,,vie ,,de ,,boh,,me  ,illustration3 ,la
 ,cydalise4     ,,vie ,,de ,,boh,,me ,a 
,,patch ,,of ,,romantic ,,paris  ,,by   
,,orlo ,,williams  ,illustration3       
colophon1 ,,arti et ,,veritati          
,,richard ,g4 ,,badger ,,the ,,gorham   
,,press ,,boston  ,first ,published     
#aiac  ,,printed ,,at ,,the ,,ballantyne
 ,,press ,,london  ,,to ,,my ,,wife     
,,contents   ,,chap4                    
,,page  ,i4 ,,la ,,vraie ,,boh,,me      
#a  ,,ii4 ,a ,,fringe ,,of ,,history    
#ba  ,,iii4 ,,le ,,mal ,,du ,,si,,cle   
#ce  ,,iv4 ,,parisian ,,society         
#fe  ,v4 ,,les ,,viveurs                
#hg  ,,vi4 ,,la ,,boh,,me ,,romantique  
#aji  ,,vii4 ,,the ,,second ,c,,nacle   
#abf  ,,viii4 ,,la ,,boh,,me ,,galante  
#aeh  ,,ix4 ,,schaunard ,,and ,,company 
#aid  ,x4 ,,murger ,,and ,,his ,,friends
                                        
#bai  ,,xi4 ,,amusements ,,of ,,bohemia 
#beb  ,,xii4 ,,the ,,paris ,,of         
,,bohemia                               
#bhb  ,,index                           

#cjc     ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations    
,to face                                
page  ,,la ,,cydalise4 ,by ,camille     
,rogier                                 
,frontispiece  ,,the ,,spirit ,,of      
,,romanticism                           
#dd 7,from the cover of a ,romantic     
periodical7  ,,bousingots4 ,by ,frances 
,trollope                               
#ef 7,from ,paris and the ,parisians in 
#ahce7  ,,les ,,champs ,,elys,,es4 ,by  
,eugne ,lami                            
#fg  ,a ,,viveur4 ,by ,gavarni          
#gh  ,,fashionables4 ,by ,gavarni       
#hf  ,p,,trus ,,borel4 ,by ,louis       
,boulanger                              
#ach 7,after an etching by ,clestus     
,nanteuil7  ,c,,lestin ,,nanteuil4 ,by  
,himself                                
#adb  ,a ,,festivity ,,in ,,the         
,,impasse ,,du ,,doyenn                 
#afh 7,from ,les ,confessions by ,arsne 
,houssaye7  ,g,,rard ,,de ,,nerval      
#aij  ,a ,,grisette4 ,by ,gavarni       
#baf  ,a ,,bal ,,masqu ,,at ,,the       

,,op,,ra4 ,by ,eugne ,lami              
#bgd  ,,the ,,galop ,,infernal4 ,by     
,gavarni                                
#bgf  ,a ,,guingette                    
#bgh  ,,the ,,rue ,,st4-,,denis         
#bid  ,,the ,,rue ,,de ,,la             
,,tixanderie4 ,by ,mryon                
#bie  ,,the ,,rue ,,pirouette4 ,by      
,mryon                                  
#big     ,i  ,,la ,,vraie ,,boh,,me     
,la ,bohme1 c'est le stage de la vie    
artistique2 c'est la prface      de     
l',acadmie1 de l',htel-,dieu ou de la   
,morgue4       ,,murger3 ,scnes de la   
,vie de ,bohme4   ,if there is one      
reason for which the growth of          
newspapers during the last century may  
be looked at askance1 it is the         
journalist's persistency in perpetuating
 phrases4 ,phrases and catchwords at the
 moment of invention are works of a     
peculiar genius1 of which some men have 
an abnormal share1 though it may crop   
out suddenly in the most unlikely       
places2 but a good catchword1 that      

crystallization of a drop of some       
elusive current that is momentarily     
passing through public opinion1 that apt
 naming of some newly formed group of   
men or ideas1 never comes out of an     
inkpot3 it is essentially1 as the       
,french finely recognize1 a mot1 a pearl
 of speech4 ,it darts out in some happy 
moment of human intercourse1 often      
almost unconsciously1 when the words on 
a man's lips are less than usual        
rebellious to the expression of his     
thoughts1 or when the exhilaration of   
some public utterance has charged the   
air so that the little telling point1   
hitherto cold and dormant1 flashes      
suddenly into incandescence4 ,such a    
phrase1 born on the lips of one1 can    
only be nurtured on the lips of many3   
its success implies continued utterance4
 ,it becomes a heaven-sent convenience  
to save human circumlocution1 a new     
topic for the dullards1 a new toy for   
the blass4 ,in these communicative days1
 indeed1 journalism increases a         

thousand-fold the possibilities of its  
radiation1 but a good catchword has     
always made its way without the help of 
print4 ,there has never existed a human 
society1 at any developed stage of      
civilization1 that has not been         
perfectly capable of hitting off a new  
idea or a new group in some telling     
phrase or name without the intervention 
of a scribe4 ,at the same time1         
conversational man1 left to himself1 is 
no less quick to forget than to invent4 
,a new phrase properly fades as soon as 
the novelty of that which inspired it1  
but once it has appeared upon a single  
written page it has been given an       
artificial life of varying but          
incalculable duration4 ,this artificial 
existence has been infinitely increased 
by the newspaper4 ,the journalist1 who  
has little time to think1 is naturally  
loth to let a convenient label go1 so   
that1 long after its original parcel of 
ideas or beings has passed away1 he will
 keep tagging it on to other parcels    

with a certain show of relevance which  
effectually conceals the fact that it   
ought long ago to have been filed for   
the etymological dictionary4  ,a phrase 
which has thus lingered artificially in 
common use is the word ,bohemian4       
,nobody can deny that it is a useful    
label1 simply because it is so vague1   
conveying as it does the sense of some  
deliberate divergence from the usages of
 polite society1 without being in the   
least embarrassingly clear as to the    
degree or direction of that divergence4 
,it is a term1 so apparently specific1  
so really loose1 equally capable of     
carrying blame and admiration1 which    
people will go on applying to men and   
women1 their lives and their clothes1   
without inquiring whether there is in   
fact any answering reality4 ,it would be
 easy enough to confuse its simple users
 by a few question4 ,they might be      
asked1 for instance1 what a ,bohemian   
is1 when they would probably reply1 in  
the slipshod phraseology of to-day1 that

 he is an odd person who wears funny    
clothes and does quaint things4 ,but    
then1 it might be pointed out1 a docker 
from ,limehouse is equally odd and      
quaint from their point of view1 though 
they do not call him a ,bohemian2 on    
which they will rather pettishly explain
 that they mean artists and musicians   
and so on1 people who don't work4 ,to   
help them out on this point1 in fine1   
they mean people who potentially rank   
with the members of learned professions1
 but who choose to live a less          
respectable life1 in which paying calls1
 dressing for dinner1 and attending to  
the dictates of social morality are     
considered of small importance1 though  
the exact degree of social unorthodoxy  
is left as undefined as the qualifying  
degree of artistic performance4 ,the    
same lady will comprehend in the term   
the middle-aged civil servant who haunts
 studios of an evening1 wears pale      
tweeds1 but is otherwise a pearl of     
inartistic chivalry1 and the scaramouch 

of a painter1 whom she calls charming   
because he is clever1 and whose         
absorption in art has entirely ruined   
him as a social being4 ,i propose       
another question4 ,why are ,bohemians so
 called8 ,the answer seems easy--because
 they live in ,bohemia4 ,and ,bohemia8  
,again the label produces a difficulty4 
,to pursue any geographical inquiries   
concerning ,bohemia in a ,socratic      
spirit would quickly produce            
exasperation in any catechumen1 and ,i  
will presume the result without the     
method4 ,the answers would generally    
amount to this3 that it seems agreed1   
simply since the word is used1 that     
there is a ,bohemia1 but its latitude   
and longitude are indefinable4 ,it is   
not confined to ,chelsea or ,st4 ,john's
 ,wood1 or even1 of course1 to ,england2
 apparently it transcends the ordinary  
differences of nationality1 existing    
always and everywhere4 ,the possibility 
of its having existed once and          
somewhere--,i give away freely at this  

early stage the foundation of this      
book--never occurs1 for labels have a   
tremendous potency of suggestion4       
,bohemia is commonly assumed to exist   
now in the midst of this commercial day4
 ,it is generally accepted--with more or
 less warmth according to individual    
tastes--as an institution not1 perhaps1 
entirely desirable for itself1 but a    
necessary patch in the motley dress of  
civilization4 ,it is proclaimed         
gleefully or admitted under constraint1 
as the case may be1 that clever1        
artistic men and women1 wisely or       
perversely1 choose to gather there1 and 
that certain epithets1 such as quaint1  
amusing1 unconventional--the ethical    
implications of the adjectives differing
 with their user--are applicable to it4 
,but la vie de ,bohme1 once so vivid a  
reality1 has now no tangible substance3 
it wanders about1 the palest ghost of a 
legend1 formless and indistinct4 ,the   
young may look forward to it and the old
 pretend to look back on it1 but young  

and old1 in either case1 are turning    
their mind's eye upon a mere            
abstraction4 ,the word ,bohemian has    
become as conventional as gentleman1    
with less content for all its greater   
glamour4  ,the glamour of ,bohemia1 too1
 is projected from a paradox4 ,on the   
assumption that it exists1 those who    
wish to live in ,bohemia idealize it2   
those who have lived in it boast of it2 
and those who might have lived in it1   
but did not1 pretend that they did4 ,yet
 those who wish to live in it know      
nothing of it1 and those who lived in   
it1 for all their boasting1 have left   
it4 ,it seems to take shape1 like a     
mirage1 only in prospect or retrospect4 
,there are witnesses to the distant     
glint of its magic towers in the rosy   
mists of sunrise or the golden haze of  
sunset1 but of the light and shade      
within its streets there are none1 for  
those who might be supposed to be       
passing through its gates are strangely 
reticent1 and seem mysteriously to lose 

the sense of their glorious nationality4
 ,a man may say with a thrill1 ,i will  
be a ,bohemian1 or with a glow1 ,i was a
 ,bohemian1 but of him who said1 ,i am a
 ,bohemian1 the only proper view would  
be one of deepest suspicion4 ,he would  
certainly be a masquerader4  ,yet many  
people1 at least in ,england1 do so     
masquerade--people who affect ,chelsea1 
slouch hats1 and ill-cut garments1 who  
haunt ,soho restaurants1 talk and smoke 
cigarettes in half a dozen studios1     
toady sham genius1 flutter in           
emancipatory movements1 and generally do
 nothing on quite enough a year4 ,not   
long ago a distinguished artist1        
genially inspired by dinner at a club of
 ,bohemian traditions and most          
respectable membership1 gave utterance  
to the view that1 though the velvet coat
 had disappeared before evening dress1  
the ,bohemian still existed4 ,upon that 
a writer in an evening paper made the   
wise comment3       ,there are people1  
it is true1 who indulge in mild         

unconventionality2 they feed in ,soho1  
and talk of cabarets4 ,but      these   
people are seldom artists and never     
,bohemian4 ,the      unconventionality  
of these people is a mere outward pose1 
which      compels any artist who wishes
 to preserve his individuality and      
good name to pay careful attention to   
the external forms4      ,bohemianism1  
such as it was1 sprang up in ,paris1 and
 that is      sufficiently good reason  
for its failure in ,england4  ,the      
journalist has here risen above the     
temptation of the label1 and his words  
are just4 ,the gist of the matter lies1 
perhaps1 in his last sentence1 but that 
point must wait its turn4 ,there is no  
doubt that there exists in ,london1 not 
to speak of other cities1 a large body  
of people of varying ages1 occupations1 
beliefs1 and principles who keep up a   
masquerade of ,bohemianism4 ,as a body  
they are worthy citizens enough1 whose  
intelligence on some subjects is above  
the average1 but they are masqueraders  

none the less if they wish to pass as   
enfants de ,bohme4 ,a reason for this   
masquerade may be found partly in the   
very human love of dressing up which is 
never to be discouraged1 partly in the  
glorification of ,bohemia in which      
writers of novels and reminiscences are 
prone to indulge4 ,probably ,george du  
,maurier's ,trilby has been responsible 
for more misconceptions on this matter  
than any other single book1 on account  
of its very charm1 a charm that needs no
 further praise at this date4 ,the      
author himself1 who wrote about that    
which he knew1 made no extravagant      
claims to have drawn ,bohemia in the    
early part of ,trilby1 but it is that   
which in the eyes of most of his readers
 he is unavoidably represented as doing4
 ,so far as ,taffy1 the ,laird1 and     
,little ,billie are concerned1 they are 
simply transplanted ,britons of the     
,victorian era1 art students with means 
enough to pursue their studies without  
pot-boiling and to keep open house for a

 collection of other joyous young       
people1 of whom ,svengali was alone the 
complete ,bohemian1 while ,trilby       
herself with perfect propriety mended   
their socks4 ,trilby's part in this     
studio life is a sentimental idyll which
 nobody would wish to destroy1 but it is
 none the less true1 in spite of her    
creator's plea for her quia multum      
amavit in a delightful page of          
circumlocution1 that he has effectually 
distilled out of her any essence of     
,bohemianism which she is dimly         
represented as possessing4 ,george du   
,maurier knew ,paris when ,bohemia was  
no more1 but even he must have known the
 rougher1 wilder1 less comfortable side 
of the ,quartier ,latin4 ,yet that he   
glossed it over is perfectly            
comprehensible4 ,even those who lived to
 write about the ,bohemia that once was 
could not help tinging their memories   
with the romantic yearning of middle    
age4 ,in a life where hardship and      
happiness kaleidoscopically alternate1  

pain--especially in the shape of        
material want or the sense of unjust    
neglect--obscures in the moment of      
struggle the more brightly coloured     
glasses of health and joy which more    
often than not surround it4 ,in         
retrospect1 by a merciful dispensation1 
the sombre lines almost entirely        
disappear1 only to be recalled by an    
unnatural effort of memory4 ,what stood 
out in retrospect1 in the special case  
of la vie de ,bohme1 was the happiness  
of youth that would never return1 its   
insouciance1 its untrammelled           
companionships1 the poetry of its first 
love1 its gaiety and irresponsible      
humour1 its courage1 its ready          
makeshifts in adversity4 ,the           
ex-,bohemian had1 what the ,bohemian had
 not1 a contrast by which to measure his
 regrets--the cares of domesticity1 the 
wearisome demands of society upon its   
members1 the responsibilities and cares 
of an assured position1 howsoever       
humble1 the dulling of pleasure's edge1 

joints stiffening1 hair bleaching4 ,the 
snows of yesteryear were falling upon   
others now2 and that the young rogues   
might not be too uplifted1 he must write
 his militavi non sine gloria1 hinting  
the while that the special glory of     
,bohemia paled at the precise moment of 
his exodus4 ,george du ,maurier poured  
over ,trilby some of this romantic      
recollection1 and other less gifted     
novelists have done the same for certain
 coteries that have lived in ,london4   
,to them is due much of the glamour     
still implied in the phrase ,bohemian1 a
 glamour which is seldom corrected by a 
reading of ,george ,gissing's ,new ,grub
 ,street4 ,yet no conception of ,bohemia
 into which the sombre details of that  
book will not naturally fit can possibly
 approach the truth4  ,this last        
sentence1 ,i am aware1 may be used to   
challenge my acquaintance with the truth
 since ,i assume its existence4 ,to any 
such challenge the whole of this book is
 an answer1 and its reader will at the  

end1 it is hoped1 be in possession of at
 least as much truth as its author1 if  
not the little more which criticism     
supplies4 ,in the case of a subject so  
little complicated an elaborate initial 
summary of aims and processes and steps 
of proof will be unnecessary4 ,those who
 wish to do so will have little         
difficulty in following a study1 which  
provided no little entertainment to the 
student1 of the life that was truly to  
be called ,bohemian4 ,i have been so far
 concerned to hint that ,i do not deal  
in any heterogeneous parcels which have 
come to pass under an old label4 ,the   
label was applied at a particular time  
to a particular parcel1 and the one and 
only original parcel is the vie de      
,bohme which in this book ,i attempt to 
unwrap4  ,it might be supposed from the 
commonness of allusions to ,bohemia and 
,bohemianism that the terms were        
contemporary1 at least1 with the        
intrusion of artists and men of letters 
into society1 and that before the       

existence of the ,bohemia whose capital 
is ,prague the name of some other nation
 was1 in the same way1 taken in vain4   
,however1 this is not the case4 ,the    
grculus esuriens to whom the ,roman poet
 so scornfully refers had no doubt many 
,bohemian qualities1 but the emphasis of
 the taunt is laid on his foreign       
nationality1 not upon his mode of       
existence4 ,even after the ,bohemia of  
the atlas came into being it knew for   
many centuries no usurper of its name4  
,will ,shakespeare1 ,ben ,jonson1 and   
the merry company of the ,mermaid tavern
 neither called themselves nor were     
called ,bohemians4 ,samuel ,johnson1    
,goldsmith1 and the other less          
distinguished inhabitants of ,grub      
,street suffered many verbal            
indignities1 but not that4 ,coleridge   
and ,charles ,lamb might be alluded to  
as ,bohemians now1 but in their day the 
term had even yet not been invented4    
,murger's preface to ,scnes de la ,vie  
de ,bohme proves that so late as #ahdf a

 universal understanding of his title   
could not be taken for granted1 since he
 begins by carefully distinguishing the 
geographical ,bohemia from the artistic4
 ,the modern sense of the term          
originated1 in fact1 in ,paris at the   
time of the ,romantic movement1 being   
only an extension of the meaning of     
gipsy or vagabond long attached to the  
word bohmien in ,france4 ,our ,bohemian 
was introduced into the ,english        
language by ,thackeray1 who learnt it   
during his student-period in ,paris4    
,this piece of etymology1 nugatory as it
 may appear1 is1 in fact1 very          
important4 ,it is the first real        
delimitation of our inquiry4 ,la vie de 
,bohme is essentially a ,french term1   
and it is therefore fitting that we     
should examine its implications in that 
language4 ,murger in his preface is     
contradictory1 but his very             
contradiction is pregnant and valuable4 
,at the outset he applies the term      
bohmien to the literary and artistic    

vagabonds of all ages4 ,la ,bohme dont  
il s'agit dans ce livre n'est point une 
race ne aujourd'hui1 elle a exist de    
tous temps et partout1 et peut          
revendiquer d'illustres origines4       
,homer1 he says1 was the first ,bohemian
 of ,greek antiquity1 and his tradition 
was carried on by the medieval minstrels
 and troubadours2 ,pierre ,gringoire and
 ,franois ,villon1 ,clment ,marot and   
,mathurin ,regnier1 ,molire and         
,shakespeare1 ,rousseau and ,d',alembert
 were the leading citizens of their     
contemporary ,bohemias4 ,this brings    
,murger to his own day1 of which he     
says3 ,aujourd'hui comme autrefois1 tout
 homme qui entre dans les arts1 sans    
autre moyen d'existence que l'art       
lui-mme1 sera forc de passer par les    
sentiers de la ,bohme4 ,if ,chelsea were
 here to make a triumphant interruption1
 it would have spoken too soon1 for he  
proceeds to give the definition which   
serves as an epigraph to this chapter1  
and1 without a word of warning1         

contradicts what he has said before in  
the sentence3 ,nous ajouterons que la   
,bohme n'existe et n'est possible qu'   
,paris4 ,this is a highly serious       
matter4 ,it leaves old ,homer nothing   
but a ,greek poet1 and                  
,chelsea--well--little more than        
,chelsea4 ,however1 ,i cannot imagine   
,homer objecting1 and ,chelsea must     
forgive me1 if ,i accept ,murger's      
statement in the strictest possible way4
 ,further1 the ,paris implied is the    
,paris of ,murger's own day4 ,that this 
was so may appear more clearly in the   
sequel1 but for the present it must     
suffice to say that the ,paris of the   
,romantic period1 which gave birth to   
,bohemia1 was unlike the ,paris of      
earlier days in many respects1 and no   
,romantic had any conception of the     
cosmopolitan ,paris of to-day4 ,la vie  
de ,bohme1 far from being a vague label1
 was a phrase packed with intimate      
meaning1 meaning which at the time was  
not at all so fully manifest as under   

criticism and comparison it may now     
appear4 ,it depended for its peculiar   
qualities upon the social and material  
conditions of ,louis ,philippe's ,paris1
 which have long since passed away4  ,we
 go1 therefore1 beyond ,murger and      
strike out ,villon1 ,gringoire1 and     
,marot from the roll of ,bohemia4 ,at   
most they were only potentially enrolled
 and lived1 like ,socrates1 in a state  
of unconscious grace4 ,whether or no    
,bohemia can be said to exist to-day or 
to have existed in the ,middle ,ages1 at
 least it can only be by analogy from   
the very definite and localized ,bohme  
which was part of ,paris between #ahcj  
and #ahdh4 ,though ,louis ,philippe1 the
 bourgeois king1 the admirer of the     
juste milieu1 was her ruler1 the life of
 ,paris never beat with a quicker pulse 
than in those days2 never was she more  
gay1 more witty1 more intellectually    
scintillating1 more paradoxical1 in fact
 more absolutely ,parisian than when    
,victor ,hugo1 ,sainte-,beuve1 ,alfred  

de ,musset1 the ,princess ,belgiojoso1  
,thophile ,gautier1 ,grard de ,nerval1  
,nestor ,roqueplan1 and ,baudelaire were
 among her citizens1 when ,roger de     
,beauvoir was dazzling upon a truly     
brilliant boulevard1 when the dandies   
gracefully lounged and quizzed upon the 
steps of ,tortoni's1 when ,alexandre    
,dumas gave his famous fancy-dress ball 
which drew all ,paris1 when ,marie      
,dorval shone beside ,mademoiselle      
,mars1 when ,fanny ,elssler and         
,taglioni danced while ,duprez and      
,grisi and ,rubini sang1 when ,gavarni  
and ,daumier drew their caricatures1    
when ,musard conducted his furious      
quadrilles1 when there were still salons
 in which men and women still knew how  
to talk1 when life was still an artistic
 achievement in an artistic setting4    
,memoirs and reminiscences abound of    
this enchanted city in the time when her
 intense inner light had not paled      
before the glare of commercialism and   
cosmopolitanism1 but such sketches and  

side-views must yield to the            
all-comprehending picture contained in  
the works of ,balzac1 that magnificent  
magician4 ,through him the ,paris of    
,louis ,philippe shines doubly          
brilliant1 for its world of flesh and   
blood was not more wonderful than the   
fictitious world with which he peopled  
it1 a world of high and low1 rich and   
poor1 squalor and splendour1 vice and   
virtue1 wit and stupidity--miraculous   
issue from one poor mortal brain4 ,the  
,princesse de ,cadignan1 ,madame        
,d',espard1 ,madame ,firmiani1 and      
,mademoiselle des ,touches were its     
higher1 ,coralie1 ,esther1 ,jenny       
,cadine1 ,florine1 and ,madame ,schontz 
its lower1 divinities1 and their        
worshippers were de ,marsay1 the        
engaging ,lucien de ,rubempr1 the       
remarkable ,rastignac1 ,maxime de       
,trailles1 ,la ,palfrine1 and all the   
corrupted crew of ,crevels1 ,malifats1  
and ,camusots2 in it the greasy1 dirty  
,maison ,vauquer contrasted with the    

splendid boudoir of a ,delphine de      
,nucingen1 the illuminated poverty of a 
,d',arthez with the vicious luxury of   
the ,nathans and ,finots1 the huge coups
 of a ,nucingen with the petty usury of 
a ,pre ,samanon1 the simplicity of a    
,cousin ,pons with the malignity of a   
,cousine ,bette4 ,into this world of    
feverish movement and poignant contrasts
 fits la ,bohme1 lighted by its double  
facets of fact and fiction4 ,as the     
actual ,bohemians from ,ptrus ,borel and
 ,thophile ,gautier to ,baudelaire and  
,murger play their part in the world of 
fact1 so the fictitious ,bohemians from 
,raphael de ,valentin and ,d',arthez    
down to ,rodolphe1 ,marcel1 and         
,schaunard play theirs in the world of  
fiction4 ,they are all part of that     
pageant which1 though it took eighteen  
years to pass and declined in bravery   
towards its close1 may conveniently be  
called the pageant of #ahcj4  ,to       
disentangle the ,bohemian contingent    
from its accompaniment of press and     

bustle is my aim in this book1 which was
 suggested1 ,i may frankly say1 by some 
meditations on a second reading of      
,murger's ,scnes de la ,vie de ,bohme1 a
 work of perennial delight that deserves
 a better acquaintance in ,england4 ,in 
spite of the vivid light thrown by      
,murger on the life which he is         
describing1 his stories are apt to be   
misleading unless read in the light of  
certain knowledge--knowledge which he   
could presume in his contemporaries and 
which it is the aim of this book1 with  
all humility1 to revive4 ,murger's      
little volume1 after it has produced its
 first flush of pleasure and amusement1 
raises many disconcerting questions to a
 thoughtful reader4 ,the scene it       
paints1 for instance1 is remarkably     
different from the two sides of literary
 life depicted in ,balzac's ,illusions  
,perdues4 ,neither the brotherhood of   
the ,rue des ,quatre ,vents nor the fast
 set into which ,lousteau introduces    
,lucien are connected by an obvious link

