Pierre Louÿs
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Pierre Louÿs | |
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Les Chansons de Bilitis | |
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Pierre-Félix Louÿs (French: [pjɛʁ lu.is]; 10 December 1870 – 4 June 1925) was a Belgian poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who sought to "express pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection"[1]. He was made first a Chevalier and then an Officer of the Légion d'honneur for his contributions to French literature [2].
Life
Pierre Louÿs was born Pierre Félix Louis on 10 December 1870 in
.Early writings
During 1891, Louÿs helped initiate a literary review, La Conque,
Some of the poems were intended as songs for voice and piano. Louÿs's friend
- La flûte de Pan: Pour le jour des Hyacinthies
- La chevelure: Il m'a dit «Cette nuit j'ai rêvé»
- Le tombeau des Naiades: Le long du bois couvert de givre.
Debussy also published Six épigraphes antiques during 1914 as piano pieces for four hands, commissioned as preludes to a recital of Louÿs's poems:
- Pour invoquer Pan, dieu du vent d'ete
- Pour un tombeau sans nom
- Pour que la nuit soit propice
- Pour la danseuse aux crotales
- Pour l'egyptienne
- Pour remercier la pluie au matin
During 1955, one of the first lesbian organizations in America named itself Daughters of Bilitis,[8] and to the present Louÿs's Songs continues to be an important work for lesbians.
Later writings
During 1896, Louÿs published his first
Louÿs later published Les Aventures du roi Pausole (The Adventures of King Pausole) in 1901, Pervigilium Mortis in 1916, both of them libertine compositions, and Manuel de civilité pour les petites filles à l'usage des maisons d'éducation, written during 1917 and published posthumously and anonymously in 1927.[10][11]
Inspired by Abel Lefranc's arguments for the Derbyite theory of Shakespeare authorship, Louÿs proposed in 1919 that the works of Molière were actually written by Corneille.
Even while on his deathbed, Pierre Louÿs continued to write erotic verses.[citation needed]
Reception
Louÿs was named
Illustrators
Many erotic artists have illustrated Louÿs's writings. Some of the most renowned have been
The best known illustrations for The Songs of Bilitis were done by
List of works
- 1891: Astarte.
- 1894: Les Chansons de Bilitis("The Songs of Bilitis").
- 1926 The Songs of Bilitis, English translation by Alvah Bessie.
- 1929: edition including suppressed poems.
- 1930: Véritables Chansons de Bilitis ("Real Songs of Bilitis", probably not by Pierre Louÿs).
- 1896: Aphrodite: mœurs antiques ("Aphrodite: ancient manners").
- 1928: edition including suppressed passages (translated into English during 1928 by Whittaker Chambers.[13]
- 1898: La Femme et le pantin("The Woman and the Puppet").
- 1908 Woman and Puppet English translation by G. F. Monkshood (pseudonym of William James Clarke ).
- 1901: Les Aventures du roi Pausole ("The adventures of King Pausole").
- 1929 The Adventures of King Pausole, English translation by Charles Hope Lumley.
- 1903: Sanguines.
- 1906: Archipel ("Archipelago").
- 1916: Pervigilium mortis ("Death watch").
- 1925: Le Crépuscule des nymphes ("The twilight of the nymphs").
- 1925: Quatorze Images ("Fourteen images").
Published posthumously:
- 1926: Manuel de civilité pour les petites filles à l'usage des maisons d'éducation ("Handbook of behaviour for little girls to be used in educational establishments") • 2022 A Handbook of Manners for the Good Girls of France, English translation by Lono Taggers
- 1926: Trois Filles de leur mère ("Three Daughters of their Mother")
- 1958 The She-Devils (as by "Peter Lewys"), anonymous English translation [by William S. Robinson] published at Paris by the Ophelia Press.
- 1969 Mother's Three Daughters, English translation by Sabine D'Estree (pseudonym of Richard Seaver )
- 1927: Psyché
- 1927: Pages (selected texts)
- 1927: Douze douzains de dialogues ("Twelve dozen dialogues")
- 1927: Histoire du roi Gonzalve et des douze princesses ("Story of King Gonzalve and the twelve princesses")
- 1927: Poésies érotiques ("Erotic poems")
- 1927: Pybrac
- 1927: Trente-deux Quatrains ("Thirty-two quatrains")
- 1933: Au Temps des juges: chants bibliques ("In the time of the Judges: Biblical songs")
- 1933: Contes choisis (selected stories)
- 1938: La Femme ("Woman")
- 1945: Stances et derniers vers ("Stanzas and last verses")
- 1948: Le Trophée de vulves légendaires ("The trophy of legendary vulvas")
- 1949: Cydalise
- 1988: L'Île aux dames ("The island of women")
For recent limited editions of further writings by Pierre Louÿs, see the bibliography[14] by Patrick J. Kearney
Adaptations
- The 1977 movie That Obscure Object of Desire directed by Luis Buñuel is based on La Femme et le Pantin
- The 1935 movie, The Devil Is a Woman, directed and photographed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Marlene Dietrich, is also based on the novel.
- Songs of Bilitis, play created by Rogue Artists Ensemble and originally commissioned by the Getty Villa adapted by Katie Polebaum with music by Ego Plum. Returning fall 2013 in Los Angeles.
- opérette in three acts with music by Arthur Honegger and libretto by Albert Willemetz, Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisienson 12 December 1930.
- Aphrodite ('Monodramma di costumi antichi') with music and libretto by Giorgio Battistelli after the novel Aphrodite–mœurs antiques. Premiere: 7 Jul 1988; Villa Massimo, Rome.
- Curiosa, Lou Jeunet's French movie, 2019.
References
- ^ a b Donald Watt (ed), Aldous Huxley: The Critical Heritage (London/Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul). Footnote to page 51: "Louÿs, French novelist and poet (1870–1925) who sought to express pagan sensuality with stylistic perfection"
- )
- ^ "Pierre Louÿs: An Inventory of His Papers in the Carlton Lake Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center". Research.hrc.utexas.edu:8080. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
- ISBN 0-8014-8993-8, pp. 195–197
- ISBN 0-691-09042-4, pp. 117–140
- ^
Peter Cogman, "Louÿs, Pierre" in The Encyclopedia of Erotic Literature, Edited by Gaétan Brulotte and John Philips
(pp. 828–835). London : Routledge, 2006, ISBN 978-1-57958-441-2
- ISBN 90-420-2065-2, p. 109
- ISBN 0-8014-3595-1, p. 3
- ISBN 978-0-521-57887-5.
- ISBN 1-85813-198-7, p. 171
- ISBN 2-902687-01-X, pp. 425–426, 778
- ^ French government record archives
- ^ "Translations by Whittaker Chambers". WhittakerChambers.org. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
- ^ "Scissors-and-paste.net". Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
External links
See also … |
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Media at Wikimedia Commons |
Works at Project Gutenberg |
Works at Domínio Público |
Works at Dominio Público |
Works at eBooks Gratuits |
- Pierre Louÿs Papers at the Harry Ransom Center
- Pierre Louÿs Papers at Columbia University
- Pierre Louÿs at IMDb
- Works by Pierre Louÿs at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Pierre Louÿs at Internet Archive
- Works by Pierre Louÿs at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Author Pierre Louÿs, from the Oldpoetry Poetry Archive
- A Catalogue of the Erotic Works of Pierre Louÿs
- The Songs of Bilitis full text