Emile Erckmann
Encyclopedia
Erckmann-Chatrian was the name used by French authors Émile Erckmann
(1822–1899) and Alexandre Chatrian
(1826–1890), nearly all of whose works were jointly written.
Both Erckmann and Chatrian were born in the département of Moselle
, in the Lorraine
region in the extreme north-east of France. They specialised in military fiction and ghost stories in a rustic mode, applying to the Vosges
mountain range and the Alsace-Lorraine
region techniques inspired by story-tellers from the Black Forest
. Life-long friends who first met in the spring of 1847, they finally quarreled during the mid-1880s, after which they did not produce any more stories jointly. During 1890 Chatrian died, and Erckmann wrote a few pieces under his own name.
Tales of supernatural horror by the duo that are famous in English include "The Wild Huntsman" (tr. 1871), "The Man-Wolf" (tr. 1876) and "The Crab Spider." These stories received praise from the renowned English ghost story writer, M. R. James
.
Partly as a result of their republicanism, they were praised by Victor Hugo
and Émile Zola
, and fiercely attacked in the pages of Le Figaro
. Gaining popularity from 1859 for their nationalistic, anti-militaristic and anti-German sentiments, they were well-selling authors but had trouble with political censorship throughout their careers. Generally the novels were written by Erckmann, and the plays mostly by Chatrian.
A festival in their honour is held every summer in the town of Erckmann's birth, Phalsbourg
(German Pfalzburg), which also contains a military museum exhibiting editions of their works.
Émile Erckmann
Émile Erckmann was a French writer, strongly associated with the region of Alsace-Lorraine. Almost all of his works were written jointly with Alexandre Chatrian under the name Erckmann-Chatrian.-Youth:...
(1822–1899) and Alexandre Chatrian
Alexandre Chatrian
Alexandre Chatrian was a French writer, associated with the region of Alsace-Lorraine. Almost all of his works were written jointly with Émile Erckmann under the name Erckmann-Chatrian.-Youth:...
(1826–1890), nearly all of whose works were jointly written.
Both Erckmann and Chatrian were born in the département of Moselle
Moselle
Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, in the Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....
region in the extreme north-east of France. They specialised in military fiction and ghost stories in a rustic mode, applying to the Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
mountain range and the Alsace-Lorraine
Alsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
region techniques inspired by story-tellers from the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
. Life-long friends who first met in the spring of 1847, they finally quarreled during the mid-1880s, after which they did not produce any more stories jointly. During 1890 Chatrian died, and Erckmann wrote a few pieces under his own name.
Tales of supernatural horror by the duo that are famous in English include "The Wild Huntsman" (tr. 1871), "The Man-Wolf" (tr. 1876) and "The Crab Spider." These stories received praise from the renowned English ghost story writer, M. R. James
M. R. James
Montague Rhodes James, OM, MA, , who used the publication name M. R. James, was an English mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge and of Eton College . He is best remembered for his ghost stories, which are regarded as among the best in the genre...
.
Partly as a result of their republicanism, they were praised by Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
and Émile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
, and fiercely attacked in the pages of Le Figaro
Le Figaro
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
. Gaining popularity from 1859 for their nationalistic, anti-militaristic and anti-German sentiments, they were well-selling authors but had trouble with political censorship throughout their careers. Generally the novels were written by Erckmann, and the plays mostly by Chatrian.
A festival in their honour is held every summer in the town of Erckmann's birth, Phalsbourg
Phalsbourg
Phalsbourg is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France, with a population of about 5000.In 1911, it was a town of Germany, in the imperial province of Alsace-Lorraine, lying high on the west slopes of the Vosges, 25 miles north-west of Strasbourg by rail...
(German Pfalzburg), which also contains a military museum exhibiting editions of their works.
