Recueil de chansons et monologues (1914-1916)

This unique manuscript book by André Marillon transcribes the lyrics of French songs and dramatic monologues popular in France in the years prior to the first World War. “It illustrates songs with colorful and occasionally bizarre images in a style that is somewhat naïve in execution but intuitively masterful in page design,” said Scott Krafft, chief curator of Special Collections in the Charles Deering McCormick Library. It is an example of what would later be called “outsider art.”

The manuscript will be displayed in a future Treasures of Deering exhibition. 
Photography by Jose Torres.