Jeu complet des dernières épreuves corrigées de son livre "Le Tout sur le tout"

Final set of corrected proofs of Henri Calet's most important work: Le Tout sur le tout, 136 leaves in 17 unbound quires, with the "ready for press" manuscript inscription dated June 1, 1948. The pages are numbered from 10 to 271 (and, in pencil, from 9 to 274).

"In 1947, Henri Calet began writing "Aux vingt arrondissements", commissioned by Éditions de Minuit, ultimately published by Gallimard in 1948 under the title "Le Tout sur le tout". On 6 December 1948, Calet received for this book – considered by many to be his best – the first Prix de la Cote d'amour, awarded by an exclusively female jury. It honored a sad and tender narrative of great melancholy, allowing the charm and humor of life to overflow at every moment. The first edition of "Le Tout sur le tout" bears a colophon dated June 17, 1948. The work was released for sale on July 24 of the same year. [...] In addition to a number of manuscript technical instructions by Jacques Festy, production manager at Éditions Gallimard, they contain Calet's final autograph corrections, regular and legible" (J.-P. Baril).

"Through "Le Tout sur le tout", a critical reflection on autobiographical literature is initiated. One moves from an emotionally highly engaged self-writing – explosive, in a way – to an original and subtle genre that blends the detached attitude of Memoirs with the iterative aspect of a logbook. New genre, new language: the seismographic writing of La Belle Lurette gives way to that measured tone, bittersweet, imbued with the delectable nostalgia that constitutes Henri Calet's distinctive charm" (Frédérique Martin-Scherrer)

The most desirable copy and the final stage in the genesis of these "memoirs of a forty-year-old man," his last book and one of his great masterpieces.
Provenance: Jean-Pierre Baril.