this page
carrefour
: intersection
this page
Je suis la ruine féerique
: I am an enchanting ruin
this page
La faim qui rode autour des palaces?
: Starvation prowling palaces? [Loy’s note]
this page
I read later that sugar was used for strengthening concrete. [
Loy’s note
]
this page
Vielleicht verkaufen
: Perhaps to sell
this page
Die nackte Seele
: The naked soul [Loy’s note]
this page
schade
: a pity [
Loy’s note
], i.e., too bad!
this page
Sterben
: To die
this page
Sterben — man muss
: Die — one must
this page
Unglaublich
: Incredible
this page
consommation
: drink, snack
this page
Ameise
: ant
this page
cafés fines
: coffees and brandy
this page
librairie
: bookshop
this page
maquereau
: pimp
this page
macrusallo
(i.e., maquereau and salaud blended together)
this page
plat anglais
: a plate of cold meats
this page
Um Gottes Willen
: For God’s sake
this page
Pfefferminztee
: peppermint tea
this page
sommier
: divan
this page
Strahlen
: rays
this page
Ich bitte Sie
: I beg you
this page
femme de ménage
: housekeeper
this page
bidons
: cans
this page
Der Totenkopf
: The death’s-head (In earlier manuscript versions and in letters, Loy called the novel
Der Totenkopf
. —Ed.)
this page
pour se faire une beauté
: to make himself up, to do his face
this page
Chambres de Bonnes
: Maids’ Rooms
this page
Das ist die Irma?
: That’s Irma?
this page
Die Irma ist nass
: Die Irma is wet [Loy’s note]
this page
ou connait ça
: or knows that (obscure: perhaps a slip for “
qui connait ça
, who knows that”)
this page
lustig
: jolly [Loy’s note]
this page
grand sympathique
: the sympathetic nerve
this page
Gestatten Sie?
: May I?
this page
Entwicklung
: development
this page
écoliers
: schoolchildren
this page
Sterben — Man muss
: One must die (see
this page
)
this page
Ich bin so müde
: I am so tired
this page
Il dort dans son dos
: It sleeps on its back
this page
Und Tatsächlich
: “And as a matter of fact” [
Loy’s note
]
this page
trompe l’oeil
: deceptive appearance, illusion
this page
The poet Arthur Cravan (“Colossus”), Loy’s second husband, is considered a precursor of the Dadaists and a patron saint of the Surrealists. (Ed.)
this page
Seien wir uns wieder gut
: Let us like one another again, let’s make up
this page
die Rothaarige
: the redhead
this page
um Himmels Willen!
: for Heaven’s sake!
APPENDIX B
CHRONOLOGY OF MINA LOY
1882
b. December 27 as “Mina Gertrude Lowy,” London, England.
1899
Studies art with Angelo Jank at Kunstlerrinen Verein, Munich.
1901
Studies with Augustus John in London.
1903
Moves to Paris; marries Stephen Haweis.
1905
Enters Gertrude Stein’s circle of artists and writers.
1906
Elected member of Salon d’Automne; moves to Florence.
1907
Joella Synara Haweis is born.
1909
Giles (John Giles Stephen Musgrove) Haweis is born.
1913
Meets F. T. Marinetti and other Futurist artists and writers; separates from Haweis.
1914
First poems published (Camera Work).
1916
Sails for New York City, where she enters Walter Conrad Arensberg’s circle of artists and writers; meets Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Arthur Cravan, etc.
1918
Travels to Mexico; marries Cravan in Mexico City. She travels to Europe via Buenos Aires; he fails to meet her as planned; he is never seen again.
1919
London; Lausanne; Florence Fabi (Jemima Fabienne) Cravan is born.
1920
Returns to New York; deepens her ties with American avant-garde writers and artists.
1921
Paris, Florence.
1922
Florence, Vienna, Potsdam, Berlin.
1923
Settles in Paris; first book of poems published (Lunar Baedecker [sic], Contact Pub. Co.).
1925
Narrative poem, Anglo-Mongrels and the Rose, completed.
1927
Gives talk on Stein and reads her own poems at Natalie Barney’s salon.
1931
Becomes Paris representative for her son-in-law’s (Julien Levy’s) New York gallery.
1933
Meets Richard Oelze.
1936
Moves to New York; lives in the Bowery; friendship with Joseph Cornell; begins revising prose works begun in Paris, including Insel, presumably.
1946