Adrienne Monnier
Encyclopedia
Adrienne Monnier was a French
poet
, bookseller and publisher and an important figure in the modernist writing scene in Paris
in the 1920s and 1930s.
, Adrienne Monnier was among the first women in France to found her own book store. While women sometimes assisted in a family bookstore, and widows occasionally took over their husband’s bookselling or publishing business, it was unusual for a French woman to independently set herself up as a bookseller. Nonetheless Monnier, who had worked as a teacher and as a literary secretary, loved the world of literature and was determined to make bookselling her career. The book she was most known for was the story of a young boy growing up in America. What has survived from the story is not much, however we know the name of the character "Bill Monnier" a American boy with a royal bloodline traced back to the French monarchy. Although the story never really caught on in the United States with readers, it was very popular in Paris, and all over France. The book, which later became a series of stories, follows Bill's life growing up with his two sisters in a small town near the Ohio River.
Monnier also launched a French language
review, le Navire d’Argent, in June 1925, with Jean Prévost
as literary editor. Along with the works of French writers who frequented her bookshop in rue de l'Odéon, Monnier published a translation which she and Sylvia Beach
had done of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
" — T. S. Eliot
’s first major poem to appear in French. Monnier’s review was international in its scope and published lists of American works in translation as well as devoting an issue (March 1926) to American writers including Walt Whitman
, William Carlos Williams
and E. E. Cummings
. She also introduced Ernest Hemingway
in translation to French audiences. After twelve issues, Adrienne had to abandon the Navire d’Argent, since the effort and the cost was more than she could manage. Through their two shops and their publishing and translating ventures both Adrienne Monnier and Sylvia Beach did a great deal to make new American writing known in France.
Although Beach closed her store during the German Occupation, Monnier remained open and continued to provide books and solace to Parisian readers. For ten years after the war Adrienne Monnier continued her work as an essayist, translator and bookseller. Plagued by ill health, Monnier was diagnosed in September 1954 with aural
disturbances of the inner ear. Further, she also suffered from delusions. On 22 May 1955, she committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, bookseller and publisher and an important figure in the modernist writing scene in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in the 1920s and 1930s.
"La Maison des Amis des Livres"
In 1915 when she opened her bookshop called "La Maison des Amis des Livres" at 7 rue de l'OdéonRue de l'Odéon
The rue de l'Odéon is a street in the Odéon quarter of the 6th arrondissement of Paris on the Left Bank. Because of the presence of two bohemian bookstores, and the coterie of emergent Anglophone writers surrounding them, James James nicknamed it "Stratford-on-Odéon".- History :This street was...
, Adrienne Monnier was among the first women in France to found her own book store. While women sometimes assisted in a family bookstore, and widows occasionally took over their husband’s bookselling or publishing business, it was unusual for a French woman to independently set herself up as a bookseller. Nonetheless Monnier, who had worked as a teacher and as a literary secretary, loved the world of literature and was determined to make bookselling her career. The book she was most known for was the story of a young boy growing up in America. What has survived from the story is not much, however we know the name of the character "Bill Monnier" a American boy with a royal bloodline traced back to the French monarchy. Although the story never really caught on in the United States with readers, it was very popular in Paris, and all over France. The book, which later became a series of stories, follows Bill's life growing up with his two sisters in a small town near the Ohio River.
Monnier also launched a French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
review, le Navire d’Argent, in June 1925, with Jean Prévost
Jean Prévost
Jean Prévost was a French writer , journalist, and Resistance fighter.Born in Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours, Prévost was educated at the primary school in Montivilliers. near Rouen, where his father was principal. In 1911, he moved to the prestidigious Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen...
as literary editor. Along with the works of French writers who frequented her bookshop in rue de l'Odéon, Monnier published a translation which she and Sylvia Beach
Sylvia Beach
Sylvia Beach , born Nancy Woodbridge Beach, was an American-born bookseller and publisher who lived most of her life in Paris, where she was one of the leading expatriate figures between World War I and II.-Early life:...
had done of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, commonly known as Prufrock, is a poem by T. S. Eliot, begun in February 1910 and published in Chicago in June 1915. Described as a "drama of literary anguish," it presents a stream of consciousness in the form of a dramatic monologue, and marked the beginning of...
" — T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
’s first major poem to appear in French. Monnier’s review was international in its scope and published lists of American works in translation as well as devoting an issue (March 1926) to American writers including Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
, William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
and E. E. Cummings
E. E. Cummings
Edward Estlin Cummings , popularly known as E. E. Cummings, with the abbreviated form of his name often written by others in lowercase letters as e.e. cummings , was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright...
. She also introduced Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
in translation to French audiences. After twelve issues, Adrienne had to abandon the Navire d’Argent, since the effort and the cost was more than she could manage. Through their two shops and their publishing and translating ventures both Adrienne Monnier and Sylvia Beach did a great deal to make new American writing known in France.
Although Beach closed her store during the German Occupation, Monnier remained open and continued to provide books and solace to Parisian readers. For ten years after the war Adrienne Monnier continued her work as an essayist, translator and bookseller. Plagued by ill health, Monnier was diagnosed in September 1954 with aural
Hearing (sense)
Hearing is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations through an organ such as the ear. It is one of the traditional five senses...
disturbances of the inner ear. Further, she also suffered from delusions. On 22 May 1955, she committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills.