This scandalous little work appeared in France under the title “Letter to La Présidente.”
Théophile Gautier (1811-1872) was a novelist and poet, one of the champions of Romanticism. In 1850, he and his friend Louis de Cormenin visited Italy, so he wrote his friends back home a letter about their adventures. The result was a rollicking “filthy letter,” packed with jokes, slang, obsolete words, literary allusions, puns, alliterations, neologisms, Spoonerisms, verses, outrageous metaphors, and Rabelaisian lists. It was published privately in 1890, and became a clandestine classic.
A FILTHY LETTER Théophile Gautier Translated from the French by Doug Skinner, with an introduction & notes on the text Pocket Erotica Series #28 74 pp., 4 x 6 inches; 979-8-9894330-7-0
Scheduled for publication in 1917, this illustrated text was banned in France for its antiwar and anti-military—(dare we say pro-rat)—stance. Thus, Descaves’ incendiary little chapbook did not appear until 1920, when the censors finally waved their white flag and surrendered to reality.
Alas, THE RAT WINS! is a potent work of black humor which will remain relevant as long as humans walk the earth.
Read it in peace.
THE RAT WINS! Lucien Descaves Illustrations by Lucien Laforge Translated from the French by Doug Skinner Chapbook; 41 pp.; $12; ISBN 979-8989433063 Absurdist Texts & Documents #47 FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Lucien Descaves (1861-1949) was a prolific novelist, journalist, and playwright, and a constant activist for anarchism and pacifism. His antimilitary novel Sous-Offs (Non-Coms), published in 1889, earned him and his publisher arrests for insulting the army and offending morals. He was a founding member of the Académie Goncourt and the utopian community la Clairière de Vaux, and the literary executor of J.-K. Huysmans. His autobiography, Souvenirs d’un ours (Memoirs of a Bear), was published in 1946.
Lucien Laforge (1889-1954) contributed cartoons and illustrations to many periodicals, particularly for the anarchist press. He was uncompromising and often destitute; he was discharged twice in World War I after feigning insanity. His books include illustrations for Rabelais, Perrault, and Baudelaire, as well as his alphabet Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz (1924).
Doug Skinner has translated many wonderful books for Black Scat Books, Wakefield Press, Corps Reviver, and Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks, as well as contributing to the Fortean Times, Nickelodeon, Cabinet, and other fine magazines. His latest book of short stories is The Potato Farm, from Black Scat.
STARRING: Tim Newton Anderson; Michael Betancourt; David Brizer; Steve Carll; Norman Conquest; Farewell Debut; R J Dent; Jesse Glass; Reinhard Goering; Rhys Hughes; Tim Hutchings; Mark Kanak; M. Kasper; Amy Kurman; Gabriel de Lautrec; Emilia Loseva; Jim McMenamin; O Homem do Saco; Jasia Reichardt; Doug Rice; Paul Rosheim; Doug Skinner; Franciszka Themerson; Stefan Thernerson; John Vieira; Gregory Wallace; and Danny Winkler.
PLUS EIGHT RUSSIAN FUTURISTS: Velimir Khlebnikov, Igor Terentjev, Aleksey Kruchenykh, Vasily Kamensky, Pavel Kokorin, Tykhon Churylin, Bodjidar (Bogdan Gordejev), and David Burliuk.
featuring
· THE EVOLUTION OF IT
· TOUR DE PANTS
· PORTRAITS OF SADE
· SECONDHAND SMOKE SIGNALS
· ALFRED JARRY, TEEN PATAPHYSICIAN
· ANTIQUARIAN PUZZLES
· RUSSIAN FUTURISTS
· CUBIST TALES
· DRIBBLING DRABBLES
· MR. COPYRIGHT
· REINHARD GOERING STORIES
· THEMERSON’S LOST FILM
· FOUND FINDS
· TYPO’S TYPOS
And much more
Grab your copy today.
TYPO #4: The International Journal of Prototypes edited by Norman Conquest trade paperback; 152 pp., illustrated; $20
We proudly present the 15th volume in our grand Alphonse Allais Collection. Here is France’s greatest humorist in top form. This first English translation of WE ARE NOT SHEEP features 44 witty tales, PLUS four extra stories, translated by Allaisian scholar Doug Skinner, with his erudite introduction and complete notes on the text.
If you’re looking for laughter—(and, hell, who isn’t?)—this delightful edition is a gift that will long be remembered.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALPHONSE ALLAIS (1854-1905) was a peerless French humorist, celebrated posthumously by the Surrealists for his elegant style and disturbing imagination. In addition to composing absurdist texts for newspapers such as LE CHAT NOIR and LE JOURNAL, he experimented with holorhymes, pioneered conceptual art, and created the earliest known example of a silent musical composition: FUNERAL MARCH FOR THE OBSEQUIES OF A DEAF MAN (1884). Ahead of his time (as well as ours), Allais is needed now more than ever. His mischievous work remains fresh, funny, and always surprising.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
DOUG SKINNER has contributed to Black Scat Review, The Fortean Times, Strange Attractor Journal, Fate, Weirdo, Nickelodeon, Cabinet, and other fine publications. Black Scat Books has published several books of his stories, cartoons, and songs, as well as translations of Alphonse Allais, Charles Cros, Alfred Jarry, Pierre-Corneille Blessebois, Luigi Russolo, Caroline Crépiat, and Corinne Taunay. Other translations include Three Dreams (Giovanni Battista Nazari, Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks), The Cocktail Hour (Marcel Requien and Lucien Farnoux, with Gaylor Olivier, Corps Reviver), and Principles of Cerebral Mechanics (Charles Cros, Wakefield Press).
He has written music for several dance companies; his scores for actor/clown Bill Irwin include The Regard of Flight, The Courtroom, The Regard Evening, and The Harlequin Studies.
TV and movie appearances include Great Performances, Martin Mull’s Talent Takes a Holiday, Mike’s Talent Show, Ed, Crocodile Dundee II, several of George Kuchar’s videos, and a smattering of commercials.
His albums That Regrettable Weekend, It All Went Pfft, and An Afternoon in the Arboretum are available on Bandcamp.
Here in America, Black Scat Books has published thirteen collections by the master absurdist — all skillfully translated by Doug Skinner. And coming this December — we’ll bring you Allais’s 14th book—WE ARE NOT SHEEP.
While you’re waiting, please check out our vast Alphonse Allais Collection below. These volumes will keep you laughing throughout 2024. (Click on the titles below for details.)
TYPO 3 has finally arrived and it’s the best issue yet. 152 pages packed with innovative texts and graphics by an international roster of artists & writers.
FEATURING: Tim Newton Anderson; Tom Barrett; Aloysius Bertrand; Michael Betancourt; André Breton; Jahan Cader; Norman Conquest; Farewell Debut; R J Dent; Germaine Dulac; Eckhard Gerdes; Boris Glikman; Vasilisk Gnedov; Amy Kurman; Edward Lee; Emilia Loseva; Gabriel Pomerand; R. Prost; Doug Skinner; De Villo Sloan; Robert R. Thurman; Nico Vassilakis.
INSIDE: ON THE ROAD WITH RAY ROUSSEL BONSAI ITALIAN POSTCARDS CLASSIFICATION OF DREAMS NOTES TO THE TYPESETTER RUSSIAN FUTURIST POETRY EARLY SURREALIST FILMS HAWAIIAN BOARD GAMES DEAD CALLING CARDS ADVERBS GONE WILD EROTIC ALPHABETS BALLMER’S BARBIE COMBINATRONICS URBAN REBUSES LITTER RAT TEA BRETON’S FISH & much more
