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what art/books/records have actually been destroyed, so that no one has ever actually seen it?

eg Gogol's Dead Souls. intended to come out in 3 parts, only the first part was completed. Gogol become a bit of a megalomaniac it seems, and suffered in trying to write a book that was somehow going to solve Russias crisis by showing Russia in its true light (how he was going to do this, i have no idea, and neither did he it seems). after 3 years of struggle he burnt all of the second part and started again. while rewriting the second part he fell under the influence of some priest figure and became extremely fucked, and suffered religious mania. the priest ordered him to burn everything he had written (the 1st part had already been published so it was too late) - of the second part (another 7 years work). he did this, and promptly died before ever starting the 3rd part (presumably he wouldn't have done this, as the priest seemed to believe writing was evil and blasphemous)

the book that exists today is the first part, and then a few chapters of the first attempt of the second part, copies which various friends held. there are many breaks in this part (simply says - "manuscript breaks off" "sentence unfinished" "page torn")

a lifes work mutilated in this way, and much of the book has never been seen by anyone. this seems incredible. i know Beach Boys Smile was never released (or finished really), but bootlegs have seeped out over the years and at least the bulk of it we can actually get hold of.

so, are there any other works of art that have been destroyed, and that there are no representations of? and are there other cases where the artists destroyed their own work in such a violent manner.

― gareth, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sometimes I like to think that the greatest works of human civilisation have been destroyed or by their owners, or just chucked out after they die. Why does everyone assume that great artists have to be big show offs?

― N., Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Dead Souls was a triumph, even in its so-called "incomplete" state.

Self-censorship is the only valid form of censorship there is.

― Trevor, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

haha i haf just had brilliant idea for ensuring my book is considered the greratest work of criticism of ALL TIME!! *reaches for matches*

― mark s, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

* The Alexandrian Library.

* In his will, Kafka asked Max Brod to destroy all his work, but Brod misheard and started the Kafka industry instead (see Kundera's 'Testament's Betrayed').

* Louise Brooks burnt her autobiography (entitled 'Naked on My Goat') rather than publish it.

(hasn't Welles'lost film 'The Other Side of the Wind' just been discovered or something? Does anyone know anything about this?)

― Edna Welthorpe, Mrs, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

it wasn't me!!

― mark s, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i nearly cried when i first found out what happened to the Alexandrian library. all those lost Greek tragedies! and all the other stuff too!

― katie, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I f a tragedy happens to lots of tragedy, is that like a Meta-Tragedy?

― Pete, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I destroy everything I write. Am I a genius now? The library at Alexandria thing get me too. I'd like to go back in time with a photocopier and make some notes.

― alix, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

you should all go see/read Tom Stoppard's Arcadia.

― Alan Trewartha, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The library of Alexandria burning was a tragedy sure but it made my degree a fuck of a lot easier. Every cloud etc.

― Tom, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

And think of all the Overdue fines that didn't have to be paid.

― Edna Welthorpe, Mrs, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The overdue and lent out books were the lucky ones. The only books that survived. Next time you have a book overdue charge the library for "keeping it safe in case of Alexandria type calamity".

― Pete, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

There was a film adaptation of Porgy & Bess which the Gerswhin estate has ensured will never be shown to the public since its initial release. Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey...must be pretty hot.

According to the National Film Preservation Board, "Fewer than 20% of the features of the 1920s survive in complete form; for features of the 1910s, the survival rate falls to about 10%." Before Hollywood realized that saving films just might be a good idea, a truly unbelievable number prints of films were simply dumped into the Pacific Ocean or recycled. Original negatives for even the unavoidable canonical films like Top Hat or The Wizard of Oz don't exist. One could also mention the mutilations of Greed and The Magnificent Ambersons.

The overwhelming majority of works by the early Greek playwrights have disappeared. The Satyricon only exists in fragments.

Jasper Johns destroyed all of his early work made prior to his "targets."

― Michael Daddino, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The entire film work of Theda Bara , some early D.W Griffith, some latre max ernest etchings , my grandmothers paintings from 1930-1969

― anthony, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

There are at least two lost Shakespeare plays, Cardenio and Love's Labour's Won (although some people think the latter is an alternate title of The Taming of the Shrew
These names, followed by (not extant) used to bewitch me when I saw them in the list of plays at the back of our school editions.
― N., Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sorry.
― N., Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

THESE RUNAWAY ITALICS WILL KILL US ALL.

― N., Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Phillip Larkin's diaries - burnt by his secretary. We will just have to imagine how sordid they were.

Re: "Other Side Of The Wind". It was never lost, just mired in legal/copyright probs. which AFAIK have still not been resolved.

― Andrew L, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Also: Mies' "Barcelona Pavillion", although it's since been rebuilt.

― Michael Daddino, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

From the tiny bits I've seen on documentaries, it will only help Welles' rep if Other Side Of The Wind stays lost. It looks dire, like everything else he did around that time. The missing Ambersons footage, on the other hand, is a huge loss.

― Mark Morris, Tuesday, 15 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one year passes...

This thread is interesting - I found it looking for something else altogether.

It reminded me of the lost parts of PLath's journals, "lost" on purpose by Ted Hughes after she died (to protect the family, he always claimed). Now that he's also passed away, I seem to recall reading somewhere recently that these lost journals have now strangely re-appeared and her journals have been reprinted.

Is this so, and has anyone read them with the new bits in?

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 7 September 2003 22:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Not destroyed but never seen:
http://www.subcin.com/clowncried.jpg

― Dan I., Sunday, 7 September 2003 23:29 (twenty-two years ago)

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