Rays of Memory

by Marcu Beza

Published by J.M. Dent & Sons

London, 1929

Marcu Beza, Roumanian (sic!) lecturer at the University of London, is well known to British readers by his Roumanian Tales, his novel Doda, Paganism in Roumanian Folk-lore, and other books. In the present volume he has turned to a more personal theme, and gives us a book of autobiographical sketches which many will consider his best work. It is a book full of the atmosphere and colouring of the Orient; and rarely are the sense of place, the scenic illusion, the floating associations of common things, and the strangeness and humanity of people so admirably realised as in this book. (from the dust-jacket)

"A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries."

Thus begins this late, autumnal work by the now forgotten Aromanian, Romanian and English writer, poet, literary critic and diplomat Marcu Beza, born on June 30, 1882 in Kleisoura (Ottoman Empire) and passed away on May 6, 1949 in Bucharest. Once a well known known personage among the literati and the diplomatic circles, now little to nothing is known about him anymore. A polymath from a younger age, he attended courses in letters and philosophy under Titu Maiorescu, then obtained a scholarship in London (at King's College), where he promoted the Romanian culture and literature, especially poetry. We know that between 1931-1939 he was consul general of Romania to Jerusalem, a period in which he took long trips to south-east Europe, north-east Africa and Asia Minor, resulting in numerous documents and over 600 photographs, slides and films. Many of these objects have been lost, the few remaining ones now hidden among shadows in a State archive.

Among the most beautiful and odd pieces from the Beza collection is the "Arab room", dominated by a high wood panel, richly adorned with reliefs and painting. In the upper part, framing the stalactite motif typical of Islamic architecture, two still lifes stand out in multiobate cartouches against a background decorated with floral patterns. Below, under two religious inscriptions in Arabic, the panel is divided in narrow strips alternating flowers and architectural elements. Underneath is a bed the panes of which embed small wood panels with inscriptions in relief, one of them dated 1215 since Hegira.

Rays of Memory is also an odd piece. Half travelogue, half imaginary Memoir, the book contains a selection of fine short stories (or perhaps Memoir-stories), each dedicated to a certain place; Mount Athos, Stamboul, Mecca, Bucharest, London, Athens &c. A soft, quiet little book, full of a cast of colorful characters, which can very well find its place on any shelf dedicated to Paul Morand, Patrick Leigh Fermor or Jan Morris.

Small literary trifles and old forgotten books found 
by a young man in the ancient bookshops of Bucharest.

- sans pretention -

*

Colomba

by Ilarie Voronca, with two portraits by Robert Delaunayo

Published by Anastatica in 33 Copies

Bucharest, 1927

"There is Nothing which Can Extinguish the Beauty of this World"

A Romanian Jewish, Ilarie (nom-de-plume of Eduard Marcus) was an avant-garde poet, essayist and prosateur. Although he starts his brief literary career as a Symbolist poet, with gloomy, dreary texts inspired by George Bacovia and George Rodenbach (and published by Eugen Lovinescu's Sburatorul in 1922), his style is soon going to change for good. Five years later he is publishing Colomba, one of the rarest volumes in the Romanian literature, a very short tome of poetry, named after his wife, Colomba Voronca. He is now a Surrealist writer and he will continue on this fated spiral until his last days.

Soon after the release of Colomba, his texts gained a certain regularity, and he was published frequently, especially after he settled in France, in 1933 and began writing in the French language. Among his works are worth mentioning L'Apprenti Fantome (The Apprentice Ghost, 1938), Beaute de ce Monde (This World's Beauty, 1940) and Arbre (Tree, 1942). A good friend with many of the Surrealists and Dadaists of the day his work are illustrated with drawings by Constantin Brancusi, Marc Chagall and Victor Brauner.

In 1938 he becomes a French citizen and takes part in the French Resistance. The Communist regime from Romania welcomes his visit in Bucharest in 1946 and they acclaim his works and his Anti-fascist activities. He refuses the accolades and the money given to him by the regime. His last work is called Manuel du parfait bonheur (Manual for Perfect Happiness). He is never going to finish it.

