Casino de Paris

The Casino de Paris, located at 16, rue de Clichy, in the 9th arrondissement, is one of the well known music halls of Paris, with a history dating back to the 18th century.

The first building at this location where shows could be mounted was erected by the Duc de Richelieu around 1730, while after the Revolution the site was renamed Jardin de Tivoli and was the venue for fireworks displays. In 1880 it became the Palace Theatre, which housed shows of different types, including wrestling.

It was at the beginning of the First World War, however, that the modern Casino de Paris began to take shape, when the venue was converted into a cinema and music hall. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to a revue called Paris en Fleures at the Casino de Paris which featured Maurice Chevalier to emphasis a point he is making in the film script for Tender Is The Night about the creation of atmosphere in the film with the use of signs, words and advertisements of Paris in 1926; "Here the signs are not only historically accurate - your research department being at the moment the memory of one of your writers - and Paris en Fleures at the Casino de Paris" (The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 75). We can assume that Lowry must have recalled a poster of the revue or even seen the revue on his 1926 visit to the city with The Leys School. He alludes to the poster again; "Nearby the Metro is held a moment: Maurice Chevalier's grin" and later; "Cut to our party getting out of the taxi in front of the Casino de Paris. We see the billboards with posters of Chevalier - the show Paris En Fleures. (Pg. 78). Later in the film script the posters are reprised in another scene set in Paris (Pg.129); "Don't you think that the Casino de Paris and Monmartre will be a bit much for you?" (Pg. 77).

Maurice Chevalier

Maurice Auguste Chevalier (September 12, 1888 – January 1, 1972) was a French actor, singer, entertainer and a noted Sprechgesang performer. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to a revue called  Paris en Fleures which featured Maurice Chevalier at the Casino de Paris to emphasis a point he is making in the film script for Tender Is The Night about the creation of atmosphere in the film with the use of signs, words and advertisements of Paris in 1926; "Here the signs are not only historically accurate - your research department being at the moment the memory of one of your writers - and Paris en Fleures at the Casino de Paris" (The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 75). We can assume that Lowry must have recalled a poster of the revue or even seen the revue on his 1926 visit to the city with The Leys School. He alludes to the poster again; "Nearby the Metro is held a moment: Maurice Chevalier's grin" and later; "Cut to our party getting out of the taxi in front of the Casino de Paris. We see the billboards with posters of Chevalier - the show Paris En Fleures. (Pg. 78). Later in the film script the posters are reprised in another scene set in Paris (Pg.129).


We can only speculate why Lowry refers to the poster of Maurice Chevalier. He may be using the poster in the same way as he did with one of Maria Landrock in Under The Volcano - using later knowledge of a person's politics or role to post-date on an earlier period in the person's life - though the reader or viewer would know about the person's politics. When Lowry was writing the film script, Chevalier had been accused on collaborating with the Nazis during the occupation of France.

Paris En Fleures

Paris En Fleures was a revue performed at the Casino de Paris. Launched in November 1925 starring the Simone Roseray and Jacques Capella, the Dolly Sisters, Maurice Chevalier and Yvonne Vallee. Simone Roseray and Jacques Capella's dances in a Grecian number, India of a thousand and one nights and Versailles in the autumn were greatly admired.

Lowry refers to the revue to emphasis a point he is making in the film script for Tender Is The Night about the creation of atmosphere in the film with the use of signs, words and advertisements of Paris in 1926; "Here the signs are not only historically accurate - your research department being at the moment the memory of one of your writers - and Paris en Fleures at the Casino de Paris" (The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 75). We can assume that Lowry must have recalled a poster of the revue or even seen the revue on his 1926 visit to the city with The Leys School. He alludes to the poster again; "Nearby the Metro is held a moment: Maurice Chevalier's grin" and later; "Cut to our party getting out of the taxi in front of the Casino de Paris. We see the billboards with posters of Chevalier - the show Paris En Fleures. (Pg. 78). Later in the film script the posters are reprised in another scene set in Paris (Pg.129).

We can only speculate why Lowry refers to this poster. He may be using the poster in the same way as he did with one of Maria Landrock in Under The Volcano - using later knowledge of a person's politics or role to post-date on an earlier period in the person's life - though the reader or viewer would know about the person's politics. When Lowry was writing the film script, Chevalier had been accused on collaborating with the Nazis during the occupation of France.

