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Oeuvres
1309pages. in8. Broché.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
10 people want to read
About the author
Valery Larbaud
152 books21 followersHe was born in Vichy, Allier, the only child of a pharmacist. His father died when he was 8, and he was brought up by his mother and aunt. His father had been owner of the Vichy Saint-Yorre mineral water springs, and the family fortune assured him an easy life. He travelled Europe in style. On luxury liners and the Orient Express he carried off the dandy role, with spa visits to nurse fragile health.
Poèmes par un riche amateur, published in 1908, received Octave Mirbeau's vote for Prix Goncourt. Three years later, his novel Fermina Márquez, inspired by his days as a boarder at Sainte-Barbe-des-Champs at Fontenay-aux-Roses, had some Prix Goncourt votes in 1911.
He spoke six languages including English, Italian and Spanish. In France he helped translate and popularise Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Walt Whitman, Samuel Butler, and James Joyce, whose Ulysses was translated by Auguste Morel (1924-1929) under Larbaud's supervision.
At home in Vichy, he saw as friends Charles-Louis Philippe, André Gide, Léon-Paul Fargue and Jean Aubry, his future biographer. An attack of hemiplegia and aphasia in 1935 left him paralysed. Having spent his fortune, he had to sell his property and 15,000 book library. Despite his illness, he continued to receive many honorary titles, and in 1952 he was awarded the Prix National des Lettres.
The Prix Littéraire Valery Larbaud was created in 1957 by L'Association Internationale des Amis de Valery Larbaud, a group created to promote the author's work. Past winners of this yearly award include J.M.G. Le Clézio, Jacques Réda, Emmanuel Carrère, and Jean Rolin.
Georges Perec's character Bartlebooth is a cross between Melville's Bartleby and Larbaud's Barnabooth.
Poèmes par un riche amateur, published in 1908, received Octave Mirbeau's vote for Prix Goncourt. Three years later, his novel Fermina Márquez, inspired by his days as a boarder at Sainte-Barbe-des-Champs at Fontenay-aux-Roses, had some Prix Goncourt votes in 1911.
He spoke six languages including English, Italian and Spanish. In France he helped translate and popularise Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Walt Whitman, Samuel Butler, and James Joyce, whose Ulysses was translated by Auguste Morel (1924-1929) under Larbaud's supervision.
At home in Vichy, he saw as friends Charles-Louis Philippe, André Gide, Léon-Paul Fargue and Jean Aubry, his future biographer. An attack of hemiplegia and aphasia in 1935 left him paralysed. Having spent his fortune, he had to sell his property and 15,000 book library. Despite his illness, he continued to receive many honorary titles, and in 1952 he was awarded the Prix National des Lettres.
The Prix Littéraire Valery Larbaud was created in 1957 by L'Association Internationale des Amis de Valery Larbaud, a group created to promote the author's work. Past winners of this yearly award include J.M.G. Le Clézio, Jacques Réda, Emmanuel Carrère, and Jean Rolin.
Georges Perec's character Bartlebooth is a cross between Melville's Bartleby and Larbaud's Barnabooth.
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July 26, 2015I am pretty much interested in this author, mainly for his translator role. He was a polyglot of renown and his translation work encompassed at least 3 main languages: English, Italian and Spanish.
Samuel Butler , J. Joyce (a polyglot too) and Faulkner are some of the sounding names, he got into the business of translating.
According to M.J. Friedman, Valery L. was “an astonishing litterateur”. He would dedicate four years of his life to the translation of Samuel Butler’s books into French.
This vast “investment” made him proffer a conference* exclusively on the topic of Butler, whom Valery saw as an Epicurist. Someone, who, despite of having a family deeply involved in the Anglican church (especially his grandfather), got in the way of rebellion, denying all Christian doctrine and superstition. It seems Butler followed the Epicurist precept: hide your life.
Valery acknowledged the important role of the writer as an international character:“Tout écrivain Français est international”.
Valery would be plainly understood if we would add to the list the names of: J. Gower,Pound, Eliot,Conrad, Rilke,Becket, Nabokov...
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*Samuel Butler: Conférence faite le 3 Novembre 1920 à la Maison des amis des livres
Samuel Butler , J. Joyce (a polyglot too) and Faulkner are some of the sounding names, he got into the business of translating.
According to M.J. Friedman, Valery L. was “an astonishing litterateur”. He would dedicate four years of his life to the translation of Samuel Butler’s books into French.
This vast “investment” made him proffer a conference* exclusively on the topic of Butler, whom Valery saw as an Epicurist. Someone, who, despite of having a family deeply involved in the Anglican church (especially his grandfather), got in the way of rebellion, denying all Christian doctrine and superstition. It seems Butler followed the Epicurist precept: hide your life.
Valery acknowledged the important role of the writer as an international character:“Tout écrivain Français est international”.
Valery would be plainly understood if we would add to the list the names of: J. Gower,Pound, Eliot,Conrad, Rilke,Becket, Nabokov...
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*Samuel Butler: Conférence faite le 3 Novembre 1920 à la Maison des amis des livres
Displaying 1 of 1 review