Description

10 PLATES OF CORRECTED PROOFS (i.e. the complete text without illustrations) for Under the starspublished by Flammarion in 1944 with 6 etchings by Antral.
These proofs, which pre-date the original edition, bear the following words in ink on the flyleaf, probably in the printer's hand: "Voucher for 5 new proofs in cupboards / please /9.4.31/ GG"In 1931, suffering from illness, Delteil left Paris and his literary activities, and did not resume his work until 1944.

Numerous autograph corrections in ink additions, cuts, substitutions of words... the chapter "Goldfish"adopts the new titleRacine's owls"while a "substantial union"mysteriously becomes awing and arse union".
The cuts include the following deletion: ".From Limoux, my home town, I'm in a good position to take the measure."is replaced by :

"From Limoux, my homeland, I'm in a good position to take a good look at it. It stands right in front of me, and all I have to do is walk straight ahead to reach out my hand. It's like a triangle, with me as the essential corner.
I like to look at things head-on, without having to raise or lower my head. Such postures break the neck and humiliate the brain. I like having my Pyrenees at eye level. I want to feel it at my level.

Other seemingly more formal changes nevertheless alter the meaning of the text. Note the difference in tone between the original proposal (1) and the version corrected by Delteil (2):

(1) And knowing this, the village children set traps for them under the stones. These were black-haired rascals, splashing about in the water with loud cries, deliberately frightening the gudgeons. The frightened gudgeons darted for cover under the stones. This was exactly what the naughty boys wanted, so they took a hammer and smashed the protective stone. And the poor things, broken, would float away, belly up in the air, prey to the laughing kids who would pick them off with their hands, in no uncertain terms, along the current.

(2) And knowing this, the village children would chase the pebbles away. They were black-haired rascals, splashing about loudly in the water, frightening the gudgeons. The latter were forced to crawl back under the stones. That's exactly what our clever boys want to do, so they smash them to pieces with their rocks. And the poor fry float away with white bellies, prey to the laughing kids who pick them off with their hands.

One autograph leaflet "suite des chapitres" (continuation of chapters)corrects and replaces the final printed table.

Printer's marks in red and blue pencil.

Rare working document.