Lowry may also be drawing on the background of the other performers in the Revue -Simone Roseray and Jacques Capella and their links to the Riveria - the setting of part of Tender Is The Night. In the Spring of 1924 that they came to prominence after making a splash on the Riviera in early 1924, especially in Nice, they became one of the main attractions (along with Rose Amy, Gaby Montbreuse and Rene Thano) in the Concert Mayol show Toute Neu from March 1924. Here they gave ‘a number of acrobatic dances which show off the beauty of physical form of both partners’ in such exotic numbers as Nuit de Sheherazade, La Favourite and L’Amant (the lover), La Boite de Jeux – Le Jeu des Dames (play of the ladies) and La Javaise des Roses – L’Ame des Roses (the heart of the roses). At the same time they doubled at the fashionable Canari nightclub in the Rue Faubourg. Read more on Jazz Age Club

California Straight Ahead 1925

A film directed by Harry A. Pollard starring Reginald Day, Tom Hayden, Gertrude Olmstead and Tom Wilson.

Lowry refers to the film to emphasis a point he is making in the film script for Tender Is The Night about the creation of atmosphere in the film with the use of signs, words and advertisements of Paris in 1926; "Here the signs are not only historically accurate - your research department being at the moment the memory of one of your writers - Ca Qua Ca Gaze, for instance, was the French name given to Reginald Denny's California Straight Ahead, which was playing in Paris in 1926..." (The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 75). We can assume that Lowry must have recalled a poster of the film on his 1926 visit to the city with The Leys School.

Long after the death of Wallace Reid, writer Byron Morgan was still coming up with the type of road and racing stories he created for the late star. Reginald Denny has the lead in this especially hilarious comedy-thriller. Because he stays too long at his bachelor party, Tom Hayden (Denny) shows up late to his wedding to Betty Browne (Gertrude Olmstead). As a result, the ceremony is called off and Hayden's family disowns him. So he and his valet Sambo (Tom Wilson) decide to take the double-decker wedding car on a cross-country trip, paying their way by supplying tourists with chicken dinners and radio music. In the desert, Hayden runs into Betty and her angry parents (Fred Esmelton and Lucille Ward). When animals break loose from a nearby circus, Hayden saves the Brownes and when he arrives in Los Angeles, he drives Mr. Browne's car in a big race. He wins -- and wins Betty. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Bal Tabarin, Paris

The Bal Tabarin was a cabaret in Paris at 36 Rue Victor Masse in the ninth arrondissement at the foot of Montmartre. Located near the Moulin Rouge in Pigalle. Founded in 1904 by composer and conductor Auguste Bosc, it was built on the site of shacks near the cabaret singers The Trestles Tabarin. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry probably knew the cabaret from his 1933-34 stay in the city; "Another party gets out of a taxi before the brilliant sign of the Bal Taborin (Lowry's spelling)." ( The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 79).

Au Lapin Agile, Paris

Lapin Agile is a famous Montmartre cabaret, at 22 Rue des Saules, 18th arrondissement of Paris, France.It was originally called "Cabaret des Assassins". Tradition relates that the cabaret received this name because a band of assassins broke in and killed the owner's son. The cabaret was more than twenty years old when, in 1875, the artist Andre Gill painted the sign that was to suggest its permanent name. It was a picture of a rabbit jumping out of a saucepan, and residents began calling their neighborhood night-club "Le Lapin à Gill", meaning "Gill's rabbit". Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry probably knew the cabaret from his 1933-34 stay in the city; "and we see that our party have left the Boulevard and struck off into the section behind it, heading for some place like Le lapin Agile." ( The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 79).

L'Eglise St Germain des Prés, Paris

The Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, just beyond the outskirts of early medieval Paris, was the burial place of Merovingian kings of Neustria. At that time, the Left Bank of Paris was prone to flooding from the Seine, so much of the land could not be built upon and the Abbey stood in the middle of fields, or prés in French, thereby explaining its appellation. The abbey church remains as the Église de Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris.


