Nietzsche-Valéry: A letter

Citation
Steiner, Herbert. 1950. Nietzsche-Valéry: A letter. Harvard Library Bulletin IV (2), Spring 1950:
268-270.

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 z68 Harvard Libretry Bulletin
have !ieen he:r Head til ken off by Jr!abo- discovery is nrndei the cnttc ren1a1ns
1uc r., at one Stroke of his Scyrnitar; cornpktely anonymous; and all th'ilt
,vhich 1 1.vhen perfor111'd to the Hejght of can be cfoirned for the piece ls that it
Expectation, cou,d ha\'C been hut a reflects at least one 1nan's opinion of
Panto1nimc Trick~ ~nd hcn~th the Djg-
S::nnucl Johnson's only attcn1pt to
r;
nity of ft •!'raged 1,1n less you cou \l SU r- ,,.,rite for the J..ondon p1ay-goingpul)-
p ose.,the I-Iero ,vas Lred a ButcheL -As
ps1 su1ncof our ten dcr
to the l'"rick, per h:.:. lic. Johnson h<Jd one: nwnlh car]1cr
hc~rtcdCu11ntry1ncn, "·ou~d have eas'd ( on 9 JatJ.uary 1 749) captivated the
that Ouj cctioni by h:1\Tingher Head cut to,vn ·with his poc1n~ The Vnnity of
off in good Er.rnest and so haYe had the
1 flu1J1nn l-Vis!Jes.Perhaps he "'as not
Pleasure of a nc,v ltenc e·veryNight. too unhappy- as he sat in a bo~ at Drury
Lanci 1n hi~ ne\v scarlet "''aistcoat and
A specJal censure ,vas given to Sir
go1d-bced h::1t 1 'Jnd hea.rd his nvclvc-
Y:Villiam·y-onge s 1·ather free epilogue
1

ycar-old Irene exposed to the gjbcs of

for the play~ tlt is its O\\'Il Satire, and
he that h~s a mind to Tiurlesque fr~ h~s
nothing to do but to Copy it/
There sti H ten lains the n1y terr of
·the authorship of thjs parnphlet. One
,vouid Jikc to be alJlc to attdbutc it to
FjcJding..or to son1e other fan1ou:scon-
teni.porary~ but there are no specific
clues to \\'arrant such an ascd ption.
No reference to the rev j e,v see1ns to
be kno,vn Jll correspondence
diaries
of the period, and until some such
the London \Vi ts. ll e is not kno,vn to
have responded pliblicly ro the pres-
ent critic, if he re~d the pan1phlet, it j5
prohuble th'J.t he \.-Venton feeling, rishe
fo.tcr told Bos,vcll, ']ikc the 1\1onu-
1ncnc.'
Roll8R'l' F. !\1F:rzuoRr1
1 i,
1 :nn in<lcbtc-d to Ir I -I. YV. Li tbcn, of
or
the Yale University Library. for ,-ery hcl p-
ful sugge:stion:; and cri tici !>ms·jn tb e prep-
a ra cion of the:-.note.

Nietzsche-Valery= A Letter

A ~TH.E.AI( of 1nischicf and llOV- ary activity~ a letter addrcss:cd to a

\Talery "•;ns 111:an
ish hun1ur 1n P:1111 a fe\v years older~ a poet and art
noticcab]e even in his hrte1T critic bclongjng to the group of the
ycars 1 \Vhen he had bcc.otnc farnous - A.1ercure de France, Andre Ii'ontajnas
doubly :noticeable jn a man of such ( ! 86 5-1941-;). The t,,·o h~d 111et as
con c:en rrared, detached in teJ1ige nee. n1c111 bcrs of 1\I a]iarnH? ,s c i re Ie9 in the
1

He never pontificated (and sa1d of the earJynineties, ,vhcn \ 7al6ry fii-st canie
solemn poers af a great Europe-an na- to Parjs, Fontainas ( ,vhosc name
tion: 'Con1me ils doivent etrc cnnuy- here~ ,.,rith an aJh1sion.to the Gen nan
~ux! ~). In a fate ,ynrk of his, L' ld~e ..von, ' 1s . spc 1t '\' on dau1:1sse
. ') ·ura_~pr~
fi:xe~one hears bis voice and the tone surnnb1y then a functionary of the
of hi:s conversation. The satnc is true Paris octroi. I-Ie "rrote of his friend-
of his let tcrs. ship ,virh \l"aJery jn De Stephane
His pJayfulncss sho\\'S jrt one of 1\Jal/annea Paul Valery ( 192 8) _ Th.is
thcn1i \\'fitten in the years ·when h~ Jetter .in :!11probal)ility dares frum
had ,vithdra,vn from ~]most all liter- i\1ay or June 1899 {Fontainas thought,

