Abel GANCE

Two autograph poems from youth dated and signed with fourteen stanzas each in alexandrines by Abel Gance, then aged 20, 18 and 21 lines written in violet ink for each of the poems; these poems written on a sheet detached from a schoolboy's exercise book.
On the recto, the first poem is dated 3 January 1909 and it is dedicated to a couple of friends: "To Myriam Deroxe to Victor Fransses pious admirers of Salomé, this testimony of a spirit almost understanding their enthusiasm. "
The second, on the verso, is entitled "Vague Song"; it is dated Brussels 28 January 1909 and signed AGance.
Fold marks inherent to postal folding.
These poems were probably published in 1909 in his only and very rare collection of poems: "A Finger on the Keyboard" when Abel Gance was considering beginning a career in theatre in Brussels.
"In that time Salomé lived in Palestine, ...
Her eyes were of the gold from which sorrows are made,
She had a rose on her lips, pallors,
a supple body burning with feline voluptuousness.
...
And in my life... she will come... I think I see her! -
Did she have a heart? No, for she was a woman!
But yet... I remember... it was an evening: "

The second, which has a strip of tape at the level of the title, is equally imbued with melancholy:
"I will let some flowers trail this evening
On the marble parvis where I will come to wait for her;
My heart, softly grey, will be so gentle, so tender
That to slip from the world to the infinity of tears
On the marble parvis where I will come to wait for her;
It will suffice to surprise a little of her mouth
I will let some flowers trail this evening..."

Influenced by John Keats, Charles Baudelaire, and Arthur Rimbaud, Abel Gance, then in Brussels to pursue a career in theatre, stops his poetic activity judging his production too impersonal and returns despairing to Paris.

Autograph manuscript of a youthful poem signed by Abel Gance, comprising twenty-four stanzas in alexandrines written when he was 20 years old, 32 lines written in black ink on a torn sheet from a school notebook.
Manuscript note by Abel Gance at the beginning and end of the poem: "A false idea can have such arguments that reason can only combat them to the detriment of the reasoner's feelings". Composed in Paris this October 3rd in 2 hours following a reading of Dédé a novel by Essbach" (sic), (actually Achille Essebac).
Fold marks inherent to envelope insertion, one black ink deletion in the lower left corner of the sheet.
Beautiful poem inspired by Achille Essebac's great homosexual novel: "Dédé" published in 1901 by Ambert.
"Beautiful ephebe with matte brow, candid pure lover,
Radiating from his flesh in rosy and blonde clarity
An intoxicating network of profound voluptuousness;
In your sensual turmoil nothing impure germinates...
...
Among these seduced eyes drinking from your eyes,
Have you not noticed, dressed in simple serge,
Haloed in blonde, a humble and gentle virgin
Who, since your beauty, no longer gazes at the heavens?"


Influenced by John Keats, Charles Baudelaire, and Arthur Rimbaud, Abel Gance, then in Brussels pursuing a career in theatre, stops his poetic activity judging his production too impersonal and returns disheartened to Paris.

Dated and signed autograph poem by Abel Gance, then aged 18. 18 lines written in violet ink on a torn sheet of a school notebook. The poem was written in Montluçon and dated 1907. Usual folds, a black ink trace in the lower left-hand corner of the leaf.

A mournful and beautiful poem dedicated to Charles Baudelaire entitled "La pluie" (The Rain), probably published in Abel Gance's only and very rare collection of poems "Un doigt sur le clavier, 1909 (A Finger on the Keyboard) when he set out to begin a theater career in Brussels.

"Desolate vertigo of dreary rainwater
Perversely spurting on the pavement,
Weeping lethargy awakening salutes,
Lugubrious patter darker than soot...
[...]
And space veiled in a mournful indecision
Enveloping mind in its network of mist
Makes the gaping heart exhume
A flood of old sorrows it thought obscured."

(Vertige désolé de la morne eau de pluie
Au cinglement pervers giclant sur le pavé,
Pleureuse léthargie éveillant des avé,
Lugubre égrènement plus sombre que la suie...
[...]
Et l'espace voilé d'un funèbre indécis
Enlizant le cerveau de son réseau de brume
Fait que le coeur béant ébarbé exhume
Un flot de vieux chagrin qu'il croyait obscurcis.)

