Collection Summary
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Hugnet, Georges,
1906-1974
Carlton Lake Collection of Georges Hugnet Papers
1920-1971
Manuscript Collection MS-04960
18.5 boxes (7.77 linear feet).
Composed largely of letters received from
prominent French artists of the 20th century, the papers of French poet and
critic Georges Hugnet document his career and personal life. One notable work
contained in these papers is a manuscript of
Non vouloir, one of the earliest French
Resistance publications.
Material
written in French
and English.
We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation, which provided funds for the processing and cataloging of this
collection.
Biographical Sketch
Georges Hugnet, French poet and critic, was born in Paris in 1906. He
spent most of his early childhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in 1913
returned to Paris to attend boarding school at Saint-Louis-de-Gonazgue. He
later attended collège at Janson-de-Sailly in Saint-Malo, the childhood home of
his mother and favorite vacation spot during his youth. Youthful exuberance and
a penchant for pranks often caused trouble for young Georges, including an
incident when he is said to have played
Le Pélican, a fox-trot, during one of the
religious services at his collège in Saint-Malo. Hugnet's early rebelliousness
eventually developed into a combative, stubborn nature causing quarrels with
publishers, other artists, poets, friends, and family throughout his life.
Hugnet was a man of many talents and dabbled in a variety of artistic
pursuits including poetry, editing, publishing, translating, film and play
writing, acting, rare book collecting, and book binding design until his death
in 1974.
Influential friends and mentors played an important role in Hugnet's
career. In 1920, he developed a friendship with his downstairs neighbor Marcel
Jouhandeau. Jouhandeau influenced the young poet Hugnet and introduced Hugnet
to his hero Max Jacob. During this time, Hugnet was also befriended by a number
of other influential artists of the early 20th century, namely Joan Miró,
Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Tristan Tzara, Man Ray, and Jean Cocteau. With
financial backing from his father, a furniture manufacturer, Hugnet established
the publishing company Les Editions de la Montagne with the intent of
publishing his own works and the work of his close friends including Tristan
Tzara, Pierre de Massot, and Gertrude Stein.
It was Virgil Thomson who introduced Gertrude Stein and Hugnet in
1926. Stein and Hugnet's short-lived, intense relationship, lasting until 1930,
ended in a quarrel over the title page of
Enfances, a collaborative project between
the two authors. Hugnet originally wrote the poems of
Enfances in French and Stein intended to
translate the poems into English. The partnership failed when Stein's
translations became reflections and she demanded
equal billing on the title page. Hugnet refused and the partnership, as well as
the friendship, ended. In 1931, Stein published
Before the Flowers of Friendship Faded Friendship
Faded, her response to Hugnet's then unpublished
Enfances.
In the 1930s Hugnet became involved with the Surrealist movement.
André Breton, the self-declared
Pope of the Surrealist movement,
became interested in Hugnet after reading an article titled
Spirit of Dada in Painting that
Hugnet had written. When a mutual friend of both men, Tristan Tzara, introduced
them, Hugnet became one of the Surrealists. He continued contributing to the
Surrealist movement until 1939 when Breton
excommunicated Hugnet for his failure
to cease his friendship with former surrealist Paul Éluard.
The 1940s brought much change to Hugnet's life. Germany occupied
France early in the decade prompting Hugnet to join the French Resistance. He
put his intellectual efforts towards the Resistance and published
Non vouloir, one of the first Resistance
pieces published in France. In 1940, Hugnet also married his first wife
Germaine Pied; their marriage would last for ten years.
In 1950, Hugnet married Myrtille Hubert, a young woman of seventeen.
The following year, Hugnet and Myrtille's first and only son Nicolas Hugnet was
born.
Until his death in 1974, Hugnet continued to publish a few new works
and republish new editions of his former works. But mostly he concentrated on
trading and collecting rare books and manuscripts from his friends in the
French literary world.
Sources:
Lake, Carlton.
Confessions of a Literary
Archaeologist. New York: New Directions, 1990.
Mellow, James R.
Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein
and Company. New York: Praeger, 1974.
