Views of La Ferté-Macé

Front view of the Dépôt de Triage at La Ferté-Macé. The Enormous Room was on the top floor of the building at the left.
The building on the right is the "chapel." This photo was probably taken before the war—The Enormous Room appears quite empty, and the front windows have not yet been boarded up. To see how the building is situated in relation to the town, see "Aerial Views of the Enormous Room." This photo is courtesy of the site "La Ferté-Macé, hier,... par les cartes postales anciennes." On the site's petit séminaire page one may see more views of the "Petit Séminaire," as well as twelve amazing photos (taken on February 20, 1916) of the interior of the detention camp. The caption above the detention camp photos reads: "From February 1915 until sometime in 1919, the Seminary served as a detention center. During this period, 6118 people were interned there (as suspects--this was during the war of 1914-18). These photos were taken at that time." ["À partir de Février 1915, et jusqu’en 1919, le Séminaire a servi de centre de rétention. Durant cette période, 6118 personnes y ont été internées (des suspects, c’est la guerre de 14-18). Ces photos ont été prises à ce moment-là."] Some of these photos are published in John Gill's article, "The Enormous Room Remembered." 

 
L'Ancien Séminaire This postcard photo must have been taken during World War I. Note the uniforms of guards (plantons) and the guard-house. Also, the windows on the upper floor of this middle building appear to be boarded up. The one exception is the window at the far right whose casing seems to have been removed completely. The "chapel" is on the right; the Enormous Room is at the top floor of the building on the left.  

The Place du Midi (now Place du Général de Gaulle). This is the "species of square" (157) that Cummings and other inmates visited on journeys to "catch" water for the cook. (See Gill, "Windows" 101.) In this undated photo, a horse and cattle market is taking place. For two views of the pump at the far end of the square, see "an iron contrivance . . . " (page 1) and "an iron contrivance . . . "  (page 2). For more photos of the Place du Midi, see http://61600.fr/cpa/midi.html. 

Looking back from the Place du Midi to the middle building of the Dépôt de Triage.

  A general view of the town

• Cummings, E. E. The Enormous Room: A typescript edition with drawings by the author. Ed. George James Firmage. New York: Liveright, 1978.
• Gill, John M. "The Enormous Room and 'The Windows of Nowhere': Reflections on Visiting La Ferté Macé." Spring 7 (1998): 94-123. 
• ---. "The Enormous Room Remembered." Spring 11 (2002): 159-182.  
• Huang-Tiller, Gillian. "The Enormous Room Seven Years after John M. Gill's Final Visit to La Ferté Macé." Spring: The Journal of the E. E. Cummings Society 16 (2007): 95-98
• Kennedy, Richard S. Dreams in the Mirror: A Biography of E. E. Cummings. New York: Liveright, 1980.
• ---. E. E. Cummings Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1994. [Twayne's United States Authors Series No. 637.]

Enormous Room page

Aerial Views of the Enormous Room

Gill, "Windows of Nowhere"

"an iron contrivance . . . " (page 1) and "an iron contrivance . . . "  (page 2)

Places, People, and Publications

Notes

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