As announced at the beginning of their publication, this last volume (augmented by an index of names mentioned*) – which goes from 1951 to the foundation of the Situationist International in 1957 – chronologically precedes the seven already-published volumes of the Correspondence of Guy Debord.**
Appendices bring together corrections, but principally many “recovered letters” – most often “recovered” for their proper addressees or those having the rights to them. We thank them all, here, and all the more warmly because others haven’t followed up on reiterated requests, even in a reasonably valuable form. Nevertheless, despite particularly regrettable lacunae during the 1950s, there is nothing – it would seem – to completely despair of. Indeed, the French State, which since 2009 has been attempting to acquire the entirety of the “Guy Debord Archives” – the noise that has been made is pleasing to us: because glory is a scandal – has additionally classified the “Archives” at the exceptional rank of National Treasure.
We even wager that a day will come when, all the letters having been perfectly assembled and ordered, an exhaustive edition will be able to proclaim that, if not complete, it is at least finished. For our part, we have done our best.
Alice Debord* The indexing of the entire correspondence was done by Jeanne Cornet.
** Let us also note the luxurious stand-alone book, published by the same house in 2004. Entitled Le Marquis de Sade a des yeux de fille, it reproduces in facsimile the first letters and signed writings of Guy Debord, which are not part of his archives.
(Published in Guy Debord Correspondance, Vol "0": Septembre 1951 - Juillet 1957: Complete des "lettres retrouvees" et d l'index general des noms cites by Librairie Artheme Fayard, October 2010. Translated from the French by NOT BORED! February 2011. Footnotes by the publisher.)