I wanted to add a bit more to my prior post regarding the passing of the French writer Roland Jaccard, who took his own life last September. Jaccard is best known to fans of Louise Brooks as the editor of the first ever book about the actress, Louise Brooks : portrait d'une anti-star. Jaccard's book was first published in France in 1977, and then translated into English and published in the United States in 1986 (and then in the UK in 1988). Here is a scan of the front and back covers of the American edition.
Jaccard's book made a bit of a splash in France, where it got some reviews and was eventually republished in 1985. The English language pieces in the book, namely those by Louise Brooks, were translated into French by Alain Meylan. When the book was published in English, the French pieces were translated into English by Gideon Y. Schein, who also contributed a brief forward to the book.
The book didn't catch on like it had in France, and only received a smattering of press. One syndicated piece that ran in a handful of newspapers stated: "More than a year after her death, silent screen star Louise Brooks continues to be a hot item in the publishing world. New York Zoetrope recently published Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-Star, an English translation of a 1982 German book edited by Roland Jaccard. The $19.95 paperback includes essays and letters - including several by Brooks - as well as 90 photos, many borrowed from Brooks' personal collection." The author of this piece got a couple of things wrong, like the fact the book came from France, not Germany, and was first published in 1977, not 1982.
Along with a filmography and list of Brooks' published articles, the English language edition includes:
The touch of a glance, by Tahar Ben Jelloun (poetry)
"Thank God, I'm alone", by Roland Jaccard
A certain kind of freedom, by Louise Brooks
The passion, death, and transfiguration of Lulu, by Jean-Michel Palmier
Pabst and Lulu, by Louise Brooks
The other side of the camera, by Louise Brooks
A witness speaks, by Lotte H. Eisner
The origin of a myth, by Roland Jaccard
An answer to an admirer: a letter from Louise Brooks to Guido Crepax
Song of Lulu, by Andre Laude (poetry)
During the pandemic lock-down in 2020, I found myself rereading Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-Star, and wondering about the book's translator, Gideon Y. Schein. I wondered who he was, and decided to try and track him down, if possible. I was able to do so, and wrote him asking how it was he came to translate the French text
Gideon wrote back: "A friend of mine who
was working for the publisher of the book knew that I had met Louise
Brooks in Rochester NY several times and when they needed a
translator/editor they came to me. I was a big time fan long before
that. I was a lunchtime guest in her home, which she never left. At
that time I was the Producing Director of the GeVa Theater in Rochester. . . . One day, out of the blue she called me and invited me for lunch. She must have followed me in the two local papers and was curious about my opera career in Europe, as well as my theater in Rochester. . . . She really was an extraordinary woman, but in her own way very humble. She turned down a star career for artistic principles."
Roland Jaccard's Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-Star is a book every fan of the actress should own, and read. There are many second hand copies floating around the internet at very affordable prices.
* * * * *
I want to add one more bit about Jaccard's book. Anyone who has read this blog for a whiule will likely know that I used to work as a bookseller at the Booksmith in San Francisco. For a long time, I ran the store's events program, and as a Louise Brooks obsessive, I tried to secure events with anyone connected with early film. Over the years, I put on events with Barry Paris, Peter Cowie, Frederica Sagor Maas (of Rolled Stockings fame) and others. Check out this earlier blog about some of the events I put on, part 1 is HERE, and part 2 is HERE.
Before I ran the events program, I was a section buyer, purchasing stock for the film section, art section, poetry, and the sale table. One day in 1998, while going through list of sale books, I noticed Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-Star. Wow. I ordered a box full, and placed them on the sale table and offered them on-line. I knew there was interest, and they sold quickly. I ordered another box and they sold. I ordered two more boxes, and three more boxes, and four more boxes, and they all sold. I remember being a bit giddy at how fast these books were flying out the door.
I am not sure how many copies of Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-Star I sold, but it was a lot. Perhaps as many as 800 or 900 books. In fact, the store sold so many copies that the book made a local bestseller list. The SF Weekly, an alternative weekly in San Francisco, carried bestseller lists from local bookstores, and when they carried the Booksmith list, the then two-year old Louise Brooks: Portrait of an Anti-Star became a bestseller in 1998. Here is a scan of the clipping I have kept since then.
