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CLAUDIUS CORNELOUP : 1934 - 1942 EXTRAORDINARY ARCHIVE OF THREE [3] ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS HANDWRITTEN BY NOTED AND NOTORIOUS CANADIAN SOLDIER AND QUEBEC AUTHOR: 1934 JUDAS ISCARIOTE, 1935 LA SULTANE DE L' ATLAS, 1942 LE CANTIQUE DE L' ERABLE

12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. On offer is a super archive of three [3] original manuscripts handwritten by C.S.M. [Company Sergeant Major] Claudius Corneloup noted and notorious Canadian soldier in World War I of the 22nd Battalion. The manuscripts are titled: Judas Iscariote 1934, La Sultane De L' Atlas 1935 and Le Cantique De L' Erable 1942. This is an extraordinary opportunity for collectors of Canadian authors to acquire three such rare manuscripts of this fascinating author and Canadian hero. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: One online source provides: CMS Corneloup is an interesting character, and his military career was quite unusual. Of Alsatian origin, he enlisted as a volunteer in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1915. His prior experience in a foreign campaign-in Tunisia, with the French Foreign Legion-set him apart from most of his brothers-in-arms, and he sometimes had more experience than officers who commanded him in the trenches. Aware of the tensions that led to the outbreak of the war, he nonetheless chose to enlist with the enthusiasm that characterized the era at the start of the war. "[translation] Our country, Canada, painfully following the emotional phases of this bloody levying of men, decided to participate in future events. From east to west, north to south, a cry of indignation rose against brutal Germany as all the atrocities recorded in the wake of its troops disgusted our hardworking people. Youth, tradesmen, artists, students, labourers, trappers, people of every profession and religion, stood up and flocked to enlist, wanting to come to the aid of their mother country, England." Far from fleeing the front-CSM Corneloup could boast of having been wounded in battle five times- the military writer would be part of all the epic battles, as can be noted from his war chronicles. His descriptions of the desolation of the battlefields are unequalled and have greatly contributed to his fame as a writer. One passage recalls the 22nd Battalion's participation in the battle of Neuville-Vitasse, south of Arras, in the spring of 1918: "[translation] In the communication trenches, there was nothing but moans and broken cries, hands reaching up, pleading, blood-stained boots, slimy mudslides, scattered rags. One unfortunate wretch died along a slope buried in wreckage, clutching his severed left arm in his right hand. His gas mask had been penetrated by a shell blast and revealed the tattered shreds of a letter." Though, with his pen, CSM Corneloup was able to faithfully chronicle the events he saw, the documents in which he was more critical of his superiors' decisions and a letter of protest addressed to newspaper Le Devoir's Henri Bourassa, attacking the unpopular decision of then-Prime Minister Robert Borden to institute compulsory service to make up for declining enlistment, led him straight to a court martial. This was something of a bit of bad luck, as the poor man had mislaid the letter in question which was found by none other than his commanding officer. Overall VG.. French. Book Condition: Very Good

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