 with ,rodolphe and his friends4 ,then  
there is the question whether ,rastignac
 in his days at the squalid ,maison     
,vauquer was in any sense a ,bohemian4  
,or1 again1 it may be asked how far     
fiction agrees with fact4 ,did ,murger  
himself lead the same kind of life as a 
,schaunard or ,marcel1 and if he did1   
was the same to be said of other writers
 and artists1 of ,thophile ,gautier or  
,grard de ,nerval8 ,how did ,bohemia    
arise1 and how far was it1 as ,murger   
asserts1 a necessary stage in the       
artistic life8 ,these are some of the   
obvious inquiries to which it has been  
my part to attempt an answer1 and ,i    
would crave the reader's indulgence if1 
at the outset1 ,i seem to shrink from   
plunging at once into la vie de ,bohme4 
,the external details of a way of life  
cannot be seen in a true light if the   
social conditions and1 still more1 the  
state of mind of which it was an        
expression are not first made clear4    
,for that reason a little fringe of     

history makes its appearance and leads  
to a short consideration of what ,french
 writers have called le mal romantique4 
,nevertheless1 ,i have tried to keep the
 main subject always in view1 and not to
 be led away into discussing aspects of 
the ,romantic period which are not      
relevant4 ,this is not1 ,i claim with   
all deference1 a concoction of all the  
old legends and ,romantic love affairs4 
,george ,sand1 for instance1 and ,alfred
 de ,musset only poke their heads in2   
,alfred de ,vigny and ,marie ,dorval1   
,sainte-,beuve and ,madame ,hugo play no
 part4 ,bohemia alone is our concern1 a 
theme which is displayed for what it is 
worth without any distracting           
embroideries4  ,if1 then--to return to  
the train of thought with which ,i      
began--,bohemia turns out to be         
something definite1 with a beginning1 a 
development1 and an end1 some negative  
criteria1 at all events1 will be        
supplied by which to judge the          
applicability of the label ,bohemian to 

any set of conditions existing to-day1  
and to decide whether the disappearance 
of certain special implications and     
unique circumstances does not drain the 
term of all definite meaning except as  
applied1 in retrospect1 to the very     
persons1 manners1 and ideas which it    
originally described4 ,by analogy from  
that meaning1 there is no harm in saying
 that there have always been1 and always
 will be1 ,bohemian individuals with a  
,bohemian state of mind4 ,richard       
,steele was a ,bohemian2 ,lamb1 perhaps1
 was a little too staidly settled at the
 ,india ,house1 but his friends1 ,george
 ,dyer1 ,george ,burnett and1 above all1
 ,coleridge1 were certainly ,bohemian   
individuals4 ,they were of that         
ultra-,bohemian type which never grows  
out of its ,bohemianism1 men who remain 
permanently in what should only be a    
stage till they pass the age when1 as   
,nestor ,roqueplan said1 the bohmien    
risks being confounded with the filou4  
,such men as ,coleridge and ,dyer would 

be called eccentrics even in the true   
,bohemia2 like poor ,grard de ,nerval1  
they were not entirely sane1 and the    
,bohemian type had essentially perfect  
sanity4 ,it is for this very reason that
 la ,bohme1 at its proper time1 could   
exist1 and why before and after that    
time it did not exist4 ,sane young men1 
no matter what their fads1 fancies1 and 
enthusiasms may be1 have no need and no 
possibility of making to-day that       
particular demonstration which resulted 
in ,bohemia4 ,the social forces drive   
them in other directions4 ,it has long  
been admitted in ,france that ,bohemia  
is dead1 and that it has been or ever   
will be revived in ,england is a        
delusion resting upon the unintelligent 
use of a word4 ,even young ,englishmen1 
as we now consider youth1 are too old1  
far too old1 to live the life of which  
they flatter themselves they are        
preserving the tradition4 ,the boy who  
has submitted to discipline for over a  
dozen years1 learned to honour his      

neighbour on the cricket and football   
field and to respect society as embodied
 in the unwritten laws of school        
life--what has he in common with the    
youth in ,france1 a bachelor of letters 
at eighteen1 bursting with his own      
individuality1 passionate in pursuit of 
his own ideas1 revelling in his new     
liberty1 dreaming1 as only a ,frenchman 
can dream1 of glory and love1 who could 
attach no meaning to such a phrase as   
playing the game1 wayward1 capricious1  
uproarious1 and completely unbalanced8  
,yet it was such who made the traditions
 of la vie de ,bohme4 ,to those who are 
impelled to break away and lead joyous1 
untrammelled young lives of privation   
and artistic striving all sympathy is   
due1 but by masquerading under a        
tattered banner they do not revive its  
glory nor increase their own4 ,paris    
once had room for ,bohemia1 but ,london 
never4 ,chelsea and ,soho1 ,highgate and
 ,st4 ,john's ,wood are to-day no more  
,bohemian1 in the true sense of the     

word1 than ,piccadilly or ,grosvenor    
,square4 ,in the lapse of years a few   
accidental attributes of the real       
,bohemia have come to be regarded as the
 essentials of the false4 ,we are fond  
of labels and catchwords1 lightly       
casting away their implications4 ,so it 
has come to pass that ,bohemia--that    
dirty1 hungry1 lazy1 noisy vale of      
youthful laughter and tears1 so         
enchanting in prospect or retrospect1 so
 uncompromising in actuality1 which many
 had to pass through and most would have
 avoided--is looked on as the pleasant  
home of more or less artistic natures1  
that men of stable occupations1 regular 
means1 and fastidious temperaments may  
choose for a dwelling-place1 just as    
they may choose a garden city4  ,well1  
let them masquerade1 yet ,bohemia is    
dead1 and more honour may be done to its
 memory by recalling how it walked and  
lived than by casting lots for its      
old-fashioned garments4 ,its virtues and
 its faults were balanced as equally as 

its good and bad fortunes1 but if it    
were to be revived1 the resurrection    
should begin with that which was its    
chief glory1 the intense artistic       
enthusiasm that was its charter4 ,nous  
tions ivres du beau1 wrote ,thophile    
,gautier4 ,london1 indeed1 would be the 
better for the infusion of a more       
,dionysiac spirit into her sthetic      
appreciations and ideals4 ,but that is  
not of the times4 ,at the end of his    
charming book1 ,les ,enfants ,perdus du 
,romantisme1 ,m4 ,henri ,lardanchet     
quotes a speech made by the president of
 some university society to the effect  
that the youth of to-day1 preoccupied   
with extremely definite problems1 has no
 longer the poetic enthusiasm of the    
past generation1 whereon he is moved to 
exclaim3       ,ah6 ne vous glorifiez   
pas de l'avoir chass1 cet enthousiasme6 
,il      tait  la fois la rose et la    
chanson au bord de vos vingt ans        
dsols2 il tait l'opulence orgueilleuse  
de votre ge1 il tait      votre grce1   

votre gnie1 votre fiert1                
jeunesse6--toute votre      jeunesse4444
  ,let us take this for the epitaph of  
,la ,bohme4     ,,ii  ,a ,,fringe ,,of  
,,history3 ,,the ,,revolution ,,of #ahcj
   ,in the first chapter of ,murger's   
,scnes de la ,vie de ,bohme1 ,marcel1   
the painter1 requires his concierge1 in 
return for a tip of five francs1 to tell
 him every morning the day of the week1 
the date1 the quarter of the moon1 the  
state of the weather1 and the form of   
government under which they are living4 
,a hasty generalization from this       
episode might conclude that the more    
noteworthy vicissitudes of society1     
which we call history1 were of          
singularly small importance to those    
concerned with ,bohemia4 ,the main      
current of events1 it would seem1 rolled
 on1 leaving the stagnant backwater     
undisturbed1 where1 in the easy garment 
of art for art's sake1 a few geniuses   
and many dilettanti lolled the day      
through in unpatriotic apathy4 ,such a  

conclusion from ,murger's picture of    
,bohemia is1 in fact1 inevitable1 but it
 is a wrong one1 and the fault lies only
 with ,murger4 ,the ,french people1 at  
any rate the ,parisians1 are extremely  
susceptible to the impressions of       
passing events1 political1 artistic1 or 
social4 ,they are more excitable1 as we 
say1 than ourselves4 ,we only become    
agitated in response to orders from     
,fleet ,street1 whereas they are apt to 
ferment spontaneously1 their natural    
liveliness of mind acting as the yeast4 
,it is this quality of interest in      
passing events1 fostered by their       
fondness for discussion1 which renders  
their criticism so trenchant and their  
partisanship so ardent4 ,so that we can 
scarcely believe ,bohemia1 eclectic as  
it was1 to have been unmoved or1 at     
least1 uninfluenced by the objects of   
contemporary comment or debate4 ,for    
this reason our picture would be seen in
 a false light without some reference to
 history4 ,moreover1 ,i have been rash  

enough to impose upon myself the        
limitation of dates1 which are dangerous
 things in themselves1 always requiring 
justification4 ,i put the classic period
 of la vie de ,bohme between #ahcj and  
#ahdh1 the exact period of ,louis       
,philippe's reign4 ,at first sight the  
reign of this bourgeois prince would    
seem to have little enough connexion    
with the florescence and decadence of   
the very antitype of bourgeoisie1 but   
this is only a further reason for not   
neglecting history4 ,the ,revolution of 
#ahcj was of the highest importance for 
,france3 it was the inevitable explosion
 of dissatisfaction1 both political and 
artistic1 with the powers that ruled4   
,what ,i wish to make clear is that1    
whereas before this date ,bohemia1 if it
 existed1 was but an unconsidered fringe
 on the ancient student life of the     
,quartier ,latin1 after #ahcj it not    
only received a population but became a 
force4 ,for a few years it was an       
integral part of the larger ,paris1 a   

considerable element in public opinion  
and1 to some extent1 in social life1 a  
factor that could not be ignored4       
,disturbance1 however1 yielded to peace1
 and the interests of the public        
shifted4 ,the living spirit of ,bohemia 
gradually hardened into a dead          
tradition4 ,by #ahdh independence and   
individual liberty1 the watchwords of   
,bohemia1 were replaced in the mind of  
citizens by thoughts of social reform   
which culminated in the ,republic of    
#ahdh4 ,art1 for the time1 fell from her
 place of glory1 and ,bohemia relapsed  
for ever into obscurity4  ,the battle of
 ,waterloo seemed to have undone all the
 good of the ,revolution of #aghi4 ,the 
,bourbons came back to power1 with      
,louis ,,xviii1 a lazy man1 on the      
throne1 and his brother1 the ,comte     
d',artois1 leading a band of            
ultra-,royalists behind him4 ,the       
ultra-,royalists1 exasperated by the    
hundred days1 were breathing fire and   
slaughter1 full of zeal to destroy the  

liberty and philosophy of the           
,revolution and to replace it with      
absolutism and priest-rule4 ,against    
them was arrayed the party of           
,independents with ,branger1 their poet1
 and between the two were the           
doctrinaires or moderate ,royalists4    
,the ,ultras1 whose violence began by   
damaging their own cause1 were put into 
power by the assassination of the ,duc  
de ,berry in #ahbj1 and ,villle was     
their minister4 ,the succession of      
,charles ,x only strengthened the forces
 of reaction1 till in #ahbh ,villle was 
defeated and gave place to a ,liberal1  
,martignac4 ,but ,martignac's party were
 not strong enough to support him long1 
and in #ahbi he was succeeded by        
,polignac and a ,royalist ministry4 ,the
 ,liberals now prepared for stubborn    
resistance4 ,societies were formed1 with
 branches throughout the provinces1     
which were joined by all shades of      
,liberal opinion1 and their hero was    
,lafayette4 ,the blindness of ,charles  

,x precipitated events4 ,exasperated by 
the adverse result of the elections of  
#ahcj1 he suspended the constitution by 
his famous ordinances on ,july #bf4     
,paris rose at once1 and four days later
 all was over4 ,louis of ,orleans was in
 ,paris by the #cjth1 and took the oath 
as ,king in ,august4 ,this is only a    
bald statement of facts1 but they are   
facts that can be seen by the eye of    
imagination4 ,by #ahcj ,paris was a     
boiling cauldron of passionate          
enthusiasm4 ,revolution was aflame once 
more4 ,barricades--the mere word is a   
trumpet-call to ,frenchmen--had been    
erected once more in the streets1 and   
once more blood had flowed in their     
defence4 ,paris for years had smouldered
 with indignation1 and now her young men
 glowed with triumph4 ,the people should
 come to its own again1 and they should 
be its champions4 ,the eyes of ,france  
were on them1 and they knew that their  
comrades in the provinces1 intoxicated  
by the songs of ,branger1 enraged by the

 petty vexations of ,royalist officials1
 were envying them their opportunity and
 eagerly looking for any chance that    
would bring them to the city that so    
nobly stood for liberty4  ,the          
,revolution of #ahcj was not only       
political1 it was also artistic1 and the
 artistic results were really the more  
permanent4 ,this artistic revolution is 
generally known as the ,romantic        
movement1 about which so much has been  
written that ,i need not refer to it at 
length4 ,just as the ,liberal spirit    
smouldered for many years against the   
,royalist oppression1 so the ,romantic  
spirit smouldered against the restraints
 of the dead classic tradition of the   
eighteenth century4 ,the process of     
combustion1 beginning as it did with    
,rousseau1 was a slow one1 and1 as it   
has been said1 ,romanticism only        
potentially existed1 as a movement1     
before #ahbj4 ,in that year ,victor     
,hugo founded his journal1 the          
,conservateur ,littraire1 gathering     

round him a brilliant company of        
writers4 ,for ten years the movement    
grew in intensity1 fostered by the      
institution of cnacles and the only too 
successful proselytism of ,victor ,hugo1
 who disdained no recruit whom he could 
by flattery enlist4 ,it is not too much 
to say that the youth of all ,france was
 fired by the revolt against classicism 
in poetry and drama4 ,every schoolboy   
wrote verses and every ardent soul      
longed to enter the very arena in       
,paris1 where the perruques of the      
,institute were so signally defied4     
,paris became doubly desirable as the   
field on which political and artistic   
liberty were being won4 ,the triumph    
came in #ahcj with the performance of   
,hernani4 ,that victory of the ,romantic
 army is now a commonplace1 but in #ahcj
 it was magnificently new1 and it was1  
moreover1 the public manifestation of la
 ,bohme4 ,the effect of this double     
excitement was overwhelming4 ,it        
literally tore the more intelligent     

among the young men of ,france from the 
roots of all their attachments and      
interests4 ,to establish liberty1 to    
revolutionize literature1 these were    
their dreams1 in comparison with which  
all ordinary professional prospects     
seemed dreary and unworthy4 ,so the year
 #ahcj saw ,paris harbouring in her     
garrets a host of enthusiasts1 most of  
them very young1 burning with ideals and
 flushed with apparently glorious       
victories4 ,they felt themselves        
incorporated in one great brotherhood of
 defiance to established authority1 so  
that those who mocked their poverty and 
lawlessness in the name ,bohemian were  
unconsciously justified1 for a corporate
 name is the sign of a corporate        
existence4 ,la ,bohme in #ahcj was not a
 haphazard collection of dilettanti and 
artistic eccentrics2 it was a fellowship
 inspired by similar enthusiasms and    
bound together by the struggle against  
similar misfortunes4  ,misfortunes1     
indeed1 were not slow to come4 ,society 

is wonderfully quick to repair the      
breaches in its walls made by gallant   
assaulters1 and the heroes who have been
 foremost in the attack find that their 
bravely made passage has closed behind  
them1 and that they are left to be      
broken and starved into submission4 ,so 
it was after #ahcj4 ,louis ,philippe was
 at heart a ,royalist who had little    
understanding of the ,revolution4 ,his  
great achievement was to keep on his    
throne for eighteen years by encouraging
 the moneyed middle class1 thus laying  
the foundation of ,french industrial    
prosperity4 ,enrichissez-vous was the   
order of the day1 an order ironically   
unsuitable to the reformers of ,bohemia4
 ,those among them whose ideals were    
political rather than literary became   
uncompromising ,republicans1 formed     
secret societies1 carried on a violent  
,press campaign of articles and         
caricatures against ,louis ,philippe and
 his ministers1 and plotted further     
armed risings in ,paris1 the most       

serious of which was the ill-fated      
insurrection of the ,clotre             
,saint-,merri in #ahcb4 ,they were to   
find that they had presumed too far upon
 their strength4 ,in spite of the       
,legitimist risings in ,la ,vende1      
labour troubles at ,lyons1 and          
disaffection in ,paris1 ,louis          
,philippe's government was powerful     
enough to meet all emergencies4 ,press  
laws were made doubly stringent1 secret 
societies were prohibited1 caricatures  
were exposed to a censorship1 and the   
police was exceedingly vigilant4 ,above 
all1 the bourgeoisie held firm4 ,they   
were tasting prosperity and power1 and  
had no desire to let political          
disturbance interfere with their        
enjoyment4 ,happy were those who could  
repent of youthful political excesses   
and return to comfortable homes and     
settled careers4 ,those who had no      
refuge but ,bohemia came to know the    
chill of disappointment and repression4 
,their bright dreams faded away into    

grey reality2 they found themselves     
suspects and outcasts1 with the problem 
of subsistence1 instead of being        
miraculously solved1 only rendered more 
acute4 ,they had no outlet for their    
energies1 and those whom neither the    
barricades nor the cholera of #ahcb     
carried off saw the fellowship of       
assault followed by the isolation of    
retreat4 ,they drifted away in little   
bands to join the societies of social   
reformers like ,saint ,simon1 ,fourier1 
or ,pre ,enfantin4 ,consumption1        
starvation1 and suicide were the ends of
 many of them1 and their traces         
gradually faded from ,bohemia1 which    
became identified purely with the lives 
of its literary and artistic            
inhabitants4  ,the poets and artists of 
,bohemia survived longer1 not only as   
individuals1 but as a united            
brotherhood1 mainly because artistic    
rebellion cannot be put down1 as it does
 not manifest itself1 by force1 and also
 because the campaign in which ,hernani 

was the central engagement really       
culminated in a lasting victory4 ,for   
some years after #ahcj there was plenty 
for the young band to do in reducing    
block-houses and chasing the persistent 
critics of the old school1 who conducted
 a most robust guerilla warfare4 ,yet   
hardship and misfortune dogged their    
footsteps also4 ,the ,romantic victory  
of #ahcj was won by an army2 its spoils 
were shared by the few leaders--,victor 
,hugo1 ,sainte-,beuve1 de ,vigny--who1  
as ,m4 ,henri ,lardanchet has rather    
unkindly said1#a without a word of      
farewell or a motion of gratitude       
abandoned their army to famine4 ,to tell
 the truth1 many of the devoted         
enthusiasts were young men of mediocre  
talents at a day when the standard was  
very high4 ,verses were a drug in the   
market1 and he was a lucky man who could
 earn a few francs by filling a column  
or two in a little fashion paper        
boasting a few hundred subscribers4     
,journalism was not yet a commercially  

flourishing business1 expenses were     
high1 subscribers few1 and ,press laws  
menacing4 ,the starveling poets and     
dramatists of ,bohemia fell upon lean   
years1 in which the weaker and more     
utterly destitute were destroyed by     
their privations1 like ,elisa ,mercur   
and ,hgsippe ,moreau4 ,nevertheless1 the
 ,romantics were not crushed out of     
existence4 ,the stout hearts of those   
who held out still beat to a common     
measure1 and maintained artistic        
fellowship in an ideal as an essential  
element of la vie de ,bohme4  ,bohemia  
was glorious for a few years after #ahcj
 as it has never been since because it  
proclaimed a creed1 the creed of        
,romanticism4 ,it was glorious then     
because1 with ,romanticism1 ,bohemia was
 a living force4 ,given this connexion1 
there was some point in the bravado1 the
 extravagances and conceits of ,bohemian
 life4 ,they were an irregular army1    
those young men1 and they rejoiced in   
their irregularity4 pater le bourgeois  

was a legitimate war-cry when the       
bourgeois stood for all that was        
reactionary in art4 ,to scare the grocer
 with a slouch hat and a medieval oath  
was not only a youthful ebullition1 it  
was a symbolic act4 ,the sombrero defied
 artistic convention as typified in the 
top hat2 the medieval oath1 in its      
contrast with the paler expletives of   
modernity1 symbolized the return to life
 and colour in art after a century of   
grey abstraction4 ,it was with the      
decline of ,romanticism that ,bohemia   
lost its living spirit4 ,unlike         
,republicanism1 that gathered unseen    
strength in failure to blossom for a    
more worthy generation1 ,romanticism    
lost its vitality through its very      
success4 ,it may be likened to some     
conflux of waters which to force from   
its way the inert mass of an obstacle   
rises to a mighty head3 the obstacle is 
swept away1 and the seething waters     
resolve themselves into a workaday river
 humbly serving the sea4 ,so the        

,romantic movement has served literature
 for many decades now1 and it was       
quietly flowing between the banks before
 ,louis ,philippe lost his throne4      
,success1 it might be said1 came to it  
too soon1 especially as success in that 
day meant money4 ,the dangers of        
,republicanism were staved off for the  
moment by force2 the dangers of         
,romanticism were for ever discounted by
 payment4 ,authorship was made to serve 
a commercial end1 and all was over4 ,in 
#ahcf ,emile de ,girardin founded ,la   
,presse1 which was sold at a far lower  
price than any other paper4 ,the        
inevitable followed4 ,circulation went  
up by leaps and bounds1 contributors    
were paid respectable prices1 expenses  
were defrayed by the profits of         
advertisement1 and journalism in ,france
 was at once on a commercial footing1   
for other papers were not slow to       
follow4 ,literature1 from being purely  
an art1 quickly became a trade4 ,the    
struggle for a new artistic ideal gave  

way to the struggle for loaves and      
fishes1 which is contemporary with      
mankind4 ,a man's artistic creed went   
for nothing1 when all the public asked  
was that he should make himself         
conspicuous before they gave him their  
countenance4 ,once artistic success     
became a matter of royalties it was an  
easy prey to bourgeois conditions1 which
 were that art and literature should    
either be merely entertaining or point a
 respectable moral4 ,only a few         
,romantics were proof against this      
insidious influence4 ,to those          
recalcitrants we owe the motto ,art for 
art's sake4  ,the effect of this change 
upon ,bohemia is not difficult to       
imagine4 ,la vie de ,bohme implies      
youth1 so that its generations change as
 rapidly as those of a university4 ,the 
generation of #ahcj had either          
disappeared or become famous--that is1  
potentially rich--in a few years4 ,the  
struggle which had convulsed all ,paris 
was a thing of the past1 and            

,romanticism was so far accepted1       
swallowed1 and digested that by #ahdc   
the necessity was felt for reverting to 
the classical tradition again1 for a    
change1 with the so-called cole de bon  
sens4 ,there was no longer any          
trumpet-call to which ,bohemia could    
respond as a brotherhood1 as ,victor    
,hugo learned when1 on wishing to enlist
 a fresh army to go into battle for ,les
 ,burgraves1 he was told il n'y a plus  
de jeunes gens4 ,the swaggering heroes  
of #ahcj were now writers of successful 
novels and comedies1 or safely chained1 
as critics1 to the careers of           
remunerative journals4 ,rebellion was   
impossible1 for there was nothing to    
rebel against4 ,success depended more   
upon individual enterprise than common  
enthusiasm4 ,there was nothing left1    
therefore1 for the new generations of   
,bohemia but to fall back upon          
tradition4 ,if there was no more        
certainty in ideals there was at least  
something definite in slouch hats and   

medieval oaths1 in defying conventions  
of dress and accepted table manners4 ,so
 the symbols of ,romanticism became the 
realities of ,bohemia after all that    
they symbolized was as lifeless as a    
cancelled bank-note4 ,further1 the      
population of ,bohemia lost that great  
asset in life1 personal pride4 ,their   
predecessors of #ahcj were arrogant1 no 
doubt1 but with the arrogance of an     
advance-guard in a desperate venture4   
,there was no desperate venture now     
toward1 and advance meant1 not progress1
 but prosperity4 ,the poorer brethren of
 art who peopled ,bohemia were now1     
inasmuch as they were not prosperous1   
failures4 ,they had no sense of         
intellectual achievement to keep up     
their courage1 when such achievement was
 measured in gold4 ,it was inevitable   
that their moral should be affected2 the
 recklessness1 which was formerly that  
of bravado1 became that of despair1 and 
a less reputable atmosphere grew up     
round ,bohemia which has never been     

dispelled from its tradition4           
,nevertheless1 dead as the spirit was1  
the tradition of #ahcj remained very    
strong1 being kept alive not only by    
oral transmission1 as all traditions    
are1 but also by the art of the sturdy  
few who remained faithful to the        
uncompromising standard of              
disinterestedness in art which it       
implied4 ,gautier1 ,flaubert1           
,baudelaire1 the de ,goncourts1 and a   
few others stood out unflinchingly      
against commercialism on the one hand   
and prosy doctrinairism on the other4   
,their struggle was not wholly          
effectual1 but1 so far as ,bohemia is   
concerned1 was important4 ,after #ahdh1 
when everything had to have a social    
purpose and art for its own sake seemed 
dead1 they sat down1 like the ,psalmist1
 by the rivers of ,babylon and          
remembered ,zion4 ,from their regrets   
the legend of la sainte ,bohme arose    
idealized and purified1 and it was made 
immortal in pages of prose by ,gautier  

and in de ,banville's ,ballade de ses   
regrets pour l'an #ahcj4 ,this legend1  
tinged as it already was with sentiment1
 spread to the public1 by whom it was   
resentimentalized1 a fact of which other
 authors1 ,murger included1 were not    
slow to take advantage4       ,ils      
savaient tirer parti des ressemblances  
relles entre la vie de      ,bohme et la
 vie de l'tudiant bourgeois au ',pays   
latin' pour      tablir une confusion   
avantageuse1 confusion qui est dj       
manifeste      dans les ',scnes de la   
,vie de ,bohme4' ,chanter ainsi la      
,bohme      c'tait un peu chanter la    
jeunesse bourgeoise4#b  ,if this be     
true1 then ,bohemia after #ahdh1 when   
the public interest was purely absorbed 
in ,socialistic reforms1 lapsed once    
more into being a mere fringe on the    
student life1 and1 as such1 equally     
negligible4 ,its classic days were over1
 never to return1 for the society of    
,paris grew too large to be again       
convulsed by a purely artistic conflict4

