A well-received new book by the American writer Joel Warner, The Curse of the Marquis de Sade, traces the colourful history of the famous scroll which contains the manuscript of 120 Days of Sodom.
Joel Warner [website]
Book Review: ‘The Curse of the Marquis de Sade,’ by Joel Warner - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
A Tale of Literary and Financial Debauchery: On Joel Warner’s “The Curse of the Marquis de Sade” (lareviewofbooks.org)
For a historical summary:
Articles | Lost Manuscripts | What happens when words disappear
Among its various adventures, in 2014 the scroll was bought by Gérard Lhéritier, founder of the investment company Aristophil. Lhéritier was subsequently accused of using the market in manuscripts to fuel an massive Ponzi scheme fraud. In November 2017,130,000 historical documents seized from Aristophil, were auctioned. The Sade manuscript was one of several items pre-empted by the French state. Thanks to another financier, Emmanuel Boussard, who stumped up the required €4.5 million, this culturally significant, but unpleasant, curio is now safely under the eye of the curators in the Arsenal Library!
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