Gance was deeply influenced by John Keats, Charles Baudelaire and Arthur Rimbaud. Displeased with his creations, he put his poetic endeavors to a halt and returned from Brussels to Paris in despair.

Two autograph quatrains from his youth dated and signed with sixteen and twelve stanzas in alexandrines by Abel Gance, then aged 20, 18 and 14 lines written in black ink with additions in purple ink for the first poem and in purple ink for the second; these poems written on a sheet torn from a school exercise book.
On the recto, the first poem is dated May 1909 and is dedicated in purple ink: "A ma chère Line adorée. Mai 1909. AGance".
The second, on the verso, is dated Bruxelles 9 Janvier 1909 AGance.
Fold marks inherent to postal mailing, corrections and additions in purple ink or pencil for the first quatrain.
This melancholic poem was probably published in 1909 in his only and very rare collection of poems: "Un doigt sur le clavier" when Abel Gance was considering beginning a career in theatre in Brussels.
"J'aurais voulu ce soir tant mon âme défaille
Broyer jusqu'à la mort des oeillets et des lys.
J'aurais voulu crier, pleurer comme jadis
Te souviens-tu, lointaine, avant que tu t'en ailles...
...
Si je pouvais pleurer ma douleur serait belle !
Peut-être aurais-je pu vous l'immortaliser ! ...
Mais ma pensée obscure interdite chancelle
Non, non, on ne peut pas rappeler son baiser..."

The second, which has a correction in blue ink, is equally imbued with melancholy:
"C'était une femme étrange
Qui passait en noir sur mon chemin clair,
je lui demandais : n'êtes-vous pas l'ange
Que je dois trouver par un soir d'hiver?...

Je suis, comprends-tu, belle qui vendange
les coeurs qui ont pris le chemin de l'enfer !...
C'était une fois une femme étrange
Qui passait en noir sur mon chemin clair..."

Influenced by John Keats, Charles Baudelaire, and Arthur Rimbaud, Abel Gance, then in Brussels to pursue a career in theatre, stopped his poetic activity judging his production too impersonal and returned despondent to Paris.

Pessimistic and handsome autograph letter signed by Abel Gance addressed to Carlo Rim, 37 lines in blue ink, in which the director of "Napoléon" worries about the vacuity of his professional future and the resulting financial difficulties: "My dear Carlo, like brother ass - I see nothing precise taking shape, from the top of my ruined tower - in this leaden cinema horizon which smells of storm as much as that of politics. The grasshopper that I am writes to the lion of the forest that you are in this instance - as our President - to tell you that my next winter looks bad. I therefore cling, perhaps naively, to the promise you were kind enough to make me of this gala for the return. & lampin tells me on this subject that "my question" will come back in a few days to the Council. You assured me that an irrevocable decision had been taken and I worry about this renewed examination. I work a lot but still in emptiness from a financial angle. Perhaps I will do the staging of the Tour de Nesle this autumn, but nothing is signed. & I think on the other hand to be in a position to make cinema take a giant step forward from tomorrow - if I am given the chance to rediscover through all of you, a little material balance and quietude. That's all, your affection will do the rest. Share with your wife an old friendship that my years of (illegible word) have not damaged. Abel Gance."
Creases inherent to mailing.
Carlo Rim was a Provençal writer, author notably of "Ma belle Marseille", a caricaturist, a filmmaker: "Justin de Marseille", "L'armoire volante", "La maison Bonnadieu", and was notably the friend of Fernandel, of Raimu and Marcel Pagnol but also of Max Jacob and André Salmon whom he met in Sanary.

