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A Chateaubriand Rarity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
Extract
The libary of John H. Wrenn, acquired by The University of Texas, contains an editio princeps which would seem to be of some importance to students of the history of French literature. The work in question is listed in the Catalogue of the Wrenn library, as follows:
Chateaubriand, Vicomte de: Maison de France, ou Recueil de Pièces Relatives à la Légitimité et à la Famille Royale. Par M. le Vicomte de Chateaubriand, Pair de France. Tome Premier (Tome Second), Paris, Le Normant Père, Libraire, Rue de Seine No. 8, Faubourg Saint-Germain, 1825.
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- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1923
References
1 For an enumeration of the works in the Wrenn collection of interest to Romance students and a brief description of each of them, see the present writer's article in The Texas Review for January 1921, pp. 119-122.
2 Compiled by Harold B. Wrenn and Thomas J. Wise, I. 228.
3 The edition used in this study and to which all references are made is the Oeuvres Complètes, Paris 1836-38 (Pourrai frères), 34 vols. It will be referred to as OC.
4 The following editions have been used: Génie du Christianisme, première édition (Paris, Migneret, 1802, 5 vols.), seconde édition (Paris, Migneret, 1803), and that of the Firmin Didot frères (Paris, 1852, 2 vols.). For the Oeuvres complètes, the editions consulted were: that of the Pourrat frères (Paris 1836-38, 34 vols.); that of Fume et Cie., Charles Gosselin (Paris 1841, 25 vols.); that of the Gamier frères (Paris 1859-61, 12 vols.); and that of Fume, Jouvet et Cie. (Paris 1867-72, 10 vols.)
5 For the sake of convenience, the Maison de France will henceforth be referred to as MF.
6 This date is totally incorrect; Chateaubriand himself, in his Mémoires d'óutre-tombe (I 23), makes a partial correction. He tells us there that he was born twenty days after Napoleon (“l'homme qui a mis fin à l'ancienne société”), and gives the latter's date as August 15, 1768. This, of itself, would make Chateaubriand's assertion that “Buonaparte est étranger aux Français” fall to the ground. As a matter of fact, it has since been established that Napoleon was born on August 15, 1769, that is to say, fifteen months after the union of Corsica and France.
7 Cf. Thieme, Guide bibliographique, p. 71.
8 Paris, Garnier frères, vol. 7, p. 207.
9 Paris 1850, p. 155.
10 Sincerest thanks are due Professor Gilbert Chinard, of The Johns Hopkins University, who gave generously of his time and his counsel in assisting the present writer to arrive at his conclusions with regard to the Maison de France; the author wishes also to express his appreciation of the valuable suggestions received from Prof. H. C. Lancaster, of The Johns Hopkins University, Prof. H. P. Thieme, of the University of Michigan, Prof. Gustave van Roosbroeck, of the University of Minnesota, and Prof. E. J. Villavaso of the University of Texas.