Gautier

Gautier, Theophile, was born at Tarbes in 1811. He passed from the public school of that town to the College Charlemagne in Paris, but won no distinctions. His first ambition was to become a painter, and it was probably under the influence of Gerard, Corot, and Borel, quite as much as of Gerard de Nerval, that he rushed into romanticism with the fervour of a neophyte. He was not long in discovering the real bent of his genius, and in 1830, after a few early efforts, brought out his first poem, Albertus. The Comedie de la Mart followed in 1832; but Gautier, who had meanwhile served Balzac as secretary, gradually found himself drawn more and more closely to prose as his best mode of utterance. A number of short stories were written by him about 1833, but these passed almost unnoticed until in 1835 Mademoiselle de Maupin marked its author as one of the greatest masters of French style. Fortunio, Jettatura, La Morte Amoureuse, Une Larme du Diable, Militona, Spirite, Le Roman de la Momie, and Le Capitaine Fracasse, are the best examples of his skill in fiction. He was, moreover, a great traveller within civilised limits, and his Constantinople, Voyage en Russie, Voyage en Espagne, Caprices et Zigzags, if not highly original, clothe the information of the guide-book in a very agreeable garb. His criticisms on art and literature, contributed chiefly to La Presse and Le Moniteur, deserve more attention than can be given them here, and will repay careful study. He returned now and again to verse, and the Emaux et Camees, first published in 1840, and reprinted with additions in 1872, contain some of the choicest lyrics that France can boast. La Menagerie Intime and Tableaux de Siege appeared just before his death in the latter year.