THEOPHILE GAUTIER
French author (1811-1872)
Biography:
Théophile Gautier, poet, novelist, critic and journalist, was born in Trbes in 1841. Very attached to Gerard de Nerval and Petrus Borel, he gor his start as painter and later as writer. He defended Victor Hugo during the literary battle of Hernani (1830).
He humorously recalled this period in Histoire du romantisme (1874, "History of Romanticism") and in Portraits contemporains (1874, "Contemporary Portraits"), in which he gave an excellent description of his friend Honoré de Balzac. He satirized his own extravagances, as well as those of other Romanticists, in Les Jeunes-France (1833, "Young France").
Gautier's first poems appeared in 1830s: Albertus and La Comédie de la mort ("The Comedy of Death"). Émaux et camées (1852, "Enamels and Cameos"), are among his finest poems. His most read novel is Le Capitain Fracasse, published in 1863, and present in all libraries.
Théophile Gautier, author of illustrated works:
Enamels and cameos, illustrated by Hélène Nué, Editions Carrés d'Art.
Mademoiselle De Maupin, illustrated by Andre Dugo, The Heritage Press NY and The Nonesuch Press London.
Le capitaine Fracasse, illustrated by Gustave Doré, Hachette, 1991.
Le roman de la momie, Hachette, illustrated by Christophe Durual, 1993.