Clisson et Eugénie
Clisson stands at the front of an armed charge toward the enemy. He deliberately engineers his own death to end a marriage that has turned against him. The story begins with Clisson, a heroic revolutionary French soldier who grows tired of war. He meets Eugénie at a public bath and falls in love. They retire from the military to raise several children within an idyllic countryside retreat. War returns and Clisson feels compelled to serve his country again. He is injured in battle while fighting for his nation. A comrade named Berville arrives to reassure Eugénie but seduces her instead. She stops sending letters to her husband. Heartbroken at the end of his marriage, Clisson sends off one final letter to his unfaithful wife and her new lover before dying.
Some observers have claimed that Napoleon was influenced by the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. La Nouvelle Héloïse appeared in 1761 and shaped themes of doomed romance. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote The Sorrows of Young Werther in 1774. This text also drew inspiration from that earlier German novel. The novella mirrors the emotional intensity found in these eighteenth-century works. Critics note parallels between the fictional soldier's despair and the literary traditions established by Rousseau and Goethe. These influences helped frame the tragic narrative structure of the story.
One fragment resided in the possession of Étienne Soulange-Bodin. He served as an expert horticulturalist at the Château de Malmaison. This estate became the final home of Empress Joséphine. On the 22nd of November 1821, the manuscript passed into a British francophile collection. It remained there until purchased at an auction in Sotheby's, London, in July 1938. Hermann Eisemann bought it and later sold it in New York. A Cuban national named Julio Lobo eventually owned this segment. Another section contained forty pages of folio manuscript written in Napoleon's handwriting. Count Tytus Działyński held this Polish bibliophile collection. His staff authenticated the second segment when they received it in May 1822. A third section consisted of four pages exchanged among antiquarians in London early last century. Howard Samuel purchased those pages for two thousand three hundred pounds in 1955. They now reside in the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Santa Barbara, California. A fourth segment was originally acquired by Count Grigoriy Vladimirovich Orlov in December 1823. That fragment now resides in Moscow's State Historical Museum.
Peter Hicks is a British historian who compiled the current reconstructed version of Clisson et Eugénie. Emilie Barthet worked alongside him to piece together the surviving fragments. The manuscript had previously been unpublished, fragmented and dispersed across private collections. In 2009, Gallic Books published the English-language edition edited by Peter Hicks during 2008. Hicks discovered a missing section of Napoleon's novella in December 2007. He then compiled multiple drafts into a definitive edition. Armand Cabasson wrote an introduction for the book. This French historical fiction author specializes in Napoleonic period murder and criminal fiction novels. The text includes five attempts at writing the story based on extant prior handwritten manuscripts. The final fragment consisted of four pages that became detached from the Orlov fragment at the State Historical Museum in Moscow.
Hermann Eisemann purchased the first major segment at Sotheby's auction in July 1938. He later sold it in New York to a Cuban national named Julio Lobo. Howard Samuel bought three pages for two thousand three hundred pounds in 1955. These pages now sit within the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Santa Barbara, California. Count Grigoriy Vladimirovich Orlov acquired his segment in December 1823. That fourth fragment was published by Fayard in France for the first time in 2007. A fifth section belonged to French financier Andre de Coppet. He amassed a considerable collection of Napoleonic memorabilia before selling it. In December 2007, this page was auctioned off to a private French collector. The sixth and final fragment remained with the State Historical Museum in Moscow until scholars began their work. Individual manuscript segments changed hands through various auctions involving collectors like Hermann Eisemann and Howard Samuel before modern publication.
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Common questions
Who wrote the novella Clisson et Eugénie?
Napoleon Bonaparte wrote the novella Clisson et Eugénie. Peter Hicks compiled the current reconstructed version of the text in 2009.
When was the manuscript for Clisson et Eugénie first published?
The fourth fragment was published by Fayard in France for the first time in 2007. The English-language edition edited by Peter Hicks appeared in 2009 after he discovered a missing section in December 2007.
Where are the surviving fragments of Clisson et Eugénie located today?
One segment resides in the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Santa Barbara, California. Another fragment remains in Moscow's State Historical Museum while other pages exist within private collections.
What literary works influenced the themes of Clisson et Eugénie?
Some observers have claimed that Napoleon was influenced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. La Nouvelle Héloïse appeared in 1761 and shaped themes of doomed romance while The Sorrows of Young Werther followed in 1774.
How did the story of Clisson et Eugénie end?
Clisson dies after sending one final letter to his unfaithful wife Eugénie and her new lover Berville. He deliberately engineers his own death to end a marriage that has turned against him during an armed charge toward the enemy.