First works
Many of these were not published until the 1860s.- Malédiction; Vin rouge et vin blanc (1849)
- L’Alsace en 1814, play (1850)
- Science et génie, fantasy story (1850)
- Schinderhannes ou les Brigands des Vosges (1852)
- Le Bourgmestre en bouteille (by Erckmann, 1856)
- L’Illustre Docteur Mathéus (1856)
- Contes fantastiques: Le Requiem du corbeau, Rembrandt et L’Œil invisible (1857)
- Gretchen et La Pie (1858)
From 1859
- Les Lunettes de Hans Schnaps (1859)
- Le Rêve du cousin Elof (1859)
- La Montre du doyen (1859)
- Hans Storkus (1859)
- Les Trois âmes (1859)
- Hugues-le-loup (1859) – this notable tale of a werewolfWerewolfA werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
has been translated into English as "The Man-Wolf" (1876) - Contes de la montagne; Contes fantastiques (1860)
- Maître Daniel Rock (1861)
- Le Fou Yégof (1861)
- L’Invasion ou le Fou Yégof (1862)
- Les Contes du bord du Rhin (1862)
- Confidences d’un joueur de clarinette (1862)
- Madame Thérèse (1863)
- La Taverne du jambon de Mayence (1863)
- Confidences d’un joueur de clarinette (1863)
- Les Amoureux de Catherine (1863)
- Histoire d’un conscrit de 1813 (1864)
- L’Ami Fritz (1864)
- Waterloo (sequel to Conscrit de 1813, 1865)
- Histoire d’un homme du peuple (1865)
- La Maison forestière (1866)
- La Guerre (1866)
- Le Blocus (1866)
- Contes et romans populaires (1867)
- Le Juif polonaisLe Juif polonaisLe Juif Polonais is an opera in three acts by Camille Erlanger composed to a libretto by Henri Cain. The libretto was adapted from the 1867 play of the same name by Erckmann-Chatrian...
, play (1867) - Histoire d’un paysan (1867)
After the Franco-Prussian War
- Histoire du plébiscite racontée par un des 7 500 000 oui, essay (1871)
- Lettre d’un électeur à son député, pamphlet against reactionaries (1871)
- Les Deux Frères (1871)
- Histoire d’un sous-maître (1871)
- Une campagne en Kabylie (1873)
- Les Années de collège de Maître Nablot (1874)
- Le Brigadier Frédéric, histoire d’un Français chassé par les Allemands (1874)
- Maître Gaspard Fix, histoire d’un conservateur (1875)
- L’Education d’un féodal (1875)
- L’Intérêt des paysans, lettre d’un cultivateur aux paysans de France, essay (1876)
- Contes et romans alsaciens (1876)
- Souvenirs d’un ancien chef de chantier à l’isthme de Suez (1876)
- Les Amoureux de Catherine and L’Ami Fritz, plays (adapted by Chatrian, 1877)
- Contes vosgiens (1877)
- Alsace ou les fiancés d’Alsace, play (adapted by Chatrian from Histoire du plébiscite, 1880)
- Le Grand-père Lebigre (1880)
- Les Vieux de la vieille (1880)
- Quelques mots sur l’esprit humain, résumé de la philosophie d’Erckmann, essay (1880)
- Le Banni (sequel to Le Brigadier Frédéric, 1881)
- La Taverne des Trabans, play (adapted from La Taverne du jambon de Mayence, 1881)
- Les Rantzau, play (adapted from Deux Frères, 1882)
- Madame Thérèse, play (adapted by Chatrian, 1882)
- Le Banni (1882)
- Le Fou Chopine, play (adapted from Gretchen, 1883)
- Époques mémorables de l’Histoire de France: avant ’89 (1884)
- Myrtille, play (1885)
- L’Art et les grands idéalistes, essay (1885)
- Pour les enfants, essay (published 1888)
English translations
- The Man-Wolf and Other Tales (1876, rpt 1976)
- Strange Stories (1880)
- Best Tales of Terror (1980) edited by Hugh Lamb
External links
- Erckmann-Chatrian, first Website entirely dedicated to the Lives and Works of Erckmann-Chatrian (in French). (plain text and HTML)
- Works by Erckmann-Chatrian at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(scanned books original editions illustrated)