Published by Americana Exchange / June 2014
Some auction sales are all about money, but others try to tell a story. The one entitled Crimes & Punishments (Pierre Bergé & Associés) sure had something to say. But it was clearly misunderstood by some, as two items were pulled from sale: a first edition of Mein Kampf by Hitler, as well as a book bound in human flesh.
Read the Article at AMERICANA EXCHANGE / or Read it Here
 |
| The expert Benoît Forgeot |
The Mighty Collection of M
Zoummeroff
“I don’t pass any moral
judgement on these books,” confessed M Forgeot, the expert for the sale. “Some of them shock me, others disgust me or
excite me. But they don’t tell the story of “bastards” only, they also denounce the atrocities committed by man.”
This fascinating collection belonged to Philippe Zoummeroff, a well-known
collector and the current administrator of the French National Library, who had
spent more than fifteen years gathering it. “Dealing with crime and justice, I was bound to come across some evil
people,” he admitted. “But I’ve never
been fascinated by their misdeeds. Crime is part of who we are, and it started
as soon as two men faced each other, with Abel and Cain. But this collection
also underlines the role played by people who made justice a more human
institution, like Cesare Beccaria; he was among the first philosophers of the 18th century to stand against the death penalty.” As a matter of fact, M
Zoummeroff didn’t stick to theory, as he created a fund for the rehabilitation
of prisoners and co-wrote a book entitled Prison
Doesn’t Only Happen to Others (Albin Michel 2006). “I’m mainly concerned by the consequences and stakes of the
incarceration of young offenders,” he said. But he had eventually been
around the block—and he decided to let his collection go. According to M
Forgeot, these documents were hardly associated to bibliophilism. “This sale, and most particularly the
catalogue, is a way to focus on an on-going issue: how do we cope with crime?”
Fearing the collection might end up in some dark room, M Zoummeroff didn’t
donate it to the National Library of France. “I know it will be scattered,
but only to end up with people who are truly interested in it,” he said.
Ironically, the sale attracted several official institutions such as the
National Library of France or the National Archives that both pre-empted
several items. Other museums were also quite active, including the Musée du Barreau (Museum of the Bar). Finally
freed from this devouring obsession, M Zoummeroff will now focus on his next
project, a biography of Thomas Edison. Aged 85, this surprising man hasn’t lost
his curiosity for the world.
Controversies
On May the 7th, the Jewish association Bureau National de Vigilance Contre l’Antisémitisme
(BNVCA) published a press release on its website, asking for Pierre Bergé
& Associés to withdraw from sale item 309, a copy of the first edition of Mein Kampf written by “Hitler this dictator”. The association
was outraged by the fact that it was described in the catalogue as “a piece of art written by a poet or a
member of the French Academy (sic—the catalogue didn’t introduce Hitler as
a poet or a member of the French Academy, the BNVCA probably meant as if it had been written by a poet
etc.)”. The book was depicted as the
“devilish dejection” of a “German guilty of the death of millions of
people (...) and responsible for the
Shoa.” Suddenly harassed by journalists, M Forgeot was clearly irritated. “This is ridiculous. We are dealing with
history, not with anti-Semitism. On the
contrary, this crucial testimony perfectly belongs with this collection.” M
Zoummeroff, for his part, never wanted to pull the book from sale: “This is a stupid controversy,” he said.
“They are idiots! I’ve read Mein Kampf, of
course, and it taught me something: Europe shouldn’t have waited for 1938 to
stop this dangerous man.” Mein Kampf
is obviously a special book, and the French authorities are very concerned
about its circulation. “In order to print
it,” said M Forgeot, “you have to add
at least ten pages of historical contextualisation and warn the readers about
its implication.” But at the end of the day, it is not banned. As far as the accusation of anti-Semitism is
concerned, suffice to say that M Zoummeroff is of Jewish ascendance, and that
he has lost some relatives in the Nazi’s camps during WWII. But this sale also
teaches us that justice and attitudes have often evolved following a witch-hunt.