He commits suicide in 1946.

Intunecatul April / April the Dark

by Emil Botta

Published by Fundatia pentru Literatura si Arta "Regele Carol II" in 111 copies

Bucharest, 1937

"I have a book for you!", I was brusquely greeted by a young gentleman even before taking two steps inside the Trianon antiquarian bookshop in Bucharest. "Can you guess?" continued the agitated young man. "I don't have the slightest idea, but let's see", I've said, not particularly in the mood for a casual discussion. "It is a book published before the 40'ies,"  is all I could come up with. "Yes, yes,", he responded, waiting for me to elaborate my guess. After several intense seconds I had to give up. "I am sorry. You know that I feel like in the middle of an enchanted place, like a character in the Arabian Nights. Any response I might give to you will be the wrong one." He smiled at that and with a tilt of the head he takes a small green book from somewhere under his desk and gives it to me. I do not remember my reaction nor the words I might have said to him. The time stood still. I had in my hands a signed first edition of Intunecatul April by Emil Botta, not only one of the most elusive books in the Romanian literature of decadence but also one of the best and most revered poetry volumes published in Romanian. And so, after a search of almost fifteen years the book was here, in my own hands.  

Emil Botta (15 September 1911, Adjud - 24 July, 1977, Bucharest) is perhaps the single most important decadent poet and writer who has no translation into the English language. To call him a "decadent" is perhaps too much of a reduction. He was also a neo-Romantic, a Gnostic, a Traditionalist and an Avant-Garde poet. He was also an awarded actor, much praised for his acting, which was marked by an almost maladive sensibility, certainly nothing seen on a Theater stage before. Together with Emil Cioran, Eugen Ionescu and Asravic Acterian he was a member of the literary group called Corabia cu Ratati (The Looser's Ship). He graduated in 1932 from the Dramatical Art Conservatory of Bucharest and he was married for a while to actress Mimi Botta. He was one of the last true dandies of the old Bucharest, a regular of the many places of perdition of this old town. He was addicted to Morphine and slim expensive cigars imported from Istanbul, to liqueur and to younger women. And above all to Poetry.

He died alone, in the writing room of his small apartment in Bucharest, shunned and forever forgotten.

Suflete Chinuite / Heartsick Souls

by Maximilian Glasberg

Published by the Author's House in 233 copies

Bucharest, 1938

He is a young civil servant, working at a Bank in Bucharest. His life is one big routine. Every morning he takes the trolley-car to work and then from work back home. One day he spots a young lady sitting at the end of the car, reading something by Oscar Wilde. She is a sad, broken little thing. He, of course, falls in love with her. He will soon find out that she, too, follows the same route as him. The Autumn weeks passes, dreary and rainy, but the young man fears to approach her. What he will tell her? What if she will refuse him? After many weeks he decides to speak with his mysterious lover. So one day he waits for the trolley-car to stop at its final station and then he approaches the young lady. At that moment something terrible happens. He observes that the woman is suffering from a handicap. Her legs have been amputated. The only thing he ever loved in his short life is a cripple. The young man bursts out of the doors of the trolley-car, his heart stricken for ever. He goes home and shoots himself.

This is but one of the odd, cruel, desolate stories which can be found in this crestfallen collection by Maximilan Glasberg. But who is Maximilian Glasberg? No one knows. Not even the literati and the specialists working at the National Bibliotheque in Bucharest. For over half an year I have been trying to find out more about this interesting author. There is not one single note on him anywhere. We know that he was a Romanian Jewish born in Czernowitz and that he has also published a book of poetry called Coarde (Strings), a book printed in March 1937 by the mysterious Atelier "Avantul" in Bucharest. And that's everything we know.

As for the present collection, I will not be too quick to dismiss it entirely. Glasberg had a certain talent for penning tormented, miserable, sorrowful characters who linger in your mind many days after reading the stories. Not quite on par with Stefan Zweig, although I can surely see quite a few similitudes between the two.