COCTEAU (Jean). Bacchus. Autograph manuscript... Lot 101

COCTEAU (Jean). Bacchus. Autograph manuscript of first draft and drafts. 1951. 280 folios in various formats, in-folio folded, in-4, or in-8, on various types of paper, mainly vellum vellum, often written on one side only, in blue or red ballpoint pen or pencil. Sketches, notes, drafts, sketches... with 7 original drawings, including a profile portrait of Francine Weisweiller; 4 portraits of Jean Marais, 1 sketch, and 3 portraits, including 1 very cubist on a folded folio, 1 representing "Doudou", Edouard Dermit, whom Cocteau adopted and who was to be his sole heir. The dialogues are sketched out and refined: "- He's a moron. - No, an idiot. - It's the same thing. - No, an idiot is a thinking idiot"... In these early drafts, the hero is still called Ulrich. Characters who were not to be retained appeared, such as a priest, and we can see that Cocteau had even thought of introducing the Devil himself into his play. A very important preparatory set, from the collection of Francine Weisweiller, one of Jean Cocteau's closest and most loyal friends, who often stayed at his famous Villa Santo-Sospir.