Phillips, J.
Georges Hugnet, 1906-1974:
le pantalon de la fauvette du Dictionnaire
abrégé du Surrélisme: étude et choix de texts. Paris: Letters Modernes.
1991.
Scope and Contents
Handwritten and typed manuscripts, correspondence, printed material,
photos, collages, and artwork document Georges Hugnet's life and work from
1920-1971. The papers are organized into four series: I. Works, 1929-1954 (0.5
boxes), II. Letters, 1931-1971 (1 box), III. Recipient, 1920-1970 (15 boxes),
and IV. Other Papers, 1929-1967 (2 boxes).
The Works series is composed of original works by Georges Hugnet.
Included in this series is the handwritten manuscript for
Non vouloir.
Letters written by Hugnet in Series II. are dominated by those to
Germaine (Pied) Hugnet, his first wife.
The Recipient series, forming the bulk of the papers, includes letters
from Paul Éluard, Marcelle Ferry, Valentine Hugo, Man Ray, Virgil Thomson, and
Alice B. Toklas, and richly demonstrates the friendships and business
acquaintances of George Hugnet.
The final series, Other Papers, contains artwork, building plans,
personal documents, printed materials, and documents written by other
individuals, either as works or correspondence.
Acquisition
Purchases and gifts of Carlton Lake 1973, 1974, 1985, 1987, 2002
(R6840, R6841, G2284, R11331, G12083)
Access
Open for research
Processed by
Monique Daviau, Richard Workman, and Catherine Stollar, 2004
Index Terms
Correspondents
Eluard, Paul,
1895-1952.
Ferry,
Marcelle.
Hugo,
Valentine,1887-1968.
Man
Ray,1890-1976.
Picabia, Francis,
1879-1953.
Queneau, Raymond,
1903-1976.
Toklas, Alice
B.
Thomson, Virgil, 1896-
.
Tzara,
Tristan,1896-1963.
Subjects
French poetry.
Surrealism--France.
World War,
1939-1945--Underground literature--France.
Document Types
Photographs.
Collages.
Other Georges Hugnet materials are available at the Ransom Center.
Letters between Georges Hugnet and Gertrude Stein are found in the Gertrude
Stein segment of the Carlton Lake Collection as well as proofs for Stein and
Hugnet's attempted collaboration
Enfances. Valentine Hugo's papers, also in
the Carlton Lake Collection, contain correspondence between Hugnet and Hugo.
The Photography Collection has an exhibition guide from the Galerie Zabriskie
titled
Georges Hugnet, artist, poet, critic: an
exhibition of surrealist collages including original works. An audio
recording of Hugnet reading
Tout beau mon coeur was transferred to the
Sound Recordings Collection. Additionally, multiple books were transferred from
the Georges Hugnet Papers to the Ransom Center Library. Most of the transferred
books contain autographed inscriptions for Georges or Germaine Hugnet.
Georges Hugnet Papers--Folder List
Series I. Works,
1929-1954
94.4
A-Z
Ici la voix
(1954)
94.5
Page proofs
g4
Galley proofs
94.6
Jean Arp
handwritten manuscript with autograph
revisions
94.7
Oiseaux ne copiez personne
(1946),
handwritten and typed manuscripts and drafts with
corrections
94.8-9
Tout beau mon coeur
(1952),
handwritten and typed manuscripts, carbon copies,
corrected page proofs, and printed books
Series II. Letters,
1931-1971
94.10
H-R
Hugnet, Germaine
95.1
1936-1940
95.2
1941-1949
95.3
1950-1954
95.4
1955-1956
95.5
1957-1958
95.6
1959
95.7
1960
95.8
1961
95.9
1962
95.10
1963-1971
95.11
Lévesque, Jacques Henry,
1931-1933, nd
Series III. Recipient,
1920-1970
96.1
A-Allan, Blaise
96.2
Alq-Ana
96.3
Anc-Au
96.4
Ba-Bas
96.5
Bea-Béri
96.6
Berman, Eugene,
1928-1932
96.7
Berman, Leonide,
1920-1946
97.1
Bern-Bonn
97.2
Bor-Boss
97.3
Bou-Bre
97.4
Briant, Théophile,
1942-1952
97.5
Brielle, Roger,
1942-1946
97.6
Brig-Can
97.7
Card-Cat
97.8
Cauvin, André,
1929-1934
98.1
Cer-Cha
Charnay, Pierre
98.2
1929-1932
98.3
1933-1936
98.4
Cin-Cla
Cliquet-Pleyel, Henri,
98.5
1928-1930
98.6
1933-1952
99.1
Coc-Cour
99.2
Cowles, Frances,
1933-1934
99.3
Crei-Dec
99.4
Deharme, Lise,
1941-1952
99.5
Del-Dur
99.6
Ele-Fan
99.7
Faÿ-Fer
Ferry, Marcelle
100.1
1929-1930 Sept. 10
100.2
1930 Sept. 14-1931
100.3
1932-1933
100.4
1934-1936
100.5
1937-1946, nd.
