We have extracted these pages from a preface that M. Marcel Proust has written to a translation of Trésors des Rois (Sésame et les lys) by John Ruskin, which is about to be published shortly by Mercure de France. There is little here that directly concerns Les Trésors des Rois and Ruskin, and as will be seen M. Marcel Proust has reserved himself to accompanying Ruskin's text with frequent and meticulous commentaries. But in the preface that we present here, taking only the text and the pretext of Les Trésors des Rois whose subject is the usefulness of reading, his aim is simply to express his own ideas about reading, which are quite different from those of Ruskin. In short it is not therefore a Ruskinian study, but a sort of personal essay that little by little M. Marcel Proust has found himself drawn to write and which today our readers are the first to see.
La Renaissance latine, 15 June 1905.
We have extracted these pages from a preface that M. Marcel Proust has written to a translation of Trésors des Rois (Sésame et les lys) by John Ruskin, which is about to be published shortly by Mercure de France. There is little here that directly concerns Les Trésors des Rois and Ruskin, as will be seen. M. Marcel Proust, having followed Ruskin's text step by step in the commentary that accompanies the work, has on the contrary aimed in the preface, taking only the text and the pretext of Les Trésors des Rois which is a conference on reading, merely to expose his personal ideas about reading, which are quite different to those of Ruskin. In short therefore it is not a Ruskinian study, but a sort of personal essay that step by step M. Marcel Proust has found himself drawn to write and which our readers are the first to see today .
NAF 16621, 1r, corrected proofs.
Created 01.02.23