The Innocent Convict

FIRST EDITION. This is one of 100 numbered copies on pure Lafuma wove paper, the only large paper. Enriched with an autograph inscription signed by the author to Marcel Arland. Jules Supervielle was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, on January 16, 1884, to French parents. A few months later, the Supervielle family returned to France for a vacation that turned out to be tragic: the father and mother died within a week, probably poisoned by water. Young Jules returned to Uruguay with his uncle and had a happy childhood, surrounded by his cousins. At the age of ten, he was sent to high school in Paris. He began writing poetry and became friends with Jean Paulhan. Supervielle returned to Uruguay during the Second World War (1939-45). Back in France again, he continued to write but was hampered by health problems. He died on May 17, 196, five years after receiving the Grand Prix de l'Académie Française (in 1955). He defined his poetry as follows: "To make the ineffable familiar to us while preserving its fabulous roots."