Oneworld secures collection of lost Proust tales

Oneworld is to publish nine stories by Marcel Proust for the first time in English. 

The stories in collection The Mysterious Correspondent were never published in Proust's lifetime. They were uncovered by scholar and publisher Bernard de Fallois, who previously identified Proust’s posthumously published novel Jean Santeuil, and Editions de Fallois published the stories in French in October.

Senior commissioning editor Alex Christofi bought world English rights to The Mysterious Correspondent from Editions de Fallois. The stories will now be translated by Charlotte Mandell, who has previously translated works by Proust, Maupassant and Flaubert.

Proust announced the nine stories, but never went through with publication, for reasons that are unclear. Oneworld says: “One explanation is that he was developing his themes in preparation for his masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time (A La Recherche du Temps Perdu); another is that the stories were too audacious—too near to life—for the censorious society of the time.” What comes through is “an intimate picture of a young author, full of darkness and melancholy", the publisher notes.   

On publication in October, French media hailed the collection as a "treasure" (Le Figaro Litteraire) and “the dramatic birth of a writer destined for greatness” (Les Inrockuptibles).

Oneworld plans publication in 2021 ahead of the 150th anniversary anniversary of Proust's birth.