Matin by Keith Vaughan

Matin (1943)
Keith Vaughan (English, 1912-1977)
Collage, pen and ink, crayon, wash and gouache
21 x 14 cm.

In 1943, Keith Vaughan began a series of gouaches based on Arthur Rimbaud's cycle of poems Une Saison En Enfer (A Season in Hell).

Morning by Arthur Rimbaud

Didn't I once have a happy youth, heroic and fabulous, to be written on leaves of gold? Too much luck! By what crime, through what error, have I deserved my present weakness? You who maintain that animals sob with grief, that the sick despair, that the dead have bad dreams, try and give an account of my downfall and present slumber. I can no more explain myself than the beggar with his endless Paters and Ave Marias. I no longer know how to speak.

From the same wilderness, in the same night, my tired eyes always awaken to the same silver star; always, through the Kings of life, the three magi - the heart, the soul, the spirit - are not stirred. Where shall we go, beyond the shorelines and the mountains, to hail the birth of the new work, the new wisdom, the flight of tyrants and demons, the end of superstition, to worship - the first to do so! Christmas on Earth?

The song of heaven, the march of peoples! Slaves, let us not curse life.

Front Free Endpaper: Gaston Goor Illustrates Les Amitiés Particulières

Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte is widely considered one of the classic pieces of romantic schoolboy fiction. It is the story of an older and a younger boy in a French boarding school who become romantically attached and about the tragedy that ensues when the affair is discovered and mishandled by the priests who run the school. The 'affair' actually is no more than some passionate letters and a couple of stolen kisses. It was translated into English and made into a film and in 1953 Flammarion published a de luxe edition in two volumes with lithographic illustrations by Peyrefitte's favorite illustrator Gaston Goor.

Frontispiece, Volume I : Georges and Lucien flanking an angel
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Title Page, Volume I : Georges reading a note with Lucien
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Georges observing the courtyard
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Georges and André in front of statue of Tarsicius
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Georges and Lucien at the piano
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Alexandre, Georges, and Lucien at communion
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Georges looking at Alexandre through the window
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Georges and Alexandre in the greenhouse
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Georges in the office of the Superior
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : Alexandre and Georges in Father Lauzon's room
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume I : The exchange of blood
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Frontispiece, Volume II : Love between Alexandre and Georges
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Title Page, Volume II : Alexandre and Love
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Georges and Lucien in the dormitory with Father Trennes
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Georges and Lucien serving mass with Father Trennes
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Maurice, the Superior, and Father Trennes
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Alexandre and Georges surprised in the cabin
Gaston Goor (French 1902-1977)
 Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Georges remembers Alexandre bathing
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Georges and Lucien in the dormitory
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Georges and Alexandre meet near the greenhouse
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Georges learns of Alexandre's death
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

Volume II : Memories of Alexandre
Gaston Goor (French, 1902-1977)
Les Amitiés Particulières by Roger Peyrefitte
Paris : Flammarion, 1953

This blog post was originally a reblog of two posts (Part I & Part II) from Front Free Endpaper, a site that has since closed. The post has been updated to include the original images. Descriptions for each image have been added to provide context. Based on other information available online, it appears that this set of images is incomplete, lacking one image from each volume.
- E. Neagle, 23 December 2018