101.1
Fini, Leonor,
1940-1952
101.2
Flo-Fra
101.3
Gab-Gill
101.4
Gilson, Paul,
1955-1961
101.5
Gio-Gre
101.6
Gro - Guy-David
101.7
Halicka, Alice,
1930-1942
101.8
Har-Her
102.1
Hit-Hug
102.2
Hugo, Valentine,
1942-1964
102.3
Hur-Ire
102.4
Imbs, Bravig,
1928-1933
102.5
It-Jau
102.6
Jean, Marcel,
1933-1934
102.7
Johns, Richard,
1930-1931
102.8
Jol-Koc
102.9
Koenig, Théodore,
1954-1964
103.1
Kos-Lan
103.2
Lanöe, Julien,
1926-1964
103.3
Lap-Las
103.4
Laski, Philip,
1961-1965
103.5
Le-Lem
Lépine, Émile
103.6
1930-1931
103.7
1932
104.1
Les-Lev
104.2
Lév-Mag
104.3
Lévesque, Jacques Henry,
1928-1936
104.4
Magnelli, Alberto,
1940-1964
104.5
Mal-Mam
104.6
Mangan, Sherry,
1927-1960
105.1
Marg-Mart
105.2
Martineau, René,
1931-1938
105.3
Mas-May
105.4
Mej-Mol
105.5
Mon-Mus
105.6
Nad-Nev
105.7
Néjad,
1954-1962
105.8
Niv-Noë
106.1
O-Par
106.2
Pas-Pau
106.3
Péclard, Vladimir,
1926-1954
106.4
Péj-Por
106.5
Pou-Que
106.6
Rad-Rip
106.7
Rob-Roy
107.1
S-San
107.2
Sau-Sch
107.3
Seg-Sel
107.4
Sig-Sma
107.5
Sob-Spe
107.6
Ste-Sur
108.1
Tar-Tex
108.2
Tamburi, Orfeo,
1961-1964
108.3
Thirion, André,
1935-1963
Thomson, Virgil
108.4
1927-1928
108.5
1929
108.6
1930-1931
108.7
1932-1934
108.8
1935-1965
109.1
Tol-Uba
109.2
Tonny, Kristians,
1928-1937
109.3
Ursel, Henri d',
1928-1933
109.4
Vai-Vro
109.5
Valançay, Robert,
1935-1942
109.6
Wak-Z
110.1-3
Unidentified
Series IV. Other Papers,
1929-1967
110.4
Artwork
110.5
Personal documents
Printed material
110.6
Building plans
110.7
Clippings, posters, and tracts
110.8
Form letters
110.9
Invitations
110.10
Visiting cards
Third-Party
110.11
Correspondence
Works
111.1
A-C
111.2
D-F
111.3
G-K
111.4
Jacobs, Max
111.5
L-M
111.6
Main à plume (firm)
111.7
P-R
111.8
Patin, Marc
111.9
S
111.10
Spender, Stephen
111.11
Sagesse, Les Feuillets
de
111.12
T-V
111.13
Various authors,
L'Usage de la
parole