This is the central site for a long-term project to research, examine, and respond to the radical collective of writers, theorists, architects, and visual artists who operated in Paris between 1829 and 1835 under the names of the Jeunes France & the Bouzingo, and through them to build a critical understanding of French Romanticist subculture through the historical lens of a continuing politically vigilant Anglophone avant-garde.

The French Romanticist Community

Under Construction, but ready for use!
 
I have begun to gradually fill out this page, which has been sadly ignored for years; it will continue to be a slow, gradual process.

Eventually, I would like this to be a nearly comprehensive quasi-database of people actively involved in the French Romanticist community between 1800 and 1850. Its related goals are threefold: to indicate and give access to the full depth, breadth, size and complexity of the movement; to encourage further research by others by indicating both the value and contributions of the people and groups involved, and some starting-points to research; and (as ever) to respond to the needs and interests of those of you who utilize this site for your own purposes.

Most of the people included are self-described Romanticists, or people whose friendships, collaborations, publishing history, etc. reflect their consistent engagement with the subculture itself, as well as (sometimes more than) the ideologies and styles of Romanticism. The time span thus roughly spans from the generation of Madame de Staël and Benjamin Constant in the early years of the century to its popular decline in the mid-1840s and its abandonment by the avant-garde a few years later under the impetus of the Parnassians, Bohemians, and Realists. 

Also included are several other people who, though more tangentially related to the movement as such, exercised an important influence within it or found themselves, sometimes in bemusement, caught up with it or extolled by it; there are also a few avant-gardists who, though technically of the following generation, were mentored by the Romanticists and took it upon themselves to preserve the legacy of the early avant-garde as historians and archivists, thus associating themselves with the community by extension.

Currently, many names do not yet have entries, and those that do contain lightly-edited texts grabbed from other sites associated with the Revenance project. These entries are written with an eye on their relevance to avant-garde subculture, but hopefully suggest their many other contexts and associations as well, and I welcome contributions with other perspectives. My eventual goal is for each name to be associated with an entry similar to those now in place, supplemented by links to further sources for their work or related research, hyperlinked, etc. The process will be slow and haphazard, but it can be aided by contributions from others!

That's right, I very much welcome contributions, whether on people already listed or those you feel belong here, as well as additions and corrections to my own posts. I am also more than happy to respond, if my time allows, to individual requests for updates. If the vague stub here sparks your interest or might be useful to you in your own research, short story, or argument about 19th century Parisian counterculture at the pub next week, let me know and I'll post whatever information I have on hand, and what sources I'm aware of. 

I'm going to begin posting each page in the form of a blog post, which will be linked to from this page. This means there will be a string of Romanticist bios popping up over the coming months.

Lectures
(More coming soon!)

Olchar E. Lindsann, Occultism, Politics, and the Romanticist Avant-Garde, 1800–1850: Outline /  Slides / Small file of slides

People

  • Marie d'Agoult (Novelist, Historian, Feminist Activist)
  • David d'Angers (Sculptor; Cénacle group)
  • Eduard d'Anglement (Poet)
  • Félix Arvers (Writer)
  • Charles Asselineau (Archivist, Bibliographer, & Historian)

  • Honoré de Balzac (Novelist)
  • Théodore de Banville (Poet & Dandy; Water Drinkers group)
  • Auguste Barbier (Poet & Activist) 
  • Charles Baudelaire (Poet, Theorist, Dandy; Water-Drinkers group)
  • Baron (Illustrator)
  • Amédée de Beauplan (Musician)
  • Roger de Beauvoir (Dandy, Novelist, Prankster & Historian; Bohême Doyenné & Jockey Club groups)
  • Jean-Pierre Béranger (Lyricist, Poet & Activist; Modern Vault group)
  • Hector Berlioz (Frenetic musician, Theorist & Writer)
  • Aloysius Bertrand, aka Louis Bertrand (Frenetic Poet, Local Historian of Dijon; Cénacle group)
  • Bibliophile Jacob, aka Paul Lacroix (Archivist, Bibliographer, Historian, & Frenetic Novelist)
  • Auguste Blanqui (Socialist activist, Theorist, & Revolutionary) 
  • Francisque Borel (Publisher & Activist)
  • Petrus Borel (Frenetic Writer, Theorist, Organiser, Architect, Translator, Publisher, & Activist; Petit-Cénacle / Jeunes-France / Bouzingo group)
  • C. Boulanger (Illustrator)
  • Joseph Bouchardy (Frenetic Playwright & Printmaker; Petit-Cénacle / Jeunes-France / Bouzingo group)
  • Louis Boulanger (Frenetic Painter & Printmaker; Petit-Cénacle / Jeunes-France / Bouzingo groups)
  • Auguste Bouzinot (Orientalist Scholar)
  • Nicolas Brazier (Songwriter; Modern Vault group)
  • Alphonse Brot (Poet, Novelist & Playwright; Petit-Cénacle / Jeunes-France / Bouzingo group)
  • Charles Brugnot (Poet & Publisher)

