The first and second appearance of Nerval in the work of Artaud

The name Nerval appears under Artaud’s pen for the first time in 1925 when he publishes a prose poem, “La Vitre d’amour,” inspired by one of Hoffmann’s tales that Nerval translated. Twenty years later it resurfaced in a letter to Georges Le Breton who had just proposed keys that were kabbalistic in nature for interpreting Les Chimères. A sonnet holds the attention of Antonin Artaud, who seems to be reborn as someone other than himself: “Antéros,” naturally joined by “Artémis.”