Proust et Einstein

..."The NRF finally published Camile Vettard's article "Proust et Einstein" on August 1. Although Proust told Gallimard that Vettard "flatters me too much," the novelist was delighted by the comparison. Vettard had found, among other similarities, that Proust and  Einstein "have the sense, the intuition, the comprehension of the great natural laws."    {Marcel Proust: A Life by William C. Carter, p 789}

p III 39:  Grand Escalier at the Paris Opera

p 40 | Charles I, Emperor of Austria
       | This may be the Prince of Saxony he means; the dates work, but we're not sure what year it is in the text. "I don't know the number. My cousin told me I had only to ask for her box."
p 41 | Henri d'Orleans, duc d'Aumale|, looking like a medallion of Henri IV -->
p 45 | halcyon's (kingfisher) nest

p 52  | Whoa! Where did this recording of La Berma come from? (Hint: keep your eyes closed.)

Photos & artwork

Buy A Proust Souvenir by Adams   
description here


Buy The World of Proust by Bernard
description here

Theater interior in color
Comédie Francaise
Salle Richelieu today (interior)
Bourgogne theatre (click on SEE THE MODEL)
England's Sadler Wells theatre
Covent Garden theatre
Odeon Theatre
Teatro San Carlo, Naples

Liz Taylor at the Proust Ball, 1971

Worth learning Italian for this wonderful Proust site.
All photos we have of Proust
Pictures & info on Proust's friends.... in Italian
Photos & info on Proust's family... in Italian

Montesquiou
Laure Hayman

Thanks to Carolita Johnson : NewYorkette.com

Pages for June

v3: Move to a new apartment in a wing of the Hôtel de Guer­mantes (1). Poetic dreams spurred by the name Guermantes dissipate (4). Françoise & friends at lunch downstairs (12). Jupien (14); his niece (16).  The name Guermantes, having shed its feudal connota­tions, now whispers a new mystery -- the Faubourg Saint-Germain (28). The Guermantes’s doormat: threshold of the Faubourg (31).
A gala evening at the Opéra (39). Berma in Phèdre once more (39, 49). The Prince of Saxony? (40). The Faubourg Saint-Ger­main in their boxes (44). The Princesse de Guermantes’s stage box: water-goddesses & bearded tritons (44).

Proust on audio

Here it is.This is who reads it.  Here's a review.

Here is The Guermantes Way in mp3 format.

Pages for May

For 5/31: Françoise holds court at lunch-time below stairs (12).  Jupien (14); his niece (16). 

For 5/24: START  THE GUERMANTES WAY v 3  PART 1

 Move into a new apartment in a wing of the Hôtel de Guer­mantes (1). Poetic dreams conjured up by the name Guermantes dispelled one by one (4-12).

Finish In the Shadow of Young Girls/Budding Grove.... if you haven't already...

The rejected kiss (701). The attraction of Albertine (702). The multiple utilization of a single action (707). Straying in the budding grove (716). The different Al­bertines (718). End of the season (724). Departure (728).

Within a Budding Grove (vol II p 677- )

p 680 | A game of "ferret" (jeu du furet or hunt-the-slipper). On his blog, Charles Matthews calls it "ring-on-a-string."
p 682 | Visit Trianon without getting up a party in Louis XVI costume (scroll down)
p 683 | Laura Dianti (portrait by Titian)

Within a Budding Grove (vol II p 671-77)

p 670 | Sophocles : greatest Greek tragedian, 497 B.C.
  Jean Racine, b. 1639. He was educated at The Petites écoles de Port-Royal, a place of intellectual excellence and educational experimentation.
| Athalie: Racine tragedy 1691.
| Esther: Racine drama 1689.
p 671 | Greek chorus
| Joad (Google translation from the French)
| Robert Garnier, French poet, b. 1544
|Antoine de Montchrestien, b. 1575. Aman = Haman
|Charles Sainte-Beuve, b. 1804, French literary critic; Proust wrote Contre Sainte-Beuve (Against Sainte-Beuve)
|Gustave Merlet, French literary academic, 1829–91.
|Nicolas Deltour, French professor & writer, 1822–1904.
|Edouard Gascq-Desfossé, French textbook author, c. 1886-1909.
p 676 | human life to zoophytes (invertebrate animals that resemble plants, such as sponges, corals and sea anemones)
p 677 | "Harmony in pink and gold": Fictional painting name, but sounds like he's referencing Whistler (surprise!): Finding a parallel between painting and music, Whistler titled many of his paintings "arrangements", "harmonies", and "nocturnes", emphasizing the primacy of tonal harmony. (Wikipedia)
|theogony : description of the creation of the gods.
 

| peacock       or        peony

Within a Budding Grove (vol II p 651-53)

Monet, Regatta at Sainte-Adresse

Balbec through Elstir’s eyes (651).

p 652 | Claude Monet, Regattas at Argenteuil.The Regatta at Sainte-Adresse (1867);  Regatta Society of Le Havre. 

 A regatta probably looked a lot like this.

 By the 1870s, about 200 sailboats were moored in the Argenteuil basin. Many were owned by Parisians (only a half-hour away by train), but others could be rented. Renoir’s painting shows the boats & spectators at a regatta. At least two were run every month between early spring and fall.

Renoir, A Regatta at Argenteuil

Vittore Carpaccio, Legend of St. Ursula (large)


 

 

Bucentaur = Large Venetian barge(of the Doge)