X. B. Saintine
X. B. Saintine | |
|---|---|
 Saintine Wood-engraving by Étienne Bocourt | |
| Born | Joseph Xavier Boniface 10 July 1798 Paris,France |
| Died | 21 January 1865(aged 66) Paris, France |
| Occupation(s) | Playwright, novelist |
Xavier Boniface Saintine(10 July 1798 – 21 January 1865) was aFrench dramatistand novelist.
Biography
[edit]He was bornJoseph Xavier Bonifacein Paris in 1798. In 1823, he produced a volume of poetry in the manner of theRomanticists,entitledPoèmes, odes, épîtres.In 1836 appearedPicciola,a novel about the Count de Charney, a political prisoner inPiedmont,whose reason was saved by his cultivation of a tiny flower growing between the paving stones of his prison yard. This story is a masterpiece of the sentimental kind, and was translated into many European languages.[1]The novel earned him renown and came to be regarded as a classic of French literature.[2]
He produced many other novels, none of striking individuality with the exception ofSeul(1857), which purported to be the authentic record ofAlexander Selkirkon his desert island. Saintine was a prolific dramatist, and collaborated in more than 200 pieces withEugène Scribeand others, usually under the name of Xavier. He co-wrote the story which was to form the basis forBellini'soperaI puritani.He died in Paris in 1865.[1][2]
Selected works
[edit]A very prolific author, he wrote more than 200 theatre plays and novels under thepen namesSaintine,X.B. Saintine,Joseph Xavier Saintine,Xavier.
- Books
- Poëmes, odes, épitres.(1823)
- Jonathan le Visionnaire, contes philosophiques et moraux.[1](1825)
- Histoire des Guerres d'Italie, Campagne des Alpes.(1826)
- Histoire de la Civilisation antédiluvienne.(1830)
- Le Mutilé.[2](1832)
- Une Maîtresse de Louis XIII.in 2 volumes[3]&[4](1834)
- Picciola.(1836)
- Les Soirées de Jonathan,in 2 volumes[5]&[6](1837)
- Antoine, l'ami de Robespierre.[7](1839)
- Les Récits dans la Tourelle: Un Rossignol pris au Trébuchet, etc.[8].(1844)
- Les Métamorphoses de la Femme.[9](1846)
- Les trois Reines.(1853)
- Seul!(1857)
- Chrisna.[10](1860)
- Trois ans en Judée.[11](1860)
- La belle Cordière et ses trois amoureux.(1861)
- Le Chemin des écoliers(1861) including an illustrated edition with 450 vignettes byGustave Doré,grand in-8, broché.[12]
- Contes de toutes les couleurs: Léonard le cocher, etc.[13](1862)
- La Mythologie du Rhin[14];(1862) including an edition illustrated byGustave Doré,grand in-8, broché.
- La Mère Gigogne et ses trois filles: La nature et ses trois règnes; causeries et contes d'un bon papa sur l'histoire naturelle et les objets les plus usuels(1863), grand in-8, illustrated with 171 vignettes by Foulquier and Faguet, broché.[15]
- La Seconde Vie.(1864)
- Theater plays
- 1833 (25 September):Têtes Rondes et Cavaliers,withJacques-François Ancelot,Théâtre du Vaudeville;it also formed the basis for the libretto of the 1835 operaI Puritani,byVincenzo Bellini
- 1834:Le Mari de la favorite,five-act comedy, withMichel Masson,Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin
- 1836:Madame Favart,withMichel Masson,Théâtre du Palais Royal
- 1841:Mademoiselle SalléwithJean-François BayardandDumanoir,Théâtre du Palais Royal
References
[edit]- ^abChisholm 1911.
- ^abGarnett, Richard, ed. (1899).The International Library of Famous Literature: Selections from the World's Great Writers Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, with Biographical and Explanatory Notes and Critical Essays by Many Eminent Writers,Vol. X. London: The Standard, p. 4732.
Attribution:
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Saintine, Joseph Xavier".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 9.
Further reading
[edit]- Clapin, A. C. (1883). "Preface",Picciola.Oxford University Press. Detailed biography of Saintine in the introduction to his most famous work.
