Louis-Xavier de Ricard
Encyclopedia
Louis-Xavier de Ricard was a French
poet
, author and journalist of the 19th century. He was founder and editor of La Revue du progrès (La Revue du Progrès moral, littéraire, scientifique et artistique) which was the first to publish a poem by Paul Verlaine
in August 1863. He and Catulle Mendès
edited the first volume of Le Parnasse contemporain
, published by Alphonse Lemerre
in 1866. He was a member of the Commune de Paris (1871) and Félibrige
, a group founded by Frédéric Mistral
to promote and defend Provençal literature
and the Provençal language
(a Langue d'oc language).
, then the Bourbons and finally was premier aide-de-camp of Jérôme Bonaparte
in 1852).
Ricard's first collection of poetry, Les chants de l'aube (Songs of Dawn) was published in 1862 by Poulet-Malassis. In March 1863, after receiving an inheritance from an aunt, he founded La Revue du progrès. Among the contributors to the Revue were Charles Longuet
and a young Paul Verlaine
(his first published poem). The Revue lasted one year; the atheist sentiments of the Revue lead to a Monseigneur Dupanloup taking legal action against the Revue on the grounds that it was an outrage to public morals and good mores
. Ricard was defended by a talented young attorney, Léon Gambetta, and was sentenced to eight months in prison, reduced to three, at Sainte Pélagie, and had to pay a fine of 1,200 francs. After serving his sentence, his friends manifested an active support, and this small group of supporters was the origin of the politico-literary salon that met every Friday at the home of Ricard's mother, 10 Boulevard des Batignolles. Ricard was happy to entertain these boisterous republican and anti-clerical youths. Many great French poets and writers of the future attended: Anatole France
, Sully Prudhomme
, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Paul Verlaine
, François Coppée
; and Raoul Rigault, the future attorney of the Commune de Paris (1871).
In March 1866, Ricard and Catulle Mendès
were appointed by editor Alphonse Lemerre
to be directors of a now famous and pivotal collection of poetry called Le Parnasse contemporain
, a collection that gave the name Parnassian to a group of poets that came to be known as Parnassians. Ricard also contributed 8 poems to that first collection. In 1867 Verlaine, a friend of Ricard (whom he called "an excellent Langue d'Ocian poet"), dedicated his Les Vaincus to Ricard, a poem on the vanquished of 1848.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, author and journalist of the 19th century. He was founder and editor of La Revue du progrès (La Revue du Progrès moral, littéraire, scientifique et artistique) which was the first to publish a poem by Paul Verlaine
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
in August 1863. He and Catulle Mendès
Catulle Mendès
Catulle Mendès was a French poet and man of letters.Of Portuguese Jewish extraction, he was born in Bordeaux. He early established himself in Paris and promptly attained notoriety by the publication in the Revue fantaisiste of his Roman d'une nuit, for which he was condemned to a month's...
edited the first volume of Le Parnasse contemporain
Le Parnasse contemporain
Le Parnasse contemporain is composed of three volumes of poetry collections, published in 1866, 1871 and 1876 by the editor Alphonse Lemerre, which included a hundred French poets, such as Leconte de Lisle, Théodore de Banville, Heredia, Gautier, Catulle Mendès, Baudelaire, Sully Prudhomme,...
, published by Alphonse Lemerre
Alphonse Lemerre
Alphonse Lemerre was a 19th-century French editor and publisher, known especially for having been the first to publish many of the Parnassian poets.-Life:...
in 1866. He was a member of the Commune de Paris (1871) and Félibrige
Félibrige
The Félibrige is a literary and cultural association founded by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote Occitan language and literature...
, a group founded by Frédéric Mistral
Frédéric Mistral
Frédéric Mistral was a French writer and lexicographer of the Occitan language. Mistral won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1904 and was a founding member of Félibrige and a member of l'Académie de Marseille...
to promote and defend Provençal literature
Provençal literature
Occitan literature — still sometimes called Provençal literature — is a body of texts written in Occitan in what is nowadays the South of France. It originated in the poetry of the 11th- and 12th-century troubadours, and inspired the rise of vernacular literature throughout medieval...
and the Provençal language
Provençal language
Provençal is a dialect of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France, mostly in Provence. In the English-speaking world, "Provençal" is often used to refer to all dialects of Occitan, but it actually refers specifically to the dialect spoken in Provence."Provençal" is also the...
(a Langue d'oc language).