“The fight of BNVCA is legitimate,”
said M Forgeot, “but I think they chose
the wrong target. Anyway, our
decision was to step away from controversy and to avoid any incident during the
sale.” Let’s underline that the sale also featured two copies of the
infamous Code Noir that has regulated
the slave trade for centuries—it taught slave owners how to punish a
disobedient slave according to the nature of his so-called crime. Curiously, no
one complained about these ones. Every community to its own fight, I guess.
 |
| Rambert's skin |
Les morts n’ont pas tous
la même peau.
On October 22nd, 1930, Louis-Marius Rambert and Gustave
Mailly broke in the house of M Bergeron and his octogenarian aunt in Ecully, and
murdered them both with a hammer. Rambert was no newcomer to crime, as shown by
his numerous tattoos. He had a striking one on his chest, representing an eagle
and a dragon fighting each other. Nowadays, this tattoo graces the cover of a bookcase
enclosing Rambert’s manuscript memoirs. Indeed, it was bound with the skin of
the criminal—at a closer range we can even make out a few hairs! “Anytime I would look at it, it gave me the
creeps!” confessed M Zoummeroff.
“A binding in human flesh is necessarily
disturbing, but let’s first remind that Rambert had officially bequeathed his
skin to Dr Jean Lacassagne, an eminent criminologist who had followed him, and
who had the bookcase bound. Furthermore, this item is quite relevant to the
collection, as tattoos have always been a distinctive sign among criminals.”
It was pulled from sale too, but this time it was to be blamed on the committee
of experts of Drouot. “It’s forbidden by
law to trade human remains, but this restriction doesn’t apply to “obvious
cultural items”, recited M Fourgeot.
“But what is this book if not an obvious
cultural item?” At the end of the day, the controversies didn’t discourage
people, as our expert received “numerous offers
for the two items.”
The Expert’s Choice
Messrs Fourgeot, Bodin and Quentin conscientiously built up a 344
pages long in-4° catalogue, carefully choosing the author of the preface—Claude
Rouiller, former President of the Switzerland Federal Tribunal—and an epigraph:
It is to give these conjectures a high
price to burn a man alive because of them (Montaigne). And when asked about his favourite items, M Fourgeot first
pointed out a collection of 46 sentences rendered in the 17th and 18th centuries. “These are no philosophical
reflexions, but the concrete consequences of justice as applied to the man of
the street. Some sentences seem justified, as in the case of one Louis-Marlin
who was sent to the galleys because he had “sexually abused (...) a
young girl of seven”. But what about Pierrette Occard, a knitter by trade, sent
for three years to prison for “acting as a fortune-teller”?” It’s also
interesting to note that in the middle of the Siècle des Lumières, one Jacques
Riguet was hung for uttering “seditious
words against the King.” On another level, one Estienne Benjamin
Deschauffours was simply burnt alive for sodomy. (Appraisal: 3 to 4,000
euros—sold for 4,300 euros before commission).
 |
| The ugly Landru during his trial |
Landru’s desire
Henri-Désiré Landru was another dangerous man who, reads the
catalogue, “abducted some 280 women in
the early 20th century; 10 of them he eventually murdered.” He
seduced his victims, took them to the countryside and murdered them before burning
their corpses in a domestic boiler. During his sensational trial, Landru tried
to exonerate himself through fiery speeches, but was beheaded (guillotiné) the
following year. Item 334 is an incredible album containing dozens of black and
white photographs taken during the trial—we can see Landru’s dreadful look as
he talks to the Court, as well as the incriminated boiler. Several wonderful
professional drawings of Landru appearing on the first pages of the album tend
to confirm that these were journalistic illustrations. “I wonder...” said M Fourgeot as if speaking to himself while staring
at Landru. “How did this man seduce so
many women?” (Appraisal: 2 to 2,5000 euros—sold for 6,000 euros to the
Archives of the French department Les Yvelines.)