Grateful and beautiful signed autograph letter from Abel Gance addressed to Carlo Rim, 25 lines in blue ink in which the director of "Napoleon" praises the salvific friendship that the author of "Ma belle Marseille" has always shown him: "Je ne saurais oublier que vous avez été le bon sourcier de cette oasis inattendue qui s'est dressée vers mes pas à l'heure de la soif - dans ce sombre désert du cinéma dans lequel je m'avance en solitaire depuis 8 ans ! " , "Grâce à vous & mes confrères, j'y reprendrai des forces pour aller défricher plus loin - et, peut-être est-ce là ma providence & ma fatalité - je veux espérer que "lorsque le grand froid aura pris mes vertèbres" comme dit Cyrano, on trouvera le petit chemin utile et lumineux tandis qu'il me faut continuer tout seul à marcher dans le noir." ["I could not forget that you have been the good water diviner of this unexpected oasis that rose toward my steps at the hour of thirst - in this dark desert of cinema in which I have been advancing alone for 8 years!" , "Thanks to you & my colleagues, I will regain strength there to go clear land further - and, perhaps this is my providence & my fatality - I want to hope that 'when the great cold has taken my vertebrae' as Cyrano says, we will find the small useful and luminous path while I must continue alone to walk in the dark."]
Folds inherent to the mailing, a small stain in the right margin of the letter not touching the text.
Carlo Rim was a Provençal writer, author notably of "Ma belle Marseille", a caricaturist, a filmmaker: "Justin de Marseille", "L'armoire volante", "La maison Bonnadieu", and was notably the friend of Fernandel, Raimu and Marcel Pagnol but also of Max Jacob and André Salmon whom he met in Sanary.

Autograph letter signed by Abel Gance, from his Parisian home, addressed to Carlo Rim, 19 lines in black ink, requesting Carlo Rim's discretion in order to spare the sensitivities of Nelly Kaplan and Abel Gance's wife : "Cher Carlo, soyez gentil - & je compte sur votre discrétion totale, de ne rien dire à Nelly Kaplan au sujet de la demande que je vous ai faite pour mad.e Gance - Des détails insignifiants s'aggravent souvent avec les nerfs des femmes !" ["Dear Carlo, be kind - & I count on your complete discretion, to say nothing to Nelly Kaplan about the request I made to you for Mrs. Gance - Insignificant details often become aggravated with women's nerves!"]
Abel Gance, caught up in the pharaonic project of his film "Austerlitz" (released in 1960 with Pierre Mondy, Jean Marais and Martine Carol) is not certain of appearing at the Cannes festival: "J'essaierai de venir à Cannes les 2-3 derniers jours - Cela dépendra de la finition de ma copie d'Austerlitz mais je ne crains de terminer que le 21 mai". ["I will try to come to Cannes the last 2-3 days - It will depend on finishing my copy of Austerlitz but I fear I won't finish until May 21st."]
Central folds inherent to mailing, light tears and marginal folds of no consequence to the letter's margins.
Carlo Rim was a Provençal writer, notably author of "Ma belle Marseille", a caricaturist, a filmmaker: "Justin de Marseille", "L'armoire volante", "La maison Bonnadieu", and was notably the friend of Fernandel, Raimu and Marcel Pagnol but also of Max Jacob and André Salmon whom he met in Sanary.

First edition on ordinary paper, false statement of seventh edition.
Precious and beautiful autograph inscription signed by Abel Gance to Henri Béraud: "Il y a de si beaux mensonges que la vérité se tend vers eux comme une déesse altérée; vous en trouverez quelques uns dans ce livre, mon cher Béraud, vous que j'admire comme un des derniers vrais amoureux de la France..." ["There are such beautiful lies that truth reaches toward them like a thirsting goddess; you will find some of them in this book, my dear Béraud, you whom I admire as one of the last true lovers of France..."]
Spine sunned, worming to boards, a pen mark to front board, foxing to endpapers.
Provenance: from the library of Henri Béraud in Ré.

Illustrated programme-booklet of the film “La roue”
Paris 1922, 27.6 x 22.6 cm, stapled
Rare first edition of the Abel Gance screenplay for the film “La Roue,” illustrated with drawings and photographs from the film. Elegant printing in black and red by Ducros, Lefèvre & Colas.
A missing corner at the top of the first board, the first two letters of the name Pathé are missing, another at the top of the spine, a stain on the second board.