Lowry probably knew the church from his 1933-34 stay in the city; "We are in the car with the girls as they pass ...the spire of Saint-Germain-des-Prés" ( The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 70).

Statue de Diderot, Place St-Germain-des-Prés, Paris

Statue de Diderot sculpted by Jean Gautherin and unveiled in 1886. Located in the Place St-Germain-des-Prés near to where he lived then Taranne street .


Lowry probably saw the statue on his 1933-34 stay in the city; ""We are in the car with the girls as they pass ... the statue of Diderot.." ( The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 70).

Quai Malaquais, Paris

A dock located along the Seine in Paris, in the 6th arrondissement, between the banks Conti and Voltaire.


Lowry probably knew the dock from his 1933-34 stay in the city; "then they are going along the Quai Malaquais." ( The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 70).

Musée du Louvre, Paris

The Musée du Louvre or simply the Louvre. A central landmark of Paris, France, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement (district). Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry probably first saw or visited the museum on his visit to Paris in 1926 with his school The Leys for a hockey tournament though he would have possibly seen it many times during his 1933-34 stay in the city; "and we see the Louvre across the river, dappled light beneath the plane trees, a barge going downstream."  (The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 71).

Citroën Advert, Eiffel Tower 1925-1934

From 1925 to 1934, André Citroën rented the Eiffel Tower and had the Citroën brand name emblazoned with  250,000 incandescent lights. 600 kilometres of electric flex were required for the letters, which were 30 metres high.


Lowry probably saw the sign on his visit to Paris in 1926 with his school The Leys for a hockey tournament though he would have also seen it on his 1933-34 stay in the city; "the vertical sign which marks the seemingly ubiquitous Eiffel Tower: Citroën". ( The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 78).

Moulin Rouge, Paris

Moulin Rouge is a cabaret in Paris, France. It was built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia. Close to Montmartre in the Paris district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, it is marked by the red windmill on its roof.

There is no documentation that Lowry visited the cabaret. Lowry references the cabaret in the filmscript to Fitzgerald's Tender Is The Night; "we see signs for Moulin Rouge." and ""the red mecacano windmill of the Moulin Rouge revolves." (The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 75 and 79).

Les 10 Fratellinis

The Fratellini Family was a famous circus family in the late 1900s and 1920s. An engagement at the Circus Medrano in Paris, France, after World War I was so successful that it sparked a strong resurgence of interest in the circus. By 1923, the Fratellini brothers had become the darlings of the Parisian intellectuals. They were lauded in print and worshiped by adoring fans who would show up at the circus just in time for the Fratellini entree, which sometimes ran as long as forty-five minutes:

Paul Fratellini (1877–1940)
François Fratellini (1879–1951)
Albert Fratellini (1886–1961), 

Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry first saw the famous clowns most probably at the Cirque D' Hiver in Paris during his 1926 visit to the city with his school The Leys for a hockey tournament; "....only the signs above and around her said: Dubonnet, Amer Picon, Les 10 Frattelinis (Malc's spelling).... (Under The Volcano) and "...and to push the matter further we can even half remember that Dick (les Fratellinis, ...) had "helped" a circus clown......" ( The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 76) There is a further mention of the clowns seen as advertisements on pages 78 and 129.

Cirque D' Hiver, Paris

The Cirque d'hiver ("Winter Circus"), located at 110 rue Amelot (at the juncture of the rue des Filles Calvaires and rue Amelot, Paris 11ème), has been a prominent venue for circuses, exhibitions of dressage, musical concerts, and other events, including exhibitions of Turkish wrestling and even fashion shows. The theatre was designed by the architect Jacques Ignace Hittorff and was opened by Emperor Napoleon III on 11 December 1852 as the Cirque Napoléon. The orchestral concerts of Jules Etienne Pasdeloup were inaugurated at the Cirque Napoléon on 27 October 1861 and continued for more than twenty years. The theatre was renamed Cirque d'hiver in 1870. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry probably saw the Fratellinis at the Cirque D' Hiver in Paris during his 1926 visit to the city with his school The Leys for a hockey tournament