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IV, Number 2 (Spring
1950)
1950)
Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IV, Number 2 (Spring
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PLATE I
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Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IV, Number 2 (Spring
1950)
 Notes
June 9). It is v.Titten on mourning starting point, speaks of a 'G~on1ctrjc
stationery. The dravdng at the head du Tenlps' and is one of , 1alcry's three
and the authorization of trJ1nsn1ission A1ethodes: the abbrev·jations stand for
at the end are in red ink. 1 1
ct e
i\1 hod es. It daction du rvlcrcure. 1
\Vfrhout knO\vjng G crn1an, \Talery The essay ,vas published in j\1ay 18991
has trjed jn this letter to render the in the same number as Fontainas's
heavy Teutonic accent CtegusdaJ;lt' novel L orna111eut de la .solitude~ J

for 'dcgustant/ etc), as Balzac did ,vith i\1uch uf the a~1nosphcrc of those
N uc_:j y years and of the Hfc of that genera-
ngen, and h-as a n1used himself 11
using a ,vord order quite foreign to tion is in these lines. There are the
the French tongue. And he nrn.kcsfun attnc ks on l\if-ailanne the "obscure,' ::ind
of the German ]o\'e for tit1c5,.as in the the pride and scorn ,vith ,vhich the
I

sJgnature. young poets received them: sec the

Henri Albert (here '.l~lpert'), also sentences preceding the st~nza quoted
one of the ,vrfrers for the Alercure, fro111 i\1alformt?s sonnet ,i:Lachevelure
spent years on the French trans]ation vo 1 dI u ne :A.
anun c.i
of Nietzsche (Ainsi 11nrfo.itZnrathozt- And there is Njctz.sche, long since
stra, Par de/a le bJen et le 11ml,Pages in~ane (h~ died a year later) 1 living
chaisies, etc.). Perhaps the rising sun ,vith his sister, ,vho had already
in the dra,vjng at the l1cad of the letter f oundcd the Nietzsche~Archiv. \ 7a-
is that of Nietzsche's A1orgenrote ]ery,,\•ho \\'as not a methodicn.1reader,
(Aurore) .. but ,vho had looked through Albert's
,, on Sch"•artzkoppcn. a nanle ap- voh1mes1 ,vas disquieted and attracted.
pearing just al the rjght of the dra,v- fi.1uch later he s-aid: 'J1y ren1arf]uais je
ing, \va.s the German 1nilitnry :Htachc ne sais qucl1c intimc alliance du lyriquc
involved in the nrcyf us affair 1 then ct de ranalytique gnc nul encore
sti11at its height. n'a ,rait aussi clc1ibc.r6n1cnt accon1pEe
'L~ingompict ntctrc bas n1on fort' is .. . l\·lais il me choquait par d)autres
an ironical reference to the farnou.s endroit!:i.'3 And in his preface to
first line of A.fonsieur Tcste1 'L-nsot- Stendhal ( 1917) he called Niet7-c;chc
rise n)est pF1S 111011 fort' - a )inc ,vhich ~c·c pocte ncrv·cux, slave de languc
\l alery, not drca111ing that he ,vould allen1ande, aqui fenergje plair~ com1nc
one day hccon1e men1bcr of the un toxiguc.'
A ,:aderny, had used a second tin1e in It js not only arnusenwnt th-at speaks
reply to a.n jnquiry fron1 the A-1ercure: in this letter to Fontainas. The shado-\Y
~1./Acaden11e n~cst pas 1110nfort.' 2 of the Superman falls across its ]ine.~,.
A ureEen Scho1t no,v f orgottcn, nnd tbe threatening shado,v of Ger-
,,·as then a popular lloulevard ,vriter. n1any. \Tal cry sensed things far nhcad;
The css-ay 1Le ternps,' tal.:::ingH. G. he hnd \trarned of that danger in ,i:La
,v elk's Tiu1e A1acfJiue ( 1895) as a con(] uctc allemande,.' published jn r897
in ~'- E. I-Icnley's 1\7e,1v Revie11.v~
1The Jetter f ,.rm s: pa rt of s t:Ol lecti on
.reccn t1y dep ositt::-d in the H :l n·2r,d Col lcgc Still, the Jetter nrosc no doubt sim-
L_ibrary. Grateful thllnks arc due to the ply as a reply to a rc1nark on Nietl""..-
owner of this co!lectkm! and also to J\·1mc sche, or it n1ay have been ,t•rittcn
Paul Valery, "\Yho h-asnuthorjzcd pul)licadon
3 Qu.ntr e l ettr es de P(ml V alerJ au :ru.j
et
of the letteL
ure de Fnr11ce, XXI ( 18~J-7
2 .~ferc- ). 9j, de 1'..'ietz;cbe!1927.
•

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IV, Number 2 (Spring
1950)
 '-~

........
....

