Jean COCTEAU (1889-1963). Orphée, tragédie... - Lot 89 - Ader

Jean COCTEAU (1889-1963). Orphée, tragédie en un acte et un intervalle (Stock, Delamain et Boutelleau, 1927); in-8, cover and spine preserved, rel. black box (used and rubbed rel.). Copy featuring three original drawings and autograph notes. This copy of the original edition was used by Cocteau when he performed the role of the angel Heurtebise in the first revival by the Pitoëff company, from June 4 to 17, 1927, one year after the play's premiere, on June 17, 1926. Cocteau drew a star and the name "Heurtebise" on the front cover, framed, and on the back cover, noted between two stars: "If I lose this book, bring it back to Jean Cocteau's home at 10 rue d'Anjou". A phylactery drawn on the front page reads: "à l'impossible je suis tenu" (I am held to the impossible)... Following instructions for the decoration, p. 15, Cocteau drew a woman in a bust (Eurydice?), looking up at the sky, in front of a temple, under the sun. We note a star at Heurtebise's entrance on stage, a dozen pages bearing arrows or pencil strokes to indicate movements or lines, a typographical correction, and a few scenic indications: "bouche bée vers Pitoeff" (p. 36), "il descend" and "table remise" (p. 49). Also note the sketch of a framed silhouette at the head of scene 4, and the addition of an exchange between Heurtebise and Orpheus in scene 9 (p. 98): "H Women are only women O Bacchantes are not women"....