''Le Navire d'Argent'' (''The Silver Ship'') was a short lived but influential literary review, published monthly in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from June 1925 until May 1926. It was "French in language, but international in spirit". Founded by

Adrienne Monnier Adrienne Monnier (26 April 1892 – 19 June 1955) was a French bookseller, writer, and publisher, and an influential figure in the modernist writing scene in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Formative years Monnier was born in Paris on 26 April 1 ...

, with

Sylvia Beach Sylvia Beach (14 March 1887 – 5 October 1962), born Nancy Woodbridge Beach, was an American-born bookseller and publisher who lived most of her life in Paris, where she was one of the leading expatriate figures between World War I and World W ...

's help and support,

Jean Prévost Jean Prévost (13 June 1901 – 1 August 1944) was a French writer, journalist, and Resistance fighter. Biography Born in Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours, Prévost was educated (from 1907 to 1911) at the primary school in Montivilliers. near R ...

was editor. It took its name from the silver sailing ship, which appears in Paris's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

. With a cover price of 5Fr per issue, it cost 50Fr for a twelve-month subscription. Although financially unsuccessful, it was an important part of the literary scene of the Twenties and helped launch the careers of several writers from the

Lost Generation The Lost Generation was the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort that reached early adulthood during World War I, and preceded the Greatest Generation. The social generation is generally defined as people born from 1883 to 1900, ...

. It contained the first French-language translation of

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

's poem,

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is the first professionally published poem by the American-born British poet T. S. Eliot (1888–1965). It relates the varying thoughts of its title character in a stream of consciousness. Eliot began writi ...

(May 1925); an early draft of part of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It was published in instalments starting in 1924, under the title "fragments from ''Work in Progress''". The final title was only revealed when the book was publishe ...

'' (Oct 1925); and an abridged version of

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, vicomte de Saint-Exupéry (29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), known simply as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ), was a French writer, poet, journalist and aviator. Born in Lyon to an French nobility, aristocratic ...

's novella, The Aviator in the penultimate (Apr 1926) issue. One issue (Mar 1926) was devoted to American writers (including

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His '' Spring and All'' (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's '' The Waste Land'' (1922). ...

and

E. E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), commonly known as e e cummings or E. E. Cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. During World War I, he worked as an ambulance driver and was ...

). It also first introduced

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

in translation to French audiences. Monnier herself contributed under the pseudonym, J-M Sollier, based on her mother's maiden name. After publication ceased, in May 1926, Monnier was forced to auction her personal collection of 400 books, many inscribed to her by their authors, to cover the losses. It was eventually succeeded by the ''Gazette des Amis des Livres'' (Jan 1938-May 1940), also under Monnier's overall direction.

Issues

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Navire d'Argent 20th-century French literature 1925 establishments in France 1926 disestablishments in France Defunct literary magazines published in France French-language magazines Magazines established in 1925 Magazines disestablished in 1926 Magazines published in Paris Monthly magazines published in France