 ,the leaders of the new ,parnasse made 
a considerable sensation1 but they      
founded1 not a new ,bohemia1 but only   
another cnacle4 ,history establishes the
 florescence and decline of the classic 
vie de ,bohme beyond much doubt1 for it 
went with the florescence and decline of
 a common spirit4     ,,iii  ,,le ,,mal 
,,du ,,si,,cle   ,i have identified the 
classic period of ,bohemia with the time
 of the ,romantic victory4 ,it was not  
then lighted by dim lanterns hung       
outside the door of every artistic      
idiosyncrasy1 but reflected flamboyantly
 a general state of mind4 ,i disclaim   
once for all the intention of adding    
another to the many studies of the      
,romantic movement1 but in my aim of    
explaining the living reality out of    
which grew the tradition of la vie de   
,bohme ,i am compelled to dwell upon the
 turgid mental content of the early     
nineteenth century4 ,the eccentricities 
of ,bohemia were then but slight        
exaggerations of a universal spiritual  

ferment1 though1 after the good wine was
 made1 a later and decadent ,bohemia    
artificially reproduced the symptoms of 
a process that was formerly natural and 
necessary4 ,le mal romantique1 le mal du
 sicle1 are common phrases upon the lips
 of ,french critics1 who to-day affect  
to treat with contempt what was1 after  
all1 a new ,renaissance4 ,without       
adopting their attitude1 it must be     
admitted that1 inestimable as were its  
results1 it was an alarming convulsion4 
,the ,english took it in a milder and   
earlier form4 ,its most extreme         
manifestation1 ,byron and the ,satanic  
school1 was a thing of the past before  
#ahcj4 ,but the ,french were thoroughly 
and virulently affected1 and exhibited  
all the most violent symptoms4  ,we may 
best begin1 perhaps1 by looking at a    
particular subject1 to use a medical    
phrase1 in the correspondence of ,j4-,j4
 ,ampre1 son of the great scientist4    
,the younger ,ampre1 after a violent    
adoration of ,madame ,rcamier1 who was  

old enough to be his mother1 settled    
down into a most respectable and        
successful man of letters1 and he was   
never in any sense a ,bohemian4 ,he was 
a well-educated and perfectly normal    
man1 so that the ravages of le mal du   
sicle may be well judged when he writes 
to his friend1 ,jules ,bastide1 in      
#ahbj3       ,my dear ,jules1 last week 
the feeling of malediction was upon me1 
round me1 within me4 ,i owe this to     
,lord ,byron2 ,i read through twice     
at a sitting the ,english ',manfred4'   
,never1 never in my life has            
anything ,i have read overwhelmed me as 
that did2 it has made me      ill4 ,on  
,sunday ,i went to see the sunset upon  
the ,place de      l',esplanade2 it was 
as threatening as the fires of hell4 ,i 
went      into the church1 where the    
faithful were peacefully chanting the   
,hallelujah of the ,resurrection4       
,leaning against a column1 ,i looked    
at them with disdain and envy4  ,two    
months later ,jules ,bastide delivered  

his soul in a similar strain3       ,i  
feel that the slightest emotions might  
send me mad or kill me4      ,the       
evening of our parting ,i opened at     
random a volume of ,madame      de ,stal
 and read the dream of ,jean ,paul4     
,when ,i came to that      terrible     
line1 ',christ1 nous n'avons point de   
pre1' a shudder      seized me4 ,an hour
 later ,i had a fever2 it lasted a      
fortnight4  ,another friend wrote to    
,ampre in #ahbd3       ,all my ideas    
turn towards ,africa4444 ,is it solitude
 that ,i seek in      ,africa8 ,yes1 but
 it is not only that2 it is the desert1 
the      palm-tree1 the musk-rose1 the  
,arab6 ,a romanesque and barbaresque    
future is what ravishes me4  ,in #ahbe  
,ampre1 then twenty-five years old1     
wrote to ,madame ,rcamier3              
,return1 for my life is no longer       
tolerable without you2 my spirit      is
 wholly employed in trying to support   
the emptiness of my      days4  ,in     
these delirious passages are contained  

the most marked symptoms of the time1   
the satanic gloom that drew its         
inspiration from ,byron1 the nervous    
sensibility imitated from the heroes of 
,madame de ,stal1 ,chteaubriand1 and    
,snancour1 and the longing for a life of
 ,oriental colour which found a later   
expression in ,victor ,hugo's poems4    
,however1 it would be unfair to put down
 this spiritual bouleversement to the   
influence of ,ren1 ,obermann1 ,werther's
 ,leiden1 or ,manfred4 ,they became1    
indeed1 the breviaries of the afflicted1
 but the cause of the affliction lay    
deeper in the reaction of the ,french   
nation after the ,napoleonic wars4      
,napoleon's victorious campaigns drained
 ,france of its best blood and its best 
energies1 leaving an inheritance of     
anmia and neurasthenia to the next      
generation1 without diminishing that    
feverish desire for glory1 that         
determination to work one's will upon a 
passive world1 which was the spirit of  
,napoleon's armies4 ,older and more     

settled people were content to reap the 
rewards of peace1 but the young men1    
exalted by the exploits of their        
fathers1 looked in vain for some channel
 in which to discharge their superfluous
 electricity4 ,under the restored       
,bourbons there was none4 ,the fathers  
had had free play upon historic         
battlefields1 the sons were cribbed and 
confined in the narrow bounds of        
everyday life4 ,moreover1 the           
revolutionary wars had revealed vast1   
unexplored pastures to the ,french mind4
 ,new countries1 languages1 and         
literatures were brought into its view4 
,the gorgeous ,east1 in particular1     
seized upon the ,french imagination4    
,the desert was vast and untrodden1 the 
,arab was dignified and free1 and under 
unclouded skies the primitive nobility  
of mankind revealed itself in splendour 
and space4  ,here1 then1 is the root of 
le mal du sicle from which the divers   
symptoms sprang4 ,of these1 perhaps1 the
 most marked and most general was an    

exaggerated sensibility1 a kind of      
melancholy madness4 ,young ,henri       
,dubois1 who at any other epoch would   
have been content to learn his trade    
behind the counter of ,dubois and       
,dupont1 cloth merchants1 and to settle 
down into a peaceful home with          
,mademoiselle ,dupont1 now plied the    
yard measure with disgust and yearned   
for an existence more worthy of his     
complicated state of mind4 ,he was a    
perfect magazine of pent-up emotions1   
ready to expire in a delirium of joy or 
an ecstasy of despair after the manner  
of ,ren and ,werther4 ,he was quite     
willing to love ,mademoiselle ,dupont on
 the condition that she would lend      
herself to a tempestuous passion1 allow 
her hands to be bathed in tears for     
hours together by her prostrate         
cavalier1 receive folios of hysterical  
ravings by the post1 and dread the fatal
 dagger if she had smiled from her desk 
at a customer4 ,she was urged daily to  
fly to a brighter destiny upon distant  

shores1 and nightly trembled that the   
coming morning would find ,henri        
transfixed by his own poniard4 ,it was  
impossible to be reasonable2 only a     
clod1 dead to all beauty1 could be so   
brutal4 ,m4 ,louis ,maigron1 who in his 
book1 ,le ,romantisme et les ,murs1     
gives some very remarkable instances of 
these aberrations in actual             
correspondence1 says very truly3 ,une   
foule de 'cratres' ont alors superbement
 fum au nez des bourgeois4 ,the         
,romantic ideal supposed a sensibility  
always stretched to its utmost1 des mes 
excessives1 as ,m4 ,bourget says1#c     
capable of constant renewal1 and a      
consumption of emotional energy which is
 irreconcilable with the laws of any    
organism4 ,if a young man failed for a  
moment to find food for melancholy      
broodings in the shortcomings of        
society1 he could always fall back for a
 good groan upon his own insufficiencies
 of sensibility4 ,now1 of course1 the   
feelings of malediction which afflicted 

the ,henri ,dubois are of small moment  
in themselves4 ,time comfortably settled
 them down4 ,it was the young men of    
real sensibility and imagination1 the   
coming poets and artists1 in whom the   
ravages of le mal du sicle were more    
than a passing phase4 ,the boundless    
yearnings that found expression in such 
lines as these3      ,amour1            
enthousiasme1 tude1 posie6     ,c'est l 
qu'en votre extase1 ocan d'ambroisie    
,se noraient nos mes de feu6     ,c'est 
l que je saurais1 fort d'un gnie trange1
     ,dans la cration d'un bonheur sans 
mlange       tre plus artiste que       
,dieu#d--  could not but lead to a      
profound dissatisfaction with existence1
 which ,maxime du ,camp in his          
reminiscences very happily describes3   
,it was not only a fashion he says1 as  
might be believed2 it was      a kind of
 general prostration which made our     
hearts sad1 darkened      our thoughts1 
and caused us to see a deliverance in   
the glimpse of      death4 ,you would   

have thought that life held in chains   
souls that      had caught sight of     
something superior to terrestrial       
existence4 ,we      did not aspire to   
the felicities of paradise3 we dreamed  
of taking      possession of the        
infinite1 and we were tortured by a     
vague      pantheism of which the       
formula was never found4444 ,the        
artistic and      literary generation   
which preceded me and that to which ,i  
belonged      had a youth of lamentable 
sadness1 sadness without cause and      
without object1 abstract sadness1       
inherent in the individual or in        
the period4444       ,nobody was allowed
 to be without an me incomprise2 it was 
the      custom and we conformed to it4 
,we were 'fatal' and 'accursed'2        
without even having tasted life1 we     
tumbled to the bottom of the      abyss 
of disillusionment4 ,children of        
eighteen years1 repeating      phrases  
gathered from some novel or other1 would
 say3 ',j'ai le      cur us comme       

l'escalier d'une fille de joie1' and one
 of      ,ptrus ,borel's heroes went to 
the executioner to say to him3 ',i      
should like you to guillotine me6' ,this
 did not prevent us from      laughing1 
singing1 or committing the honest       
follies of youth2 that      was also a  
way of being desperate2 we imagined that
 we had a      satanic laugh1 while we  
really possessed the fair joy of spring4
  ,these exquisite sensibilities1 when  
they were not turned back upon          
themselves in black despair1 roamed far 
and wide in search of new sensations    
upon which to exercise themselves4 ,this
 exotisme1 as the ,french have called   
it1 is another of the most marked       
symptoms of ,romanticism4 ,the time was 
ripe for its satisfaction4 ,the ,french 
mind1 shut for so long in the formalism 
of the eighteenth century1 now found    
that there were innumerable new ways to 
rver la rve de la vie4 ,the men of      
learning who followed in ,napoleon's    
wake renewed the interest in archology  

by their discoveries2 the historical    
novels of ,scott and the history of     
,michelet revealed the full and generous
 life of earlier ages2 the forged poems 
of ,ossian caused a perfect rage for    
,celtic mysticism2 and the bold lawless 
life of the ,east1 with its tyrannous   
,ali ,pashas and its ,greek patriots1   
shone out with a new splendour4 ,an     
unsatisfied longing for another age and 
another clime animated every young      
breast4 ,societies even were formed in  
provincial towns in which subscriptions 
were pooled1 and the winner of the lucky
 number drew the money to take a voyage 
in ,italy4 ,the glories of ,greece and  
the grandeurs of ,rome1 as savouring of 
the classical1 appealed only to a few2  
other eclectics fed upon ,german        
mysticism and the fantastic weirdness of
 ,hoffmann's supernatural tales4 ,a far 
greater number became ,celts in         
imagination2 dressed in the dignity of  
outlawry and the garb of an ,irish bard 
or a ,scotch chieftain1 they defied the 

haughty ,english4 ,maxime du ,camp1 for 
instance1 wrote a poem in his           
school-days called ,wistibrock          
l',irlandais4 ,when ,i am depressed1 he 
says in his reminiscences1 ,i read it   
again1 and there is no vexation that    
resists it4 ,anybody who wishes to gain 
some idea of the genre frntique1 as     
,nodier called it1 in its ,celtic dress 
will derive considerable entertainment  
from ,ptrus ,borel's ,madame ,putiphar4 
,it is full of murders and intrigues and
 tirades which foam at the mouth4 ,the  
hero1 ,patrick ,fitz,whyte1 falls in    
love with ,deborah ,cockermouth1        
daughter of ,lord and ,lady             
,cockermouth1 the opening dialogue of   
whom upon the battlements is            
magnificent4 ,my lord1 who is described 
as one of those gigantic fungous and    
spongy zoophytes indigenous to ,great   
,britain1 permits himself to address my 
lady as ,saint-hearted milk soup6 ,after
 a good deal of clandestine philandering
 and interminable translations of       

imaginary ,irish ballads the young      
couple elope to ,paris1 where ,madame   
,putiphar 7,madame de ,pompadour7       
seduces the heroine1 and the hero after 
a series of dreadful adventures is      
imprisoned in a loathsome dungeon in the
 ,bastille1 the taking of which by the  
people of ,paris is described with quite
 astonishing force4  ,illustration3 ,the
 ,spirit of ,romanticism  ,wild         
adventures1 horrors and tragedies in any
 age were fondly dwelt upon in          
comparison with the insupportable       
monotony of contemporary life2 but the  
,middle ,ages made a stronger appeal    
than any4 ,there was a perfect mania for
 medievalism4 ,nothing pleased          
overwrought imaginations more than to   
picture existence amid all the riot and 
magnificence of those more spacious     
days4 ,how they would have rattled a    
sword and clanked a spur1 how defiantly 
tilted their plume1 how breathlessly    
loved and how destructively fought6 ,why
 did they not live in the joyous time   

when every minute brought an adventure  
instead of spilling one more drop from  
the cup of ennui1 and when a man shaped 
his own ends according to his passions1 
throwing a curse to the poor and a      
madrigal to the fair8 ,then1 all their  
life was not grey4 ,splendour of colour 
with ample grace of form decked out     
existence like a picture by ,veronese4  
,costly satin vied with magnificent     
brocade2 all was a riot of velvet and   
purple dyes1 fur and old lace2 drinking 
cups1 worthy of giants1 chiselled by a  
,cellini1 offered wine worthy of the    
gods2 swords were masterpieces of the   
finest ,toledo2 jewelled harness        
caparisoned fleet ,arab horses2 feasts  
were ,gargantuan1 jests more than       
,rabelaisian2 and all this wonderful    
wealth of glittering colour was thrown  
into magnificent relief against the     
solemnity of antique battlements and the
 sombre shadows of ,gothic architecture4
 ,this1 apart from all innovations of   
dramatic form1 was the secret of the    

delirious popularity of ,hernani1       
,lucrce ,borgia1 ,le ,roi s'amuse1 and  
the ,tour de ,nesle1 and of the craze   
for historical novels1 verses in baroque
 metres1 slouch hats  la ,buridan1      
velvet pourpoints1 daggers1 mysterious  
draperies and massive chests1 drinking  
cups made out of skulls1 and illuminated
 breviaries of which ,gautier makes such
 fun in ,les ,jeunes ,france4 ,to it we 
owe ,balzac's splendid ,contes          
,drolatiques1 ,lassailly's ,roueries de 
,trialph1 and ,roger de ,beauvoir's     
,l'colier de ,cluny4 ,gautier in his    
early poems was as romanesque as any of 
his ,jeune ,france1 as those who know   
his early poems must admit4 ,dbauche is 
a frank orgy1 and ,albertus is a gem of 
the ,gothic1 with its supernatural      
setting1 the fatality of its hero1 the  
horror of its dnouement1 the wild       
fantasy of its witches' chamber1 and its
 amorous wealth of descriptive detail in
 which old fabrics1 old furniture1      
swords1 daggers1 and hangings abound4   

,victor ,hugo1 above all1 was the chosen
 bard of the ,gothic and the romanesque4
 ,besides his dramas1 his ,odes et      
,ballades were in the mouth of every    
child who could pay four halfpence for  
an hour's luxury in the cabinet de      
lecture2 and schoolboys would declaim   
for hours in antiphon such passages as  
the invocation of ,la ,bande ,noire3    
,o murs6  crneaux6  tourelles6          
,remparts6 fosss aux ponts mouvants6    
,lourds faisceaux de colonnes frles6    
,fiers chteaux6 modestes couvents6      
,clotres poudreux1 salles antiques1     
,o gmissaient les saints cantiques1     
,o riaient les rires joyeux6     glises 
o priaient nos mres1     ,tours o       
combattaient nos aeux6  or the frenzied 
descriptions of the witches' dance in   
,la ,ronde du ,sabbat1 or lines from ,la
 ,chasse du ,burgrave--which even ,hugo 
called un peu trop ,gothique de         
forme--or with a      1 qu'on selle1    
,ecuyer1     ,mon fidle     ,destrier4  
,mon cur ploie     ,sous la joie        

,quand je broie     ,l'trier  proclaimed
 their attendance at the ,pas d',armes  
du ,roi ,jean4  ,the star of the ,gothic
 and the medieval was indeed high in the
 heavens1 but it paled before the full  
sun of ,araby and the ,east4 ,napoleon  
had dreamed of a ,mohammedan empire1 and
 before his dream could fade ,navarino  
and ,missolonghi fired men's minds      
again4 ,victor ,hugo was also the       
champion of ,oriental rhapsody4 ,even in
 #ahbd he had seen the possibilities of 
,oriental colour in ,french verse1 when 
he wrote ,la ,fe et la ,pri1 a poem in  
which the ,peri1 who stands for         
romanticism1 says3      ,j'ai de vastes 
cits qu'en tous lieux on admire1        
,lahore aux champs fleuris1 ,golconde1  
,cachemire1     ,la guerrire ,damas1 la 
royale ,ispahan1     ,bagdad que ses    
remparts couvrent comme une armure1     
,alep dont l'immense murmure     ,semble
 au ptre lointain le bruit d'un ocan4   
,his collection of poems entitled ,les  
,orientales was published in #ahbi and  

took ,paris by storm1 provoking         
passionate enthusiasm and equally       
passionate protest4 ,in the preface he  
asserts that ,orientalism is a general  
preoccupation4 ,the colours of the ,east
 have come1 as if spontaneously1 to     
impress themselves upon all his the     
poet's thoughts and all his musings2 his
 musings and his thoughts have become1  
in turn1 and almost without his willing 
it1 ,hebrew1 ,turkish1 ,greek1 ,persian1
 ,arabic1 even ,spanish1 for ,spain1    
too1 is the ,east4 ,there are fine poems
 in ,les ,orientales--,les ,djinns1 for 
instance1 will always be famous--but it 
is impossible to read the volume through
 to-day without considerable amusement1 
so very full-blooded are they4 ,there   
are lofty apostrophes to ,byron and the 
,greeks1 followed by dreadful tales of  
,turkish cruelty1 gruesome ballads like 
,la ,voile1 in which four brothers kill 
their sister1 epigraphs like ,o horror6 
horror6 horror6 valiant ,klephtes1      
houris1 scimitars1 and all the catalogue

 which the poet himself gives in        
,novembre3                              
,sultans et sultanes1     ,pyramides1   
palmiers1 galres capitanes1     ,et le  
tigre vorace et le chameau frugal2      
,djinns au vol furieux1 danses des      
bayadres1     ,l',arabe qui se penche au
 cou des dromadaires1     ,et la fauve  
girafe au galop ingale4     ,alors      
lphants blancs chargs de femmes brunes1 
,cits aux dmes d'or o les mois sont des 
lunes1     ,imams de ,mahomet1 mages1   
prtres de ,bel 444  ,then1 as if ,victor
 ,hugo did not whip the passions enough1
 ,alfred de ,musset lent a hand in the  
hurly-burly with his ,contes d',espagne 
et d',italie1 which made the young      
maniacs frantically demand3             
,avez-vous vu dans ,barcelone     ,une  
,andalouse au sein bruni8     ,ple comme
 un beau soir d'automne6     ,c'est ma  
matresse1 ma lionne6     ,la marquesa   
d',amagui4  ,delacroix1 too1 was sending
 the critics into ecstasies of rage with
 his vivid ,eastern scenes and the      

horrors of his ,massacre of ,scio4 ,the 
ideas of the young men with inflamed    
sensibilities seethed in turbulent      
disorder4 ,to be in the movement they   
had to have at least a poniard and a    
narghile1 a medieval cloak and an       
,oriental divan4 ,those with money to   
spare decorated their rooms like sombre 
,gothic manors1 those with no money     
enriched their conversations with a     
wealth of medieval diction4 ,no         
make-believe was too ridiculous to shut 
out the actual place and time in which  
they lived4 ,balzac's novel ,la ,peau de
 ,chagrin1 which has won a celebrity far
 beyond its merits1 is most unmistakably
 marked with the frenzies of #ahcj4 ,his
 revelling in the supernatural1 the     
massed effects of careful detail in the 
description of the curiosity shop where 
the wild-ass skin hangs1 the wild riot  
of the orgy1 the terrific excesses in   
which ,valentin ruins his life1 the duel
 and the horrible end1 are just as much 
the genre frntique as anything by ,ptrus

 ,borel4 ,the hero1 ,valentin1 is simply
 a type of his time1 and his tirade on  
taking the supernatural skin is hardly  
an exaggeration3       ,je veux que la  
dbauche en dlire et rugissante nous     
emporte1 dans      son char  quatre     
chevaux1 par del les bornes du monde1   
pour nous      verser sur des plages    
inconnues6 ,que les mes montent dans les
      cieux ou se plongent dans la boue1
 je ne sais si alors elles      s'lvent 
ou s'abaissent1 peu m'importe6 ,donc1 je
 commande  ce      pouvoir sinistre de  
me fondre toutes les joies dans une     
joie4 ,oui1      j'ai besoin d'embrasser
 les plaisirs du ciel et de la terre    
dans      une dernire treinte1 pour en  
mourir4 ,aussi souhait-je et des        
priapes antiques aprs boire1 et des     
chants  rveiller les morts1      et de  
triples baisers1 des baisers sans fin   
dont la clameur passe      sur ,paris   
comme un craquement d'incendie1 y       
rveille les poux et      les inspire une
 ardeur cuisante qui les rajeunissent   

tous1 mme les      septuagnaires6  ,as  
for the orgy1 it was so much a fashion  
that ,gautier in his ,les ,jeune ,france
 scores a delightful hit with the story 
of a society of young men who combine   
for a colossal feast1 in which various  
sections follow out in exact detail the 
descriptions of orgies given by their   
favourite novelists and the end is a    
farcical confusion4  ,building castles  
in ,spain is a fascinating pastime1 but 
the ingenuities of imagination cannot   
entirely shut out the individual from   
his surroundings4 ,from #ahbj to #ahcj  
the young man of ,france was continually
 running against the sharp corners of   
the world and receiving the elbow prods 
of his fellow-men4 ,exalted by his      
excited sensibility1 he conceived at    
once a contempt and a hatred for the    
insensibility of society1 which produced
 in him a feeling of moral superiority  
and solitude4 ,this abnormal vanity1    
shown in the deification of l'homme     
suprieur and a proud contemplation of   

his social outlawry1 is a third marked  
symptom of le mal du sicle4#e ,it broke 
out in several different forms4 ,one was
 a romantic worship of energy and strong
 will1 as typified by the career of     
,napoleon4 ,given these qualities1 a man
 could rise from the lowest depths to   
impose his wishes on the world4         
,however1 self-styled supermen have     
invariably found their theories         
rebellious to practical application1 and
 ,henri ,dubois1 if he started upon a   
,napoleonic path1 soon discovered that  
society selects its homme suprieur when 
it wants him1 and that uncalled-for     
aspirants receive the point of its toe4 
,he reserved his superiority1 therefore1
 more usually1 for less material        
manifestations and conflicts4 ,his rare 
spirit1 susceptible to all the finer    
shades1 stood mournfully but prudently  
on high1 scorning the base1 unfeeling   
throng below it1 and calling out through
 space for kindred spirits to cherish4  
,my friend1 take care of yourself1      

writes young ,ampre to his friend4      
,obermann cries to us1 ',keep close     
together1 ye simple men who feel the    
beauty of natural things4' ,let us help 
one another1 all of us who suffer4 ,so  
,henri ,dubois and his friends suffered 
and helped one another1 shedding pints  
of tears and being just as ridiculous as
 they could be4  ,solitary suffering    
makes men philosophers or poets4        
,philosophy requiring some intellectual 
capacity and mental preparation1 ,henri 
,dubois often took the further step from
 crying in the wilderness to enshrining 
his laments in metre1 being encouraged  
in this by the certain fact that young  
men and true poets were indeed striking 
the ,romantic harp to a new and         
surprising tune4 ,the poet was the real 
homme suprieur of the time1 not only in 
fancy but in fact4 ,henri accordingly   
proceeded another stage towards         
sublimity by way of the faulty          
syllogism3 ,the poet has an exquisite   
soul2 ,i have an exquisite soul2        

therefore ,i am a poet4 ,the ,romantics 
conceived the poet as a ,god-sent       
prophet4 ,this was the attitude1 above  
all1 of de ,vigny2 ,lamartine and       
,sainte-,beuve adopted it in their early
 days1 and certain passages of ,victor  
,hugo--for instance3      ,o potes      
sacrs1 chevels1 sublimes1     ,allez1 et
 rpandez vos mes sur les cimes1     ,sur
 les sommets de neige en butte aux      
aquilons1     ,sur les dserts pieux o   
l'esprit se recueille1     ,sur les bois
 que l'automne emporte feuille  feuille1
     ,sur les lacs endormis dans l'ombre
 des vallons6  --show that he was not   
averse to it4 ,so every youth who could 
rhyme me with flamme put on the aureole 
of a pote chevel1 revelled in the       
ecstasies of solitary contemplation1 and
 sneered magnificently at all who       
attended to business as soulless        
piciers4 ,this was a harmless enough    
delusion1 but it became less harmless   
when combined with the idea that for the
 sake of experience the poet should     

