The race is launched! Since January 1, 2025, the date on which Colette’s work has entered the public domain, seventy years after the death of the “Good Lady of the Royal Palace” (1873-1954), pocket publishers published at Tout-Va The novels of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. It is that, after having been abused by the new novel and knew the “purgatory” for a few decades until the publication of his work in the Pleiade in 1984, the modernity of “the most free woman in the world”, according to Pierre Mac Orlan, won. But it is also because Sido And The Vigne Vrilles are enrolled in the French bac program, while Claudine at school,, Budding wheat,, Dear or Claudine’s house are often mentioned in class. We will therefore not be surprised to see these last titles published first by the various publishers, following in this the step in the pocket book, house of the Hachette group which acquired in 1966 the fund of Ferenczi, historic publisher of Claudine’s house (1922) and Sido (1930).
Let us recall in this regard that Colette, while having been a real editorial vagabond – she published with Ollendorff, Mercure de France, at Fayard or even at Flammarion – was very much, between 1920 and 1930, on Henri Ferenczi, specialized in popular literature and therefore that can affect a large audience. “In addition, the latter yielded to all his whims, as systematically pays him advances on a first draw of 40,000 copies,” says Frédéric Maget, the president of the Société des Amis de Colette and director of the House of Colette.
Thus, from January 2, classic folio published a set Dear And The end of darling (592 p, 6.50 euros) and another, including Claudine’s house,, The birth of the day And Sido (528 p, 6.50 euros), with preface, chronology and notes by Martine Reid and Corentin Zurlo-Truche. For its part, I read published under elegant covers most of these novels in six separate volumes (Dear, The pussy,, Claudine’s house,, The vagabonde,, Sido…) At 3 euros each. Modest price also with Archipoche, a subsidiary of Editis, which publishes, without any other critical device than a preface by Katherine Pancol, four collections of more than 600 pages at 10.95 euros. each, one of which included CLAUDINE EN HEO,, Claudine leaves And Claudine’s house. An aggregation that has the gift of hearing Frédéric Maget, the president of the Société des Amis de Colette, who reminds us that the latter book has nothing to do with the Claudine series, if not the name of Claudine in The title.
The fact remains that this great specialist is delighted with this renewed interest in Burgundian, finally recognized as a great writer, and hopes to see the edition of certain exhausted texts very quickly The back of the music hall. Pending the exhibition that the National Library of France will devote to it in the 2nd half of 2025.