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The Henri Pierre Roché Papers, ca. 1886-1971, consist of manuscripts, typescripts,
notebooks, notes, clippings, correspondence, printed material, diaries, and
financial and legal documentation. The papers were originally acquired from Henri
Pierre Roché's widow, Denise Roché, who had begun to organize and arrange the
papers
herself, placing groups of materials into paper folders or cardboard carriers
and
annotating the containers as to title, date, or correspondent. Although the
containers she provided are housed with the collection, Denise Roché's overall
structure of the material was not preserved. The material is now arranged in five
series: I. Works, II. Correspondence, III. Carnets, IV. Personal and Legal Papers,
and V. Roché Family. |
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Roché's works, both published and unpublished, are well represented in this group
of
papers, and they include novels, plays, short stories, poetry, translations, and
articles. Much of this material appears to be the beginning stages of works that
were never completed or published, and most titles consist of a few pages of
handwritten narrative, although the evolution of many works, particularly those
that
were eventually published, is documented extensively. For example, material relating
to the novels Jules et Jim and Deux anglaises et le continent includes the correspondence and diaries
of some of the individuals who later appeared as characters in the novels. This
series also contains printed material relating to the works, such as reviews and
advertisements, as well as additional correspondence regarding the work. Other
creative works about art are located in the Art subseries of Series IV. |
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Although correspondence can be found throughout the collection, the Correspondence
series is reserved for those letters not explicitly related to Roché's writing
projects. For the most part, the correspondence in Series II is between Henri
Pierre
Roché and his two wives, Germaine Bonnard and Denise (Renard) Roché; however,
other
correspondents are also represented, such as Georges Braque, Jean Cocteau, Marcel
Duchamp, Marie Laurencin, Pablo Picasso, Erik Satie, and Gertrude Stein. |
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Series III contains Roché's daily agendas and diaries (referred to herein as "carnets"), which begin in 1901 and end in 1959, and
document various aspects of his personal and professional life. Transcriptions
of
several carnets, through 1945, commissioned by film director François Truffaut,
as
well as a photocopy of one carnet, accompany the collection. This series is arranged
chronologically, thereby integrating agendas, original carnets, and transcriptions
of the same year with each other. Unless authorized, only the transcriptions are
available for use. |
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Roché's interests in art, real estate, and his autobiography are well documented in
the Personal and Legal Papers series. This series is arranged into four subseries:
Art, Autobiography, Usha Villas, and Personal Documents. The Art subseries includes
drafts and notes for articles about art and artists, in addition to inventories
and
financial documentation for Roché's personal art collection. Material relating
to
the art collection that was generated after Henri Pierre Roché's death by his
widow
and son, Denise and Jean-Claude Roché, is also located in this subseries. Notes,
early journals, and essays concerning the afterlife make up the Autobiography
subseries. The subseries Usha Villas relates to real estate transactions. A final
subseries contains his personal documents, such as his address books, birth
certificate, and obituaries. |
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The last series contains materials relating to Roché's family. Journals,
correspondence, works, financial, legal, and medical records, and printed material
document the lives of Roché's mother Clara, his second wife, Denise, and his son
Jean-Claude. The Roché Family series is divided into subseries corresponding to
each
family member: Clara Roché, Denise Roché, and Jean-Claude Roché. |