Revue parisienne

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Cover of the revue parisienne 1840

Revue parisienne, dirigee par M. de Balzac was a short-lived literary and political magazine published by Honoré de Balzac in 1840.

History of the magazine

Despite the failure with the previous magazine La Chronique de Paris (1835/36), Balzac dared to enter the Paris press again in 1839 by founding a magazine after Alphonse Karr had founded Les Guelpes , "a small magazine of political and literary combat nature" and immediately sold a circulation of 20,000, later 30,000 copies a month. This gave Balzac the idea of ​​single-handedly publishing a magazine this time. In an introduction Balzac formulated his goals:

“To portray the 'Government Comedy' showing the scenes of political life; in the Lierarian field, where criticism 'lacks honesty', speaking the truth; and finally the reprint of unpublished fragments from his own novels. "

He chose Armand Dutacq (1810–1856), editor of the Le Siècle newspaper , who also took over the production, as managing director ; the profits should be split in half. In the revue parisienne Balzac published in the first edition (July 25, 1840) u. a. his novella Z. Marcos , also the story Les Fantaisies de Claudine ; He also wrote political articles (including about the strike movements of 1840 in the article About the Workers ) and literary reviews about Henri de Latouche , Eugène Sue , Sainte-Beuve and the then largely unknown Stendhal . While attacking Sainte-Beuve with sharp tongues (on whose book Port-Royal he said, “ If you read Sainte-Beuve, boredom falls down like a fine, thin rain that finally soaks you to the bone ”), he praises Stendhal (whom he Frédéric Stendalh wrote) for his book Die Kartause von Parma (" I felt in my soul that feeling of happiness that is evoked by a beautiful deed ... ") Balzac was at this time (next to Goethe ) the first to understand the literary meaning of Recognized Stendhal's novel.

The Revue parisienne saw only three editions and brought Balzac and his partner 1,800 francs in loss. Karlwalk wrote in 1840: “On the way we talked about Balzac's new revue parisienne, which, to put it casually, surpasses everything that has yet to appear in this genre. [...] The literary criticism is strict but fair. [...] I doubt whether the revue parisienne will be successful, it is too fair and too true ... "

Balzac's contributions to the magazine were later included in Balzac, Lettres sur la littérature, Oeuvres complètes, 40 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d André Maurois: Prometheus or the life of Balzac . Düsseldorf, Econ Verlag, 1966 p. 385 ff.
  2. ^ Later titled Un Prince de la Bohème and included in Scènes de la vie parisienne . See Jean Hytier Questions de littérature: Études valéryennes et autres , 1967, p. 132.
  3. ↑ Quotation: Monsieur de Latouche n'a ni l'art de préparer des scènes, ni celui de dessiner des caractères, de former des contrastes, de soutenir l'intérêt. La Revue parisienne du 25 July 1840, p. 57-58.
  4. ↑ He also wrote: Monsieur Sainte-Beuve a eu la pétrifiante idée de restaurer le genre ennuyeux. En un point, cet auteur mérite qu'on le loue: il se rend justice, il va peu dans le monde et ne répand l'ennui que par sa plume (...) . Revue parisienne du 25 août 1840
  5. ↑ He also noted: Monsieur Stendhal a écrit un livre où le sublime éclate de chapitre en chapitre. Il a produit, à l'âge où les hommes trouvent rarement des sujets grandioses, et après avoir écrit une vingtaine de volumes extrêmement spirituels, une œuvre qui ne peut âtre appréciée que par les âmes et les gens supérieurs (...) . Revue Parisienne on September 25th, 1840
  6. ↑ Karl Walk: Newspaper for the Elegant World Berlin: Mode, Entertainment, Art , 1840, Volume 40, p. 124.