French Literature Reviews - 2026
Almanach illustré du Père Ubu (20th Century). Facsimile
Novel and Narrative Prose
Almanach illustré du Père Ubu (XXe Siècle).
Facsimile of the 1901 original edition
Graphic Design: Pierre Bonnard
Le Castor astral
Series:
"Les Inattendus"
2006
ISBN: 2859206892
64 pages
15 €
Publisher's presentation:
The Almanach illustré du Père Ubu represents one of Alfred Jarry's most intriguing endeavors. He employs his iconic fetish character—both fascinating and repulsive—to cast an unconventional gaze upon the contemporary world and even reinvent it.
Structured like a traditional almanac (a genre widely popular around 1900), the volume opens with a calendar for the coming year entirely reimagined by Jarry: every holiday and saint's name is transformed or subverted by Père Ubu's whimsy. Readers thus step into a realm entirely governed by Jarry's imagination. The remainder of the book reveals the remarkable impact of such a renewal on political, artistic, and intellectual life: the entire world is put through Père Ubu's satirical grinder! The volume is richly illustrated with vignettes and color drawings by Pierre Bonnard, a close friend of Jarry. Serving as an integral part of the project, these illustrations blend seamlessly into the text thanks to highly inventive typography and layout. Music also finds its place in the Almanac, which concludes with the obscene lullaby of "Tatane," set to music by Claude Terrasse and once again accompanied by Bonnard's delightful illustrations.
Alfred Jarry occupies a singular place in turn-of-the-century French literature and the avant-garde movements that anticipated twentieth-century modernist experimentation. The traditional almanac format, widely popular around 1900, offered writers and artists a familiar vehicle for subversion, blending practical information, calendars, and entertaining miscellany into a widely accessible publication. By adopting this popular genre, Jarry and his contemporaries could playfully engage with mass culture while simultaneously undermining its conventions through avant-garde whimsy and satirical commentary on contemporary political and intellectual life.
This facsimile edition presents the 1901 work featuring graphic design and illustrations by Pierre Bonnard alongside musical composition by Claude Terrasse. Readers interested in early twentieth-century avant-garde literature, French satire, and the collaborative artistic projects of the period may find this publication relevant to their study of Jarry's enduring cultural legacy.