The First Known Footage of Marcel Proust Discovered: Watch It Online

Ladies and gentlemen, we present the first known footage of the French author Marcel Proust.

Announced by Professor Jean-Pierre Sirois-Trahan in the latest edition of the French journal, Revue d’études proustiennes, the footage was recorded on November 14, 1904 (nine years before Proust published the first volume in his classic work, À la recherche du temps perdu/Remembrance of Things Past). And it shows Proust descending a stairway at the wedding of his close friend, Armand de Guiche. Look for him at the 37 second mark. He’s dressed less formally (in grey, not black) than the aristocrats joining him at the celebration. I’ve added a close up picture below.

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via Le Journal de Montreal

Related Content:

An Introduction to the Literary Philosophy of Marcel Proust, Presented in a Monty Python-Style Animation

When James Joyce & Marcel Proust Met in 1922, and Totally Bored Each Other

16-Year-Old Marcel Proust Tells His Grandfather About His Misguided Adventures at the Local Brothel

Marcel Proust Fills Out a Questionnaire in 1890: The Manuscript of the ‘Proust Questionnaire’


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Comments (6)
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  • Jonathan King says:

    You say, “the video was recorded on November 14, 1904…” But of course it wasn’t, being in reality a filmed sequence.

  • Kartik Thopalli says:

    What was the piano composition that played in the film?

  • much ado about absolutely nothing, bah! everything is news nowadays. can you tell us something really important about monsieur Proust that we really (really!!!!!) didn’t know? image? who cares?

  • GregH says:

    I’ll tell you something: Proust always carried a large magnet, on account of his belief that certain birds, due to the laws of chance, must have ingested some quantity of magnetite, and by bringing the magnet close to each bird he encountered, would find one sufficiently magnetic to be attracted and caught by the magnet. Nevertheless, he was shy about this contention, believing (and rightly so, as it turned out) that his neighbours might regard his interest in birds as unsettling, if not dangerous.

  • SLevin says:

    Those corsets!! How did they breath?!

  • Colin Wills says:

    Congratulations sir. Grinch of the Day. :-/

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