They were called André Chénier, Napoleon I, Alfred Dreyfus, Guilllaume Apollinaire or Nathalie Sarraute. They also are anonymous soldiers, prisoners. Their common point? They wrote a text in a complicated situation: they wrote on a ticket, greasy paper and sometimes with their own blood.
These Manuscripts of the extreme show peculiar and difficult writing contexts. They often haven’t been very well preserved. And yet, gathered in this unique exhibition of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (site François Mitterand), they are highly moving.
Because they are authentic testimonies and disturbing to the tears. An example among others, showing the courage of some of them; this anonymous quote written during the German Occupation: “But I keep my pen and notebook I defend at personal risk. This small notebook that holds a proof of my sad life”.
We also find the crabbed handwriting and damaged pages of Pascal, Sade, Marie-Antoinette, Auguste Blanqui, Stéphane Mallarmé, Henri Michaux, Marie Curie, Antonin Artaud, Arthur Adamov, Germaine Tillion and Jean-Dominique Bauby.
A precious and fiendishly moving exhibition. Don’t forget your glasses (and your tissues)!
Dates and Opening Time
From April 9, 2019 to July 7, 2019
Location
BnF - Site François Mitterrand
Quai François Mauriac
75013 Paris 13
Prices
tarif réduit: €7
tarif plein: €9
Recommended age
For all
Official website
www.bnf.fr
