La Boue
A precious copy kept by Maurice Genevoix, bearing this cancelled inscription: “à Henri Barbusse, Maurice Genevoix, janvier 1921” [struck through].
As he often did, Genevoix amused himself by outlining each letter of the title on the wrapper, as well as the publisher's mark.
This is the fourth of Genevoix’s war narratives, covering the period from 4 November 1914 to 10 January 1915, sixty-nine days in all. The first of the five narratives to be written after the war, La Boue shows a more measured, less immediate composition than the earlier titles, with a more structured narrative style and a longer period covered. The text is dedicated to his father.
A near-provenance from Henri Barbusse: is this simply a copy with a cancelled inscription, never sent to the author of Le Feu — a first attempt at an inscription that Genevoix later improved and actually sent? Or was it, in fact, Genevoix’s deliberate decision not to send his war narrative to Barbusse, at a time when the two men were regarded as the most emblematic of the former combatant-writers? Since Barbusse’s library remains undocumented, this bibliophilic puzzle cannot for now be resolved.
Worn condition; foxing and small tears to the wrappers.
From the library of Maurice Genevoix, at “Les Vernelles,” with bookplate.