  • Jules Champfleury (Historian, Novelist, Theorist; Water-Drinkers)
  • Philaréte Chasles (Poet & Historian)
  • François Chateaubriand (Novelist, Politician & Theologian)
  • Chicard (Dancer & Bandleader)
  • Henri Chopin (Musician)
  • Jules Claretie (Historian, Archivist, Novelist, Theatre Producer, Socialist Activist)
  • Léon Clopet (Architect & Theorist; Jeunes-France / Bouzingo groups) 
  • Benjamin Constant (Theorist & Novelist) 
  • Casimir Cordellier-Delanoue (Theorist, Playwright, Editor, Organiser, Novelist)
  • Mme. Cottin (Writer)

  • Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (Poet)
  • Émile Debraux (Songwriter; Modern Vault group)
  • Eugène Delacroix (Painter, Theorist, & Writer; Cénacle group)
  • Casimir Delavigne (Writer)
  • Eugène Deligny (Novelist & Playwright)
  • Antoni Deschamps (Writer)
  • Émile Deschamps (Writer)
  • Achille Devéria (Printmaker, Teacher, Painter, Organiser & Eroticist; Cénacle, Petit-Cénacle)
  • Eugène Devéria (Painter & Printmaker; Cénacle & Petit-Cénacle)
  • Fromin Didot (Typographer, Designer & Inventor)
  • Théophile Dondey: see Philothée O'Neddy
  • Charles Dovalle (Writer) 
  • Gustave Driouneau (Writer & Satirist)
  • Alexandre Dumas (Novelist, Playwright, Poet & Chef; Cénacle, Petit-Cénacle & Evadamist groups)
  • Jehan du Seigneur, aka Jean Duseigneur (Sculptor & Organiser; Petit-Cénacle / Jeunes-France)

  • Alphonse Esquiros (Socialist Activist, Occultist, Historian & Frenetic Novelist; Evadamist & Assassins' Club groups)
  • Désirée Eymery (Publisher, Pedagogue & Children's Author)

  • Ernest Fouinet (Writer)
  • Xavier Forneret (Frenetic Writer)

  • [Simon] 'The Mapah' Ganneau (Occultist, Organiser, Theorist, Sculptor, Feminist & Socialist Activist & Phrenologist; Evadamist group)
  • Théophile Gautier (Poet, Novelist, Organiser, Theorist, Journalist, Painter, & Dandy; Petit-Cénacle / Jeunes-France / Bouzingo & Bohême Doyenné groups)
  • Paul Gavarni (Cartoonist & Illustrator) 
  • Delphine Gay / Girardin (Poet & Organiser)
  • Sophie Gay (Writer & Organiser)
  • Gigoux (Illustrator)
  • Leon Gozlan (Novelist & Critic)
  • Parseval Grandmaison (Poet)
  • Graziano (Chef)
  • Ulric Guttinguer (Writer)
 
  • Léon Halévy (Socialist Activist, Theorist, Playwright & Poet; Saint-Simonism)
  • Paul Hédouin (Writer)
  • Heinrich Heine (Poet, Activist & Theorist)
  • Abel Hugo (Writer)
  • Eugene Hugo (Writer & Publisher)
  • Victor Hugo (Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Theorist, Organiser, Politician; Muse Français & Cénacle groups)

  • Louis Janet (Publisher) 
  • Jules Janin (Novelist & Journalist)
 
  • Paul Lacroix: see Bibliophile Jacob
  • François-Pierre Ladvocat (Publisher)
  • Charles Lassailly (Frenetic Novelist, Poet & Historian)
  • Jean-Pierre Lesguillon (Writer & Historian)

  • Augustus MacKeat, aka Auguste Maquet (Historian & Novelist)
  • Alfred de Musset (Poet & Playwright)

  • Charles Nodier (Writer, Organiser, Bibliographer, Historian, Philologist)



Anthologies & Periodicals

  • Annales Romantiques (1823–1838, ed. Charles Malo, Yearly Romanticist Anthology)
  • Charivari (ed. Charles Phillipon, Anti-Monarchist Satire Journal)
  • Figaro (ed. Henri Delatouche et. al., Satirical Journal–Anti-monarchist until 1832, Monarchist afterward)
  • Le Gastronome (1830–c.1858, ed. Paul Lacroix, André Borel-d'Hautrive, Journal of Gastronomy and Light Entertainment)
  • Tribune Romantique / The Romanticist Platform (1830, ed. Casimir Cordellier-Delanoue; Radical Romanticist Journal)
  • The Globe
  • Les Guêpes / The Wasps (1839–1853, ed. Alphonse Karr, self-published Avant-garde/underground Satire & Gossip Journal)
  • Le Livre de Beauté (ed. Louis Janet? Anthology of Frenetic Histories of powerful women)
  • Psyche (Underground Romanticist Journal) 
  • Les Papillons noirs / The Black Butterflies (1840-?, ed. Bibliophile Jacob, self-published Avant-garde/underground Satire & Gossip Journal)

Movements & Groups

  • The Bohême Doyenné 
  • The Bouzingo / Bousingot / Bousingo
  • Caveau Moderne (The Modern Vault)
  • The Cénacle (The Sanctum)
  • Club des Haschischins (The Assassins'/Hashish-Smokers' Club)
  • Dandyism
  • Evadamism 
  • Fourierism
  • The Petit-Cénacle (The Small Sanctum)
  • [Neo] Jacobinism
  • The Jeunes-France (The Youngs-French)
  • The Jockey Club
  • Muse Français (The French Muse)
  • Saint-Simonism
  • The Water-Drinkers
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