Title: Max Jacob papers
Inclusive Dates: 1923-1963

Creator:

• Jacob, Max, 1876-1934

CallNumber: MS 593

Quantity: Collection includes: papers, postcards, negatives, an autograph folder.25 cubic feet 1 half letter-sized box
Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Madison. Department of Special Collections

Abstract:

The Max Jacob papers are a collection of 138 letters written by Jacob and sent primarily to his friend, Marcel Jouhandeau, but also to Marcel's wife and mother. Jacob was a prominent Paris-based poet, author, and painter who was born in 1876 and died in a Nazi internment camp in 1944. He is most known for "Le Cornet a des", a poetry collection. The letters are mostly short, and were all sent by Max Jacob. They were written between 1923 and 1940, with the bulk of them being written before 1930.

Language: French , English .

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-sc-ms593

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Max Jacob was born in 1876 in Quimper, Brittany, France to a Jewish family. He studied law at the Colonial School in Paris for college, but left to focus on his artistic career. He met Pablo Picasso in 1901 when Picasso moved to Paris, and they became close friends. Jacob taught Picasso French and introduced him to people in the art community, and Picasso depicted Jacob in his painting "Three Musicians." They also lived together for some time. In 1909 Jacob claimed to have a vision of Jesus Christ, and converted to Catholocism.

Jacob was most known for his poetry collection entitled "Le Cornet a des", which was published in 1917, as well as the novel "Saint Matorel" which he collaborated on with Picasso. He also published a number of other works, including the book "La defense de Tartuffe" which discussed his religious ideas. He was also known also as a painter.

In 1921 Jacob moved to the Benedictine commune Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire and lived there for seven years. He returned again in 1936 and resided there until 1944 when he was detained by the occupying Nazi regime. Multiple members of his family, including his sister, had already been taken, and some sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Jacob was sent to the Drancy internment camp, where he became afflicted with pneumonia. Jacob was going to be transported to Aushwitz, but he died from his illness at Drancy a month after he arrived.

Marcel Jouhandeau, Jacob's primary correspondent in this collection, was a French writer born in 1888. He was a professor at Saint John de Passy from 1912 until 1949, and was also an author. He published over 100 works in his lifetime, primarily about himself, his relationship with his wife Elisabeth Toulemon (another correspondent in this collection), his religiosity (Jouhandeau was a devout Catholic), and his homosexuality. In 1938 Jouhandeau published four short antisemitic works in a book called "The Jewish Peril". Jouhandeau died at the age of 90 in 1979.

Most folders within the Max Jacob papers contain multiple letters. The letters are organized chronologically based on the dates given in the index. The index is undated and is provided at the beginning of the box; it lists each letter in the collection, the letter's date, and the number (roman numeral) the letter was assigned. The dates used to organize the collection are the dates provided in the index, not necessarily the dates written on each letter. Almost every letter was written by Max Jacob to Marcel Jouhandeau. Unfortunately, the other half of the correspondence (Marcel Jouhandeau to Max Jacob) is not in the collection. There is one letter that was written to Max Jacob instead of by him; this letter was written by André Jullien du Breuil and was later sent on to Marcel Jouhandeau with additions from Max Jacob. There are also a few letters written by Jacob to Elisabeth Toulemon and one letter written to Madame Paul Jouhandeau, who was Marcel's mother. All of the letters are written in French, and their dates range from 1923 to 1940. However, the bulk of the correspondence is from before 1930. Most of the letters are written on paper, but a few are on postcards. Shelved with the collection is an extraneous envelope regarding the acquistion of the letters.

Access Restrictions

This collection includes no known access restrictions.

Use Restrictions

Collection materials may be subject to laws governing rights. Researchers are solely responsible for determining the rights status of the materials they use. Permission may be required for some uses such as publication or reproduction.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Felix Pollak, 1968

Jouhandeau, Marcel, 1888-1979Authors, French -- 20th century -- Correspondence.

Box   1   Folder   1	Max Jacob papers correspondence Index
Box   1   Folder   2	Letter to Elisabeth Toulemon from Max Jacob (Letter I), March 13, 1923
Box   1   Folder   3	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters II - XVI), [April, 1923] - [December] 24, 1923
Box   1   Folder   4	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters XVII - XXVI), February 26, 1924 - June 30, 1924
Box   1   Folder   5	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters XXVII - XLVII), July 1, 1924 - [December] 31, 1924
Box   1   Folder   6	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters XLVIII - LX), February 4, 1925 - June 30, 1925
Box   1   Folder   7	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters LXI - LXXIX), July 3, 1925 - [December 20, 1925]
Box   1   Folder   8	Letter to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letter LXXX), January 18, 1926
Box   1   Folder   9	Letter to Max Jacob from André Jullien Du Breuil, then sent to Marcel Jouhandeau with additions from Max Jacob (Letter LXXXI) [January 1926]
Box   1   Folder   10	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters LXXXII - XCVI), [January 1926] - November 22, 1926
Box   1   Folder   11	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters XCVII - CVI), [January 5, 1927] - [November] 24, 1927
Box   1   Folder   12	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau, Elisabeth Toulemon, and Madame Paul Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters CVII - CXXI) January 17, 1928 - December 23, 1928
Box   1   Folder   13	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters CXXII - CXXV), [March 1929] - [November] 7, 1929
Box   1   Folder   14	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters CXXVI - CXXVII), January 2, 1930 - April 25, 1930
Box   1   Folder   15	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters CXXVIII - CXXX), May 7, 1931 - October 24, 1932
Box   1   Folder   16	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters CXXXI - CXXXII), January 20, 1933 - August 4, 1933
Box   1   Folder   17	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau and Elisabeth Toulemon Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letters CXXXIII - CXXXV), March 1934 - September 2, 1934
Box   1   Folder   18	Letter to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (Letter CXXXVI), October 20, 1935
Box   1   Folder   19	Letters to Marcel Jouhandeau from Max Jacob (CXXXVII - CXXXVIII), May 3, 1940 - May 9, 1940