Querelle de Brest by Jean Genet and Jean Cocteau (1947)

Querelle de Brest by Jean Genet and Jean Cocteau (1947)

Genet, Jean. Querelle de Brest. Illustrated by Jean Cocteau. [Paris: Paul Morihien, 1947]. Kinsey Institute Library: 843.8 G32 q4 1948

Written in 1946, the novel Querelle de Brest [Quarrel of Brest] by the transgressive French writer Jean Genet (1910-1986) presents the depraved actions of the attractive bisexual sailor, thief, traitor, drug dealer, and murderer Georges (Jo) Querelle in the port city of Brest, Britany. The first edition of the novel was clandestinely published by Paul Morihien in 525 copies (the copy No. 323 is exhibited here), illustrated with 29 explicit drawings, most of which homoerotic, by Jean Cocteau (1889-1963). The book was prosecuted for affront to public decency (“outrages aux bonnes mœurs”) by the Criminal Court of the Seine, France, on July 3, 1954, and cleared of charges on procedural grounds on April 24, 1956.