Life
His father was general and marquis Joseph-Barthélemy de Ricard (who successively served Napoléon INapoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, then the Bourbons and finally was premier aide-de-camp of Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort was the youngest brother of Napoleon, who made him king of Westphalia...
in 1852).
Ricard's first collection of poetry, Les chants de l'aube (Songs of Dawn) was published in 1862 by Poulet-Malassis. In March 1863, after receiving an inheritance from an aunt, he founded La Revue du progrès. Among the contributors to the Revue were Charles Longuet
Charles Longuet
Charles Longuet was a journalist and prominent figure in the French working-class movement, including the 1871 Paris Commune, as well as a Proudhonist member of the General Council of the First International or International Working Men's Association...
and a young Paul Verlaine
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
(his first published poem). The Revue lasted one year; the atheist sentiments of the Revue lead to a Monseigneur Dupanloup taking legal action against the Revue on the grounds that it was an outrage to public morals and good mores
Mores
Mores, in sociology, are any given society's particular norms, virtues, or values. The word mores is a plurale tantum term borrowed from Latin, which has been used in the English language since the 1890s....
. Ricard was defended by a talented young attorney, Léon Gambetta, and was sentenced to eight months in prison, reduced to three, at Sainte Pélagie, and had to pay a fine of 1,200 francs. After serving his sentence, his friends manifested an active support, and this small group of supporters was the origin of the politico-literary salon that met every Friday at the home of Ricard's mother, 10 Boulevard des Batignolles. Ricard was happy to entertain these boisterous republican and anti-clerical youths. Many great French poets and writers of the future attended: Anatole France
Anatole France
Anatole France , born François-Anatole Thibault, , was a French poet, journalist, and novelist. He was born in Paris, and died in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire. He was a successful novelist, with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters...
, Sully Prudhomme
Sully Prudhomme
René François Armand Prudhomme was a French poet and essayist, winner of the first Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1901....
, Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Paul Verlaine
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
, François Coppée
François Coppée
François Edouard Joachim Coppée was a French poet and novelist.-Biography:He was born in Paris to a civil servant. After attending the Lycée Saint-Louis he became a clerk in the ministry of war, and won public favour as a poet of the Parnassian school. His first printed verses date from 1864...
; and Raoul Rigault, the future attorney of the Commune de Paris (1871).
In March 1866, Ricard and Catulle Mendès
Catulle Mendès
Catulle Mendès was a French poet and man of letters.Of Portuguese Jewish extraction, he was born in Bordeaux. He early established himself in Paris and promptly attained notoriety by the publication in the Revue fantaisiste of his Roman d'une nuit, for which he was condemned to a month's...
were appointed by editor Alphonse Lemerre
Alphonse Lemerre
Alphonse Lemerre was a 19th-century French editor and publisher, known especially for having been the first to publish many of the Parnassian poets.-Life:...
to be directors of a now famous and pivotal collection of poetry called Le Parnasse contemporain
Le Parnasse contemporain
Le Parnasse contemporain is composed of three volumes of poetry collections, published in 1866, 1871 and 1876 by the editor Alphonse Lemerre, which included a hundred French poets, such as Leconte de Lisle, Théodore de Banville, Heredia, Gautier, Catulle Mendès, Baudelaire, Sully Prudhomme,...
, a collection that gave the name Parnassian to a group of poets that came to be known as Parnassians. Ricard also contributed 8 poems to that first collection. In 1867 Verlaine, a friend of Ricard (whom he called "an excellent Langue d'Ocian poet"), dedicated his Les Vaincus to Ricard, a poem on the vanquished of 1848.
Works
- Histoire mondaine du Second Empire : en attendant l'Impératrice, 1852-1853 ; Paris : Librairie Universelle, 1904.
- Madame de la Valette, Paris, Société d'éditions littéraires et artistiques, 1901.
- Les Sept péchés capitaux : la colère, Paris : E. Bernard, 1901.
- Officier de fortune ! : aventures de Marie-Armand de Guerry de Maubreuil, Paris, Montgredien, 1899.
- L'esprit politique de la Réforme., Paris, Fischbacher, 1893.
- Un poète national : Auguste Fourès, Paris, 1888.
- Le fédéralisme,, Paris, Sandoz & Fischbacher, 1877.
- Ciel, rue et foyer,, Paris, Lemerre, 1866.
- La résurrection de la Pologne, Paris, Marpon, 1863.
- Petits mémoires d'un Parnassien, coll. Avant-siècle, Paris, Lettres modernes - Minard, 1967. Ce livre contient également Les Parnassiens, d'Adolphe Racot. Introductions et commentaires de Michael Pakenham