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Mademoiselle de Maupin #1
Mademoiselle de Maupin v. 1
Excerpt from Mademoiselle De Maupin, Vol. 1
This celebrated novel, the celebrity of which has not been lessened by the very numerous editions that have been published, had a very modest beginning which in no way foreshadowed the great success which it was to obtain later.
The title: Mademoiselle de Maupin - Double Love appeared, we believe, for the first time in Renduel's catalogue in connection with The Life of Hoffman, by L ve-Weimars, which appeared in October, 1833, announcing the new work of Theophile Gautier as being in press. Renduel had made the acquaintance of the author at Victor Hugo's; he had published in August, 1833, his first volume of prose. Young France, and now it was a question of launching a work in two volumes, a truly daring undertaking for a publisher of that day; especially in the case of the work of an author but little known and only twenty-two years old.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."
This celebrated novel, the celebrity of which has not been lessened by the very numerous editions that have been published, had a very modest beginning which in no way foreshadowed the great success which it was to obtain later.
The title: Mademoiselle de Maupin - Double Love appeared, we believe, for the first time in Renduel's catalogue in connection with The Life of Hoffman, by L ve-Weimars, which appeared in October, 1833, announcing the new work of Theophile Gautier as being in press. Renduel had made the acquaintance of the author at Victor Hugo's; he had published in August, 1833, his first volume of prose. Young France, and now it was a question of launching a work in two volumes, a truly daring undertaking for a publisher of that day; especially in the case of the work of an author but little known and only twenty-two years old.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."
- GenresClassics
368 pages, ebook
Published January 1, 1897
About the author
Théophile Gautier
2,340 books326 followersPierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and literary critic. In the 1830 Revolution, he chose to stay with friends in the Doyenné district of Paris, living a rather pleasant bohemian life. He began writing poetry as early as 1826 but the majority of his life was spent as a contributor to various journals, mainly for La Presse, which also gave him the opportunity for foreign travel and meeting many influential contacts in high society and in the world of the arts, which inspired many of his writings including Voyage en Espagne (1843), Trésors d'Art de la Russie (1858), and Voyage en Russie (1867). He was a celebrated abandonnée of the Romantic Ballet, writing several scenarios, the most famous of which is Giselle. His prestige was confirmed by his role as director of Revue de Paris from 1851-1856. During this time, he became a journalist for Le Moniteur universel, then the editorship of influential review L'Artiste in 1856. His works include: Albertus (1830), La Comédie de la Mort (1838), Une Larme du Diable (1839), Constantinople (1853) and L'Art Moderne (1856)
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 16, 2015
Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
Produced by Laura Natal & Marc D'Hooghe at http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made
available by the Hathi Trust.)
THE ETCHINGS ARE BY FRANÇOIS-XAVIER LE SUEUR
AND DRAWINGS BY ÉDOUARD TOUDOUZE
Free download in French available at Project Gutenberg.
Following Petra's suggestion, the English version of this book, I have proofread for Free Literature (Project Gutenberg): translation I.G. Burnham.
The original is available at Internet Archive.
[image error]
Chapter III — Thereupon the ball-dress had a fine time as you can imagine; *** and I believe that fresher dress was never more pitilessly rumpled and torn; the dress was of silver gauze and the lining of white satin. Rosette displayed on that occasion a heroism altogether unusual to her sex.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
This celebrated novel, the celebrity of which has not been lessened by the very numerous editions that have been published, had a very modest beginning which in no way foreshadowed the great success which it was to obtain later.
The title: Mademoiselle de Maupin--Double Love appeared, we believe, for the first time in Renduel’s catalogue in connection with The Life of Hoffman, by Lœve-Weimars, which appeared in October, 1833, announcing the new work of Théophile Gautier as being in press. Renduel had made the acquaintance of the
author at Victor Hugo’s; he had published in August, 1833, his first volume of prose, Young France, and
now it was a question of launching a work in two volumes, a truly daring undertaking for a publisher of
that day; especially in the case of the work of an author but little known and only twenty-two years old.
Mademoiselle de Maupin was not, however, destined to see the light so soon. For two years Théophile
Gautier, more enamored of freedom than of work, or preferring the task of making two harmonious rhymes
to all the beauties of his learned and rhythmic prose, incessantly abandoned and resumed the promised work.
A tradition preserved in the family of the poet tells how his father often shut him up in his room at that
time, forbidding him to leave it until he had completed a certain number of pages of the Grotesques or of Mademoiselle de Maupin. When the maternal kindness did not come to his aid, the frolicsome author, who then lived with his parents on Place Royale, often found the means of getting away by the window and so
escaping a paternal task. Such escapades being frequently renewed, it may well be believed that the novel
made but little progress; 1834 was drawing to a close; only the first of the two volumes was finished; the publisher complained, and the author tried to pacify him by notes.
