Le promenoir des deux amans

Year: 1949
Author: Tristan L’Hermite (1601 - 1655)
Artist: Valentine Hugo (1887 - 1968)
Publisher: G.L.M. [Guy Lévis Mano]

1939 counts as one of the most productive years of the Parisian publisher GLM, active since 1933. Just before the start of the Second World War the printer, typographer and poet Guy Lévis Mano (GLM) published no less than 27 books. And although Mano’s studio remained intact throughout the five years he spent in captivity, only five of his pre-war projects were turned into publications after 1945, Le promenoir des deux amans was the last one. Announced in September 1945 as the first book to be published, the edition was only released in July 1949, exactly ten years later than planned.

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Le promenoir des deux amans, pages [8-9] with illustration by Valentine Hugo
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Collection KB

Le promenoir des deux amans, page 9 with engraving by Siméon, (edition: Paris, Haumont, 1945)

Rehabilitated old texts

The genesis of this publication is thus fascinating, in several respects. Because even in the face of the renewed popularity of Tristan l’Hermite’s (1601-1655) literary work and famous poem ‘Le promenoir des deux amans’ at the beginning of the twentieth century, nothing led to believe that GLM would publish a reissue. Right from the start, Mano specialised in the publication of poetry, but since 1935 he mainly worked for the Surrealists. Many original editions, including numerous illustrations, were issued by GLM during these years. After the war he changed his output and focussed on poetry he personally appreciated. Alongside the work of talented contemporaries, he also started publishing a considerable number of translations and reissues of older texts, especially of the sixteenth century.

The layout of the French post-incunabula from the sixteenth century also inspired Mano. And this quite unadorned style, typical of the later editions of GLM, is easily recognizable in Le promenoir des deux amans. Set in Garamond, one of his six most used fonts after 1945, the reissue still looks remarkably modern. Especially when compared to the reissue of the poem by Jacques Haumont, published in August 1945, the contemporary design stands out. Haumont, devoted to publishing a faithful reproduction of the original text, only added one engraving, whereas GLM and the artist Valentine Hugo worked together to create a novel edition.

Playful curves and harmonious illustrations

From 1935 onwards Valentine Hugo, one of the most important illustrators of the Ballets Russes and the Surrealists, often illustrated books published by GLM. Living in Paris since 1907, the artist soon established her professional reputation and became part of literary and musical circles. People often designated her as ‘the Independent’, referring to her prominent desire for artistic freedom. Whereas Jean Cocteau - one of her best friends from the 1910s - called her lovingly ‘the Swan of Boulogne’ (a poetic allusion to her long neck and place of birth Boulogne-sur-Mer).

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Le promenoir des deux amans, page [5] with a portrait of Narcissus by Valentine Hugo
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Le promenoir des deux amans, page [13] with a portrait of Climeine by Valentine Hugo

Hugo became known as a versatile artist, creating engravings, etchings and lithographies that she printed in her own studio, as well as pastel paintings or stage and costume designs. Like Mano, she worked with the Surrealists in the 1930s. In fact, she was the first woman to enter this avant-garde group when she already had a well-established artistic career. Her style remained nonetheless classical. One can discern the influences of Naturalism, Symbolism and Art Nouveau in Hugo’s work, but also those of late nineteenth-century illustrations. Flowers, animals, eyes and innumerable curves are particularly present. These themes are visible too in the four black-and-white illustrations of the love poem ‘Le promenoir des deux amans’, counting 28 stanzas and addressing one of the Oceanid nymphs in Greek mythology, Climeine. As for the style of these illustrations, Hugo clearly moved away from her typical, delicate lithos and etchings. These line drawings actually share a lot of similarities with her dynamic sketches.

Le promenoir des deux amans, page [17] with illustration by Valentine Hugo

During a radio interview in 1950 (with Georges Charbonnier), Hugo explained that she did not like straight lines, which is why she drew as if she were writing. Her creative blend of drawing and writing is indeed striking. Her lively line art seems to oscillate between calligraphy and a somewhat abstract fantasy world. The first illustration, in which Narcissus admires his own reflection in a pond, also contains the (almost imperceptible) initial letter of the poem. Even her own initials almost naturally dissolve into the design. In the course of the same interview, Hugo indicated that it is best to contemplate her work from a distance, this way all the lines that twirl like thoughts crystallize. A good example in this regard is the portrait of Climeine, since the reflections of the water - represented by calligraphical curves – at first sight create an opaque and bustling image. This does not, however, disturb the simplicity of the modern reissue. On the contrary, the combination of the sensual line drawings and the slightly contrasting typography vivifies Tristan’s poem.

Bibliographical description

Description: Le promenoir des deux amans du sieur Tristan L'Hermite / orné de 4 dessins de Valentine Hugo. - Paris: GLM, 1949. - [21] p. : ill. ; 26 cm
Printer: Guy Lévis Mano
Edition: 562 copies
This copy: One of the 493 copies on Marais, one of the 25 copies destined to the Friends of GLM (les Amis de GLM)
Typeface: Garamond
Note: 1st ed. in: Plaintes d’Acante, 1633 ; Uncut pages
Bibliography: Bénézit 7-250/251 ; Les Éditions GLM 1923-1974: bibliographie (1981), nr. 306 (p. 66)
Shelfmark: KW KOOPM L 56

References

Cathy Bernheim, Valentine Hugo. Paris, Presses de la Renaissance, 1990
Amédée Carriat, Tristan ou L’éloge d’un poète. Limoges, Rougerie, 1955
Whitney Chadwick, Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement. London, Thames and Hudson, 1985
Antoine Coron, Les Éditions GLM 1923-1974 : bibliographie. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, 1981
GLM Guy Lévis Mano (1904-1980) poète, typographe, éditeur. Bruxelles, Aux maisons du lièvre, 1990
Jean Langevin, ‘Jacques Haumont, typographe, imprimeur, éditeur’, in: Communication & Langages, 62 (1984), p. 86-104
Wolfgang Leiner, ‘“Le promenoir des deux amans” : lecture d’un poème de Tristan l’Hermite’, in: Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature, 9 (Summer 1978), p. 29-48
Béatrice Seguin (red.), De Valentine Gross à Valentine Hugo, Boulogne-sur-Mer – Paris (1887-1968). Boulogne-sur-Mer, La Bibliothèque municipale de Boulogne-sur-Mer, 2000. (incl. ‘Couleur de ce temps’, radio-interview with Valentine Hugo by Georges Charbonnier, Radiodiffusion française, 22 December 1950)