Surrealist's Belongings Sold

Writers, artists and librarians protested outside a Paris saleroom yesterday when auctioneers began a week-long disposal of the contents of André Breton's Pigalle flat, where the Surrealist manifesto was drawn up in 1924.

Leaflets were handed out asking for government action to stop the break-up of the poet's personal collection, which includes paintings by Miro and Magritte, more than 3,500 first edition books, archives of the Surrealist movement,n and thousands of photographs.

The flat, where Breton lived for more than 40 years until his death in 1966, was considered an artwork in itself: nearly every inch was packed with objects ranging from American Indian masks to apparently worthless seaside souvenirs.

"The flat was an expression of Surrealist thought," the writer Didier Daeninckx said. "Selling it off piecemeal in 4,100 lots is like taking apart a Rimbaud poem word by word and scattering them to the winds. Once broken up, the collection has no meaning."

Campaigners have spent 30 years lobbying governments to buy the flat and set up a permanent museum. But Breton's daughter said she was forced to settle duties following the death of the poet's widow.