Comédie des Champs-Élysées Theatre , Paris

The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is a theatre at 15 avenue Montaigne. Despite its name, the theatre is not on the Champs-Élysées but nearby in another part of the 8th arrondissement of Paris. Opened in 1913, it was designed by French architect Auguste Perret and founded by journalist and impresario Gabriel Astruc to provide a venue suitable for contemporary music, dance and opera, in contrast to traditional, more conservative, institutions like the Paris Opera. The building houses two smaller stages, the Comédie des Champs-Élysées theatre on the 3rd floor, and the Studio des Champs-Élysées on the 5th floor.
Read more on Wikipedia

Jean Cocteau gave Lowry tickets to see his latest play La Machine Infernale which opened 10 April 1934 at the Comedie des Champs-Elysees (Louis Jouvet theatre) in Paris.

Jean Cocteau

Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau  5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. Cocteau is best known for his novel Les Enfants terribles (1929), and the films Blood of a Poet (1930), Les Parents terribles (1948), Beauty and the Beast (1946), and Orpheus (1949). Read more on Wikipedia

Maurice Sachs introduced Lowry to Jean Cocteau who gave Lowry tickets to see his latest play La Machine Infernale which opened  10  April  1934 at the Comedie des Champs-Elysees (Louis Jouvet theater) in Paris. The play had a big affect on Lowry because the idea of the universe in the play as an infernal machine and of time as a "folded eternity" "chimed with Lowry's own obsessions - Nordahl Grieg's Moloch of fate and the time theories of J.W. Dunne and Ouspensky." (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 178).

Lowry used a phrase of Cocteau's twice in letters - one to Conrad Aiken 9th April 1940 and to Albert Erskine 5th July 1946 - "Our books detest us". Sherrill Grace has pointed out that Lowry probably got the quote from Julian Green's book Personal Record 1928-1939 rather than Cocteau; Green writes: "This has reminded me of a curious remark which was made by Cocteau in my presence some time ago: "Our books detest us". (Pg. 297).

Rue De Lappes, Paris

A cobbled street in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, in the Bastille neighbourhood and best known for its nightlife. In the 20th Century rue de Lappe started picking up a reputation as a centre of Paris nightlife. By the 1930s 17 dance halls were installed in the street one of which the Balajo (9 rue de Lappe, 75011 Paris) still exists. The Balajo played host to many legendary entertainers of the day such as Edith Piaf and Django Reinhardt.

Jan Gabrial visited the street with Julian Trevelyan, Louise Scherpenberg and David Reeves to celbrate finding an apartment for her and Lowry to live in while in Paris; "After dinner we stopped by the Dôme for drinks and wound up on the rue de Lappe: one thing about Apaches - those real or ersatz Parisian gangster-types - who frequent the cafes there, they certainly could dance." (Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 39). There is no record that Lowry visited the street though with his love of jazz it is possible that he did visit the clubs there while in Paris in 1934.

Maurice Sachs

Maurice Sachs (born Maurice Ettinghausen, 1906, Paris - 14 April 1945, Germany) was a French writer. He was the son of a Jewish family of jewelers. Sachs was educated in an English-style boarding-school, lived for a year in London and worked in a bookshop, and returned to Paris.


In 1925 he converted to Catholicism and decided to become a priest, though this didn't last upon meeting a young man on the beach at Juan-les-Pins.

After involvement in a number of dubious business activities, he travelled to New York, where he passed himself off as an art dealer. Returning to Paris, he associated himself with leading homosexual writers of the time - Cocteau, Gide and Max Jacob - with all of whom he had stormy relationships whose precise nature is unclear. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry was eager to get Ultramarine published in France, and through Kathleen Coyle met Maurice Sachs from Nouvelle Revue Francaise. Sachs had recently returned from America with his partner Henry Wibbels after running an art gallery in new York. Sachs was on the editorial board of Nouvelle Revue Francaise, he was soon talking of Ultramarine being translated by Gide. (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 173).

Maurice Sachs introduced Lowry to Jean Cocteau who gave Lowry tickets to see his latest play La Machine Infernale which opened  10  April  1934 at the Comedie des Champs-Elysees (Louis Jouvet theater) in Paris. The play had a big affect on Lowry because the idea of the univers in the play as an infernal machine and of time as a "folded eternity" "chimed with Lowry's own obsessions - Nordahl Grieg's Moloch of fate and the time theories of J.W. Dunne and Ouspensky." (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 178).