abandon himself entirely to his         
passions4 ,the great artist1 indeed1 has
 his own morality1 but ,victor ,hugo's  
,mazeppa or ,lamartine's stanza         
,mais nous1 pour embraser les mes1      
,il faut brler1 il faut ravir     ,au   
ciel jaloux ses triples flammes3        
,pour tout peindre1 il faut tout sentir4
     ,foyers brlants de la lumire1      
,nos curs de la nature entire           
,doivent concentrer les rayons1     ,et 
l'on accuse notre vie6     ,mais ce     
flambeau qu'on nous envie     ,s'allume 
au feu des passions  were dangerous     
matchboxes in the hands of children4 ,it
 was a fatality1 too1 that several poets
 of some merit died during these years  
of want or neglect4 ,gilbert1 the       
satirist1 expired in hospital1 breathing
 piteous plaints1 and ,hgsippe ,moreau1 
the poet of ,la ,voulzie1 was equally   
unfortunate4 ,society can hardly be     
blamed for not supporting all its       
lyrically inclined members1 but it was  
natural that the pote chevel should     

smoulder with indignation at such       
disasters1 and cheer the sentiments of  
de ,vigny's drama ,chatterton till his  
lungs gave out4 ,it was still more of a 
fatality that certain other poets       
attained a momentary celebrity by       
committing suicide1 leaving rhymed      
farewells to a stony-hearted society and
 a tedious life4 ,to win fame by a      
pathetic death in a pauper's hospital1  
or to bid defiance to the world with a  
superb gesture of self-destruction1 was 
a far too common ambition4              
,sainte-,beuve himself observed that la 
manie et la gageure de tous les ,ren1 de
 tous les ,chatterton de notre temps1   
c'tait d'tre grand pote et de mourir4 ,a
 perfect epidemic of suicide was due to 
le mal du sicle1 as ,m4 ,louis ,maigron 
shows in his work that ,i have already  
cited4 ,among other strange stories he  
gives at length the confession of an old
 man who in his youth was president of a
 suicide club1 formed in a provincial   
town by a set of romantic schoolboys as 

late as #ahdf4 ,happily the club was    
short-lived1 but it resulted in the     
self-destruction of one of its most     
gifted members4 ,in the letter with     
which he announced his coming death from
 ,lucerne he wrote3        444,i have no
 precise reason to have done with life  
except the      insurmountable disgust  
with which it inspires me4 ,chance of   
birth      gave me a certain fortune2 ,i
 am not denied an intelligence perhaps  
slightly above the common level2 it     
would have been in my power to          
marry an adorable child3 so many        
conditions of happiness1 in the         
eyes of the vulgar4 ,but my poor soul1  
alas1 cannot content itself      with   
them4 ,nothing can charm my heart any   
longer1 'mon cur      lass de tout1 mme 
de l'esprance'2 it will be closed1      
without      ever having been opened4   
,he left his little library to the club1
 specially reserving for the president  
,werther1 ,ren1 ,obermann1 ,jacques1 and
 the works of ,rabbe4 ,they were his    

breviaries1 he said1 covered as they    
were with notes that revealed all his   
soul4  ,the pose of pathetic despair was
 not1 however1 the only one in which the
 feeling of moral solitude showed       
itself4 ,another very common attitude   
was that of revolt against society1 an  
aping of ,mephistopheles1 the fallen    
angel doomed to everlasting unhappiness1
 strong only in his disillusionment and 
his clear vision of the canker in the   
heart of every bud4 ,the word satanism  
summed up this attitude3 its breviaries 
were ,manfred and ,dumas' violent       
tragedy1 ,antony4 ,it rejoiced in the   
cult of the horrible1 in ,hoffmannesque 
dabblings in the supernatural1 in       
pessimistic poetry like ,gautier's ,tte 
de ,mort1 and such lines in his early   
sonnets as3      ,mais toute cette joie 
est comme le lierre     ,qui d'une      
vieille tour1 guirlande irregulire1     
,embrasse en les cachant les pans       
dmantels1     ,au dehors on ne voit que 
riante verdure1     ,au dedans1 que     

poussire infecte et noire ordure1       
,et qu'ossements jaunis aux dcombres    
mls4  ,its effects1 in society1 were    
chiefly obtained by the satanic laugh4  
,gautier soon grew out of his satanic   
mood1 ,dumas was never anything more    
than a fine romancer1 while ,victor     
,hugo1 ,lamartine1 and de ,vigny were   
too lofty poets to indulge in such      
artificialities2 but satanism deserves  
mention because it was a traditional    
business with one party in the romantic 
,bohemia--the party of the ,bousingots4 
,illustration3 ,bousingots  ,the origin 
of the term ,bousingot has been a matter
 of dispute among ,french writers4      
,philibert ,audebrand in his memoir of  
,lon ,gozlan says it was invented by    
that brilliant journalist to satirize   
the young republican enthusiasts of     
#ahcb in the ,figaro4 ,charles          
,asselineau in his ,bibliographie       
,romantique says that after some        
hilarious souls had been arrested for   
singing too loudly in the streets ,nous 

avons fait du bousingo--bousingo being  
the slang for noise--it became a popular
 designation for the more furious       
,romantics4 ,the matter seems to be     
settled more or less in ,asselineau's   
manner by a passage in the letter       
written by ,philothe ,o',neddy to       
,asselineau after the publication of the
 ,bibliographie ,romantique to give a   
more correct account of the second      
cnacle4 ,he asserts that there never    
were any self-styled ,bousingots1 but   
that after the arrest of the hilarious  
revellers the affair got into the       
newspapers and the term remained as a   
bourgeois hit at the ,romantics4 ,the   
proper spelling of the word was         
bouzingo1 and ,gautier exclaimed one    
day3 ,these asses of bourgeois don't    
even know how bouzingo is spelt6 ,to    
teach them a little orthography several 
of us ought to publish a volume of      
stories which we will bravely call      
',contes du ,bouzingo4' ,the suggestion 
was thought a happy one1 and the book   

was even advertised as imminent1 but it 
was never written4 ,gautier's promise of
 a contribution was afterwards redeemed 
in ,le ,capitaine ,fracasse1 but ,jules 
,vabre's famous treatise ,sur           
l'incommodit des commodes did not       
progress beyond the title4 ,in common   
parlance1 however1 the name remained    
,bousingots1 and its general meaning was
 quite clear4 ,just as the ,gothic      
frenzy made the party of ,jeune-,france1
 who were the ,christian-,royalist      
section of the ,romantics1 so the       
political agitation1 combined with the  
feeling of antagonism to society1 made  
the ,bousingots4 ,the meaning became    
subsequently enlarged to express all the
 extravagances of the ,romantics1 their 
idealization of the artist and their    
disorderly ways2 but this extension was 
illegitimate4 ,literature and poetry    
were1 it is true1 the preoccupation of  
the more prominent ,bousingots1 but     
their distinctive mark was a profession 
of ultra-democratic views and manners4  

,the leader of them all was the         
mysterious ,ptrus ,borel1#f whom ,i have
 already mentioned as the author of     
,madame ,putiphar4 ,his other chief work
 was a volume of poems entitled         
,rhapsodies4 ,the young men of #ahcj    
worshipped him as the coming champion   
before whom the star of ,victor ,hugo   
was ingloriously to wane4 ,they were    
grievously disappointed4 ,after the     
first crisis of le mal du sicle his     
inspiration faded away1 and he died an  
obscure officiai in ,algeria4           
,baudelaire1 in ,l',art ,romantique1    
says of him3       ,without ,ptrus      
,borel1 there would have been a lacuna  
in      ,romanticism4 ,in the first     
phase of our literary revolution the    
poet's imagination turned especially to 
the past4444 ,later on its              
melancholy took a more decided1 more    
savage1 and more earthy tone4      ,a   
misanthropical republicanism allied     
itself with the new school1      and    
,ptrus ,borel was the most extravagant  

and paradoxical      expression of the  
spirit of the ,bousingots4444 ,this     
spirit1 both      literary and          
republican1 as opposed to the democratic
 and bourgeois      passion which       
subsequently oppressed us so cruelly1   
was moved both      by an aristocratic  
hate1 without limit1 without            
restriction1      without pity1 for     
kings and the bourgeoisie1 and by a     
general      sympathy for all that in   
art represented excess in colour and    
form1      for all that was at once     
intense1 pessimistic1 and ,byronic2 it  
was      dilettantism of a singular     
nature1 only to be explained by the     
hateful circumstances in which our bored
 and turbulent youth was      enclosed4 
,if the ,restoration had regularly      
developed in glory1      ,romanticism   
would have never separated from the     
throne2 and this      new sect1 which   
professed an equal disdain for the      
moderate party      of the political    
opposition1 for the painting of         

,delaroche or the      poetry of        
,delavigne1 and for the king who        
presided over the      development of le
 juste-milieu1 would have had no reason 
for      existing4  ,charles ,asselineau
 fills up the picture4 ,the ,bousingot1 
he says1 was as rough and cynical as the
 ,jeune-,france was dandified and       
exquisite1 and showed genius in         
discovering at once the plastique of his
 idea4 ,in contrast to the extravagant  
luxury affected by the medievalists1 he 
adopted the manners of the people in    
habits and dress1 smoking clay pipes and
 drinking the petit bleu of low         
pot-houses4 ,instead of raving about    
cathedrals1 he spent his ingenuity in   
devising bitter satires against the king
 and his officers or fresh settings in  
caricature for ,louis' famous tte de    
poire4 ,the fusillade of ,st4-,merry and
 the laws of ,september were the        
,bousingot's ,waterloo4 ,from the moment
 he was forbidden to protest in a       
visible manner1 and was deprived of his 

insignia1 his waistcoat1 his stick1 and 
his pipe with a pear-shaped bowl1 the   
,bousingot had to retire4 ,he became    
serious1 an economist or a humanitarian 
philosopher1 and showed his revolt      
against society and power by writing    
novels 'in which the idea predominated  
over the form4' ,the novel with a       
tendency1 that literary monstrosity1 is 
the only legacy left by the ,bousingot  
to the literature of the nineteenth     
century4#g  ,in ,balzac's wonderful     
gallery of portraits there is a picture 
of a ,bousingot4 ,raoul ,nathan1 the    
author1 appears frequently in his       
,parisian scenes1 but his outlines are  
only elaborated in the little-read ,une 
,fille d',eve4 ,there was something     
great and fantastic in his appearance1  
as if he had fought with angels or      
demons4 ,he was strongly built1 with a  
pocked face and a tanned complexion4    
,his long hair was always untidy1 but   
his eyes were ,napoleonic and his mouth 
charming4 ,his clothes always looked old

 and worn1 his cravat was askew1 his    
long1 pointed beard untended4 ,the      
grease from his hair stained his        
coat-collar1 and he never used a        
nail-brush4 ,his movements were         
grotesque1 his conversation caustic and 
full of surprises4 ,his talent1 great   
but disorderly1 had shown itself in     
three novels and a book of poetry3 he   
was critic1 dramatist1 vaudevillist4    
,jealous ambition led him to embrace    
politics4 ,beginning at the extreme of  
opposition1 he went from ,saint         
,simonism to republicanism and through  
all the stages to ministerialism1 being 
rewarded by a government appointment4   
,nathan offre un image de la jeunesse   
littraire d'aujourd'hui1 de      ses    
fausses grandeurs et de ses misres      
relles2 il la reprsente      avec ses   
beauts incorrectes et ses chutes        
profondes1 sa vie       cascades        
bouillonnantes1  revers soudains1       
triomphes inesprs4      ,c'est bien     
l'enfant de ce sicle dvor de jalousie   

444 qui veut la      fortune sans le    
travail1 la gloire sans le talent et le 
succs sans      peine1 mais qu'aprs bien
 des rbellions1 bien des escarmouches1  
ses vices amnent  marger le budget sous 
le bon plaisir du      ,pouvoir4        
,balzac1 we all know1 was a little too  
ready to believe in the depravity of    
human nature1 particularly when men of  
letters were in question4 ,moreover1 he 
was profoundly antagonistic to the creed
 of the ,bousingots4 ,his portrait of   
,nathan is distinctly ill-natured1 but  
it bears out the profound remark of     
,baudelaire1 that if the ,restoration   
had developed in glory ,romanticism     
would never have separated from it4 ,in 
another extravagant tirade 7in ,batrix7 
,balzac complains that the ,revolution  
of #ahcj opened the flood-gates of petty
 ambition1 and the result of modern     
equality was that everybody did his     
utmost to become conspicuous4 ,this     
complaint was very largely true1 but as 
far as the ,bousingots are concerned    

,baudelaire puts the facts in a truer   
light4 ,the policy of juste-milieu      
inevitably caused revolt among the      
over-excited young men of the day4 ,the 
,bousingots were part of this revolt1   
but the best of them had no thought of  
self-advancement4 ,on the contrary1 the 
testimony of contemporaries goes to show
 that the saving virtue of the ,romantic
 ,bohemia1 ,bousingot and ,jeune-,france
 alike1 was disinterestedness4          
,baudelaire says in extenuation of      
,ptrus ,borel himself3 ,he loved letters
 ferociously1 and to-day we are         
encumbered with pretty1 supple writers  
ready to sell the muse for the potter's 
field4 ,asselineau avers that if there  
was much of the ridiculous in their     
excesses1 there was nothing sordid4     
,they never talked of money1 or         
business1 or position4 ,the artist ,jean
 ,gigoux1#h in regretting the past1 says
 that the rapin of his later years1 if  
better dressed1 knew less than those of 
his young days1 and was greedy of       

honours and money1 things which the     
rapins of old sincerely despised4       
,indeed1 it is impossible to read much  
about the ,romantics of #ahcj1 high or  
low1 aristocratic or ,bohemian1 without 
coming to the conclusion that they were 
neither jealous nor mercenary4 ,so the  
,bousingots--though some rolled their   
eyes and knitted their brows as if they 
would bully the whole universe1 others  
fixed their dark glances on the ground  
in fearful meditation1 others1 gloomily 
leaning against a statue or tree1 threw 
such terrific meaning into their looks  
as might be naturally interpreted into  
the language of the witches in          
',macbeth'#i--;did these things in all  
sincerity1 with an ambition1 not to get 
on1 but to do something4  ,we cannot1   
then1 judge the classic vie de ,bohme in
 a true light without taking into       
account this mal du sicle which with its
 various symptoms infected the greater  
part1 certainly the more intelligent    
part1 of the younger generation4 ,many  

outlived the fever and smiled at its    
remembrance2 but at its height it was   
powerful4 ,it was a healthy fever in so 
far as it implied devotion to an ideal1 
the ideal of true art1 which was then   
born again4 ,moreover1 the ideal        
consumed in its fire many pettinesses of
 the artistic soul1 the commercialism of
 some1 the haughty vanity of others4    
,balzac's ,lucien de ,rubempr was not a 
true son of #ahcj when he sold his      
independence to corrupt journalism1 and 
,victor ,hugo was not only intriguing   
when he intoxicated young poets by      
flattering letters4 ,there was a true   
fellowship of art such as has not       
existed since4 ,the poet or artist whose
 name was in everyone's mouth did not   
for that reason deny his friendship to  
one who had never published a line or   
exhibited a picture4 ,if a man had      
talent he was greeted as brother by all 
his fellow-craftsmen1 high or low4 ,this
 common brotherhood inspired by one     
ideal of art suffused and welded        

together ,bohemia with a radiant heat4  
,only when the radiance became dim did  
the mass grow cold and crumble in pieces
 which retained but the semblance of a  
spark4 ,bohemia1 to change the metaphor1
 was not then a block of model          
dwellings1 with nothing in common but   
steel girders and a stone staircase1 but
 it was a corporation fed by common     
hopes and warmed at a common hearth4    
,its more ridiculous defects--its       
vanities and morbid excitability1 its   
violent defiance of social convention1  
its passion for the exotic and the      
vivid1 its fits of melancholy and its   
uproarious rejoicings--were not         
individual vices1 but marks of a        
generation4 ,its grandeur and its       
follies are traceable to a common       
source4 ,its greatest fault was not     
extravagance1 for that is a venial      
folly1 but ignorance1 which even youth  
cannot wholly excuse4 ,the seed of      
dissolution really lurking in ,bohemia  
was what ,philibert ,audebrand has truly

 called its enfantillage de l'esprit4#aj
 ,in the flush of ,romanticism the      
zealots neglected those studies which   
give firmness to the mind4 ,they        
rejected history and philosophy2 being  
young1 they were not well read and they 
did not care to become so4 ,foreign     
literature was a closed book to them1 in
 spite of their professed admiration for
 ,dante1 ,goethe1 ,shakespeare1 and     
,byron2 even of their own literature    
their knowledge was sadly defective4    
,tout bien vu1 says ,m4 ,audebrand with 
a shake of the head1 ils n'avaient pas  
d'autre docteur que la ,blague4 ,this   
cap will not fit all the heads1 but it  
has an undeniable texture of truth4     
,when the first ebullition was over1 and
 the ,bohemians of #ahcj had departed   
from their joyful college to spread its 
doctrines in a workaday world1 they left
 nothing but a tradition behind them4   
,their house had been built upon a light
 soil1 and the time had come to make new
 and solid foundations4 ,but the        

tradition did not include such wholesome
 industry1 and ,murger's generation1    
denied the excitement and warmth of     
building1 were content to sit down in   
the hasty edifice to enjoy only the     
pastimes of their predecessors1 stopping
 up the ever-widening crevices1 that let
 in a cold blast of public opinion1 with
 the unsatisfactory makeshift of la     
blague4     ,,iv  ,,parisian            
,,society--,,le ,,tout ,,paris   ,the   
events of the time1 the spiritual       
exaltation of young ,france1 and the    
clat of the ,romantic struggle gave to  
,bohemia a definite position4 ,this     
position was accentuated by the         
smallness of ,parisian society4 ,the    
diversity and complexity of life in a   
great modern city are such that1 even if
 all other obstacles were swept away1   
this alone would still make it          
impossible for ,bohemia to rise again4  
,bohemians must live where rents are    
low--on the outer circumference1 that   
is1 of a city4 ,in the larger capitals  

of ,europe the inner circle1 which      
contains the commerce and luxury1 the   
hurry and bustle1 has extended          
enormously in the last fifty years or   
so4 ,the increase of middle-class       
prosperity has thrown far back the      
alleys and mean houses1 to give place to
 residential districts2 the easiness of 
modern travel has brought vast hotels   
and a constant foreign population2 shops
 and theatres fill immeasurably more    
space4 ,bohemia is driven to the        
extremities of the spider's web1 so     
that1 in ,plato's phrase1 it is no      
longer one1 but many4 ,it would be      
absurd to imagine a solid cohort formed 
from ,hampstead1 ,chelsea1 and ,camden  
,town1 to say nothing of ,wimbledon or  
,hampton ,court1 for the purpose of     
forcing some ,hernani upon the ,london  
public 7or its newspaper critics74      
,public opinion can hardly be corrected 
when the agents of correction are forced
 to disperse in the last motor omnibus4 
,moreover1 this extension of the inner  

circle has made its inhabitants less    
susceptible to sudden assaults4         
,unconventional demonstrations have upon
 it no more effect than the poke of a   
finger upon an india-rubber ball4 ,the  
interests of ,bohemia1 even if this     
circle be not entirely indifferent to   
them1 are only a fraction of its        
multitudinous preoccupations1 which     
include the fluctuations of the money   
market1 the results of athletic contests
 in all parts of the globe1 the progress
 of foreign wars1 the crimes and railway
 accidents of the week1 the development 
of aviation1 and the safest method of   
crossing the street4 ,bohemia can no    
longer be pointed to and felt by society
 as part of itself1 and when this is the
 case the name is nothing but a         
metaphor4  ,speaking of the year #ahda1 
,baudelaire in ,l',art ,romantique says3
       ,paris was not then what it is   
to-day1 a hurly-burly1 a ,babel         
inhabited by fools and futilities1 with 
little delicacy as to how      they kill

 time4 ,at that time tout ,paris was    
composed of that      choice body of    
people who were responsible for forming 
the opinion      of the others4         
,illustration3 ,les ,champs ,elyses     
,the glory of ,bohemia rests partly on  
this fact4 ,during ,louis ,philippe's   
reign this state of society1 comparable 
in some respects with the ideal polity  
of the ,attic philosophers1 was1 it is  
true1 being disrupted from within4 ,the 
balance of power between wealth of gold 
and fecundity of ideas was gradually    
changing--a change of which ,balzac is  
the immortal epic poet4 ,yet1 though the
 power of a ,nucingen was increasing1   
and ,paris was about to start on its new
 prosperity as the pleasure-ground of   
,europe1 this precious tout ,paris      
lasted till the reign was over4 ,paris  
was small1 in extent1 in population1 in 
the number of those who formed its      
opinion4 ,of its actual compactness as a
 city ,i shall speak in a later chapter2
 suffice it now to say that the         

boulevards of ,montmartre and           
,montparnasse bounded it on the north   
and south1 that the ,champs ,elyses was 
still a wilderness1 and that outside the
 fortifications lay open country4 ,the  
population about #ahce was only         
#gad1jjj2 railways were hardly          
beginning1 factories only tentatively   
being erected4 ,the working classes were
 chiefly engaged in commerce or petits  
mtiers1 and the heights of ,mnilmontant 
smiled as green and as free from slums  
as the ,champs ,elyses were free from   
luxurious hotels4 ,the passing foreign  
population1 though there was a certain  
number of ,english attracted by cheap   
living1 was almost negligible4          
,brazilians and ,argentines1 ,germans   
and ,americans were hardly to be seen2  
even ,french provincials walked         
delicately instead of forming1 as they  
do now1 the chief clientle of the       
,parisian theatres4 ,le tout ,paris was1
 therefore1 a nucleus within a circle of
 three segments--the middle class1 the  

aristocratic families1 and ,bohemia4    
,the middle class1 though the most      
numerous1 was only potentially important
 at the time4 ,politics and money-making
 were its only preoccupations4 ,it was  
divided1 of course1 into an infinity of 
grades1 all of which may be illustrated 
from characters in ,balzac's ,comdie    
,humaine4 ,there were the bankers and   
usurers from the ,du ,tillets down to   
the ,samanons1 the successful merchants 
like ,birotteau1 the world of officials 
so accurately described in ,les         
,employs1 the judges like old ,popinot1 
and all the men of law from a ,desroches
 down to his youngest clerk4 ,some were 
as sordid and bourgeois as the          
,thuilliers1 others luxurious debauchees
 like the ,camusots and ,matifats1      
others1 like the ,rabourdins1 fringed   
upon the beau monde4 ,the sons of men   
enriched and decorated by ,napoleon     
formed perhaps the cream of the middle  
class1 and of these ,balzac has given   
his opinion in describing ,baron        

,hulot's son1 who plays so large a part 
in ,cousine ,bette3       ,m4 ,hulot    
junior was just the type of young man   
fashioned by the      ,revolution of    
#ahcj1 with a mind engrossed by         
politics1 respectful      towards his   
hopes1 suppressing them beneath a false 
gravity1 very      envious of           
reputations1 uttering phrases instead of
 incisive      mots--those diamonds of  
,french conversation--but with plenty of
      attitude and mistaking haughtiness
 for dignity4 ,these people are      the
 walking coffins which contain the      
,frenchman of former times2      the    
,frenchman gets agitated at moments and 
knocks against his      ,english        
envelope2 but ambition holds him back1  
and he consents to      suffocate inside
 it4 ,this coffin is always dressed in  
black cloth4  ,this sombre portion of   
the background need1 therefore1 trouble 
us no further4 ,it dominated politics   
and was ignored by tout ,paris4  ,the   
aristocracy of the ,faubourg            

,st4-,germain is almost equally         
negligible4 ,being legitimists1 they    
sulked after #ahcj1 either living on    
their country estates or shutting       
themselves gloomily within the gaunt    
walls of their htels in the ,faubourg4  
,this retirement1 too1 was not wholly   
due to bouderie1 for many of them1 like 
,balzac's ,princesse de ,cadignan1      
suffered heavy financial losses by the  
,revolution4 ,their self-denying        
ordinance caused a great diminution in  
the general gaiety of ,paris for some   
years4 ,legitimist drawing-rooms1 where 
a brilliant host of guests had been wont
 to gather1 were hushed and dark while  
the dowagers gravely discussed the      
latest news of the ,duchesse de ,berry4 
,the few official ftes were severely    
boycotted1 and even the entertainments  
of foreign ambassadors suffered4 ,it was
 an irksome business for the younger    
members1 particularly the ladies of the 
aristocracy1 who eventually gathered    
courage to break out into small         

entertainments1 and in #ahce there was  
the first of a series of legitimist     
balls1 the subscriptions for which went 
to recompense those whose civil list    
pensions had been suppressed in #ahcj4  
,after this the ,faubourg ,st4-,germain 
became more lively1 and certain houses  
were opened to a wider circle of guests4
 ,eugne ,sue1 for instance1 till he     
became impossible1 was to be found in   
many legitimist drawing-rooms4          
,nevertheless1 the ,faubourg            
,st4-,germain avoided attracting the    
public eye by any conspicuous           
festivities1 and this had two effects4  
,in the first place1 it brought the more
 joyous festivities of tout ,paris and  
the riotous celebrations of ,bohemia    
into greater relief2 and1 in the second1
 the men of the aristocracy1 like the   
,duc d',aulnis1 were driven to find     
distraction and amusement in a gayer    
world into which their own womankind was
 debarred from penetrating4 ,it was they
 who formed a certain section of tout   

