MIT Press publishes 'The World of Proust as seen by Paul Nadar', linking photographs to literary characters

MIT Press released 'The World of Proust as seen by Paul Nadar' in 2004, edited by Anne-Marie Bernard and translated by Susan Wise. The book connects portraits from Paul Nadar's studio to characters in Marcel Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time'. Paul Nadar inherited his father Gaspard Félix Tournachon Nadar's studio in 1886, shifting portrait styles from simple backgrounds to elaborate settings. The archive contains 400,000 glass plates and vintage prints, with only one-fifth catalogued since the French government received it in 1950. Portraits feature Marcel Proust at age 16, Émile Zola, Claude Monet, Comte Robert de Montesquiou, Sarah Bernhardt, and Jean Cocteau. Bernard identifies real-life inspirations: Charles Haas as Swann, Anatole France influencing Bergotte, and Claude Monet inspiring Elstir. The book includes uncropped reproductions showing studio staging and retouching examples. It originated from a 1991 exhibition at Paris's Hôtel de Sully near Place des Vosges. Proust died in 1922, Paul Nadar in 1939.