Fragment de manuscrit autographe sur Gaston Doumergue

Autograph manuscript by the author of 1 page in-8vo, presumably unpublished.

Incomplete recto-only manuscript, in dense handwriting, with some corrections and additions, on the verso of a printed record of subscriptions to the Journal des Débats, period from May 1934 to May 1935.

This text by Maurice Blanchot was probably written shortly after the resignation of the President of the Council (and former President of the Republic), Gaston Doumergue, which occurred on November 8, 1934. The young man was then editor-in-chief at the Journal des Débats and this manuscript appears to be a draft article devoted to Doumergue's career, which presumably remained unpublished, after his departure from the government where he had been called in the aftermath of the February 1934 demonstrations. It is among the rare manuscripts from this period still preserved: Blanchot indeed destroyed most of his writings from the 1930s, renouncing his active and political participation in the extreme right-wing press.
In this text, Blanchot praises Doumergue's talents as a politician: "Toute la carrière de Doumergue est marquée par une progression constante. Elle va par un perfectionnement remarquable vers le moment de sa vie où il tentera non seulement de gouverner mais d'améliorer les moyens du gouvernement. C'est cette sorte de dialectique qui le met à part comme homme et comme homme d'Etat." ["Doumergue's entire career is marked by constant progression. It moves through remarkable improvement toward the moment in his life when he will attempt not only to govern but to improve the means of government. It is this sort of dialectic that sets him apart as a man and as a statesman."]

Rare manuscript from the 1930s.