Lowry left Paris in early May with Maurice Sachs and Henry Wibbels  to stay in Saint-Prest. They stayed at the Hotel du Pont. In an unpublished letter written from the hotel to Jan referenced by Gordon Bowker, Lowry wrote to her describing that the Hotel du Pont was the perfect place for them to live. However, he also stated things were not working out as on of his companions was romancing the gardener, the other pursuing an oboe player (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 179).

The exact nature of Lowry's relationship with Lowry is unclear. Bowker suggest that Sach's was stringing Lowry along with promises of publishing Ultramarine for sexual motives. They had a violent argument when Lowry was drunk and Sach lost interest in both Lowry and Ultramarine. (Bowker Pg. 180). However, Lowry claimed later that he had a contract with Nouvelle Revue Francaise and had drunk the advance away. (Lowry, Haitian Notebook - conversation with Philippe Thoby-Marcelin)

Shakespeare and Company Bookshop, Paris

Lowry and Jan regularly visited Sylvia Beach's bookshop Shakespeare and Company while they were living in Paris in 1934. (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 175). A letter that Lowry wrote to Sylvia Beach in June 1934 has survived in which Lowry apologises for not paying for a book. (Collected Letters Volume 1 Letter 63).


The Shakespeare and Company bookshop was located at 12 rue de l'Odéon. Shakespeare and Company gained considerable fame after it published James Joyce's Ulysses in 1922, as a result of Joyce's inability to get an edition out in English-speaking countries.


Lowry turned down an opportunity to meet Joyce when he saw a poster in the bookshop claiming Joyce would be at a meeting of Les Amis de 1914 to be held on 23rd February 1934. Lowry believed the claim on the poster to be "unfounded and prepostrous." ( Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 55).

La Coupole, Paris

La Coupole is located at 102 Bd du Montparnasse. It was opened in1927 by Ernest Fraux and René Lafon.  Read more

François Bernouard organised Les Amis de 1914 event to celebrate James Joyce's 'Work In Progress' on 23rd February 1934 ( (Maria Jolas and J. Aubert: Joyce and Paris 1902..1920-1940..1975 Papers of the Fifth International James Joyce Symposium, Paris 16-20 June 1975) which Jan Gabrial attended.(Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 55). The event took place on the Boulevard Montparnasse in a vast temporary wooden structure next door to La Coupole and was reported by the Nouvelle Littérature as Joyce a La Coupole.

Les Amis de 1914, 23 February 1934

Lowry turned down an opportunity to meet Joyce when he saw a poster at Shakespeare and Company bookshop claiming Joyce would be at a meeting of Les Amis de 1914 on 23rd February 1934. Lowry believed the claim on the poster to be "unfounded and prepostrous." ( Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 55).


Jan did go to the meeting; "Oddly enough, Joyce did indeed show up, but that was all he did. The famous Irish voice remained unheard. Behind his glasses could it be that he was not awake?" 

François Bernouard organised Les Amis de 1914 event to celebrate James Joyce's 'Work In Progress' on 23rd February 1934 ( (Maria Jolas and J. Aubert: Joyce and Paris 1902..1920-1940..1975 Papers of the Fifth International James Joyce Symposium, Paris 16-20 June 1975) which Jan Gabrial attended.(Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 55). The event took place on the Boulevard Montparnasse in a vast temporary wooden structure next door to La Coupole and was reported by the Nouvelle Littérature as Joyce a La Coupole.


On stage were Louis Gillet, Edouard Dujardin and Léon-Paul Fargue who all spoke about James Joyce's work. The audience filled the event and included Andre Spire, Sylvia Beach, Adrienne Monnier, Ludmilla Bloch-Savitsky, John Rodker, Stuart Gilbert, Helen and Georgio Joyce, Paul Leons, Myron Nuttings, John O'Sullivan, Robert McAlmon, Samuel Beckett, George Antheil and Philippe Soupault.


There were also readings from Joyce's 'Work in Progress' including Finnegan's Wake read by an actress Rachel Behrendt coached by Joyce. 