,paris2 they were the viveurs1 the      
dandies1 the young bloods of the newly  
founded ,jockey ,club1 the members of   
the petit cercle in the ,caf de ,paris1 
who joined hands with what may be called
 la haute ,bohme4  ,there was1 however1 
a certain amount of neutral ground      
between the aristocracy of birth and    
that of wit to be found in the literary 
salons of the day1 which1 if not quite  
so illustrious as they had once been1   
shone with a considerable amount of     
brilliance4 ,among the legitimists these
 were1 of course1 not to be found1 but  
the aristocracy of ,napoleon was        
represented by the salons of the        
,duchesse de ,duras and the ,duchesse   
d',abrants4 ,the latter1 widow of       
,napoleon's marshal ,junot1 was a       
particular friend of ,balzac1 who was   
the most notable figure to be found at  
her house4 ,she was always dreadfully in
 debt1 and after being sold up she died 
in a hospital in #ahch4 ,the salon of   
the ,princess ,belgiojoso in the ,rue   

,montparnasse attracted particular      
attention because1 with an aristocratic 
hostess1 it had all the entrain of more 
purely artistic gatherings4 ,till       
troubles in ,italy called them back to  
their estates the ,prince and ,princess 
,belgiojoso were among the gayest of the
 gay4 ,the ,prince with his boon        
companion1 ,alfred de ,musset1 ruffled  
it merrily on the boulevard1 while the  
,princess1 who had many of the most     
brilliant men of the day for her lovers1
 filled her apartments with poets1      
artists1 writers1 and1 above all1       
musicians4 ,one who frequented her      
drawing-room hung with black velvet1    
spangled with silver stars1 says she had
 a fiert glaciale1 mais curiosit        
suraigu4 ,the splendour of her          
entertainments was royal1 and her       
concerts were magnificent4 ,to this the 
salons of ,madame ,ancelot and ,madame  
,rcamier were a striking contrast4 ,the 
former was composed chiefly of serious  
men of letters and politicians1 while at

 ,l',abbaye-aux-,bois ,madame ,rcamier  
acted as priestess to the adoration of  
the aging ,chteaubriand4 ,the salons of 
the pure ,romantics made no pretence of 
splendour and were entirely free from   
the atmosphere of officialdom4 ,the     
chief of them were those of ,madame     
,hugo1 of ,madame ,gay 7who was         
succeeded by her daughter1 ,delphine de 
,girardin71 and of ,charles ,nodier1 the
 genial librarian of the ,arsenal4 ,in  
all of these1 as in the salon of the    
,princess ,belgiojoso1 tout ,paris was  
to be found in force4 ,the gatherings   
round ,victor ,hugo were a little too   
much flavoured by the fumes of the      
censer1 but those of the ,girardins and 
of ,nodier were of the most charming    
gaiety4 ,balzac1 in a humorous article1 
drew a malicious sketch of the          
exaggerated enthusiasms of ,nodier's    
guests when a poem was read before them4
 ,cathdrale6 ,ogive6 ,pyramide          
d',egypte6 were the approved            
exclamations of ecstatic approbation4   

,madame ,ancelot#aa confesses that she  
found the conversation very amusing1 but
 very strange4 ,there was never a       
serious word1 she says1 never anything  
profound1 sensible1 or simple2 every    
word was meant to cause laughter1 to    
make an effect4 ,the more a thing was   
unexpected--that is1 the less it was    
natural--the more prodigious was its    
success4 ,she1 no doubt1 was prejudiced1
 and the fact remains that every guest  
who wrote in after years of ,nodier's   
salon1 its merry conversation followed  
inevitably by dancing1 did so with most 
grateful praise1 for ,nodier died in    
#ahdf1 leaving his ,romantic friends to 
write regretful reminiscences4 ,the     
salon of ,sophie ,gay and her daughter  
was equally infected by high spirits1   
but it was less purely literary4 ,liszt1
 ,thalberg1 and ,berlioz made music     
here2 ,roger de ,beauvoir met           
,lamartine1 and the ,marquis de ,custine
 sat by ,balzac or ,alphonse ,karr4 ,the
 de ,vignys also had a salon1 and       

,thodore de ,banville speaks most warmly
 of their kindly hospitality2 but there 
was a certain aloofness about the       
creator of ,eloa1 and another of his    
guests found that in his house colouring
 seemed absent1 so that the regular     
guests seemed to come and go in the     
moonlight4#ab  ,to speak at greater     
length about the salons of the ,romantic
 period would here be beside the mark4  
,bohemians1 no doubt1 were often to be  
found at ,victor ,hugo's or ,nodier's1  
but on those occasions they were        
consciously straying outside their own  
boundaries4 ,neither the stately house  
in the ,place ,royale nor the           
librarian's dwelling at the ,arsenal was
 within the domains of ,bohemia1 and no 
,bohemian of the time would have dreamed
 of claiming them1 as the later         
,parnassiens might have claimed the     
salons of ,nina de ,kallias and ,madame 
,ricard1 for parts of their ordinary    
existence4 ,the case1 however1 is       
different with the relations between le 

tout ,paris and ,bohemia4 ,le tout      
,paris was1 as ,i have said1 a nucleus1 
but a nucleus of disparate and          
constantly shifting particles4 ,this    
perfectly undefined body had1 of course1
 no definite place of assembly1 but so  
far as it could be identified with any  
particular locality it may be said to   
have congregated on the boulevard4 ,the 
,boulevard des ,italiens--the           
boulevard--was the chosen spot for the  
saunterings of the chosen few1 a fact   
which by itself is a proof of the       
smallness and privacy of ,paris compared
 with the present day1 when this same   
boulevard is flooded from morning till  
night by a hurrying stream of           
indistinguishable humanity4 ,in the days
 of ,louis ,philippe nobody1 except an  
ignorant foreigner1 ventured to appear  
on this sacred preserve in the afternoon
 without some semblance of a title4 ,the
 title may have been so small as a      
peculiarly elegant waistcoat1 a capacity
 for drinking1 or a happy invention for 

practical jokes1 or it may have been the
 reputation for a ready wit and a       
trenchant pen2 but whosoever dared to   
show himself in this select society was 
sure to have some particular            
justification for making himself        
conspicuous1 otherwise he was certain to
 be quizzed out of existence4 ,the      
newcomer1 if he survived a short but    
swift scrutiny1 entered an informal     
though exclusive club of which every    
member was known to the others--he was  
known1 that is1 to all ,paris4 ,all     
,paris1 in a sense1 it truly was1 not   
because the greatest poets and statesmen
 belonged to it--for they had better    
things to do than to waste so much      
time--but because it served as the      
central intelligence department or1 ,i  
might almost say1 as the brain of       
,paris4 ,a word uttered there was round 
the town in two hours2 there a poet was 
made or a play damned--in the twinkling 
of an eye4 ,one day of its activity     
furnished all the wit of the next day's 

newspapers1 which is hardly surprising  
when so many of its members were        
journalists4 ,le tout ,paris was not    
hide-bound in its requirements2 it      
admitted high birth as one qualification
 for membership1 wealth if accompanied  
by good manners as another1 but a       
certain way to its heart was by a       
brilliant handling of the pen4 ,in spite
 of the exaggeration of the ,parisian   
scenes in ,illusions ,perdues1 there is 
no unreality in ,balzac's picture of    
,lucien's sudden rise from impoverished 
obscurity to fame and money4 ,lucien1   
the provincial poet1 after his          
disappointing elopement with ,madame de 
,bargeton1 retires discomfited to a     
garret in the ,quartier ,latin4 ,the    
door of rich protectors is shut in his  
face1 no publisher will read his poems  
or accept his novels4 ,the serpent      
arrives in the shape of ,lousteau1 who  
shows him the devilish power of         
journalism4 ,by a lucky chance ,lucien  
is asked to write a dramatic criticism  

for a new paper4 ,he succeeds           
brilliantly1 and he has ,paris at his   
feet4 ,the publisher cringes before his 
power and publishes all that he had     
formerly rejected2 with money1 fine     
clothes1 and a reputation1 he can answer
 stare for stare and return the         
impertinences of ,rastignac and de      
,marsay2 even ,madame de ,bargeton in   
the ,faubourg ,st4-,germain cowers from 
his revengeful epigrams4 ,so long as he 
remains a power in the ,press he is     
flattered and caressed and plumes       
himself1 a butterfly only just emerged1 
in the glittering tout ,paris of his    
day4  ,the moral of ,lucien de ,rubempr1
 so far as we are immediately concerned1
 is not ethical1 but resolves itself    
into the truth that there was an open   
passage between ,bohemia and le tout    
,paris which was crossed by not a few4  
,gautier crossed it1 so did ,arsne      
,houssaye1 ,ourliac1 the dramatist1 and 
several others4 ,there were also men who
 seemed to spend their time between the 

two1 like the elder ,dumas1 ,roger de   
,beauvoir1 and ,alfred de ,musset1 who  
combined the extravagance of ,bohemia   
with the luxury of the boulevards in    
different proportions1 without ever     
being entire ,bohemians or complete     
viveurs1 and who maintained such a      
continuous communication between the    
more literary sections of le tout ,paris
 and the finer talents of ,bohemia that 
it would be in some cases difficult to  
say where one left off and the other    
began4 ,it is therefore impossible to   
write of the vie de ,bohme without      
entering into this larger and more      
conspicuous life of what may be called  
la haute ,bohme4 ,not only was it the   
sound-board from which in a lucky moment
 the struggling whisperer on the left   
bank might hear his utterances booming  
forth to a multitude eager for novelty1 
not only was it an unofficial academy to
 which every ,bohemian might aspire to  
belong as soon as he had made his mark1 
but it was also1 during the years       

following #ahcj1 animated by such a     
spirit of revelry and reckless amusement
 that the riots of true ,bohemia were as
 pale ghosts before its more notable    
orgies4 ,there were strong reasons for  
the merging of the two ,bohemias1 and   
the only precise distinction was the    
possession or want of money4 ,bohemia   
proper has no money except what it can  
make by its art1 and as its inhabitants 
are young that is little enough4 ,la    
haute ,bohme1 with a less strict        
limitation of years1 makes money and    
spends it recklessly4 ,instead of       
pleading youth as the excuse of its     
folly1 it claims the indulgence due to  
artistic achievement4 ,however1 so far  
as the generation of #ahcj were         
concerned1 this distinction was not     
absolute1 for the ,bohemians of #ahcj   
were not invariably so destitute as     
their successors1 so that they were     
enabled to mix to some extent in the    
gayer life of the artistic              
boulevardiers4  ,the most universal     

word--which ,i shall adopt--applicable  
to this haute ,bohme is the contemporary
 name for them1 les viveurs4 ,they were 
a particular product of the time1 and no
 words of mine can describe them better 
than a passage from ,balzac's ,illusions
 ,perdues4 ,the period of the novel is  
some years before #ahcj1 but this       
particular description is far more      
applicable to the years that followed   
the second ,revolution4 ,i quote it in  
,french1 because it is impossible to do 
it justice in a translation3       ,a   
cette poque florissait une socit de     
jeunes gens1 riches et      pauvres1    
tous dsuvrs1 appels viveurs1 et qui     
vivaient en      effet avec une         
incroyable insouciance1 intrpides       
mangeurs1 buveurs      plus intrpides   
encore4 ,tous bourreaux d'argent et     
mlant les plus      rudes plaisanteries 
cette existence1 non pas folle1 mais    
enrage1      ils ne reculaient devant   
aucune impossibilit1 faisaient gloire de
      leurs mfaits1 contenus nanmoins en

 de certaines bornes3 l'esprit      le  
plus original couvrait leurs escapades1 
il tait impossible de      ne pas les   
leur pardonner4 ,aucun fait n'accuse si 
hautement      l'ilotisme auquel la     
,restauration avait condamn la jeunesse4
 ,les      jeunes gens1 qui ne savaient 
quoi employer leurs forces1 ne les      
jetaient pas seulement dans le          
journalisme1 dans les conspirations1    
dans la littrature et dans l'art1 ils   
les dissipaient dans les      plus      
tranges excs1 tant il y'avait de sve et 
de luxuriantes      puissances dans la  
jeune ,france4 ,travailleuse1 cette     
belle jeunesse      voulait le pouvoir  
et le plaisir2 artiste1 elle voulait des
      trsors2 oisive1 elle voulait      
animer ses passions2 de toute manire    
elle voulait une place1 et la politique 
ne lui en faisait nulle      part4      
,illustration3 ,a ,viveur  ,balzac gives
 his own character1 ,rastignac1 as an   
instance of the typical viveur1 but     
,rastignac had a purpose in his heart1  

while some of the most prominent among  
the viveurs had none but to amuse       
themselves4 ,these ,i name first1 for1  
having no other preoccupations1 they set
 the tone of the whole society4 ,they   
were chiefly members of the aristocracy 
who found no place for their energies in
 a bourgeois ,state which sought no     
military glory4 ,one of their leaders1  
the ,duc d',aulnis1 who settled down    
afterwards to serve the ,state worthily1
 gives in his memoirs the reason why so 
many young men of good family gave      
themselves up to riotous living1 as he  
did under his nom de plaisir of         
,alton-,shee4 ,he and other young       
legitimists resigned their commissions  
in #ahca on finding that ,louis         
,philippe1 le roi des barricades1 sided 
with the insurrectionists1 so that1 as  
he says1 the class of idlers was        
increased by a large number of          
legitimists who had resigned their      
commissions and by a contingent of      
refugees belonging to the ,italian1     

,polish1 and ,spanish aristocracies4 ,to
 distract their minds from the thoughts 
of so many broken careers1 so many hopes
 disappointed1 they dashed with an      
irresistible rush into the pursuit of   
enjoyment and sought to appease their   
generous aspirations in an unbridled    
love of pleasure4  ,these were the young
 men who spent all their time in        
imitating ,brummell or the ,comte       
d',orsay1 paying minute attention to    
every curve of their voluminous         
frock-coats1 the patterns of their      
waistcoats1 and the folding of their    
cravats2 who drove and rode             
irreproachable horses imported from     
,england1 and founded the ,french       
,jockey ,club under the auspices of     
,lord ,seymour2 who dined copiously at  
the ,caf de ,paris and adjourned to     
lounge at the ,opra in the loge         
infernale1 where the cream of ,parisian 
dandyism paraded with its lorgnette for 
the edification of the public4 ,in      
racing and gambling they found their    

excitement2 their consolation was the   
venal love of a ballet dancer4 ,for no  
moment of the day did they pursue a     
worthy ambition1 and their only excuse  
was that1 being idle perforce1 they     
attained a certain exquisiteness even in
 pleasure4 ,sadly the ,duc d',aulnis    
sums them up3       ,our generation had 
the love of liberty1 passion1 gaiety1 an
      artistic nature1 little vanity1   
the desire to be rather than to         
appear2 then came discouragement1       
scepticism1 the pursuit of              
amusement1 the habit of smoking which   
fills the intervals1 the      taste for 
intoxication1 that fugitive poetry of   
vulgar enjoyments1      and every       
prodigality to satisfy our desires4 ,if 
one considers what      we leave behind 
us1 our baggage is light3 the folly of  
the      carnival1 the invention of the 
cancan1 the generalization of the       
cigar1 the acclimatization of clubs and 
races1 will be merits of      small     
value in the eyes of posterity4444 ,of  

these joyous enfants      du sicle      
brought by ruin to face pitiless        
reality1 some escaped      from their   
embarrassments by suicide1 others found 
death or      promotion in ,africa1     
others shared their names with rich     
heiresses2      others1 persevering at  
all hazards1 swallowing affronts and    
braving      humiliations1 lived on the 
precarious resources of gambling1       
borrowing1 toadying1 and parasitism2 the
 most wretched of all fell      step by 
step into the depths of infamy2 only a  
very small number      tried to save    
themselves by hard work4  ,these men set
 the pace among the viveurs3 they were  
seconded by the more ambitious young men
 of whom ,balzac's ,rastignac is the    
type1 who were determined to succeed and
 uttered in their hearts his famous     
threat to ,paris by the grave of old    
,goriot1 ,maintenant c'est entre nous4  
,these men became viveurs1 not as a     
pastime1 but as a means4 ,rastignac1    
shocked to see that virtuous devotion   

would not save ,pre ,goriot from a      
broken heart1 and sick of the ,maison   
,vauquer's squalor1 determines to play  
society at its own game and make profit 
out of its corruption4 ,he becomes the  
lover of ,madame de ,nucingen1 one of   
,goriot's ungrateful daughters1 and by  
allowing himself to become a tool in the
 crafty ,baron ,nucingen's third        
liquidation lays the foundation of his  
own fortunes4 ,such a man could not live
 in seclusion--he was forced into the   
ranks of the viveurs1 in order to become
 a conspicuous figure4 ,a smart tilbury 
and clothes from a first-class tailor   
were part of his stock-in-trade2 he     
could not afford to run the risk of     
humiliation before his lady by laying   
himself open to affront by a more       
exquisite dandy than himself4 ,a        
,rastignac had to shine to compass his  
ends1 and he shone most brilliantly as a
 viveur1 playing at idleness and debauch
 to cloak his subtle schemes1 and       
drowning the shame of his parasitism in 

a passionate self-indulgence4 ,thanks to
 a strong will he is entirely           
successful1 and out of the wreck of his 
illusions and his generous impulses     
builds himself a career as a politician4
  ,rastignac is one of the most         
wonderful characters created by         
,balzac's penetrating pessimism2 that he
 had a special place in his creator's   
heart is proved1 ,i think1 by his       
frequent appearance on the stage4 ,those
 who delight in the fascinating pastime 
of following ,balzac's characters       
through the whole extent of the ,comdie 
,humaine will know that it is impossible
 to understand ,rastignac without       
reading ,la ,maison ,nucingen1 a story  
which1 for pure virtuosity1 is second to
 none of ,balzac's masterpieces4 ,they  
will remember that the scene is set in  
the year #ahcf in a private room at     
,vry's restaurant1 where the impersonal 
narrator1 by overhearing the            
conversation in the adjoining room1 is  
entertained by the thrilling account of 

how ,rastignac profited by ,baron       
,nucingen's third fraudulent            
liquidation4 ,the shady financial       
proceedings of the astute ,alsatian--as 
exciting as a dashing campaign--are     
related in a marvellous series of       
boutades by ,balzac's favourite         
grotesque1 ,bixiou1 the own brother of  
,panurge4 ,now ,bixiou and the three    
friends with whom he is dining are      
,balzac's examples of the third party   
among the viveurs1 that party to which  
the title la haute ,bohme is most       
peculiarly applicable4 ,they were       
neither aristocratic and wealthy1 like a
 ,duc d',aulnis1 nor aristocratic and   
poor1 like a ,rastignac1 but men of     
obscure origin and unusual intelligence4
 ,they joined the ranks of the viveurs  
neither to banish the ennui of enforced 
idleness1 nor out of cold calculation   
for a diplomatic end--for they were     
inevitably debarred from attaining any  
position in the beau monde--but simply  
as a distraction from their pursuit of  

worldly success as journalists1 artists1
 speculators1 and general exploiters of 
society4 ,they were not single-hearted  
warriors for an ambition2 their aim in  
life was not purely diversion1 it was   
merely to obtain the maximum of selfish 
enjoyments1 which included a satisfied  
vanity1 a full purse1 good food1 rare   
wine1 and a pretty mistress4 ,of them   
,barbey d',aurvilly's remark was true3  
,qui dit journalistes dit femmes        
entretenues4 ,cela veut souper4  ,they  
had been pure ,bohemians1 most of them1 
in their earlier youth1 with higher     
ideals and more restricted enjoyments2  
but their gorge1 too1 had risen at the  
squalor of their ,maison ,vauquer1 and  
they had parleyed with the devil4       
,discovering in themselves some talent  
for making money1 they had exploited it 
to the exclusion of all others4 ,they   
traded either in their own art or in    
that of others4 ,on the boulevard they  
held their own by their engaging sallies
 of malicious gossip1 by their prodigal 

extravagance1 and1 above all1 by the    
fear which their power as journalists1  
critics1 caricaturists1 or newspaper    
proprietors inspired4 ,they were        
,bohemians at heart1 carrying the more  
pardonable disorders of ,bohemia into   
less exacting circumstances1 spending   
their gifts and their money without a   
thought1 luxurious1 venal1 insatiable4  
,their type is to be found to-day in the
 rich mercantile1 especially ,jewish1   
society of all large cities2 but in     
,paris of the thirties and forties they 
were more powerful and more conspicuous4
 ,though they could never hope to enter 
the ,jockey ,club1 they were            
hail-fellow-well-met with the viveurs of
 blue blood2 they served the ,rastignacs
 when it was worth their while1 and they
 were so near to the true ,bohemia that 
their example was at once its temptation
 and its despair4 ,balzac himself sums  
up the four friends1 ,bixiou1 ,finot1   
,blondet1 and ,couture1 in a passage    
which1 having myself said so much1 ,i   

quote in the original3       ,c'tait    
quatre des plus hardis cormorans clos   
dans l'cume qui      couronne les flots 
incessamment renouvels de la gnration   
prsente2 aimables garons dont           
l'existence est problmatique1       qui 
l'on connat ni rentes ni domaines1 et   
qui vivent bien4 ,ces      spirituels   
condottieri de l'industrie moderne1     
devenue la plus      cruelle des        
guerres1 laissent les inquitudes  leurs 
cranciers1      gardent les plaisirs    
pour eux1 et n'ont de souci que de leur 
costume4 ,d'ailleurs1 braves  fumer1    
comme ,jean ,bart1 leur agare      sur  
un baril de poudre1 peut-tre pour ne pas
 faillir  leur rle2      plus moqueurs  
que les petits journaux1 moqueurs  se   
moquer      d'eux-mmes1 perspicaces et  
incrdules1 fureteurs d'affaires1        
avides et prodigues1 envieux d'autrui1  
mais contents d'eux-mmes2      profonds 
politiques par saillies1 analysant tout1
 devinant tout1      ils n'avaient pas  
encore pu se faire jour dans le monde o 

ils      voudraient se produire4        
,andoche ,finot had risen by his acute  
perception of the commercial future of  
journalism4 ,we meet him in his early   
days in ,csar ,birotteau1 abandoning the
 puffing of actresses and writing of    
articles to less perspicuous            
journalists1 and devoting himself to    
what is now grandly called publicity4   
,it was he who helped the worthy young  
,anselme ,popinot to push the huile     
cphalique which repaired ,birotteau's   
shattered fortunes4 ,in ,illusions      
,perdues we find him again1 first       
proprietor of a small paper1 then       
spending his profits and straining his  
credit in buying a larger one--one of   
the spiders into whose web poor ,lucien 
fell4 ,by #ahcf he is a lord of the     
,press1 a fictitious counterpart of     
,emile de ,girardin1 who with           
,lautour-,mzray1 another viveur1 made a 
fortune by selling ,la ,presse at half  
the price of other newspapers4 ,couture 
is a very minor character1 a financial  

speculator1 who only hung on the fringe 
of the viveurs4 ,blondet and ,bixiou are
 more important4 ,the former had many   
counterparts in ,paris of the day4 ,he  
was a newspaper editor1 a man of much   
intelligence1 but slipshod1 brilliant1  
capable1 lazy1 knowing1 but allowing    
himself to be exploited1 equally        
faithless and good-natured by caprice2  
one of those men one likes1 but does not
 respect4 ,sharp as a stage soubrette1  
incapable of refusing his pen to anyone 
who asked for it or his heart to anyone 
who would borrow it4  ,bixiou is no     
longer young in #ahcf4 ,balzac gives an 
earlier portrait of him in ,les         
,employs1 when he is a minor official1  
caricaturist and journalist1 poor1      
ambitious1 a real liver of la vie de    
,bohme4 ,but1 says ,balzac1 he is no    
longer the ,bixiou of #ahbe1 but that of
 #ahcf1 the misanthropical buffoon whose
 fun is known to have the most sparkle  
and the most acidity1 a wretch enraged  
at having spent so much wit at a pure   

loss1 furious at not having picked up   
his bit of flotsam in the last          
revolution1 giving everyone a kick like 
a true ,pierrot at the play1 having his 
period and its scandalous stories at his
 fingers' ends1 decorating them with his
 droll inventions1 jumping on           
everybody's shoulders like a clown1 and 
trying to leave a mark on them like an  
executioner4  ,such1 in general1 were   
the viveurs who postured in the front of
 the ,parisian stage--equally at home on
 the steps of ,tortoni's or in the ,caf 
de ,paris1 in the ,princess             
,belgiojoso's drawing-room or the       
luxurious boudoir of a ,coralie or      
,florine1 making the talk and spreading 
the gossip1 blowing up the reputations  
and blasting the characters of the town4
 ,to know their habits and              
eccentricities places those of the true 
,bohemia in a proper light4 ,in drawing 
a composite picture of them ,i have     
drawn upon fiction1 but in another      
chapter ,i will justify these           

generalizations by introducing some of  
the real heroes of le tout ,paris4      
,illustration3 ,fashionables     ,v     
,,les ,,viveurs   ,the most exalted     
section among the viveurs1 the members  
of which were farthest removed from any 
suspicion of ,bohemianism1 was formed of
 young men from noble families4 ,their  
names1 which do not concern us here1 may
 be found in the list of those who      
started the petit cercle of the ,caf de 
,paris4 ,this was an exclusive dining   
club founded by a set of gay livers who 
dreaded the political discussions of the
 one or two regular clubs then existing1
 but wished to have a place where they  
could dine together without disturbance 
by casual strangers4 ,they hired1       
therefore1 some rooms from ,alexandre1  
the proprietor of the restaurant1 and   
continued there till the club broke up  
in #ahdh4 ,little need be said of them  
as a body1 except that they were the    
arbiters of ,parisian elegance4 ,as     
such1 their chief effort was to curb the

 luxuriance of ,parisian taste within   
the limits of ,english correctness4     
,anglomania was all the rage4 ,every    
dandy--a word then definitely adopted by
 the ,french--had his tilbury or phaeton
 and his tiny ,english tiger1 smoked his
 cigar1 suffered from his spleen1 and   
tried to face life with an insolent air 
of imperturbability--a crowning proof of
 good taste when the effort was at all  
successful4 ,this ,anglomania was not   
entirely confined to the boulevard2 it  
was partly an effect of ,romanticism4   
,lady ,morgan#ac laughs at it1 giving a 
most amusing account of a performance of
 ,rochester at the ,porte ,st4-,martin4 
,the character that created the greatest
 sensation1 she says1 was the ,watchman1
 who was dressed like an alguazil1 with 
a child's rattle in his hand4 ,whenever 
he appeared there was a general murmur  
of ,ha6 ,c'est le vatchman4--,regarde   
donc1 ma fille1 c'est le vatchman2 ton  
papa t'a souvent parl des               
vatchmen4--,ah1 c'est le                

vatchman4--,oui1 c'est le vatchman4     
,great play1 too1 was made with tea4    
,rochester entertained his merry        
companions with tea2 ,mr4 ,wilkes       
poisoned his wife in it4 ,this latter   
incident gave the highest pleasure3     
,dieu1 que c'est anglois6 ,toujours le  
th et la jalousie       ,londres6  ,the 
,parisian ideas and imitations of       
,english manners were1 no doubt1 pretty 
ridiculous1 and must have caused        
considerable amusement to ,lord         
,seymour1 one of the few ,englishmen who
 were conspicuous among the aristocratic
 viveurs4 ,he was the illegitimate son  
of ,lady ,yarmouth1 daughter-in-law of  
the notorious ,lord ,hertford4 ,he lived
 entirely in ,paris1 where1 being       
extremely rich1 he kept a fine house at 
the corner of the ,rue ,taitbout and the
 boulevard4 ,here he cultivated         
cigar-smoking and physical exercise with
 great assiduity4 ,he was a splendid    
boxer and fencer1 and all the finest    
bruisers and blades1 amateur and        

professional1 were to be met in his     
salle d'armes4 ,he took great pride in  
his strength1 which was abnormal1 in his
 skill as a whip and his success on the 
race-course4 ,french sport owes him a   
permanent debt for his successful       
starting of the ,jockey ,club1 but he   
can hardly have been a very popular     
member of a society1 for he was cold and
 brutal1 a man who took a defeat        
rancorously and one who had a cynical   
delight in causing suffering to his     
hangers-on4 ,his misanthropy was the    
reason of his gradually dropping out of 
society after #ahdb1 and it would have  
been beside the point to mention him    
here had it not been for the quite      
undeserved notoriety which he acquired  
in ,paris during the thirties as the    
bacchanalian lord of misrule at all the 
carnivals4 ,it was a strange case of    
mistaken identity which persisted for   
many years in spite of categorical      
denials4 ,the more aristocratic of the  
viveurs were not1 as ,i have said1      

