De Sade’s masterpiece declared French national treasure
Original manuscript of The 120 Days Of Sodom is withdrawn from auction and banned from export.
An original manuscript for the Marquis de Sade’s The 120 Days Of Sodom has been withdrawn from a Paris auction after the French government declared it a national treasure and banned its export.
Auction house Aguttes said the culture ministry had granted the most valuable lots in the auction the rare treasure classification and proposed buying them.
Following the ministry’s decision, a court receiver allowed Aguttes to withdraw the top lots from Wednesday’s auction and to negotiate their eventual sales directly with the government.
In addition to de Sade’s explicit 1785 text, the withdrawn lots include the 1924 manuscript for the first Surrealist Manifesto by French writer Andre Breton.
The lots had a combined value estimated at millions of pounds.
De Sade is known for his libertine writings on sex.