270 1-Jarvard Library Bufl eti11

primarily to postpone a dinner eagagc- As for 11sGern1ans: ,vc love joy and
n1ent+ Since the ,vriting is yery leg- critique. As for you French you like
ible, it has been thought that facsjn1ilc obscure and decadent poetry! meta-
re production ( sec Pb tes ] and IT) physics and l\ rt. Yuuire too frivolous:.
'\'Ould ~erve the reader) ,vithout tran- Thus I did not understand one sjngle
s er 1pti on. A. stra igh tf o nv~ rd rend er- ,vord in J\1r Faierie's ardcle ( "1erc.
ing in English, ,vith no attctnpt to Franc. n ° 113. XXXI . l\1ath.
transfer to another ]angua.gc th c idj o- H.d.l\-1.)on tin1c, It'.s not clear, it's not
syncra sies of pronunciation or ,,,ord Latin1 it3sI"caUyFrench~
order, might run as fo1lcnvs: Like\vJse, could you explain these
Sir! verses for rne;
l\1r Faleri has ro]d n1c thut you did La chcvclurc \~ol d'unc fla.rnrne Jtex-
..,_
a
not enjoy all the expected pleasure jn trcn1c
savoring rny selection of 1ny \Vork jn Occident de desjrs pour la tout dc-
the excellent translat [on by A 1b crt. ployer
Se pose (je dirais n1ourjr un diademc)
So 1nuch the \Vorse for you~!
You should read the ,vholc of Zara- ,j foyer
ers 4 le front couronne
etc.
son ancicn
thustra and before thnt the Good and
Evil and then you'll see.
Ily l\1incrv·a! I don"'t ·understand a
The jncon1p1ctc is: not my strong
thing~
point. Ho,vever, I have coinp1ctc con-
i\·1e an, vhi 1el believe 111c tru]y yours,.
fidence in the good taste, so character-
is tic of your nation) that you 5ho,v in F. Nicstchc
undcrst-anding and lovjng. Thou art J\1r Falerie ,vi11 not be 11blcto dine
Poet., j usr as I am -:supcrnrn.n,and you \vfrh you on 1\·1onday:but he asl.:syour
arc in the Pads Octroi Service just ~s gn1c1ouspern1is.sionto invjte himself to
I an1 fr1 che I 1nper ial-Royalrncntal yonr tnhle Thursdny about 7
Ali cna tl on-associated ~as.socjati on. o'c1ock? .
\\re surely can u ndcrstand each I-Ic charges rne to present his: best
other. A simple misapprehension. l\1r regards to J\1:adanie \ 1ondainasse at
Falei:je., r11oreover1 has been good ,vhose feet I on n1y 0\Vn account place
enough to promise n1e that he himself rn)'" SUpcrhtlrna11Complin1ents.
,votdd do his hest ns fnr as you are
concerned. I ,vish very keenly that r)~. F N.
i\1y ,, 1orks 1nay be the Ornarncnt of 1a class Snpcrrnan-l\Jlajor
Your SoHtude. Do you sec, do you of Lcipzig-Unj\'crsity -
feel ho\v spirjted-intdligent I aL11this
i\1orning? lt,s \\'Onderful. I feel so A ppro\Ted:
light., so Jightl l\1( F alerJ·e telh n1e Good for transmittal
th~t I am sort of :::t hybrid between
for The Ph ysj c ian-i n-chi ef:
and by aU tho rjZ8 rj On:
SchoH and S~ppho. Bu~tl\1r Fa1cric is
a jokjng f elJo,v, never serious. I of ten J. Foolkeeper ...
n1eet him in the lla<l places ,vhere I H:r.RTIF,.RT STEINf..R
\Vork at trans cc n dental a111us ctn en t at
20 n1arks: a volun1e. • Valery ,v ri tcs 'Sur/ .

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IV, Number 2 (Spring
1950)
 List of Contributors
EiH EL B. CLARK i- I-Iono r:i r y Kc cµcr of R-are Books; D un1bar ton Oaks Rcscarc h
l ..ibn1.r-y
1 T-Iarvard University

R1c11Ano S. I(ENNEDY~ Teaching Fe11o,v in English and Public Speaking~Har-

vard University
Pu1L1P Lecturer on Fine Arts and Curator
HoFERi- of PrJntjng and Graphic
. Arts in the College l.ribrary~ Harvard lJnivcrsity
PHH.IP J. h1r.K1FF,AsststantLihrarian of the College Library jn charge of the
L-a.n1ontLibrs.ry, llan ard U nivcrsity
1

ED'\\' IN E. W IL,. IA J\ 1s:1 .t\ssistnnt to the Libra rim1 of Hnrvard Co11ege

Ro DER T \V. LovETI, I-Ico.d of th c i\1:unus er i pt Di vi:sion, B akcr Library, I-I:1rvard
University
Hy UEK E. Ro LT.TNs, Gurney Prof es~or of English l.1itcra tu re, I-Iarvan1 Uni vcrsity
Zcrn STE\VARTt Harvard University·
!i.-1
Y RON P, GI Lr-.:rOREi- Asso cj atc Prof csso r of History, Harvard Uni vcrs ity
RoBERTF. J\1ETZDCRF~ Cata! oguer in the 1-IoughtonLibrary, Harvard University
H ERI3ERT STEIN ER, Ass o d atc Profess or of G ern1-a n, Q u ce n.sCo Hegc
FnANc1s ~~I.RoGEn5,Associate Professor of Romance Languages ~-ndLiteratures
and De.r~nof the Gradu:ite School of Arts and Sciences, Hnrvard Unjvtrsity
C11 ARLES L. GRACE., In ch argc of the Business O fficc., I·Iar\'8rd Col legc Library

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IV, Number 2 (Spring
1950)