Samuel BECKETT
Le monde et le pantalon
Les Editions de Minuit|Paris 1989|10 x 18 cm|broché
First edition on ordinary paper.
Signed autograph inscription from Samuel Beckett to his long-time friend Josette Hayden, wife of the cubist then realist painter of Polish origin Henri Hayden. The numerous exchanges between the latter and Beckett inspired the dialogues of Estragon and Vladimir in Waiting for Godot.
The Hayden couple spent twenty years with the writer settled "in his small pavilion in Ussy near La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, this lair, this cave where, solitary, he went to seek the root of words in the abysses of life so close to death. It is there that he forged the greater part of his masterful work." (Christian de Bartillat, Deux amis, Beckett et Hayden).
Beckett had met the Haydens in 1943 when all three had taken refuge in Roussillon, escaping the Gestapo. Their shared passion for chess and painting brought them together: "There are wonderful days. Here and there, a dinner with the Haydens. Played chess once. Looking crucified for twenty moves before making an error that resulted in a draw." (Bartillat, p. 95). Beckett helped make Hayden's work known after the war, notably by helping to organize exhibitions of his works in Victor Waddington's London gallery. After the immense success of Waiting for Godot, Beckett bought a country house in 1953 in Ussy-sur-Marne, in the hamlet of Molien. There he found the calm and serenity conducive to writing and saw the Haydens almost daily, who lived not far away, in Reuil-en-Brie. It was in the heart of this "land neither too green nor too flat," Beckett wrote to a friend in 1954, that this fraternal and creative friendship flourished, punctuated by games of chess.
After Henri Hayden's death in 1970, which greatly affected the writer, Josette remained a central figure in Beckett's life and work. She helped him record his ideas for future works - several of the writer's notebooks contain passages written in her hand. She also contributed to the writer's biography by sharing her intimate memories and anecdotes, published in Deux amis, Beckett et Hayden by Christian de Bartillat.
Exceptional inscription to a close friend, who spent time with Beckett for nearly half a century. Josette Hayden was one of the rare intimates of his reclusive life on the banks of the Marne, contributed to the genesis of several of his writings and worked to preserve his memory.
Beckett's correspondence addressed to the Hayden couple is preserved at Trinity College Dublin.
Signed autograph inscription from Samuel Beckett to his long-time friend Josette Hayden, wife of the cubist then realist painter of Polish origin Henri Hayden. The numerous exchanges between the latter and Beckett inspired the dialogues of Estragon and Vladimir in Waiting for Godot.
The Hayden couple spent twenty years with the writer settled "in his small pavilion in Ussy near La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, this lair, this cave where, solitary, he went to seek the root of words in the abysses of life so close to death. It is there that he forged the greater part of his masterful work." (Christian de Bartillat, Deux amis, Beckett et Hayden).
Beckett had met the Haydens in 1943 when all three had taken refuge in Roussillon, escaping the Gestapo. Their shared passion for chess and painting brought them together: "There are wonderful days. Here and there, a dinner with the Haydens. Played chess once. Looking crucified for twenty moves before making an error that resulted in a draw." (Bartillat, p. 95). Beckett helped make Hayden's work known after the war, notably by helping to organize exhibitions of his works in Victor Waddington's London gallery. After the immense success of Waiting for Godot, Beckett bought a country house in 1953 in Ussy-sur-Marne, in the hamlet of Molien. There he found the calm and serenity conducive to writing and saw the Haydens almost daily, who lived not far away, in Reuil-en-Brie. It was in the heart of this "land neither too green nor too flat," Beckett wrote to a friend in 1954, that this fraternal and creative friendship flourished, punctuated by games of chess.
After Henri Hayden's death in 1970, which greatly affected the writer, Josette remained a central figure in Beckett's life and work. She helped him record his ideas for future works - several of the writer's notebooks contain passages written in her hand. She also contributed to the writer's biography by sharing her intimate memories and anecdotes, published in Deux amis, Beckett et Hayden by Christian de Bartillat.
Exceptional inscription to a close friend, who spent time with Beckett for nearly half a century. Josette Hayden was one of the rare intimates of his reclusive life on the banks of the Marne, contributed to the genesis of several of his writings and worked to preserve his memory.
Beckett's correspondence addressed to the Hayden couple is preserved at Trinity College Dublin.
€1,800