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MADEMOISELLE DE MAUPIN

_VOLUME ONE_

BY

THÉOPHILE GAUTIER


THE REALISTS


PRINTED BY

GEORGE BARRIE & SONS, PHILADELPHIA

1897



[Illustration: Mlle. de Maupin]


THIS EDITION OF

MADEMOISELLE DE MAUPIN

HAS BEEN COMPLETELY TRANSLATED

BY

I. G. BURNHAM

THE ETCHINGS ARE BY

FRANÇOIS-XAVIER LE SUEUR

AND DRAWINGS BY

ÉDOUARD TOUDOUZE



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

MADEMOISELLE DE MAUPIN--VOLUME I

MADEMOISELLE DE MAUPIN Front.
THE IMAGINARY MISTRESS
FIRST MEETING WITH ROSETTE
EPISODE OF THE "TOILETTE DE BAL"
D'ALBERT AND ROSETTE
THE ARRIVAL OF THÉODORE
THÉODORE AND THE PAGE
ROSETTE'S MORNING AUDIENCE
THE ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY


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 similar to the following:

"I have just discovered at a bric-à-brac dealer's a charming picture of
Boucher in a splendid state of preservation; it is an opportunity that
I do not wish to miss, and not having money enough, I take the liberty
of asking you for my balance.[1] You will confer on me a real pleasure
in sending it to me.

"I am harnessed to _La Maupin_, and that prevents me from prowling
about and calling on you.

"With cordial wishes, I am, yours,

"THÉOPHILE GAUTIER."

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._"

The work was now soon to appear; it was issued in November, 1835,
in two octavo volumes, printed by Madame Poussin under the title:
_Mademoiselle de Maupin--Double Love._ The first volume bears the date
1835, the second 1836, while the preface is dated May, 1834.

The work produced no very great sensation. A few journals spoke of
it, but publicity was not then systematized as it is to-day, and
except by some few literary men and the small romantic group of the
author's friends, _Mademoiselle de Maupin_ was soon forgotten. Let
us remark, nevertheless, that immediately the book appeared, Honoré
de Balzac wrote Renduel a note, asking for a copy, this note we
have seen ourselves; from this moment dates the admiration that he
always professed thereafter for Théophile Gautier. We learn from
Monsieur Arsène Houssaye, the old and faithful friend of the poet,
that owing to the failure to sell the work, Renduel determined not
to publish anything more for his author; _La Comédie de la Mort_,
already announced upon the covers of the work (as well as _Capitaine
Fracasse)_, was, in fact, returned