Post Tenebras Lux
Broken on the wheel, burnt
alive, put to the question, all these sentences are
from another time. Everything didn’t happen overnight but attitudes towards
criminals started to change in the 1820s. “Mainly
at the instigation of the Protestants,” explained the expert, “who wanted to reform justice—though only to
make it more efficient. Nonetheless, no longer were criminals treated as
beasts. They were men who needed to be cured and rehabilitated.” The penal
system was then questioned on a whole. Item 235, a modest leaflet of 8 pages
printed in Geneva in 1826 by Jean-Jacques de Sellon, is the perfect
illustration of this crucial turning point.
Sellon had set up a plea contest, and the lawyer Charles Lucas made an
acknowledge miscarriage of justice—the Stagecoach of Lyon case—the starting
point of his plea for the abolition of the death penalty. On April 27th,
1796, the stagecoach from Lyon was attacked, its driver killed and the money it
carried stolen. Because he physically resembled one of the bandits (who was
wearing a wig), M Lesurques was executed; and later cleared by the real
culprits! This brilliant demonstration of Charles Lucas wan the contest,
therefore it was published by Sellon. This modest document was ravalé (not sold) despite a low
appraisal (100-200 euros).
 |
| Unsold portrait of a legend |
The Tears of Jesse James
Among the most striking items was a peculiar face book that grouped a
hundred of New-Yorker criminals’ portraits in a wooden box. Names and
occupations (horse thief, burglar,
pickpocket, murderer...) were written on the back of these photographs that
were taken around 1880, probably for the sake of a detective agency. (Appraisal:
30 to 40,000 euros—but it was also ravalé.)
There was also a morbid photo album entitled Chinese Torture relating the martyr of a Chinese convict slowly cut
into pieces by his executioner. Fu-Zhu-Li, as he was named, was the last victim
of the famous Lingchi torture—or languishing
death—, abolished in 1905. In his book Les
Larmes d’Eros (1961), the French author Georges Bataille wrote about one of
these pictures: “It played a key role in
my life. I’ve never ceased being haunted by this representation of pain—both
ecstatic and unbearable.” In fact, the victim was given a strong dose of
opium before the torture started. (Appraisal: 2 to 3,000 euros—sold for 2,700
euros). There was also an outstanding portrait of Jesse James in a gorgeous
golden frame; his widow allegedly sold them on the outlaw’s grave. (Appraisal:
2 to 3,000 euros—not sold).
Ups
and Downs
 |
| Chinese beheading |
According to M Forgeot, the sale generated 490,000 euros (before the
outstanding 27,60% commission—as a sale is always more or less about money), and
a third of the items weren’t sold. “This
is a satisfying result,” he said, “especially
if we consider the difficult topic of the collection.” This was a consequent
sale (423 items), and there were good surprises, as well as bad ones. “Among the unsold items feature a series of
documents about Ravaillac (the murderer of King Henry IV, who suffered an
incredibly savage execution), an edict against sodomy, or several documents
linked to the trial of Damiens, the man who tried to kill Louis XV.” The
first edition of L’Esprit des Loix by
Montesquieu, estimated between 12 and 15,000 euros, was sold for 11,000 euros
only. On the contrary, a letter written by Emile Zola to Dreyfus’ lawyer was
sold for 20,000 euros. “After the idiotic
controversy over Mein Kampf, I’m glad the best adjudication of the sale concerns
a document linked to the Dreyfus affair,”
rejoiced M Forgeot (Alfred Dreyfus, a captain in the French army, was
wrongfully convicted for treason, mainly because he was a Jew. Emile Zola took
his side—the famous J’accuse...!—and
had him acquitted after a twelve years-long battle. This affair has become a
symbol of the fight against anti-Semitism in France). There was also the rather
insignificant item 379, a book entitled 9m2.
Published in 2006, it compiles the works of various artists who reflected over the
living conditions of a human being in a tiny prison cell. “I didn’t care about the price, I just wanted it to be sold,”
underlined M Forgeot who had added this book to the sale as a Trojan horse. “It was way for me to say that this
collection was more than about books.” These documents indeed reflect a face
of our society we tend to ignore. Crime is here, and is inevitable. It was, is
and will always be. But the way we choose to cope with it tells a lot about ourselves.
Tell how you deal with crime, I’ll tell you who you are.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire