Beschreibung:

BARNES, DJUNA. Typescripts of various unfinished drafts of a story about her close friend Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven mainly entitled "The Beggars Comedy." Paris 17 November 1932, through London 1937, a few n.p., n.d. [mainly 1930s]. Together 49 typed pages, nearly all 4to, double-spaced, a few of the pages 8vo (or torn or cut irregularly), and a total of 3 autograph manuscript pages, 4to (mainly on versos of the typed pages), the typed pages virtually covered with holograph revisions by Barnes in pencil, blue and some red and black inks done at different times, with Barnes's name typed on most first pages of the drafts, a few pages soiled, one separated at center fold, another frayed at fore-edge, two others torn across text by Barnes, the typed pages with punch holes for a loose-leaf notebook, in a modern black (non-Barnesian) binder . [ With ]: (1) A photograph of the Baroness and Barnes on a beach, 4to ; (2) A reproduction of a vintage nude photograph of the Baroness, 4to ; and (3) A telegram to the Baroness from the German government, 1923, oblong 8vo . "...I CRIED LENTO LENTO...LAUNCHING OFF THROUGH THE THORNS IN HER LENGTHY TAFFETA, SLASHING UP THROUGH THE GREENERY..." The typescripts represent abortive attempts by Barnes to write about her friend. The first, titled "Baroness Elsa" and dated "Paris, Commenced November twelve 1932" ends in the middle of a sentence after the first page. About nine attempts (of a few different versions) bear the title "The Beggars Comedy" (sometimes crossed through by Barnes with a new holograph title added) and range--all unfinished--from one to three pages each. Another--the longest draft of "The Beggars Comedy"--is some 20 pages (including 2 1/2 autograph manuscript pages); it is unfinished and lacks a page or two in the middle. There are also 14 typed pages and a half page of autograph manuscript of portions of various drafts/versions and notes. All except "Baroness Elsa" appear to be fictionalized treatments. Hank O'Neal in his excellent account of his association with Djuna Barnes, " Life Is Painful, Nasty & Short...in My Case It Has only Been Painful & Nasty." Djuna Barnes, 1978-1981. An Informal Memoir (New York: Paragon House, 1990), pp. 148-149, tells of these typescripts: "In early 1979 Barnes asked me to attempt to sort out the Baroness's poems and arrange for their publication...Shortly there after, Barnes gave me a thin folder that she said contained everything she had relating to the Baroness...This was, apparently, the project with which she'd busied herself when the first draft of Nightwood ...was complete. I saw a thinly fictionalized account of the Baroness's life, and in reading these pages two things became immediately apparent; the project did not go well, and Barnes's work habits in the early 1930s were not different from 1979. She had started the project in 1932 and then started again and again, always beginning from page one. Even then it seemed she had difficulty in beginning a story, a poem, or in this case a loosely autobiographical novel, and continuing through to a conclusion. She would begin, type a number of pages, and stop. Then she would repeat the process with minor alterations. The project was never completed..." With the Djuna Barnes papers being at the University of Maryland, MANUSCRIPT MATERIAL BY HER IN THE MARKET PLACE IS OF GREAT RARITY.