A Samelband of Songs of Anarchy; Gifted from One Believer to Another.

Paris: A. Dorey [and others], 1937-1940. Sheet music for 99 anarchistic and revolutionary songs bound together by D'Avray as a gift for his lover/friend Sonia May Malkine. Eight poems are also bound in (likely one-offs as there is no publication data). All but seven of the 99 pieces retain their original (and often outre) covers. Most of the songs run about 4 pages. It is very apparent that this was a very meaningful gift (and at no small expense either). For on the opening pastedown we see an original large photograph of D'Avray at his piano; and on the opposing recto we find another original photograph and this one is of the very attractive Sonia May, and above it a farewell verse to her in pen by D'Avray. Both of these intellectuals were swept up in the politics of the day and it is easy to see how they formed such a tight bond. At 18, Sonia was forced to flee occupied Paris to Toulouse under cover of night, having refused to assist in the distribution of anti-Allied literature by her employer. She became an agent of the Resistance group called the Maquis (the F.F.I., or the French Forces of the Interior). From 1942 until the liberation of Europe in 1945, she served as a liaison agent in the 15th Division of the Guerrilleros of Spain. Her functions included smuggling arms, explosives, orders, messages, and money. Often invited to speak in later years, she shared many stories of the innumerable close calls she experienced during that time. Sonia came to the United States in 1948 with her husband, Georges A. Malkine, and two infant children. Sonia had a natural singing voice of remarkable purity, and in the 1960s launched a lifelong career as a folk singer, traveling all over the United States and to other countries to sing the folk music of France. Daring as she had been in war, she was vehemently outspoken against it in her music; among her many performances was the 1965 Sing-In for Peace at Carnegie Hall. She remained a popular folk singer in America for many years. The composer, Charles D'Avray, was of equal or greater importance in this new world of radicalism. Charles d’Avray, like many others, came to anarchism after the Dreyfus case. His opinion was that “propaganda by song gives the most sure and effective results”. He organized tours all around the country, first of all, in 1907, with the anarchist Mauricius, who also wrote songs, then on his own. At his ‘spectacles-conferences’ he interpreted his repertoire and discussed his ideas with the audience. His topics were patriotism, parliament, free love, the future society. He was continually harried by the authorities and banned in Grenoble. He wrote 1,200 pieces and his songs became an integral part of the anarchist song repertoire. His rousing song Le Triomphe de l’Anarchie (The Triumph of Anarchy) is still popular to this day. In 1905, he was among the founders of La Muse Rouge, "Revolutionary propaganda group through the arts", where in 1919 Lucien Noel, who was to become Christmas-Christmas, began, and André Isaac, the future Pierre Dac. Mobilized in August 1914, he remained there until March 1919. In 1920, he again participated in anarchist galas both in Paris and in the provinces. From 1922 to 1925, he was the artistic director of the famous Montmartois cabaret "Le Grenier de Gringoire". On February 1st, 1928, D'Avrey was charged with "direct incitement to murder for the purpose of anarchist propaganda", he was sentenced by default - he took refuge in Belgium - one month in prison and 200 francs fine. On September 3, on appeal, the 11th Correctional Chamber reduced his sentence to one month suspended prison sentence. History was not quite so magnanimous with the legacy of Charles D'Avray. After the Second World War, he continued to host libertarian galas. In 1949, he opened a new cabaret, “Chez l'vieux” where he sang with his former comrades from the “Red Muse”. In March 1954, to honor him, a gala was organized at the Salle des Societes Learned. In 1958, on the occasion of its 80th birthday, a new gala gathered around him, counting among his guests such luminaries as Roger Monclin, Noël-Noël, John Light, Jacques Grello and Jeanne Monteil . The actual book itself is very well made of quarter brown morocco over marbled boards, gilt spine lettering and marbled endpapers. Some of the more intriguing song-titles found herein are; Le Triomphe de l'Anarchie; La Chevauche Infernale; Les Heros; Les Grands Fantomes; Les Chansons de la Vie; Ma Cabane; La Vierge Noire, etc.