Abstract
This article examines the manuscripts of the novels Esau and Jacob (1904) and Counselor Ayres' Memorial (1908) by Machado de Assis. The two genetic dossiers are made up of 834 and 484 folios, respectively, and are held at the Brazilian Academy of Letters, Rio de Janeiro. Based on De Biasi's (1996)DE BIASI, Pierre-Marc. What is a Literary Draft? Toward a Functional Typology of Genetic Documentation. Yale French Studies, n. 89, p. 26-58, 1996. typology of genetic documentation, I establish these documents' type of genetic document. The two genetic dossiers challenge the traditional extrapolation of textual trajectories represented by a particular genetic dossier, that is, a chronological series of documents starting with the initial work plans on to the concrete text. Using data obtained from a codicological analysis of Machado's documents, contracts, and passive and active correspondence, I will show that 1) the production of a "fair copy" for the composition of the first edition of the novels served the writer as a tool for retextualizing, thus taking him back to the composition phase, which generated several transformations in both the script and the material of the folios; and 2) that the two manuscripts served as the basis for the typographic composition of the first edition of each of these novels. Each document features various stages, phases, operational functions and types of folios. They bear witness to the work the writer put into preparing and retextualizing the bon à tirer manuscript and the production process of the first editions, which officially begins once the publisher contractually acquires the works and sends the manuscripts to Paris.
Keywords:
Esau and Jacob; Counselor Ayres's Memorial; Garnier; genetic criticism; codicology; letters