Finally, in 1835, the second volume was written in six weeks on Rue du Doyenné, where the poet, having
left the paternal nest, had installed himself; the manuscript was delivered to Renduel and we read the following
note in Le Monde Dramatique, of September 20th, concerning the biography of the strange person who
really bore the name of Maupin, a biography signed by Rochefort and published in that number under the title:
Mademoiselle d’Aubigny-Maupin: "One of our collaborators, Monsieur Théophile Gautier, has been busy
for a long time on a romance entitled: Mademoiselle (de) Maupin."
Produced by Laura Natal & Marc D'Hooghe at http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made
available by the Hathi Trust.)
THE ETCHINGS ARE BY FRANÇOIS-XAVIER LE SUEUR
AND DRAWINGS BY ÉDOUARD TOUDOUZE
Free download in French available at Project Gutenberg.
Following Petra's suggestion, the English version of this book, I have proofread for Free Literature (Project Gutenberg): translation I.G. Burnham.
The original is available at Internet Archive.
[image error]
Chapter III — Thereupon the ball-dress had a fine time as you can imagine; *** and I believe that fresher dress was never more pitilessly rumpled and torn; the dress was of silver gauze and the lining of white satin. Rosette displayed on that occasion a heroism altogether unusual to her sex.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
This celebrated novel, the celebrity of which has not been lessened by the very numerous editions that have been published, had a very modest beginning which in no way foreshadowed the great success which it was to obtain later.
The title: Mademoiselle de Maupin--Double Love appeared, we believe, for the first time in Renduel’s catalogue in connection with The Life of Hoffman, by Lœve-Weimars, which appeared in October, 1833, announcing the new work of Théophile Gautier as being in press. Renduel had made the acquaintance of the
author at Victor Hugo’s; he had published in August, 1833, his first volume of prose, Young France, and
now it was a question of launching a work in two volumes, a truly daring undertaking for a publisher of
that day; especially in the case of the work of an author but little known and only twenty-two years old.
Mademoiselle de Maupin was not, however, destined to see the light so soon. For two years Théophile
Gautier, more enamored of freedom than of work, or preferring the task of making two harmonious rhymes
to all the beauties of his learned and rhythmic prose, incessantly abandoned and resumed the promised work.
A tradition preserved in the family of the poet tells how his father often shut him up in his room at that
time, forbidding him to leave it until he had completed a certain number of pages of the Grotesques or of Mademoiselle de Maupin. When the maternal kindness did not come to his aid, the frolicsome author, who then lived with his parents on Place Royale, often found the means of getting away by the window and so
escaping a paternal task. Such escapades being frequently renewed, it may well be believed that the novel
made but little progress; 1834 was drawing to a close; only the first of the two volumes was finished; the publisher complained, and the author tried to pacify him by notes.
Finally, in 1835, the second volume was written in six weeks on Rue du Doyenné, where the poet, having
left the paternal nest, had installed himself; the manuscript was delivered to Renduel and we read the following
note in Le Monde Dramatique, of September 20th, concerning the biography of the strange person who
really bore the name of Maupin, a biography signed by Rochefort and published in that number under the title:
Mademoiselle d’Aubigny-Maupin: "One of our collaborators, Monsieur Théophile Gautier, has been busy
for a long time on a romance entitled: Mademoiselle (de) Maupin."
August 10, 2020
Contains an honest-to-god fursuit sex scene. In a novel from the 1830s! With an illustration!
I greatly enjoyed Gautier's preface, where he mocks two groups of critics who still exist, albeit in different forms: critics who are against depictions of "immoral" behavior in fiction on the grounds that it might lead to readers imitating it in real life, and critics who judge fiction primarily based on whether or not it has a clear moral "point" to its existence.
Heads up: despite being the title character, Maupin doesn't show up until the very end of v. 1.
I greatly enjoyed Gautier's preface, where he mocks two groups of critics who still exist, albeit in different forms: critics who are against depictions of "immoral" behavior in fiction on the grounds that it might lead to readers imitating it in real life, and critics who judge fiction primarily based on whether or not it has a clear moral "point" to its existence.
Heads up: despite being the title character, Maupin doesn't show up until the very end of v. 1.
April 17, 2020
A very slow-paced story that doesn't really introduce the title character until in the second volume (I'll stop here for fear of spoilers). The first half of the first folio (~5 long chapters) consist of internal dialogue of d'Albert, a poet who has his head in the clouds and whose expectations of love and beauty are explored ad infinitum. It entertains and even makes you laugh for the first two chapters, but as it continues into the fourth and fifth, you are beginning to fear that the entire story will be the same. The second half improves a little from this, as d'Albert finally encounters an actual woman and then worries about his own ability to love and comparing the actual sample of a female with his ideal image of a woman. It improves even more when we finally switch to the woman's perspective and get an outside perspective on our poet. I give the story an extra star for the beautiful language (English translation) and the surprise twist at the end.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews