| Maestro ! The first plan of a mute comic book |
| He wanted to do the first graphic novel ! |
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Dear Sir and friend,
I have a venture to propose to you which should, in my opinion, be of considerable interest to Le Figaro, and it is simply this: everyone has read or reads novels, especially when the said novels are written by well-known authors, much loved by the reading-public and you cannot but be aware that a successful novel is a fruitful venture for author and editor alike... But it is a notorious fact that all novels since the birth of Jesus Christ have essentially taken much the same form both as regards their external aspect and are, what is more, all written. Well, I have an idea for an innovation which I believe to be of a nature to excite lively interest amongst the reading-public! And that is? Quite simply to create a new form: le roman dessiné. Example: a gentleman, or rather a graceful lady (whether English or American, Austro-Hungarian, Burmese, Scandinavian or Moldavo-Walachian, whether they should modestly dub themselves Bavarian, Egroytian, Caffres or Archangelese, whether they first saw the light of day beneath the tents of a blessed Arabia or beneath the snows of the Siberian Steppes or even if they pride themselves on being French, this lady and this gentleman will be able to read this novel without knowing a word of our language! In a word, this has never been done! As for the format, the look of the book, I envisage a volume which will have the external aspect of a novel by Zola, by Daudet, by Montépin or by Paul Bourget, priced at 3frs 50c... But the interior! On the inside, not a line of text! Everything will be expressed by drawings, about 360 pages of them. Novels are normally about 320, 340, 350, 360 On the cover I envisage an easily legible title and, in a prominent place, a letter "F" to clearly indicate its paternity. For I shall be most happy for Le Figaro to adopt the future newborn. I am at your disposal to elaborate plans for this venture, which should be launched at the end of November and consequently begun now (it will involve some two or three months of work for me) and I can let you have the drawings in batches of 72, by the placard that is to say, of which there will be 5). If printing-costs allow we might think about the question of colour. Provisional title: Maestro. Characters: Brave homme de père, sainte femme de mère, fifille, maestro (compositeur de génie, une de nos gloires), son accordeur de pianos Minor characters: foule, bourgeois, élèves du maestro, chiens, etc... |
| Unpublished during one century: Maestro |
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