,bohemians2 but during the carnival1    
which was celebrated by all the         
population with extraordinary licence1  
some of the more youthful let themselves
 go and became revellers with the rest4 
,for the last three days of the carnival
 the streets of ,paris1 by day and by   
night1 were given up to an orgy4 ,crowds
 of masqueraders filled the pavements1  
the restaurants1 and the theatres1 where
 fancy-dress balls were held4 ,the      
richer masks had carriages drawn by     
postilions1 in which they drove among   
the crowd1 scattering confetti and      
sweetmeats and even money1 indulging in 
every kind of quaint antic and          
gallantry1 and inciting the vulgar to   
engage them in a wordy warfare in which 
volleys of the coarsest expletives were 
fired on both sides4 ,riot reached its  
culmination on the night of ,shrove     
,tuesday1 when the revellers1 after an  
orgy of feasting and dancing at the     
,barrire de la ,courtille1 on the       
north-east of ,paris1 ended by          

descending the steep hill towards the   
city in a state of bacchic frenzy4 ,this
 was the famous descente de la          
,courtille1 at which1 as at all the     
other revels1 a certain carriage1 drawn 
by six horses and filled by a motley    
party of young men1 was the central     
object of admiration4 ,no challenger    
ever worsted the leader of this gang at 
a bout of blackguarding1 no costumes    
equalled his in originality1 no mask so 
tormented and excited the crowd as he   
with his harangues1 his missiles1 and   
his largesse4 ,this was the man known to
 all the populace of ,paris as ,milord  
,arsouille1 which1 as all ,paris would  
have told you1 was simply the nom de    
guerre of ,lord ,seymour4 ,but it was   
not so4 ,the real ,milord ,arsouille was
 a certain ,charles de la ,battut1 son  
of an ,english chemist and a ,french    
migre4 ,his father1 unwilling to        
compromise his position in ,england by  
recognizing him1 paid for his adoption  
by the ruined ,breton ,count de la      

,battut4 ,he was educated in ,paris1    
where1 even in his youth1 he showed a   
most dissolute character4 ,he delighted 
to frequent the lowest haunts1 and there
 learnt that mastery of slang and that  
skill as a boxer which were his pride4  
,the death of his real father gave him a
 large fortune1 which he proceeded to   
dissipate with the utmost extravagance  
and bad taste4 ,his house in the        
,boulevard des ,capucines and his       
personal attire were equally flamboyant4
 ,during his short period of glory he   
was on certain terms of intimacy with   
the more rowdy among the young bloods of
 good family1 who in after years looked 
back1 like the ,duc d',aulnis1 with     
shame to some of their exploits in his  
company4 ,his most notable achievement  
was to introduce the cancan into the    
fashionable fancy-dress ball at the     
,varits in #ahcb1 and his perpetual     
grief was that all his eccentricities   
were attributed to ,lord ,seymour1 in   
spite of his utmost efforts to proclaim 

the difference of identity4 ,in #ahce he
 died1 a shattered rou1 at ,naples4     
,the only other ,english name deserving 
comment in the petit cercle of the ,caf 
de ,paris is that of ,major ,fraser1    
whose personality was an enigma4 ,he was
 one of the most popular characters on  
the boulevard1 and an honoured friend of
 the most exclusive diners at the ,caf  
,anglais or the ,caf de ,paris1 yet     
nothing was known of his personal       
history4 ,he spoke ,english perfectly1  
but was not an ,englishman2 he never    
alluded to his parents1 and lived as a  
bachelor in an entresol at the corner of
 the ,rue ,lafitte4 ,he was never short 
of money1 but the source of his income  
was a mystery2 and when he died no      
letters were found1 but only a file of  
receipts1 including a receipt from an   
undertaker for his funeral expenses1 and
 a direction that his clothes and       
furniture were to be sold for the       
benefit of the poor4 ,in spite of the   
mystery surrounding him he was a        

prominent figure among the viveurs4 ,his
 tight blue frock-coat and his grey     
trousers were models for the most       
fastidious dandies2 his kindness and    
gentleness to everyone except           
professional politicians was extreme2 he
 quoted ,horace freely and had a        
complete knowledge of political history 
with a prodigious memory4 ,major        
,fraser's story could be paralleled by  
the head waiter of many a ,london club4 
,while he lived he was a favourite2 when
 he died he simply vanished4#ad  ,there 
are only two other members of the petit 
cercle whom ,i wish to mention--,alfred 
de ,musset and ,roger de                
,beauvoir--because they form a link     
between the exclusiveness of that       
society and the hurly-burly existence of
 la haute ,bohme1 to which both more    
properly belonged4 ,in the early        
,romantic days ,alfred de ,musset1 with 
his beautiful1 bored face set off by the
 fair curls that fell over his eyes1 was
 the petted darling of ,paris1 its      

perfect dandy wafting the triple essence
 of bouquet de ,romantisme4             
,nevertheless1 ,alfred de ,musset1      
though his name was on the lips of all  
dandies and his poetry set a fashion in 
,bohemia1 never took among men the place
 that seemed to be his due4 ,he might   
have been a true ,bohemian of #ahcj1 but
 he disavowed his ,romantic companions  
of letters for the greater splendour of 
fashionable life2 while among the       
exquisites of the boulevard he found it 
impossible to preserve that impassive   
demeanour and attention to the niceties 
of dandyism which were inexorably       
demanded4 ,his nature was far too       
passionate to make him for long together
 a comfortable companion for men1 and   
his personal history1 apart from his    
poetry1 is a chapter of relations with  
women1 of whom ,george ,sand is the most
 notable4 ,the ashes of his career have 
been raked over with most scrupulous    
care since his death1 but it is no      
purpose of mine to take part in the     

scavenging4 ,to have omitted ,alfred de 
,musset's name would have been          
impossible1 but having mentioned him1 ,i
 can leave him4 ,though he hymned       
,musette and drank deeply with ,prince  
,belgiojoso1 he had as little place in  
,bohemia1 high or low1 as ,lamartine or 
,victor ,hugo4 ,their throne was the    
study1 his the boudoir4  ,there are no  
such reservations to be made for ,roger 
de ,beauvoir1 whom ,madame de ,girardin 
called ,alfred de ,musset aux cheveux   
noirs4 ,he was the arch-viveur1 with one
 exquisitely shod foot on the boulevard1
 the other in ,bohemia1 the gayest of   
all those who supped1 the insatiable    
quaffer of champagne1 the inexhaustible 
fountain of epigram1 the king of la     
haute ,bohme1 the very incarnation of   
the ,noctambule in ,charpentier's       
delightful opera1 ,louise4 ,his family  
was the good ,norman family of de       
,bully1 and he took the name of         
,beauvoir from one of the two estates   
which were his heritage4 ,those who were

 responsible for his early guidance     
clearly intended that he should make his
 way in diplomacy--a career in which his
 good looks1 sympathetic voice1 and     
charming manners would have greatly     
helped his pioneering--for he was sent  
to be ,polignac's secretary when that   
unfortunate minister occupied the       
embassy at ,london4 ,when his chief came
 back to the stormy days of ,july1 the  
debonair secretary1 judging no doubt    
that any association with politics was  
incompatible with gilded ease1 abandoned
 all attempts to play the game of a     
,rastignac1 and pursued his fantasies in
 airy independence4 ,the ,romanticism of
 the ,jeune-,france party attracted at  
once the enthusiasm of a young man1 just
 in his majority by #ahcj1 who was      
naturally a lover of brilliant          
colouring4 ,he became a fanatical       
medievalist1 who displayed with pride a 
,gothic cabinet panelled in carved oak1 
hung with black velvet1 and lit by      
stained-glass windows4 ,the ceiling was 

covered with coats-of-arms2 the chief   
decorations were a panoply of armour and
 an old prie-dieu on which a missal of  
#acej opened its illuminated pages4     
,even in #ahdb1 when ,maxime du ,camp   
first met him1 he still dreamt of       
reviving the age of chivalry1 having    
just created a sensation by waltzing at 
a ball in full armour1 fainting and     
falling with the clatter of innumerable 
stove-pipes4 ,undeterred by this mishap1
 he proposed to form a company1 to be   
called the ,socit des champs clos de    
,france1 which was to buy land for a    
tilting-ground1 ,arab steeds1 and armour
 for the purpose of holding weekly      
tourneys4 ,the shares were to be #ajjj  
francs each1 but as ,maxime du ,camp's  
guardian prohibited the purchase of any 
by his enthusiastic ward1 the project   
was dropped4 ,like every true ,romantic 
he wrote a medieval novel1 but his      
novel1 ,l'colier de ,cluny1 unlike those
 of the majority1 was published and     
brought him considerable fame4 ,after   

its publication in #ahcb1 he became in  
some sort a man of letters1 but he never
 added to his reputation1 being far too 
bent upon the pursuit of pleasure to    
bear the restrictions of any profession4
 ,having failed as a writer of          
vaudevilles1 he found his true vocation 
as the leader of a band of revellers and
 a composer of wicked epigrams in verse4
 ,his epigrams1 always written impromptu
 upon the pages of a notebook1 were a   
real addition to the gaiety of ,paris4  
,here is one composed when              
,ancelot--literary husband of a literary
 wife--was elected to the ,academy3     
,le mnage ,ancelot1 par ses vers et sa  
prose1     ,devait  ce fauteuil arriver 
en tout cas1     ,car la femme          
accouchait toujours de quelque chose1   
,quand le mari n'engendrait pas4  ,his  
dress was of the highest elegance in a  
day when men were not confined to a     
funereal black4 ,his blue frock-coat1   
tight-waisted with amply curving skirts1
 broad velvet revers1 and gilt buttons1 

fitted as neatly as one of his own      
epigrams2 his blue waistcoats and light 
grey trousers were treasures1 his hat   
the curliest and shiniest to be seen4   
,in his own apartment he tempered the   
shadows of his ,gothic furniture by     
wearing a green silk dressing-gown and  
red cashmere trousers4 ,so long as their
 fortunes lasted he and his companions  
bade dull care begone4 ,at midday they  
left the softest of beds1 and1 after a  
serious hour of dressing1 met for       
djeuner at the ,caf ,anglais1 the       
,maison d',or1 or the ,caf ,hardi4 ,by  
four they were to be seen in force upon 
the boulevard1 displaying their         
waistcoats and quizzing the ladies upon 
the marble steps of ,tortoni's4 ,before 
dinner they would visit a drawing-room  
or two1 buy a picture or bargain for    
some bibelot--a ,toledo blade or a      
,turkish narghile--with a dealer in     
curiosities4 ,the evening programme was 
a set of variations upon the ground bass
 of dinner1 opera1 supper4 ,roger de    

,beauvoir was one of the company who    
haunted the famous loge infernale at the
 ,opra1 and it is needless to say that  
their attention was devoted more to the 
ballet than to the music1 for they were 
all connoisseurs in choreography and had
 a personal acquaintance with the       
dancers1 which developed in most cases  
into something more than ,platonic      
affection4 ,the foyer des artistes was  
the enchanted garden of la haute ,bohme1
 where they sought their ,cynthia of    
this minute as the true ,bohemians did  
at the ,chaumire or the ,closerie des   
,lilas4  ,the science of practical      
joking was sedulously cultivated by     
,roger and his friends1 who rejoiced to 
bring off successful mystifications4    
,one of ,roger's best was played upon   
,duponchel1 the director of the ,opra4  
,one day the whole street where         
,duponchel lived was set all agog by the
 appearance of a magnificent funeral    
procession1 consisting of a hearse and  
fifty carriages1 with ,roger and his    

friend ,cabanon occupying the first     
carriage as chief mourners2 the head of 
the procession drew up at ,duponchel's  
door1 to his great indignation4 ,the    
joke up to this point was of no especial
 originality1 but ,roger gave it a turn 
of his own4 ,the ,romantic fashion      
dictated that every chapter in a novel  
should be headed by an epigraph1 as     
extravagant as possible1 from the work  
of some ,romantic author4 ,roger        
therefore headed a chapter in his novel 
,pulchinella1 which was just appearing1 
,feu ,duponchel 7,histoire              
contemporaine74 ,even after he was      
hopelessly in debt he remained a joker4 
,being saddled with a thin and dirty    
bailiff1 he gave him ten francs a day1  
washed him1 dressed him as a ,turk1 and 
gave an evening party in honour of his  
,pasha1 who could only talk in signs4   
,the supreme mystificateurs1 however1   
were ,romieu and ,monnier4 ,romieu was  
reputed to be the most amusing man in   
,paris1 and so firmly founded was his   

reputation that nobody ever took him    
seriously4 ,when he became prefect of   
,quimperl--an easy post which enabled   
him to take many a holiday upon the     
boulevard--he was faced with the problem
 of dealing with a plague of cockchafers
 in the prefecture4 ,he hit upon the    
wise and perfectly successful device of 
offering fifty francs for every bushel  
of dead cockchafers4 ,the ,bretons were 
grateful enough1 but all ,paris was in a
 roar4 ,here was the crowning farce of  
which only its lost joker would have    
been capable1 and it supplied the       
smaller comic papers with copy for      
several days4 ,romieu made ,monnier's   
acquaintance in an appropriate way4     
,about eleven o'clock one night the     
artist heard a knock at his door1 which 
he opened to a stranger1 who came in and
 entered into a polite conversation     
without a word of introduction4 ,monnier
 made no comment1 but replied with equal
 affability4 ,after an hour or so1 as   
the stranger remained1 he ransacked his 

sideboard and entertained his guest with
 an impromptu supper4 ,time passed1 the 
small hours struck1 and still the       
stranger made no sign of going4 ,monnier
 therefore announced that he was ready  
for bed and that his sofa was at his    
guest's disposition4 ,so they parted for
 the night1 and next morning when they  
met ,monnier's first words were ,you are
 ,romieu1 a compliment returned by ,you 
are ,monnier4  ,monnier1 says           
,champfleury in his memoir1 belonged to 
,bohemia till the end of his life2 but  
it is clear that this ,bohemia was that 
of the boulevards and cafs4 ,he was no  
real ,romantic1 and far too fond of a   
good time to stay in the ,bohemia which 
,champfleury himself knew so well4 ,as a
 writer of short stories and dialogues1 
an actor1 and an artist he had a huge   
success in the thirties1 and he followed
 the pleasures of life with             
inexhaustible zest4 ,balzac drew him as 
,bixiou in ,les ,employs4 ,the portrait1
 according to ,champfleury1 was very    

true1 but unjust3       ,intrpide       
chasseur de grisettes1 fumeur1 amuseur  
de gens1 dneur      et soupeur1 se      
mettant partout au diapason1 brillant   
aussi bien      dans les coulisses qu'au
 bal des grisettes dans l'alle des      
,veuves1      il tonnait autant  table  
que dans une partie de plaisir2 en verve
       minuit dans la rue1 comme le     
matin si vous le preniez au saut du     
lit1 mais sombre et triste avec lui-mme1
 comme la plupart des      grands       
comiques4 ,lanc dans le monde des       
actrices et des acteurs1      des       
crivains1 des artistes1 et de certaines 
femmes dont la fortune      est         
alatoire1 il vivait bien1 allait au     
spectacle sans payer1      jouait       
,frascati1 gagnait souvent4 ,enfin cet  
artiste1 vraiment      profond1 mais par
 clairs1 se balanait dans la vie comme  
sur une      escarpolette1 sans         
s'inquiter du moment o la corde         
casserait4  ,innumerable stories are    
told of his practical jokes4 ,being an  

expert ventriloquist1 he was wont to    
enter an omnibus and without moving a   
muscle utter in a feminine voice3 ,je   
vous aime1 monsieur le conducteur1 at   
which there would be tremendous         
consternation among the petticoats4 ,the
 dames swept the company with searching 
glares of outraged decency1 the         
demoiselles blushed1 and the embarrassed
 conductor looked in vain for his       
temptress4 ,one evening he was burdened 
with a bore in some illuminated public  
garden4 ,to escape the tedium of        
conversation he pretended to be greatly 
interested in some matter which         
necessitated his walking carefully all  
round the garden and gazing intently at 
all the gas-lamps4 ,after half an hour  
of these mysterious peregrinations the  
bore1 who had been forced to keep       
silence1 asked with impatience what was 
the matter4 ,i bet you five francs1 said
 ,monnier1 that there are here          
seventy-nine becs de gaz 7gas-jets74    
,the bore accepted the challenge with   

delight1 and another half-hour was spent
 in silent perambulation and            
calculation4 ,at length he announced    
triumphantly that he only counted       
seventy-eight4 ,ah1 said ,monnier as he 
made his escape1 and pointing to the    
orchestra1 vous avez oubli le bec de la 
clarinette4  ,monnier1 the great artist1
 the disappointed actor1 was at the     
other end of the scale to ,lord ,seymour
 and his friends4 ,they had a position  
without activity3 his activity made his 
position4 ,no great artist remains long 
in ,bohemia4 ,some work their way out on
 foot3 he rose from it1 one might say1  
in a balloon1 by which1 after disporting
 himself for some years above the mists1
 he was landed for his later days in the
 obscurity of a province4 ,such a man1  
at home in all society1 is restricted by
 none4 ,as he was not the perfect       
,bohemian1 so he was not the            
whole-hearted viveur1 for whose complete
 picture ,i must return to ,roger de    
,beauvoir and his set1 some of whom are 

described in ,roger's own little book1  
,soupeurs de mon ,temps4 ,it is a       
melancholy epitaph of a brilliant       
company4 ,the sparkling wit of their    
gatherings has vanished with the bubbles
 of the champagne they drank1 and little
 is left on record but the capacity of  
their stomachs4 ,they took an immense   
pride in their consumption of champagne4
 ,briffaut1 a clever journalist and a   
particular friend of ,roger's1 was the  
king of topers4 ,to him was due the     
invention of ingurgitation1 which       
consisted in pouring a bottle of        
champagne into a bell-shaped glass      
cover1 such as was used to protect      
cheese1 and swallowing it at a draught4 
,he once challenged a noted ,english    
toper and gave him a glass a bottle2 the
 victory was easily his1 for he disposed
 of a dozen4 ,among other champions who 
helped to make ,veuve ,clicquot's       
fortune were ,armand ,malitourne1 a     
singularly gifted man1 a journalist1 and
 at one time secretary to the minister  

,montalivet2 ,bquet1 whose good taste   
,roger himself extolled2 and ,bouff1 the
 director of the ,vaudeville4 ,then     
there was ,emile ,cabanon1 who lives in 
,romantic annals as the author of the   
extravagant ,roman pour les ,cuisinires4
 ,champfleury1#ae on the authority of   
,camille ,rogier1 the artist1 says that 
he appeared one day upon the boulevard  
and won himself forthwith a place by his
 gifts as a story-teller1 becoming a    
favourite with all from ,prince         
,belgiojoso downwards4 ,he is one of the
 reputed originals--there are two or    
three--of ,balzac's ,comte de la        
,palfrine 7in ,un ,prince de la ,bohme71
 who1 being struck with the appearance  
of a lady passing along the street1 at  
once attached himself to her3 in vain   
she tried to get rid of the importunate 
by saying she was going to visit a      
friend1 for her cavalier came too and   
mixed with all urbanity in the          
conversation1 rising to take his leave  
at the same time as the object of his   

sudden passion4 ,this assiduity so      
captivated the besieged one's heart that
 she struck her colours4 ,it is  propos 
of ,cabanon that ,champfleury refers    
with some contempt to les gentilshommes 
de lettres du boulevard de ,gand1 qui   
nageaient comme des poissons dans le    
fleuve de la dette1 se fiaient plus sur 
leurs relations que sur leur plume1     
dpensaient de l'esprit comptant en      
veux-tu en voil4 ,alfred ,tattet1#af the
 rich son of an agent de change1 who was
 introduced to the viveurs by ,flix     
,arvers1 the poet of one sonnet1 was    
another of the crew4 ,alfred de ,musset1
 ,roger de ,beauvoir1 ,romieu1 and      
others made merry at his sumptuous      
entertainments till he varied the       
monotony by running over the frontier   
with a married woman1 leaving ,arvers to
 look after his affairs4 ,in #ahdc he   
returned to settle down at              
,fontainebleau with the wife of a       
,german in ,frankfort4 ,another young   
man1 with the promising name of         

