Little is known of Malraux's life before his Indochina adventure in 1924. Most scholars dismiss his activities during this early period with the brief statement that he worked “in the art department of the publisher Kra,” or that he was “editor of their literary series called ‘Editions du Sagittaire’.” This lack of interest is partly due to the absence of much concrete information, Malraux being particularly reluctant to discuss what he calls his “vie privée.” Even more important, however, is the fact that most critics have never considered a knowledge of his publishing career to be very important for an understanding of his literary formation. This position hardly seems justified when one considers that publishing has always been a major interest of Malraux, particularly during the period preceding La Condition humaine. Since his work at Kra was in the nature of an initiation into this field, it is of considerable significance and deserves more attention than it has previously received.