Édouard Dujardin

Édouard Dujardin (10 November 1861 – 31 October 1949) was a French writer, one of the early users of the stream of consciousness literary technique, exemplified by his 1888 novel Les Lauriers sont coupés.

He spoke at Les Amis de 1914 event about James Joyce which was attended by Jan Gabrial on 23rd February 1934. (Maria Jolas and J. Aubert: Joyce and Paris 1902..1920-1940..1975 Papers of the Fifth International James Joyce Symposium, Paris 16-20 June 1975).

Louis Gillet

Louis Gillet (11 December 1876, Paris - 1 July 1943, Paris) was a French art historian and literary historian.

He spoke at Les Amis de 1914 event about James Joyce which was attended by Jan Gabrial on 23rd February 1934. (Maria Jolas and J. Aubert: Joyce and Paris 1902..1920-1940..1975 Papers of the Fifth International James Joyce Symposium, Paris 16-20 June 1975).

Léon-Paul Fargue

Léon-Paul Fargue (4 March 1876 – 24 November 1947) was a French poet and essayist.

He was born in Paris, France on rue Coquilliére. As a poet he was noted for his poetry of atmosphere and detail. His work spanned numerous literary movements. Before he reached 19 years of age, Fargue had already published in L'Art littéraire in 1894 and his important poem Tancrède appeared in the magazine Pan in 1895.

As an opponent of the surrealists, he became a member of the Symbolist poetry circle connected with Le Mercure de France. Rilke, Joyce and others declared that Fargue was at the very forefront of modern poetry. Read more on Wikipedia

He spoke at Les Amis de 1914 event about James Joyce which was attended by Jan Gabrial on 23rd February 1934. (Maria Jolas and J. Aubert: Joyce and Paris 1902..1920-1940..1975 Papers of the Fifth International James Joyce Symposium, Paris 16-20 June 1975)

François Bernouard

 Modigliani, Portrait of François Bernouard 1917 or 18

François Bernouard (1884-1949) was one of the great typographers of the first half of the twentieth century.  He founded his publishing company in 1909 and published nearly three hundred works over about forty years. Read more on Wikipedia

He organised Les Amis de 1914 event to celebrate James Joyce's Work In Progress on 23rd February 1934 ( (Maria Jolas and J. Aubert: Joyce and Paris 1902..1920-1940..1975 Papers of the Fifth International James Joyce Symposium, Paris 16-20 June 1975) which Jan Gabrial attended.(Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 55).

Daisy Fellowes

The Hon. Daisy Fellowes (née Marguerite Séverine Philippine Decazes de Glücksberg, (April 29, 1890 – December 13, 1962), was a celebrated 20th-century society figure, acclaimed beauty, minor novelist and poet, Paris Editor of American Harper's Bazaar, fashion icon, and an heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune. Read more on Wikipedia

Some sources state that she was involved with Les Amis de 1914 and proposed an event on February 23rd 1934 attended by Jan Gabrial where James Joyce was present. (See James Joyce (1882-1941)).

Café de Flore, Paris

The Café de Flore, at the corner of the Boulevard Saint-Germain and the Rue St. Benoit, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, has long been celebrated for its intellectual clientele. The classic Art Deco interior of all red seating, mahogany and mirrors has changed little since World War II. 


This may have the location where Jan Gabrial met Lowry after she had attended Les Amis de 1914 event  to see James Joyce. (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 175). This is contradicted later by Jan Gabrial in her book Inside The Volcano when she states the cafe was the Café de la Rotonde where they argued after Lowry had read her diaries while she was seeing Joyce.

Sylvia Beach

Sylvia Beach (March 14, 1887 - October 5, 1962), 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. (Read more on Wikipedia).

Beach opened an English language bookstore and lending library that she named Shakespeare and Company. Beach's bookstore was located at 8 rue Dupuytren in the 6th arrondissement of Paris.
Shakespeare and Company quickly attracted both French and American readers - including a number of aspiring writers to whom Beach offered hospitality and encouragement as well as books. In May 1921, Shakespeare and Company moved to 12 rue de l'Odéon. Shakespeare and Company gained considerable fame after it published James Joyce's Ulysses in 1922, as a result of Joyce's inability to get an edition out in English-speaking countries.

