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By the fat of the dew

Manuscript

Author

Author André Breton
People cited René Alleau, Eugène Canseliet, Jean Schemit

Description

Manuscript by André Breton of a text published in Médium, Informations surréalistes no. 4, February 1953.

René Alleau, the specialist in alchemy whose classes Breton attended regularly around 1952-1953, is once again honoured in Medium, confirming the recognition paid not just by Breton but by the entire surrealist movement to that obscure element of Western culture, the quest for the philosophers’ stone. This note was published in no. 4 of the journal, in February 1953.

Handwritten manuscript, undated [1953].
- 1/2 in-4° manuscript page in black ink by Breton, with deletions and corrections:
‘“His judgement appears all the more secure to us [...] because, convinced of alchemy’s positive foundation [...] he has materially verified the precision of the traditional teachings and, in this way, physically communicated with the spirit.” These lines have been taken from Eugène Canseliet’s important preface to René Alleau’s work Aspects de l'alchimie traditionnelle.’
Text published in Médium, Informations surréalistes, no. 4, February 1953 with the title ‘Par la graisse de la rosée’ (‘By the fat of the dew’), with slight variations. [Auction catalogue, 2003]

Translated by Krzysztof Fijalkowski

Bibliography

André Breton (Édition de Marguerite Bonnet avec la collaboration de Philippe Bernier, Marie-Claire Dumas, Étienne-Alain Hubert et José Pierre), « "Médium, Informations surréalistes" (notes) », Alentours II, Œuvres complètes, tome III, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, Paris, Gallimard, 1999, p. 1085, notice p. 1461