de la Cité. It was also the first of the 50 works he would write during his stay in America, and the first to be published by Presses de la Cité, where Simenon would publish for the next thirty-six years. In contrast to the sober Gallimard covers, Nielsen opted for colour-illustrated dust jackets for his novels. The covers were first drawn and then, from 1953, illustrated with photographs. From 1957 onwards, with Le Fils, Nielsen returned to his idea of covers illustrated with drawings, calling on Jean Jacquelin. The artist designed the covers until 1962, for a total of twenty-seven titles:

– Le Fils (1957, cover of the original edition)
– Le Nègre (1957, cover of the original edition)
– Strip-Tease (1958, cover of the original edition)
– En cas de malheur (1958, cover of a reprint)
– L’Escalier de fer (1958, cover of a reprint)
– Dimanche (1958, cover of the original edition)
– Le Président (1958, cover of the original edition)
– Le Passage de la ligne (1958, cover of the original edition)
– La Neige était sale (1959, cover of a reprint)
– Les Témoins (1959, cover of a reprint)
– Le Veuf (1959, cover of the original edition)
– La Vieille (1959, cover of the original edition)
– Les Volets verts (1959, cover of a reprint)
– Une vie comme neuve (1960, cover of a reprint)
– Trois chambres à Manhattan (1960, cover of a new edition)
– Les Complices (1960, cover of a new edition)
– L’Ours en peluche (1960, cover of the original edition)
– Le Temps d’Anaïs (1960, cover of a new edition)
– Lettre à mon juge (1960, cover of a new edition)
– La Mort de Belle (1960, cover of a new edition)
– Feux rouges (1961, cover of a new edition)
– Je me souviens (1961, cover of a new edition)
– Betty (1961, cover of the original edition)
– Le Train (1961, cover of the original edition)
– Les Fantômes du chapelier (1961, cover of a reprint)
– La Porte (1962, cover of the original edition)
– Les Autres (1962, cover of the original edition)

Enclosed is the reprint volume (1961) with its dust jacket illustrated by Jacquelin, which differs from the original layout and will therefore not be retained. No doubt it was reminiscent of the Fayard edition published in 1954, which also featured the buildings of Manhattan by night. This copy comes from the personal archives of the illustrator, Jean Jacquelin, with a stamp from the estate.