Lowry and Jan regularly visited  Shakespeare and Company while they were living in Paris in 1934. (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 175). A letter that Lowry wrote to Sylvia Beach in June 1934 has survived in which Lowry apologises for not paying for a book. (Collected Letters Volume 1 Letter 63).

Jan also recalled that Lowry turned down an opportunity to meet Joyce when they saw a poster in the bookshop claiming Joyce would be at a meeting of Les Amis de 1914 to be held on 23rd February 1934. Lowry believed the claim on the poster to be "unfounded and prepostrous." ( Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 55).

Café de la Rotonde, Paris

The Café de la Rotonde is a famous café in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France. Located on the Carrefour Vavin, at the corner of Boulevard du Montparnasse and Boulevard Raspail, it was founded by Victor Libion in 1910. Along with Le Dome and La Coupole it was renowned as an intellectual gathering place for notable artists and writers during the interwar period.

Jan Gabrial met Lowry here after she had attended the Les Amis de 1914 event after Lowry refused to believe that James Joyce would be present. (Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 55). Gordon Bowker says that the argument took place at the Café de Flore (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 175).

Odéon Metro Station, Paris

Odéon is a station on lines 4 and 10 of the Paris Métro in the 6th arrondissement in the heart of the Left Bank.

The station was opened on 9 January 1910 as part of the connecting section of the line under the Seine between Châtelet and Raspail. The line 10 platforms opened on 14 April 1926 as part of the line's extension from Mabillon. It was the eastern terminus of the line until its extension to Place d'Italie (now on line line 7) on 15 February 1930. Named after the nearby Odéon theatre, the station is located under the Carrefour de l'Odéon, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. The platforms on Line 4 were opened on 9 January 1910 and the platforms on Line 10 were opened on 14 February 1926.

Jan Gabrial caught a train from here after arguing with Lowry when they met at Cafe de la Rotonde when he told her that he had read her European diaries; "As I plunged toward the Odéon metro, I tried to remember what it was I'd written.." Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 55).

Fontenay-aux-Roses, France

Fontenay-aux-Roses is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 8.6 km  from the centre of Paris.The commune name originates from a local spring-fed stream (Latin fons, French fontaine) in the hillside descending from the Châtillon plateau, with "of roses" added to distinguish this commune from numerous French communes named Fontenay.

Lowry and Jan visit the town in the spring of 1934; "At Fontenay-aux-Roses, a small village near Paris, we initiated our nonsense songs." (Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 54).

Hotel du Pont, Saint-Prest, France

Lowry stayed at the Hotel du Pont, Saint-Prest with Maurice Sachs and Henry Wibbels in May 1934. In an unpublished letter written from the hotel to Jan referenced by Gordon Bowker, Lowry wrote to her describing that the Hotel du Pont was the perfect place for them to live. However, he also stated things were not working out as on of his companions was romancing the gardener, the other pursuing an oboe player (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 179). He also wrote to Sylvia Beach from the hotel apologising for not paying for a book.

Saint-Prest, France

Saint-Prest is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. Lowry stayed in the commune with Maurice Sachs and Henry Wibbels in May 1934.

They stayed at the Hotel du Pont. In an unpublished letter written from the hotel to Jan referenced by Gordon Bowker, Lowry wrote to her describing that the Hotel du Pont was the perfect place for them to live. However, he also stated things were not working out as on of his companions was romancing the gardener, the other pursuing an oboe player (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 179). He also wrote to Sylvia Beach from the hotel apologising for not paying for a book.

Lowry refers to the commune in the short story 'Hotel Room in Chartres'; "The train was passing St. Prest..." (Psalms Pg. 23).

While he stayed in the commune, he walked the fields to Chartres. A walk that Jacques Laruelle recalls in Under The Volcano, a memory evoked by his passion for Yvonne:

walking over the meadows from Saint Pres, the sleepy French village of backwaters and locks and grey disused watermills where he was lodging, he had seen, rising slowly and wonderfully and with boundless beauty above the stubble fields blowing with wildflowers, slowly rising sunlight, as centuries before the pilgrims straying over the same fields had watched them rise, the twin spires of Chartres Cathedral. His love had brought a peace, for all too short a while, there was strangely like the enchantment, the spell, of Chartres itself, long ago, whose every side-street he had come to love and cafe where he would gaze at the Cathedral eternally sailing against the clouds, the spell not even the fact he was scandalously in debt there could break.

