PRESENTATION-COPY FOR HIS LOVER

SARTRE, JEAN-PAUL.

Galgenfrist. Frihedens Veje. [i.e. "Le Sursis" - in Danish].

København [Copenhagen], 1964. 8vo. Original printed yellow wrappers with green and black lettering. Minor soiling and minor creasing to wrappers. Internally near mint condition. Uncut and unopened. 371 pp.

Signed presentation-copy for Michelle Léglise (A Michell/ 11 Janvier 66/ Jean Pauls S") of the first edition of the first Danish translation of "Le Sursis".

This is a higly interesting presentation-copy, since Michelle Léglise (or Michelle Vian as she was named at the time), was both the wife of a close friend of Sartre, herself a close friend, and eventually - around the time of this presentation - his lover.

In 1940 Michelle Léglise had met the French multi-artist and author Boris Vian, whom she married already in 1941. Boris Vian (1920-1959) is best known today for his novels (many of which were published under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan). He was also of great importance to the French jazz-scene and served as liason for Duke Ellington and Miles Davis in Paris. He was also a popular musician in his own time. When he met Michelle, she taught him English and introduced him to American literature. They had a son together in 1942.
In the middle of the 40'ies, Vian was struggling to have his novels acknowledged, but those that he published in 1945 were not very successful. He did, however, in 1946 have the luck of meeting, and later befriending Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, as well as Albert Camus, and he began publishing in "Les Temps Modernes".

Thus, also Michelle got acquainted with the most famous couple in France at the time - and very well acquainted with Sartre! In fact the two became lovers and began an affair that lasted throughout Sartre's life, in 1980. Michelle and Boris Vian thus divorced in 1951 under messy circumstances. Both Beauvoir and Sartre were very fond of Boris Vian and had promoted him often, but the messy divorce seems to have created spite between the different parties involved - Sartre sided with Michelle, and Simone de Beauvoir with Boris Vian.

"Le Sursis" originally appeared in 1945 as part II of "Chemins de la liberté". When the first Danish edition appeared in 1965, Sartre and Michelle were still lovers.

Order-nr.: 39974