The Pataphysician’s Library: An Exploration of Alfred Jarry’s Livres Pairs

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Annotation. "The focus of The Pataphysician's Library is the enigmatic list of books termed the livres pairs which appears in Alfred Jarry's novel Gestes et Opinions du docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien, completed in 1898. The list includes well-known books and more obscure works, but the greatest interest of the livres pairs lies in the light they throw on the vibrant and experimental atmosphere in which Jarry and his contemporaries worked. Several of Jarry's friends, such as Leon Bloy, Gustave Kahn, Stephane Mallarme, Rachilde and Henri de Regnier feature in the novel, as the rulers of islands visited by the pataphysician Faustroll in his curious voyage around Paris. For the purposes of the voyage, Faustroll reduces each livre pair to its essence; these are often indicative of Jarry's approach to the texts. The second part of the book examines some of the central themes of Symbolist writing as revealed in Jarry's collection of livres pairs." "Jarry is best known as the precursor of the Theatre of the Absurd with his play Ubu Roi, staged in 1896, but this study shows how his prose work relates to contemporary trends and gives a fascinating picture of the French literary avant-garde at the fin-de-siecle."--BOOK JACKET. Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1. Introduction PART I: FAUSTROLL’S LIBRARY 2. The Pictures Une affiche de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jane Avril Une de Bonnard, La Revue Blanche Un portrait du sieur Faustroll, par Aubrey Beardsley Une vieille image, Saint Cado 3. The Books Baudelaire, un tome d’Edgar Poe, traduction Bergerac, OEuvres, tome II L’Evangile de Saint Luc, en grec Bloy, Le Désespéré Bloy, Le Mendiant ingrat Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Darien, Biribi Darien, Le Voleur Desbordes-Valmore, Le Serment des petits hommes Elskamp, Salutations, dont d’angéliques Elskamp, Enluminures Un volume dépareillé du Théâtre de Florian Un volume dépareillé des Mille et Une Nuits, traduction Galland Grabbe, Scherz, Satire, Ironie und tiefere Bedeutung Kahn, Le Livre d’images Kahn, Le Conte de l’Or et du Silence Lautréamont, Les Chants de Maldoror Maeterlinck, Pelléas et Mélisande Maeterlinck, Aglavaine et Sélysette Mallarmé, Divagations Mallarmé, Vers et prose Mendès, Gog L’Odyssée, édition Teubner Péladan, Babylone Rabelais Jean de Chilra, La Princesse des ténèbres Jean de Chilra, L’Heure sexuelle Henri de Régnier, La Canne de jaspe Rimbaud, Les Illuminations Schwob, La Croisade des enfants Ubu Roi Verlaine, Sagesse Verhaeren, Les Campagnes hallucinées Verne, Le Voyage au Centre de la Terre 4. Observations PART II: RECURRING THEMES 5. Faith and Esoterica: Symbolist Thought Esoteric Themes and Treatments The Gospel according to Mendès Esoteric Tolerances Péladan Magi Faith without Esotericism Bloy: Faith and Constraint Jarry: Hermeticism and Faith 6. Heroes: The Symbolist Übermensch The Avoidance of Heroes The Decline of the Decadent The Rise of the Aggressive Individualist The Symbolist Hero 7. Conclusion