,chaudesaigues--a corruption of the     
,latin for hot water--came to ,paris in 
#ahce with a fortune of #cj1jjj francs1 
which he squandered in a few years1 and 
then struggled on as a journalist till  
he died of apoplexy4  ,i should wrong   
the viveurs if ,i allowed it to be      
implied that they were all purely       
pleasure-seekers4 ,some of them were    
successful business men besides4        
,lautour-,mzray1 for instance1 who was  
distinguished by the white camellia in  
his buttonhole1 laid the foundations of 
his fortune by starting a paper called  
,le ,voleur1 which was entirely composed
 of cuttings from other papers4 ,like   
,andoche ,finot1 he went on from small  
to great1 founding ,la ,mode and ,le    
,journal des ,enfants1 the first        
children's paper4 ,he helped to start   
,la ,presse with ,emile de ,girardin1   
who was another of the more solid among 
the viveurs4 ,doctor ,vron1 stout and   
self-important1 his face half hidden in 
a huge cravat1 held an important place  

among them4 ,he began life as a medical 
practitioner1 but made a fortune by     
exploiting a certain ,pte ,regnault and 
took to political journalism4 ,between  
#ahca and #ahce he was an extremely     
successful director of the ,opra1 and in
 #ahch bought ,le ,constitutionnel1     
which he sold fourteen years later for  
two million francs4 ,to him1 it is said1
 is due the invention of the tournedos4 
,certainly1 he was a prominent          
gastronome1 and the terror of head      
waiters1 for he was no mere swiller of  
champagne1 but one who insisted on      
perfect vintages combined with perfect  
cooking4 ,in the thirties1 when ,robert 
le ,diable was filling the ,opra and his
 own pocket1 he was a constant diner at 
the restaurants1 but in later years he  
never dined except at his own house1    
where ,sophie1 his cook and majordomo1  
alone preserved the proper traditions of
 gastronomy4 ,mcenas-like1 he made a    
certain literary set free of his table4 
,their places were always laid1 they    

helped themselves1 and they remained as 
long as they pleased1 whether their host
 left them or no4 ,thodore de ,banville 
and many others have celebrated the     
excellent cuisine and its accompaniment 
of wit1 but a reader of ,vron's         
,souvenirs d'un bourgeois de ,paris will
 be inclined to suspect that the doctor 
himself was rather a prosy humbug1 who  
only supplied the appropriate stimulus  
for the wit of his guests4 ,the chief of
 these1 another celebrated viveur1 was  
,nestor ,roqueplan1 whose toilette was  
unsurpassed and whose wit inexhaustible4
 ,he was a ,parisian to the marrow2 a   
day from ,paris was to him a day out of 
,paradise4 ,like most of his generation1
 he began as a journalist1 but diverged 
to become a director of theatres4 ,the  
,panthon1 ,nouveauts1 ,saint-,antoine1  
,varits1 ,opra1 ,opra ,comique1 and     
,chtelet passed successively under his  
sway1 and he lost money at them all     
except at the ,varits1 during his       
management of which he wrote those      

sparkling ,nouvelles  la main which are 
perhaps the freshest examples of purely 
ephemeral contemporary wit4  ,the       
,revolution of #ahdh dispersed the      
viveurs for ever4 ,it was not that      
,paris diminished in gaiety during the  
,second ,empire nor that the cafs ceased
 to be invaded by merry bands of ftards1
 but simply that ,paris became too gay1 
too large1 and too cosmopolitan4 ,the   
boulevard was no longer to be kept      
sacred for a chosen few1 and a new      
generation was rising1 which found other
 channels for its energies than         
ingurgitatory wit-combats4 ,under the   
new rgime there was a court and a more  
exciting foreign policy4 ,the           
aristocracy threw off its sulks1 the    
prosperous industrial conquered his     
diffidence1 the pleasure-loving stranger
 found that all railways led to ,paris4 
,the old guard was overwhelmed1 or      
rather would have been overwhelmed if   
not already well-nigh crumbled away4    
,men with clear heads and practical     

aims1 who had only devoted their leisure
 to enjoyment1 like ,vron1 ,roqueplan1  
de ,girardin1 survived to retire with   
all the honours of war1 forming small   
coteries for the cultivation of wit and 
good cheer1 but shunning1 instead of    
affronting1 the public eye4 ,but the    
rest1 the viveurs of every hour1 where  
were they8 ,dead1 worn-out1 shattered in
 health1 paying the dismal reckoning for
 the dissipation of their heyday1 poor1 
neglected1 forgotten4 ,misfortune       
overtook the gay ,roger from the moment 
he married ,mademoiselle ,doze1 the     
actress4 ,for six years he was pestered 
with lawsuits for separation1 till a    
divorce was finally procured4 ,he had   
drunk1 as he said1 #aej1jjj francs worth
 of champagne and written #cjj songs4   
,the francs were gone1 the songs lost1  
and nothing was left but the gout4      
,jadis j'tais des plus ingambes1        
,mais hlas6 destins inhumains1     ,le  
papier que j'avais aux mains1     ,a    
prsent je le porte aux jambes4  ,he     

could jest to the last1 but in his last 
days he was a pathetic sight1 fat1      
prematurely old1 infirm1 confined to a  
wretched chamber1 and denied even the   
champagne which could charm away his    
regrets4 ,the dapper figure that had    
once filled a frock-coat so jauntily was
 now a shapeless corpulence hidden in   
the loose folds of a greasy             
dressing-gown4 ,he died of gout1 as     
,alfred de ,musset died of drink4       
,malitourne1 after sinking lower and    
lower in drunkenness1 died mad2 apoplexy
 carried off ,chaudesaigues and ,charles
 ,froment2 ,arvers died of spinal       
paralysis2 ,bquet ended in a hospital2  
gout killed ,cabanon and ,tattet2 while 
,briffaut expired in a mad-house4 ,the  
mental pronouncement of their funeral   
orations ,i leave to any moralist who   
chooses1 bidding him remember that if   
they failed as individuals to fulfil the
 highest destinies of mankind they were 
victims of a strange fever in common    
with all the generation of #ahcj4  ,of  

that generation they were a part1       
perhaps the most conspicuous part at the
 time4 ,i might almost liken them to the
 set of swells in some public school1   
privileged themselves yet censorious of 
others1 always in the eye of their small
 world1 influential in their smallest   
acts1 embodying conspicuously the       
current fashion and expressing the      
prevailing tone1 shining inevitably as a
 pattern1 envied by most1 respected1    
outwardly1 by all4 ,in ,louis           
,philippe's time ,parisian society was  
as limited a corporation as a school4   
,its swells attained their position1 as 
all swells do1 by excelling in a pursuit
 in which excellence is universally     
admired4 ,they excelled in tinging their
 life with a medieval splendour of      
colouring1 they had some prowess in     
poetry and letters1 they performed      
miracles of wit in the new spirit of    
busy1 ever-bubbling1 bruyant fun4 ,as   
the swells of ,romanticism they         
justified their position so long as the 

conditions allowed4 ,bohemia1 in some   
respects1 was like a house in the same  
school1 with a smaller corporate life of
 its own1 yet influenced by the powers  
outside it1 the more so because some of 
its members had risen themselves to the 
company of swells4 ,in this not very    
exalted1 but true1 simile is my reason  
for devoting space to the viveurs4 ,they
 were not ,bohemians for the most part1 
but many ,bohemians hoped to be viveurs 
as ,etonians hope to be in ,pop4 ,on    
them rested the high lights of the      
picture1 but we can now peer into the   
background and discern the true ,bohemia
 of #ahcj4     ,,vi  ,,la ,,boh,,me     
,,romantique      ,,mil ,,huit ,,cent   
,,trente6 ,aurore     ,qui m'blouis     
encore1     ,promesse du destin1        
,riant matin6      ,aube o le soleil    
plonge6     ,quelquefois un beau songe  
,me rend l'clat vermeil       ,de ton   
rveil4      ,jetant ta pourpre rose     
,en notre ciel morose1     ,tu parais1  
et la nuit       ,soudain s'enfuit4     

,,th,,odore ,,de ,,banville   ,the      
,romantic ,bohemia has been the theme of
 so many ,french writers1 from the time 
when the first reminiscences appeared to
 the present day1 when a ,lon ,sch and a
 ,philibert ,audebrand1 following the   
lead of ,charles ,asselineau1 the pious 
chiffonnier of ,romanticism1            
industriously collect the very last     
scraps of authentic information1 that a 
foreigner with all a foreigner's        
limitations may well hesitate to mar the
 pretty edifice erected to the memory of
 #ahcj by some clumsy addition of his   
own4 ,yet ,i take heart from the        
consideration that even in ,france there
 is1 at least to my knowledge1 no       
complete account of this ,bohemia4      
,those who would follow its annals in   
their original tongue must do so in a   
multitude of books1 published at        
different times1 some of which are      
rarities only to be found in museums and
 the largest libraries4 ,moreover1 the  
,french chronicler writes from a point  

of view which a foreigner cannot adopt1 
and makes assumptions which a foreigner 
cannot grant4 ,all the historical and   
literary associations on which ,i have  
touched in a former chapter make it a   
subject which even to-day excites       
passionate enthusiasm and equally       
passionate reprobation across the       
,channel4 ,the foreigner can approach in
 a cooler temper1 though ,i postulate in
 my readers a general sympathy for      
,gautier's scarlet pourpoint and all    
that it symbolized4 ,in this cooler     
temper1 then1 not seeing red1 but with a
 tendency1 at least1 to see rosy1 a     
foreigner may glance at a life1 so      
essentially limited by its period and   
its nationality1 without challenging    
unfavourable comparisons4  ,the         
,romantic ,bohemia was part of ,parisian
 society1 a fact of which ,i have       
already tried to point out the          
implications4 ,it might add to the      
general picture to know how society     
judged ,bohemia4 ,contemporary record is

 scarce1 not only because ,bohemia      
itself so largely supplied the personal 
element in the journalism of its time1  
but also because the conception--indeed1
 the name--was so new4 ,there is1       
however1 something to be picked up from 
allusions here and there which is of    
some service in the definition of       
boundaries4 ,nestor ,roqueplan1 for     
instance1 in his little book1 ,la ,vie  
,parisienne1 defines ,bohemia as        
comprehending all those in ,paris who   
dine rarely and never go to bed4 ,he    
distinguishes sloth and debt as the     
salient faults in the general disorder  
of its life1 and he is not too          
appreciative of its abilities1 though he
 admits that there is an inner ,bohemia1
 intelligente et spirituelle1 composed  
of a certain number of young men with   
the makings of excellent ministers1     
irreproachable officials1 and daring men
 of business4 ,in conclusion he asserts 
the great truth that ,bohemia must be   
young2 it must be continually renewed4  

,if the ,bohemian were more than thirty1
 he might be confused with the rogue4   
,this is excellent testimony from a man 
who1 himself no real ,bohemian1 had     
extensive relations with ,bohemia as one
 on whom its young playwrights inflicted
 the reading of their plays4 ,balzac is 
the next witness1 though it is          
remarkable that his only specific       
reference to ,bohemia is in the short   
story1 ,un ,prince de la ,bohme1 which  
tells how the young ,comte de la        
,palfrine1 a penniless son of a general 
who died after ,wagram1 satisfied his   
vanity in the person of his mistress1   
,madame du ,bruel4 ,he was debarred by  
his position from having a wife worthy  
of his aristocratic pride1 but that at  
least his mistress might be worthy1     
,madame du ,bruel1 an actress married to
 a writer of vaudevilles1 worries her   
husband into the acquisition of riches1 
political power1 and a peerage4 ,at the 
beginning of this story--one of         
,balzac's most curious--he gives a      

general definition of ,bohemia3         
,bohemia1 which ought to be called the  
wisdom of the ,boulevard des            
,italiens1 is composed of young men all 
over twenty1 and under      thirty1     
years of age1 all men of genius in their
 manner1 still      little known1 but   
destined to make themselves known and   
then to be      very distinguished2 they
 are already distinguished in the days  
of      the carnival1 during which they 
discharge the plethora of their         
wit1 which is confined during the rest  
of the year1 in more or less      comic 
inventions4 ,in what an age do we live6 
,what absurd authority      allows      
immense forces thus to be dissipated6   
,in ,bohemia there are      diplomats   
capable of upsetting the plans of       
,russia1 if they felt      themselves   
supported by the power of ,france4 ,one 
meets in it      writers1               
administrators1 soldiers1 journalists1  
artists6 ,in a word1      all kinds of  
capacity and intellect are represented  

in it4 ,it is a      microcosm4 ,if the 
,emperor of ,russia were to buy ,bohemia
 for some      twenty millions1         
supposing it willing to quit the asphalt
 of the      boulevards1 and were to    
deport it to ,odessa1 in a year ,odessa 
would      be ,paris4 ,there it is1 the 
useless1 withering flower of that       
admirable youth of ,france which        
,napoleon and ,louis ,,xiv cherished1   
and which has been neglected for thirty 
years by that gerontocracy      under   
which all things in ,france are         
drooping4444 ,bohemia has      nothing  
and lives on that which it has4 ,hope is
 its religion1      self-confidence is  
its code1 charity passes for its budget4
 ,all      these young men are greater  
than their misfortunes--below fortune1  
but above destiny4  ,the narrator of the
 story1 the witty ,nathan1 goes on to   
give some particular traits of ,la      
,palfrine1 who would be ,king of        
,bohemia1 if ,bohemia could suffer a    
king4 ,some of these are rather vulgar  

pleasantries which display the bluntness
 of ,balzac's sense of humour rather    
than ,la ,palfrine's wit1 as when the   
,bohemian1 angrily accosted by a        
bourgeois in whose face he had thrown   
the end of his cigar1 calmly replied3   
,you have sustained your adversary's    
fire2 the seconds declare that honour is
 satisfied4 ,la ,palfrine was never     
solvent3 once1 when he owed his tailor a
 thousand francs1 the latter's head     
clerk1 sent to collect the debt1 found  
the debtor in a wretched sixth-floor    
attic on the outskirts of ,paris1       
furnished with a miserable bed and a    
rickety table2 to the request for       
payment the count replied with a gesture
 worthy of ,mirabeau3 ,go tell your     
master of the state in which you have   
found me6 ,in affairs of love1 though he
 was impetuous as a besieger1 he was    
proud as a conqueror4 ,after having     
passed a fortnight of unmixed happiness 
with a certain ,antonia1 he found that1 
as ,balzac puts it1 she was treating him

 with a want of frankness4 ,he therefore
 wrote to her the following letter1     
which made her famous3                  
,,madame1--,your conduct astonishes as  
much as it afflicts me4 ,not            
content with rending my heart by your   
disdain1 you have the      indelicacy to
 keep my tooth-brush1 which my means do 
not allow me      to replace1 my estates
 being mortgaged beyond their value4    
,farewell1 too lovely and too ungrateful
 friend6       ,may we meet again in a  
better world6  ,balzac's account is     
obviously tinged with literary          
exaggeration1 though the stories of ,la 
,palfrine were no doubt gleaned among   
the gossips of the boulevard4 ,he shall 
be balanced by an adverse witness1 one  
,m4 ,challamel1 who1 after a severe     
attack of le mal romantique which caused
 him to run away from his father's shop1
 settled down to be a staid librarian4  
,in his ,souvenirs d'un ,hugoltre he    
says3       ,in the wake of the         
freelances of the pen the ,bohemians    

abounded1      affecting the profoundest
 disdain for all that the bourgeois call
      'rules of conduct1' posing as     
successors to ,franois ,villon1         
playing the part of literary            
art-students1 frequenters of            
cabarets1 often of disreputable houses1 
breaking with the usages      of polite 
society1 and believing1 in fine1 that   
everything is      permitted to people  
of intelligence4444 ,by the side of     
these sham      romantic ,byrons there  
existed some good fellows who fell into 
the      excess of the literary         
revolution1 and who paraded the active  
immorality of debauch4 ,sceptics1       
materialists1 loaded with debt1         
they raised poverty to a system and     
laughed at their voluntary              
insolvency4 ,some shook off early their 
,diogenes' cloak 444 others             
succumbed prematurely 444 all had       
imitators who ended by forming          
numerous groups and by founding a       
school4 ,the spirit of ,bohemia         

became infectious1 and engendered the   
spirit of mockery 7la      blague74  ,i 
conclude this general testimony with    
some lines from ,alfred de ,musset's    
,dupont et ,durand1 which is an         
imaginary conversation between two old  
school-fellows1 one of whom has become a
 prosperous citizen1 the other has      
failed as a ,bohemian4 ,the ,bohemian   
says3               ,j'ai fln dans les  
rues1     ,j'ai march devant moi1 bayant
 aux grues2     ,mal nourri1 peu vtu1   
couchant dans un grenier1     ,dont je  
dmnageais ds qu'il fallait payer2       
,de taudis en taudis colportant ma      
misre1     ,ruminant de ,fourier le rve 
humanitaire1     ,empruntant  et l le   
plus que je pouvais1     ,dpensant un cu
 sitt que je l'avais1     ,dlayant de   
grands mots en phrases insipides1       
,sans chemise et sans bas1 et les poches
 si vides1     ,qu'il n'est que mon     
esprit au monde d'aussi creux1     ,tel 
je vcus1 rp1 sycophante1 envieux4  ,with
 the aid of these lights we may descry  

some general features of the ,romantic  
,bohemian4 ,he must be young2 on this   
both ,roqueplan and ,balzac are agreed1 
placing his proper age between twenty   
and thirty4 ,the ,bohemians of #ahcj    
were1 as a matter of fact1 nearer to the
 earlier than the later limit4 ,most of 
them were born at the end of the first  
decade of the nineteenth century1 so    
that #ahcj found them in1 or not long   
past1 their twentieth year1 a happy     
state of things which ,arsne ,houssaye  
celebrated in his poem ,vingt ,ans4 ,we 
,englishmen can hardly understand the   
magic of this joyous phrase1 vingt ans2 
through ,french prose and poetry it     
sounds again and again like a tinkling  
silver bell calling those who have lived
 and loved in youth to hark back for a  
moment in passionate regret1 in an      
ecstasy of remembrance4 ,to think of    
,bohemia without that silver tinkle in  
one's ears is to do it a grave          
injustice1 for ,bohemia throbbed with it
 then as with a tocsin1 as with a       

summoning bell to a joyous refectory in 
some transcendant ,abbaye de ,thlme4 ,it
 may be well for us that at twenty we   
are still hobbledehoys whom serious     
persons are only too glad to get rid of 
for half the year in universities as    
peacefully unmoved by our turmoil as    
their ,gothic buildings by the storms of
 winter2 but these frenzied medievalists
 had no ,gothic university to be        
engulfed in save their own dear ,paris1 
at a time when the university of their  
own dear ,paris was trying its hardest  
to withstand the new ideas with which   
they were aflame4 ,if juvenile excesses 
and absurdities can be tolerated with   
easy smiles at ,oxford and ,cambridge1  
how much more can those of the ,romantic
 ,bohemia be excused when its denizens  
were ,frenchmen1 hardly more than       
schoolboys1 yet already victorious as   
champions of a revolution1 with their   
livelihood to gain1 with no kind parents
 to pay their bills and no kind ,dean to
 regulate their mischief6 ,as the       

college porter says1 ,young gentlemen   
will be young gentlemen1 a proverb which
 condones the excesses of tender1 as it 
reprobates those of riper1 years4       
,bohemia1 in ,roqueplan's words1 must be
 continually renewed1 for the old       
,bohemian is nothing but a legitimate   
object for ardent social reformers4 ,so 
the ,bohemians of #ahcj1 some of whom   
made their names1 while others remained 
obscure1 were all youthful nobodies in  
the eyes of the world1 perching in their
 attics like a colony of singing birds  
upon the topmost branches4  ,this youth 
of theirs1 once it is properly grasped1 
explains a good many of their qualities1
 amiable and otherwise4 ,poverty1 for   
instance1 was a tradition of ,bohemia4  
,they dine rarely1 the ,bohemian has    
nothing and lives on what he has1 they  
raised their poverty into a system and  
laughed at their voluntary insolvency3  
so say ,roqueplan1 ,balzac1 and         
,challamel4 ,most young men in this     
world are poor1 in the sense they have  

nothing of their own4 ,so long as they  
follow the careers laid down for them1  
or earn the prescribed salaries in the  
prescribed professions1 they are not    
without means indeed1 but if they take a
 contradictory line of their own which  
is not lucrative1 especially if they    
dare to set up as poets1 it is          
considered better for them to knock     
their heads against the hard corners of 
life without much extraneous assistance4
 ,on the whole this is a wise point of  
view1 and one can hardly follow some of 
the less talented ,romantics in making  
it an indictment against society that   
superior soup-kitchens are not provided 
for the sustenance of all who choose to 
embrace the arts4 ,there were1 of       
course1 degrees of poverty in ,bohemia1 
just as there were degrees of economic  
adaptability4 ,some were really1 others 
only comparatively1 destitute3 some     
girded their loins daily in search of   
pence1 others waited for pence to drop  
from heaven4 ,still1 in spite of all    

degrees and differences1 poverty was    
very real4 ,the market for art and      
letters was still extremely restricted1 
processes were costly1 the science of   
distribution still in its infancy2 a few
 celebrities took all the cream of the  
demand1 leaving only the thinnest       
trickle to satisfy the rest4  ,the      
,bohemians knew1 or very soon found out1
 their prospects4 ,those who were not   
scared back to their homes made up their
 minds that at best a moderate income   
might be theirs in the future1 while the
 present entailed considerable          
privations to be endured cheerfully for 
the glory of art4 ,poverty being their  
economic condition1 it is not to be     
supposed that the young men who did     
happen to be rich in their own right    
migrated to ,bohemia for the mere       
pleasure of its society4 ,it is easy    
enough to find food for laughter in     
unavoidable discomforts and delight in  
the makeshifts by which misery is       
cheated1 but1 when neither discomfort   

nor makeshifts are necessary1 the point 
of view inevitably changes1 and         
irritation takes the place of laughter4 
,it is quite contrary to human nature   
that a man with money to spare for      
regular meals1 decent clothes1 and a    
comfortable room should enjoy hunger1   
rags1 and a bare garret4 ,between       
adversity cheerfully borne and a        
masquerade of scanty means there is a   
gulf which no imagination is able to    
span4 ,a rich man1 ,i admit1 may stint  
himself in order to spend all his means 
on a hobby or a philanthropic object1   
but in the ,bohemian there was no trace 
of this voluntary asceticism1 which     
would have been entirely contrary to the
 ,romantic creed4 ,a rich ,bohemian was 
a paradox1 for the moment a ,bohemian   
had any money he spent it in forgetting 
the sorrows of ,bohemia1 a moral pointed
 by ,murger's amusing chapter ,les      
,flots du ,pactole1 where ,rodolphe1    
having received a gift of #bj1 promptly 
agrees with ,marcel to live a regular   

life4 ,he will work1 he says1 seriously1
 sheltered from the material worries of 
life4 ,i renounce ,bohemia1 ,i shall    
dress like the rest1 ,i shall have a    
black coat and appear in drawing-rooms4 
,unfortunately the preliminaries are so 
costly that the sum is exhausted in a   
fortnight1 the coup de grce being given 
to it when the new servant pays without 
authorization the arrears of rent4      
,where shall we dine to-night8 says     
,rodolphe1 once more a ,bohemian4 ,we   
shall know to-morrow1 replies ,marcel4  
,rodolphe and ,marcel1 and their        
predecessors just as much1 would have   
regarded a ,bohemian with an income as a
 madman or a monstrosity4 ,with all the 
will in the world such a man would have 
found it impossible to live in such a   
society without being on its economic   
level4 ,its joys and pleasures would not
 have been his1 its amusements would    
have seemed paltry4 ,to have shown his  
money would have made him shunned by the
 proud and courted by the sycophants1 in

 any case a stranger4 ,he could only    
have been a ,bohemian at the price of   
dissipating all his capital1 and that he
 could more easily do among the viveurs 
upon the boulevard4  ,bohemia1 then1 was
 poor1 which had the one excellent      
result of banishing from it all         
mercenary spirit4 ,when there was so    
little money to be had in any case and  
there were so many other more glorious  
things to think about1 there was no     
point in financial preoccupations4 ,if  
one had a few coins one spent them in   
common with those who had none2 if one's
 pockets were empty one went without and
 accepted the hospitality of others4    
,money-grubbing was left to the virtuous
 bourgeois beloved of a bourgeois king1 
to unscrupulous ,nucingens and          
adventurous de ,girardins4 ,and ,bohemia
 never went to bed1 because it was young
 and poor1 not from viciousness or an   
artistic pleasure in the sunrise4 ,they 
were incorrigible talkers1 those young  
men--perhaps this was one of their      

graver faults--they not only talked1 but
 they shouted for hours together1 mixing
 declamations of ,victor ,hugo with     
extravagant tirades in the ,romantic    
fashion4 ,it was not in them to disperse
 quietly after ,hernani or ,antony had  
lashed them into fury4 ,they had a      
plethora of matter to discharge from    
their souls1 but they had no comfortable
 little ,chelsea studio in which to     
perform this function4 ,a cold attic1 a 
straw mattress1 a fuelless stove1 a     
dearth of chairs1 which was all the     
majority could boast of1 was a poor     
setting for impassioned conversation    
compared with the warmth of even a      
humble cabaret4 ,the good ,m4           
,challamel1 of course1 is justified in  
his strictures4 ,their morals were lax1 
they were extravagant1 they did not pay 
their bills4 ,this was partly due to    
what a humorous undergraduate once      
called the generosity of youth1 and     
partly to the example of the swells upon
 the boulevard4 ,the ,bohemian naturally

 yearned to enjoy himself1 with his     
acute capacity for enjoyment1 as he saw 
his more fortunate fellow-men enjoying  
themselves4 ,they were luxurious at all 
times2 it was impossible for him to     
restrain occasionally the impulse to    
luxury1 indulging in a superb orgy at   
the ,rocher de ,caucale or the ,trois   
,frres ,provenaux1 ordering clothes     
which he meant to pay for1 and          
forgetting all the while the just claims
 of a landlord4 ,his vices1 at any rate1
 were inseparable from the conditions of
 his existence1 and if he was           
disreputable1 it was more outwardly than
 within4  ,the talents of ,bohemia were 
as diverse as the physiognomies of its  
citizens4 ,genius1 it might be said with
 truth1 was not more common there than  
in other walks of life4 ,real genius is 
a law and a life to itself2 it is no    
more ,bohemian than it is aristocratic1 
democratic1 liberal or conservative4    
,social labels imply classes to bear    
them1 and classes imply a common factor 

of intelligence4 ,genius1 being an      
uncommon factor1 is always severely     
individual4 ,moreover1 so far as        
,bohemia is concerned1 genius1 being one
 kind of wealth1 unsuited its possessor 
for ,bohemian citizenship as much as a  
comfortable income4 ,the trivialities   
and futilities of some1 the extravagant 
idleness of others1 would have estranged
 genius or forced it to pretend an      
acquiescence in much that was repugnant 
to its nature4 ,with the possible       
exception of ,gautier1 the ,bohemia of  
#ahcj could really claim none of the    
greatest names of ,romanticism4 ,victor 
,hugo1 ,sainte-,beuve1 and the other    
divinities of its worship were1 apart   
from all further possibilities1 too old4
 ,balzac was a far too busy man to pay  
it more than momentary visits2 ,berlioz1
 before he went to ,rome1 was too       
occupied in writing music which         
irritated ,cherubini2 ,delacroix1 the   
acknowledged king of ,romantic painters1
 is revealed in his letters as the      

austerest of hard workers1 scarcely     
leaving his studio but for a walk when  
the shadows began to fall4 ,yet1 if     
,bohemia was denied genius1 it was not  
denied a very high average of ability1  
which was enhanced by its burning and   
disinterested enthusiasm for art4 ,like 
all other societies1 it had its fools1  
its knaves1 its dunces1 and its awkward 
squad4 ,the ,romantic revolution had    
attracted many scatterbrained fanatics  
to ,paris1 with as little artistic      
aptitude as good sense in their heads4  
,out of those who survived the first    
disappointments were fashioned failures 
like ,alfred de ,musset's unfortunate in
 the verses quoted previously1 rp1      
sycophante1 envieux4 ,probably1 too1 an 
impartial observer1 listening to the    
nocturnal conversations of a ,bohemian  
group1 would often have found the       
ecstatic admiration of the listeners    
disproportionate to the turgid periods  
of the speaker1 for to every real artist
 in ,bohemia there was a wind-bag or    

two4 ,nevertheless there was a good deal
 of truth in ,balzac's eulogy4 ,bohemia 
numbered within its gates a good        
proportion of the best among the younger
 generation4 ,they were indeed an       
immense force1 which might have been    
better utilized4 ,every kind of talent  
was represented there abundantly1       
because the field of letters seemed to  
be the only battlefield then left open  
to willing and eager soldiers4 ,this    
very fact gave the ,romantic ,bohemia   
its imperishable distinction1 for after 
#ahdh1 when young blood again found     
other outlets1 what had been a little   
world was left no more than a decadent  
province4  ,the republic of ,bohemia in 
general had all the follies and virtues1
 the amiability and brutality of youth4 
,it was generous1 noisy1 more often     
hungry than drunk1 often on the verge of
 despair1 and always fantastically      
clothed4 ,it sprang up in ,paris as     
rapidly as the iron shanties of a       
,canadian township round a proposed     

extension of the railway4 ,the settlers1
 self-assured1 fervid1 rise on a tide of
 increasing prosperity till some supreme
 moment when their venture1 its markets 
humming1 its saloons crowded1 its new   
town hall nearly built1 seems the very  
embodiment of all their hopes4 ,but if  
the railway1 after all1 take another    
route1 the glory gradually dwindles1 the
 workers throw down the tools1 and the  
host of speculators melts away1 till    
only that population is left which the  
soil will actually support1 and what was
 for a day a city resumes the existence 
of an ordinary village4 ,bohemia's      
history is of a less commercial texture1
 but of a like pattern1 as ,i have      
already said4 ,its rise was swift1 it   
had a brilliant apogee1 its decline was 
gradual4 ,in a posthumous poem by       
,philothe ,o',neddy1 whose place in the 
chronicles of ,bohemia will be duly     
recorded1 it is said3      ,il est      
depuis longtemps avr que nous sommes1   
,dans le sicle1 six milles jeunes hommes

