The desperate man

FIRST EDITION of the author's first, largely autobiographical novel, fictionalizing the drama experienced between Bloy and Anne-Marie Roulé, a relationship where sensuality is gradually erased by mysticism.The edition was not printed on large paper, and all copies were softcover with an 1887 date on the cover. After being offered the publication of *Le Désespéré* by Tresse et Stock, Bloy delivered his manuscript to the Darantière printing house as he wrote it, until Stock discovered a particularly violent passage against the director of *Le Figaro*, Francis Magnard, which he wanted to remove. Faced with Bloy's absolute refusal, Stock had all printed copies, awaiting only binding, put aside. But Bloy was determined to have his book published. He met Soirat, who found him a printer willing to reprint *Le Désespéré*. The author himself modified the problematic passage, and the novel appeared in January 1887 in the present Soirat edition, which differs from the Tresse [&] Stock edition.