If one of the parts played by the preface writer is to provide the reader with the tools to facilitate a relevant reading, Paulhan rather seems to devote himself to non plussing the latter : the preface of ten turns into the statement of the unfathomable mystery of the work to come. Moreover, the prefaces he made form a changing, heterogeneous corpus, from the note in a review to the paratextual element. We tried to wonder if the prefaces in spite of everything constituted a possible place for criticism which would « make up for » the absence of monograph written by Paulhan about the cherished writers.