This note on the circumstances of composition and publication first appeared in the De Luxe edition of the poem and its translation published by White-knights Press 1976 and was written by James Knowlson to whom the publishers are greatly indebted for this and other assistance in preparing the present edition.
Zone
This translation first appeared in Transition 50, a post-war issue edited by Georges Duthuit in October 1950. It was republished in 1972 by Dolmen Press, Dublin in association with Calder and Boyars.
Adaptations from Chamfort
The first six maxims appeared in The Blue Guitar, Facoltà di Magistero, Università degli Studi di Messina, Volume 1, No. 1 in December 1975, and the last two were written in 1976 while this volume was in preparation.