Description

Manuscript of an article published in Médium, communication surréaliste, N°2, February 1954. "Knowing how to love is enough", Breton stated in the first issue of the new series of Médium, in reviewing the first volume, edited by Jacques Brenner, of Germain Nouveau’s complete works. Brenner sent an open letter to which Breton responded with 'Savoir aimer délivre' [Knowing how to love liberates], published in the second issue of the review, in February 1954. This time, the argument is tighter and revolves above all around the questions of morality that reading Nouveau raises; in reality, the rift between the two men is above all a matter of point of view, Breton defending a poetic and ordered reading of Nouveau's texts, whereas Brenner plays more the 'academic' game of an exhaustiveness likely to drown out their quality. [Atelier André Breton website, 2005] Signed autograph manuscript, undated. 4 pages in-4°, handwritten in ink by Breton on the back of letterheaded paper of the journal Médium. - 2 titled pages, constituting the first draft of a text, with numerous erasures and corrections, that appeared under the title 'Savoir aimer suffit' [Knowing how to love is enough], in the first number of the journal Médium, November 1953. There are important variants of this text relating to Breton’s reply to Jacques Brenner's open letter in response to Breton’s reservations about the publication of Germain Nouveau's poetic works: "Didn't Brenner ever say that if we once gave a review the title Littérature it was by antiphrasis and in a spirit of derision..." - 2 folio pages, titled 'Savoir aimer délivre' and signed André Breton, final text. Some erasures and corrections [Auction Catalogue, 2003]. Thanks to Fabrice Pascaud, who has made a pdf of Médium N°2, February 1954, available on his Arcane 17 website, although the file is a quite large. [Atelier André Breton website, 2015]

Bibliography

- André Breton, « Savoir aimer délivre », Médium, communication surréaliste, n°2, février 1954, p. 25-26
- André Breton (Édition publiée sous la direction d'Étienne-Alain Hubert avec la collaboration de Philippe Bernier et Marie-Claire Dumas), « Savoir aimer délivre », Alentours, Œuvres complètes, tome IV, Écrits sur l'art et autres textes, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, Paris, Gallimard, 2008, p. 1046-1049, notice p. 1442

Creation date	sd
Date of publication	01/02/1954
Languages	French
Physical description	Ms - encre noire
Reference	552000
Breton Auction, 2003	Lot 2368
Keywords	Criticism, Poetry, Reviews and Journals
Set	[Journal] Médium
Permanent link	https://cms.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100221170