Chartres

Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located 96 km southwest of Paris. Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by the famous Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country. To the south-east stretches the fruitful plain of Beauce, the "granary of France", of which the town is the commercial centre.

The town is the setting for Lowry's short story 'Hotel Room In Chartres' based on a visit made by Lowry and Jan Gabrial to the town and Rouen in 1934; "We've been to Chartres and to Rouen". Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 57). Lowry refers to several location in the city in the short story: Grotte Luminaire, Café Jacques Restaurant Bar du Cinéma, St Piat Chapel, La Gare Chartres and Chartres – Champhol Aerodrome.

Lowry visited the city again with Maurice Sachs and Henry Wibbels in May 1934 when they stayed in the village of St Prest walking across the fields to Chartres. A walk that Jacques Laruelle recalls in Under The Volcano, a memory evoked by his passion for Yvonne:

walking over the meadows from Saint Pres, the sleepy French village of backwaters and locks and grey disused watermills where he was lodging, he had seen, rising slowly and wonderfully and with boundless beauty above the stubble fields blowing with wildflowers, slowly rising sunlight, as centuries before the pilgrims straying over the same fields had watched them rise, the twin spires of Chartres Cathedral. His love had brought a peace, for all too short a while, there was strangely like the enchantment, the spell, of Chartres itself, long ago, whose every side-street he had come to love and cafe where he would gaze at the Cathedral eternally sailing against the clouds, the spell not even the fact he was scandalously in debt there could break.

Lowry also mentioned Chartres cathedral in his 1940 version of Under The Volcano; " his wife, his child, his fishing trip, his career, his sun and moon on the twin spires of Chartres cathedral, his immortal, posthumous work on 'Hidden Knowledge,' which would never be written. Why?" (Pg. 93)

Saint Sulpice Church, Paris

Gordon Bowker states that Jan posted the banns for her wedding at this church before Lowry arrived in Paris in 1933 ( Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 171). However, Jan wrote that she posted the banns with Lowry at the Mairie du XIVe Arrondissement on 31st December 1933; "It had snowed and is still snowing still... a harbinger of good." and "I had to dissuade Malcolm from removing the yellow affiche and bearing it reverently away." (Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 41).


A Roman Catholic church in Paris, France, on the east side of the Place Saint-Sulpice, in the Luxembourg Quarter of the VIe arrondissement. At 113 metres long, 58 metres in width and 34 metres tall, it is only slightly smaller than Notre-Dame and thus the second largest church in the city. It is dedicated to Sulpitius the Pious. During the 18th century, an elaborate gnomon, the Gnomon of Saint-Sulpice, was constructed in the church. Read more on Wikipedia

La Corbeille, Rue Delambre, Paris

The small restaurant La Corbeille was in the Rue Delambre around the corner from Le Dôme Café. Jan and Lowry went there on New Year's Eve 1933 with a party of people including Julian Trevelyan and Louise Scherpenberg before returning to Le Dôme Café. ( Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 43).

Le Dôme Café, 109 bd. Montparnasse, Paris

Le Dôme Café or Café du Dôme is a restaurant in Montparnasse, Paris. From the beginning of the 1900s, it was renowned as an intellectual gathering place. It was widely known as "the Anglo-American café."

Opening in 1898, it was the first such café in Montparnasse. It "created and disseminated gossip, and provided message exchanges and an 'over the table' market that dealt in artistic and literary futures." (Mark King Memories of Paris). It was frequented by painters, sculptors, writers, poets, models, art connoisseurs and dealers. Le Dôme later became the gathering place of the American literary colony and became a focal point for artists residing in Paris's Left Bank.

Visited by Jan Gabrial, Julian Trevelyan, Louise Scherpenberg and David Reeves in December 1933; "After dinner we stopped by the Dôme for drinks and wound up on the rue de Lappe." (Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 39)

Later, when when Lowry arrived in Paris, he and Jan met Julian Trevelyan and Louise Scherpenberg at the Dôme for a New Year's party in 1933. The scene of the beginning of an argument between Jan and Lowry.