COCTEAU JEAN: (1889-1963) French Poet, Novelist & Director. Autograph Statement signed, Jean Cocteau, one page, oblong 8vo, n.p., n.d., in French. Cocteau writes, in full, 'Delluc a su, le premier, que le cinematographie etait un art' (Translation: 'Delluc knew, first and foremost, that cinematography was an art'). Cocteau has drawn a simple square box around his statement. Lightly mounted at the head to a slightly larger card and with one corner folded and a small area of paper loss to the lower edge, not affecting the text or signature. G

Louis Delluc (1890-1924) French Impressionist Film Director, Screen Writer and Film Critic. Delluc wrote one of the first books about Charles Chaplin (1921). The Louis Delluc Prize, created in 1937, is named in his honour. Cocteau's own Romantic fantasy film Beauty and the Beast (1946) was awarded the prize in 1946.