Where Edward Sansot's publishing house once stood; He was Vivien's second publisher

Edward Sansot was another well-known publisher in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. He lived at 53 Rue Saint-André des Arts. From 1908 onward, Sansot published Vivien's works. At this point, Vivien's poetry shifts from optimistically examining themes similar to Sappho to becoming more pessimistic, running parallel to her deteriorating health, caused by her alcoholism and anorexia. Vivien published her books at her own expense, doing so only to please herself, as she had enough money to do so. During this time, however, she withdrew her books from circulation, perhaps reflecting the loss of faith she had in her work. The negative responses that she was getting to her work distressed Vivien, as she was fighting ideas that homosexuality was a mental illness and included disgusting and degrading acts. So, she only printed a few copies of her final works of poetry to distribute to her close friends. At this time, she becomes more of a recluse, as Colette describes in her book, The Pure and the Impure, where Colette notes that Vivien shrouds herself in darkness, from her darkly-colored clothes to her heavily-curtained windows.

Text Sources:

Engelking, Tama. “Renée Vivien’s Sapphic Legacy: Remembering the ‘House of Muses.’” Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice 18, no. 1 & 2 (1993 1992): 127–133. https://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/5174/4372.

"Vivien, Renée 1877-1909. Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/vivien-renee-1877-1909.

Wickes, George. “A Natalie Barney Garland.” The Paris Review, 1975. https://www.theparisreview.org/letters-essays/3870/a-natalie-barney-garland-george-wickes.

Image Source:

“Edward Sansot's Publishing Mark.” Accessed December 10, 2021. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3048663.