Each number is to comport the following rubrics: Introduction; Manuscripts and Translations; Bibliographical Studies; Biographical Studies; General Studies; an indefinite number of Thematic Chapters; Varia; Book Reviews; Desiderata; aside from the primary works and reviews (which will be in alphabetical order), each section will be arranged chronologically and conclude with a list of work in progress. As in tourist or restaurant guides, an icon of merit (here a pair of eyeglasses) will be attributed to "particularly interesting" titles. The following indices will be offered: of descriptors, exceptional titles, theses, authors and book review authors.
Coinciding with the centenary of Cohen's birth, Schaffner's bibliography opens with a two-and-a-half page Introduction that quickly surveys Cohen's oeuvre and its academic critical reception. There are 409 entries plus 7 book reviews; of the 409, 323 had been published by the writing of the Introduction.
In the entries on the secondary literature, Schaffner assigns to the major entries one or two descriptors such as Geste des Juifs, Schlemiel, Absolu or Poésie. He sets out 5 thematic chapters, each with a brief synthetic introduction: La Tradition littéraire; Judaisme, Sionisme; Orient et Occident; Amour, Femmes, Psychanalyse, and Comique, tudes de Style.
In addition to the prescribed rubrics, Schaffner also includes a list
of 57 printed and broadcast interviews by Cohen, and 59 reviews of
Cohen's works (the concluding section of book reviews lists only
reviews of secondary works or of the Pléiade editions of Cohen's
works).[1] Aside from these sections, Schaffner cites only a couple of
secondary works prior to 1968, the date of Cohen's best-known work,
Belle du seigneur. The cut-off date for the bibliography seems to have
been in very early 1995. In a rapid one-page glance at Desiderata,
Schaffner mentions themes or aspects of Cohen's work that merit
further attention.
The bibliographies come with a 3.5 inch (9 cm) diskette containing the
printed text; the copy reviewed here was accompanied by a
Windows-formatted diskette with text in Microsoft Word 6.0. The only
mention of technical specifications is on the disk itself, not in the
printed monograph. A CD-ROM version of 12 titles is to be offered for
separate purchase, the first being available in 1997. The editors
promise updates every five years.
Schaffner, a member of the recently-formed Atelier Albert Cohen, is a
sympathetic, well-informed surveyor, and provides a worthwhile guide
to the literature. But one wonders how many buyers - institutional or
individual - will be willing to pay for citations, even annotated, at
10 cents a pop. The machine-readable copy of the text does not add
much value to the classified arrangement and 5 indices of the printed
version. While meritorious in and of itself, this ambitious project
appears to rest on questionable marketing grounds. One can only wish
it well, but also maybe farewell.
Jeffry Larson
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