"Je n'ai rien d'autre, tout ayant été pris": Max Jacob in occupied France

Jacob, Max, French poet, painter, writer, and critic (1876-1944). Autograph letter signed.

€ 2,500.00

To his friend and protégé Maurice Morel, known as l'Abbé Morel, concerning a manuscript that has been saved from his "shipwreck disaster" and hopes to publish it "as it is" after everything "has been taken" from Jacobs: "Tout est donc au même ! Gloria in excelsis Deo. Merci au Seigneur d'avoir sauvé ce manuscrit de mon désastre de naufrage. Publions le manuscrit tel que puisque je n'ai rien d'autre, tout ayant été pris. Cependant je ne veux pas vendre le manuscrit et perdre mes droits. Que votre éditeur me propose un contrat que j'étudierai".

The touching letter is a testament to Max Jacob's desperate situation in occupied France and the importance of his Christian faith during this period. Whether Jacobs could have actually hoped for a publication under these circumstances is very doubtful.

Traces of folds.