     ,qui du dmon de l',art nous croyant
 tourments1     ,dpensons notre vie en  
excentricits2     ,qui1 du fatal ,byron 
copiant des allures1     ,de solennels  
manteaux drapons nos encolures4  ,these 
six thousand copies of the ,fatal       
,byron1 if they ever existed1 have1 for 
the most part1 died without leaving     
their names to posterity4 ,the historian
 can deal only with a few individuals1  
who embodied the salient qualities of   
,bohemia4     ,,vii  ,,the ,,second     
,c,,nacle   ,people always forget1 said 
,thophile ,gautier in his old age1 that 
we were the first ,schaunards and       
,collines1 a quarter of a century before
 ,murger4 ,only1 he added with a smile1 
we had talent and did not write         
invertebrate verses like those of that  
feeble appendage to ,alfred de ,musset4 
,this saying1 reported by his           
son-in-law1 was made on a festive       
occasion1 so that it is unnecessary to  
regard with concern the discrepancy     
between this view of ,murger and the one

 which ,gautier has expressed in print4 
,that kindest-hearted of writers would  
never wittingly have hurt the reputation
 or memory of the humblest among his    
fellows1 and ,i only quote the passage  
because1 when the malice is discounted  
as largely as the quarter of a century1 
it remains a true reference to the      
origins of ,bohemia by one who was1 so  
to speak1 one of its pilgrim fathers4   
,the first ,schaunards and ,collines1   
,rodolphes and ,marcels1 the unknown    
poets and artists who first raised the  
standard of common enthusiasm against a 
common enemy1 the bourgeois1 were the   
young and lusty friends of a young and  
lusty ,gautier4 ,they were members of a 
cnacle1 albeit a less beatific cnacle   
than the brotherhood drawn in ,balzac's 
,illusions ,perdues4 ,in the cnacle of  
the ,rue des ,quatre ,vents he evolved  
by sheer imagination a compensating     
mirage of virtue to be contrasted with  
all the real depravity of society which 
his eye so unerringly saw1 just as      

,eugnie ,grandet shines out impossibly  
beside her miserly father1 and ,madame  
,firmiani in the corrupt circle of his  
femmes du monde4 ,nevertheless there is 
a certain sublimity in the cnacle to    
which attention cannot be denied4 ,it   
was ,balzac's picture of an ideal       
,bohemia in which alone such a nature as
 his could have found a home4 ,it is of 
little moment that he dates the action  
of ,illusions ,perdues a few years      
before #ahcj1 for the cnacle itself is a
 timeless creation1 only limited by the 
fact that one of its members died in the
 insurrection of #ahcb4 ,the young men  
who composed the cnacle bore upon their 
brow the seal of special genius4 ,daniel
 d',arthez1 upon whom since the death of
 their leader1 the great mystic1 ,louis 
,lambert1 the mantle had fallen1 was a  
monarchist of noble family1 destined to 
become the greatest writer of the       
future2 ,horace ,bianchon1 the flower of
 doctors1 a materialist of perfect      
charity and profound science2 ,lon      

,giraud1 a humanitarian philosopher2    
,joseph ,bridau1 a great painter with   
the line of ,rome and the colour of     
,venice2 ,fulgence ,ridal1 a sceptic1 a 
cynic1 and the wittiest playwright of   
his time2 ,meyraux1 a scientist2 and    
,michel ,chrestien1 a red republican who
 was killed in the ,clotre              
,saint-,merri4 ,they were not ascetics  
by profession3 d',arthez1 for instance1 
was the last lover of the ,diane1 the   
,princesse de ,cadignan1 in the days of 
his later glory2 ,bridau's art was      
affected by his love affairs2 ,chrestien
 was plein d'illusions et d'amour4 ,they
 were like the saints of the early      
,christian ,church1 each going his own  
way1 but true helpers one of another1   
true champions and honest critics4 ,they
 were without vanity or envy1 having a  
profound esteem for one another1 with a 
consciousness of their own worth4 ,their
 great external misery and the splendour
 of their intellectual wealth produced a
 singular contrast4 ,in their society   

nobody thought of the realities of life 
except as subjects for friendly         
pleasantries4444 ,the sufferings of     
poverty1 when they made themselves felt1
 were so gaily borne1 accepted with such
 ardour by all1 that they did nothing to
 alter the particular serenity which    
marks the faces of young men free from  
grave faults1 who have not lost part of 
themselves in any of those low          
traffickings which are forced upon men  
by poverty ill supported1 by the desire 
to get on without any choice of means1  
and by the facile complacency with which
 men of letters welcome or pardon       
betrayals4444 ,these young men were sure
 of themselves3 the enemy of one became 
the enemy of all1 and they would have   
abandoned their most urgent interests to
 obey the sacred solidarity of their    
hearts4 ,all incapable of a mean action1
 they could oppose a formidable 'no' to 
every accusation1 and defend one another
 with security4 ,equally high-minded and
 equally matched in matters of          

sensibility1 they could think and speak 
all their mind in the domain of science 
and intelligence2 thence came the       
innocence of their intercourse1 the     
gaiety of their talk4 ,sure of mutual   
understanding1 their minds digressed at 
their ease2 and they stood on no        
ceremony among themselves1 confided in  
each other their sorrows and their joys1
 pondered and suffered with open hearts4
 ,i need speak no further of this       
imaginary cnacle1 for ,illusions        
,perdues is widely known4 ,it is one of 
those wonderful fantasies that one feels
 were lovingly cherished by ,balzac1 at 
once his darling dreams and his         
disappointments4 ,he had a passionate   
desire to express the beautiful1 and he 
was denied that gift4 ,the lights dance 
before his eyes1 and his very language  
becomes confused and turgid when he     
deserts reality4 ,it may safely be said 
that in the real ,bohme there was no    
such goodly company of industrious1     
gifted1 morally austere1 intellectually 

gay1 unselfish young men1 and that there
 never will be in any society till the  
coming of the ,coquecigrues4  ,the      
,bohemia of artistic tradition began in 
what ,thophile ,gautier named the second
 cnacle4 ,the first cnacle1 as all the  
world knows1 was that of ,victor ,hugo1 
,sainte-,beuve1 and the brothers        
,deschamps1 who met regularly at the    
cabaret of ,mre ,saguet on ,montparnasse
 in the days when ,hugo was still       
hatching the plot of the literary       
revolution4 ,to trace to them the       
origins of ,bohemia would be an error1  
for they never had any part or lot in   
,bohemianism4 ,they were young1 it is   
true1 and depended upon their art for a 
living1 but the fact that they were     
nothing but a small coterie of earnest  
poets1 more akin to the band of         
d',arthez than the friends of ,rodolphe1
 depends upon two things1 their time and
 their outlook4 ,the first cnacle came  
into existence about #ahbb1 when the    
throne of the ,bourbons seemed solid and

 royalism went hand in hand with        
classicism4 ,no standard of             
insurrection1 civic or literary1 had yet
 been raised2 the victory was yet to    
come1 and it would have been madness1   
before the campaign was fully planned or
 the army gathered1 for the chiefs to   
have aped the style of victors4 ,the    
merciless ridicule of ,paris would have 
killed them in a week1 without support  
as they were4 ,defiance of the          
bourgeois1 an absolute essential of the 
true ,bohemian creed1 was1 therefore1   
not appropriate to the first cnacle1 who
 lived openly the life of ordinary1     
decent citizens1 while secretly         
preparing the proclamations1 the        
standards1 and the weapons by which the 
cataclysmic victory of #ahcj was to be  
won4 ,in such a tense moment ,bohemia   
could not be born4 ,their outlook1 in   
the second place1 was too lofty to      
comprehend the lower planes in which    
,bohemia made itself conspicuous4 ,to   
strike a more human note in poetry was  

their chief aim3 they were concerned    
with art rather than with life itself2  
and though ,hugo1 in the privacy of his 
room1 doffed with relief that bourgeois 
symbol1 the high linen collar1 he was   
like a general in his tent drawing up   
that transcendental plan of operations1 
the preface to ,cromwell1 which was to  
inspire his troops in their pioneering  
and shooting1 in their whole bodily     
attack on the classic tradition4 ,as the
 classic tradition was embodied not only
 in literature1 in contemporary         
journalism1 in professional lectures1   
but in the social life of all staid     
citizens as well1 the ,romantic troops1 
passionate and fundamental as their     
literary enthusiasm was1 were forced to 
make social life the field of their     
assault1 all the more because1 being    
poor1 young1 and unknown1 they were     
unable to inflict such palpable wounds  
with pen or brush as they could by      
making a violent protest in every detail
 of the ordinary way of living4 ,by     

outraging the accepted standards of     
decency in dress1 in speech1 and in     
demeanour1 they made their presence     
daily felt1 and where their presence was
 felt their ideals were made ostensible4
 ,their tactics1 after the event1 may be
 blamed1 the effect they produced was1  
no doubt1 smaller than they imagined1   
but the fact remains that la vie de     
,bohme began neither as a retreat for   
higher souls nor as a means for reckless
 self-indulgence1 but as a definite     
method of drawing attention to a new and
 important artistic creed4 ,for the     
greater exponents of this creed1 a ,hugo
 or a ,delacroix1 such a material       
protest would have been out of place2 it
 would have detracted even from the     
effect produced by their great works of 
art4 ,only the rank and file1 to whom   
supreme personal achievement was        
impossible1 collected and commonly      
inspired1 as ,i have already pointed    
out1 under special historical and social
 conditions1 were justified in adopting 

the measures that were best suited to   
their purpose4 ,their purpose was as    
temporary as their conditions2 their    
device1 pater le bourgeois1 has now     
become a hollow phrase1 but it meant    
then the rousing of every shopkeeper1   
every garon de caf1 as well as the      
cultured reader of current literature1  
to the sense that art was alive again4  
,this was the aim of the second cnacle1 
the first ,bohemians4 ,they were        
successful1 and they were necessary4    
,the second cnacle was not a formal     
organization1 so that no definite date  
can be fixed for its institution4 ,its  
members probably came together in the   
same haphazard way as the small bands of
 friends at a public school or          
university1 crystallizing so            
imperceptibly that the moment of        
incorporation baffles memory1 and often 
so firmly that death alone is their     
solvent4 ,thophile ,gautier1 in his     
fragmentary ,histoire du ,romantisme1   
has given the fullest details of the    

cnacle's existence1 yet neither he nor  
his biographer1 ,maxime du ,camp1 make  
it clear whether it was formed prior or 
posterior to the famous first night of  
,hernani in ,february of #ahcj4         
,gautier1 no doubt1 had forgotten1 but  
it seems fairly safe to assume that if  
preliminary acquaintance was already    
made between some of its members before 
that time1 the stormy nights of         
,february strengthened the bond and made
 the association compact4 ,the story of 
,hernani1 with the red waistcoat1 vieil 
as de pique1 and other trimmings1 has so
 often been told1 even in ,english1 that
 it may seem unnecessary to traverse    
such well-trodden ground2 but a         
historian has no business to take       
anything for granted1 so that ,hernani  
can be no more justly omitted here than 
,waterloo from any work upon ,napoleon4 
,it was part of ,victor ,hugo's         
agreement with the ,thtre ,franais that 
a number of seats should be at his      
disposal each night1 and that the       

holders of the tickets should be        
admitted some time before the ordinary  
public4 ,these were the trenches into   
which his army of young men were thrown4
 ,minor officers were entrusted with the
 task of bringing the men to the        
rendezvous1 ,jules ,vabre1 an architect1
 being responsible for a hundred and    
fifty men1 and ,clestin ,nanteuil for   
almost as large a number4 ,grard de     
,nerval1 whose translation of ,goethe's 
,faust1 published in #ahbh 7when he was 
only nineteen71 had brought him         
considerable fame in ,romantic circles1 
had known ,gautier1 who was two years   
his junior1 at the ,collge ,charlemagne4
 ,this amiable essayist1 whom ,gautier  
likened more than once to a swallow1    
flitting always in and out among his    
friends1 was not forgetful of his young 
friend in the days of recruiting4       
,gautier was at that time studying      
painting in the studio of ,rioult1      
whither ,grard de ,nerval made one day a
 swallow-like dart and produced six     

tickets marked with the single but      
thrilling word ,hierro1 the ,spanish for
 iron4 ,according to ,maxime du ,camp he
 gave these to ,gautier with the words3 
,tu rponds de tes hommes8  ,to him      
replied ,gautier3 ,par le crne dans     
lequel ,byron buvait  l',abbaye de      
,newstead1 j'en rponds4 ,n'est-ce pas1  
vous autres8  ,mort aux perruques6      
resounded in answer through the studio1 
and ,grard flitted away content4        
,gautier1 who was a little better       
provided with worldly goods than some of
 the ,romantic army1 then set about     
devising a costume that should strike   
death into the heart of the perruques4  
,with extreme care he cut out a pattern 
of a medieval pourpoint--a buttonless   
waistcoat coming right up to the        
collar-bone1 and fastening with laces   
behind like the uniform of              
,saint-,simon's disciples1 which        
symbolized mutual assistance1 because no
 ,saint-,simonian could truss his own   
points4 ,his ,gascon tailor's           

professional objections were overruled1 
even though the material chosen was a   
gorgeous silk coloured a ,chinese       
vermilion1 and the garment was made as  
desired3 to it were added a pair of     
light greenish-grey trousers with a     
broad stripe of black down each seam1 a 
black coat with ample revers of velvet1 
and a flowing cravat4 ,it was indeed a  
devastating sight1 and one that         
deservedly became famous4 ,in this      
fervent spirit was the battle waged over
 ,hernani2 for thirty consecutive       
performances the trenches were manfully 
filled and a fusillade of cheers poured 
forth at every touch of romantic colour1
 every bold enjambement1 every defiance 
of classic circumlocution1 and1 above   
all1 every sign of disapprobation on the
 part of those they rudely styled wigs  
and bald pates4 ,the battlefield was    
often a pandemonium1 but the result was 
victory4 ,the ,thtre ,franais1 the very 
home of ,molire1 was successfully       
carried by the ,romantic assault4       

,gautier had magnificently won his      
spurs1 and shortly afterwards he was    
introduced by ,grard de ,nerval and     
,ptrus ,borel to the great hero himself1
 an ordeal which caused him so much     
trepidation that he sat for over an hour
 on the stairs with his two sponsors    
before he could pluck up courage to     
proceed4 ,his fears1 however1 soon      
vanished after a cordial reception1 and 
as his parents were then living next    
door to ,hugo in the splendid old ,place
 ,royale1 he soon became the most       
constant page and attendant of the poet1
 for whom he preserved a lifelong       
devotion4  ,these were the days of the  
second cnacle1 for ,hernani was the     
,hegira of la vie de ,bohme4 ,during the
 long waits in the empty theatre1 the   
passionate mornings of preparation1 the 
fiery reunions after the curtain had    
fallen1 a set of the most ardent        
,hugo-worshippers had found their       
affinities4 ,they did not indeed live   
together--some were dutifully under the 

parental roof1 some had hardly a roof to
 their heads1 one at least was          
supporting a mother and sister by daily 
work in a government office--but they   
formed the habit of meeting and spending
 many hours of the day and night        
together and the meeting-place was      
either the studio of a young sculptor1  
,jehan du ,seigneur1 or the sanded      
parlour of the ,petit ,moulin ,rouge1 in
 the rond-point of the ,arc de          
,triomphe4 ,their names were ,ptrus     
,borel1 ,joseph ,bouchardy1 ,philothe   
,o',neddy1 ,alphonse ,brot1 ,augustus   
,mackeat1 ,jules ,vabre1 ,napolon ,thom1
 ,jehan du ,seigneur1 ,lon ,clopet1     
,clestin ,nanteuil1 ,thophile ,gautier1 
and ,grard de ,nerval4 ,it is almost    
needless to say that some of the names  
are ,gothic transformations in the      
,romantic fashion4 ,ptrus ,borel was1 of
 course1 christened ,pierre1 as du      
,seigneur was christened ,jean by his   
parents2 while ,philothe ,o',neddy and  
,augustus ,mackeat conceal the persons  

of ,thophile ,dondey and ,auguste       
,maquet4 ,but names in -us or ,celtic   
patronymics were all the rage1 and even 
,gautier was called ,albertus after his 
poem of that name published in #ahcb4 ,a
 curious feature about the group was    
that1 though it existed to champion the 
cause of ,romantic poetry1 the only pure
 man of letters was ,grard de ,nerval4  
,of the rest1 ,borel1 formerly an       
architect1 was learning to draw in      
,dvria's studio1 ,thom and ,nanteuil    
were artists1 ,gautier and ,bouchardy   
studying art1 du ,seigneur a sculptor1  
,clopet and ,vabre architects2 ,o',neddy
 and ,brot1 indeed1 were professed      
poets1 but in no less an embryonic stage
 than some of the others who afterwards 
found in the pen their most successful  
tool4 ,this mixture of art in poetry1   
says ,gautier1 was and has remained one 
of the characteristic signs of the new  
school1 and makes it clear why the first
 adepts were recruited rather among the 
artists than among the men of letters4  

,a multitude of objects1 images1 and    
comparisons which were thought to be    
irreducible to the written word were    
introduced into the language and have   
stayed there4#ag  ,illustration3 ,ptrus 
,borel  ,the one whom ,gautier called   
the individualit pivotale of the group1 
though ,philothe ,o',neddy in after     
years denied that he had more influence 
than ,gautier1 ,grard1 or ,bouchardy1   
was ,ptrus ,borel1 ,le ,lycanthrope as  
he subsequently named himself4 ,his full
 name was ,pierre ,borel d',hauterive1  
and he was born in ,lyons in #ahji4 ,his
 father1 captured by the revolutionaries
 in #agib and then liberated1 fled to   
,switzerland1 whence he returned to     
,paris1 a ruined man1 to earn what he   
could by keeping a shop4 ,at the age of 
fifteen ,pierre was apprenticed to an   
architect1 and in #ahbi he set up on his
 own account without much success4 ,he  
and ,jules ,vabre became associated1 and
 so poor were they that they used to use
 the cellars of the houses on which they

 were engaged as their dwelling-place4  
,gautier recalled visiting them once in 
the cellar of a house in the ,rue       
,fontaine-du-,roi1 where they were      
preparing their frugal meal of potatoes 
baked in the ashes4 ,ah1 said ,vabre    
with pride1 but we have salt on         
,sundays4 ,borel's ideas were too       
,gothically fantastic for his bourgeois 
clients1 and1 after a violent dispute   
over his fourth commission1 he ordered  
the half-finished building to be        
demolished1 and gave up for ever an     
ungrateful profession1#ah betaking      
himself for a season to the study of    
painting1 and writing the while those   
poems animated by a haughty bitterness  
which were published under the title of 
,rhapsodies4 ,they are dedicated and    
addressed to the members of the second  
cnacle1 among whom he enjoyed an        
enormous reputation4 ,he was for them   
the poet of the future1 before whom     
,hugo would crumble to dust4 ,alas6 for 
youthful predictions2 thirty years later

 ,gautier1 the most loyal of ,romantics1
 was forced to exclaim3 ,dire que j'ai  
cru  ,ptrus6#ai ,he exercised over the  
group1 in fact1 a kind of unconscious   
hypnotism4 ,his slightly superior age1  
his strange1 rough1 paradoxical         
eloquence1 and1 above all1 his          
picturesque appearance imposed on them  
all4 ,their ideal was to have an allure 
fatale1 a sombre complexion and haughty1
 ,byronic mien4 ,borel realized it4 ,he 
looked like a ,castilian nobleman out of
 a ,velasquez picture1 says ,gautier1   
with his young and serious face1 of     
perfect regularity1 an olive skin gilded
 with light shades of amber1 lit up by  
great1 shining eyes1 sad as those of    
,abencerrages thinking of ,granada1 his 
bright red lip which shone under his    
moustache1 one spark of life in that    
mask of ,oriental immobility1 and his   
fine1 full1 silky beard perfumed and    
tended like that of a sultan1 at a time 
when to wear a beard in ,paris was an   
outrage to public decency4 ,he was      

clothed in black1 wearing a high        
,robespierre waistcoat and draping a    
long black cloak around him with an air 
of studied mystery4 ,how could the      
younger men1 whose beards refused to    
grow1 not believe in such a perfect     
symbol1 so magnificently scornful1 so   
profoundly fatal8 ,he was the most      
republican1 too1 of them all1 the       
typical ,bousingot of the bourgeois     
,press1 though fanatical republicanism  
was not1 as ,philothe ,o',neddy         
afterwards protested in a letter to     
,charles ,asselineau1 their             
representative opinion4 ,grard had no   
political opinions at all1 ,gautier was 
obstinately ,jeune-,france1 and the     
others only dreamt of a social ,utopia  
in which stheticism should replace      
religion1 or of some humanitarian       
millennium after the manner of          
,saint-,simon and ,fourier4 ,borel1     
however1 held society in complete       
disgust1 as he showed when he left the  
gathering at ,jehan du ,seigneur's1 and 

proceeded one summer to live with some  
followers on the slopes of ,montmartre1 
all naked as savages1 till the landlord 
drove them out at the price of his      
porter's lodge1 which they burnt down in
 revenge4  ,none of the others were     
quite so remarkably individual as ,ptrus
 ,borel1 whose character may be         
described as ,jules ,claretie describes 
his book of extravagant stories1        
,champavert3 doubt1 negation1           
bitterness1 anger1 something at the same
 time furious and comic4 ,vabre1 his    
partner in architecture1 had fair hair  
and moustaches1 without any extravagance
 in his bearing1 but his face twinkled  
all over with malice and his            
conversation was madly ,rabelaisian4 ,he
 projected a famous book that was never 
written1 ,sur l',incommodit des         
,commodes4 ,an intense love for         
,shakespeare was his chief ,romantic    
asset4 ,according to ,gautier he gave up
 his later life to studying our language
 in ,england that he might make the     

perfect translation1 a task which was   
never completed4 ,joseph ,bouchardy1 who
 afterwards became a very successful    
writer of melodrama1 was then learning  
engraving4 ,he1 too1 was dark1 so dark  
that with the soft1 sparse beard that   
just fringed his face he looked an      
,indian1 and was nicknamed the          
,maharajah of ,lahore4 ,he was less     
poetry-mad than the rest1 but eternally 
occupied with dramatic scenarios in     
which all the secret passages1          
trap-doors1 and sliding panels of a     
novel by ,mrs4 ,radcliffe were brought  
into play4 ,jehan du ,seigneur1 who made
 medallions of all his friends1 was a   
gentle1 modest youth with a very        
pink-and-white complexion which was his 
everlasting despair4 ,to atone for this 
unavoidable defection from ,romantic    
ideals1 he wore a black velvet          
pourpoint1 a black jacket with broad    
velvet revers1 and a voluminous necktie1
 so that not a speck of white linen was 
shown1 a suprme lgance romantique1 as   

,gautier remarks4 ,augustus ,mackeat was
 chiefly conspicuous for the happy      
transformation of his name1 though he   
returned to the orthodox ,maquet when he
 became a successful playwright4 ,his   
disguise1 however1 was nothing to the   
tremendous anagram which turned         
,thophile ,dondey into ,philothe        
,o',neddy4 ,he1 says ,gautier1 was dark 
as a mulatto with fair1 curly hair4     
,though he was helping to support a     
mother and sister by working in a       
government office1 this ,philistine     
occupation did not prevent him from     
being one of the most frenzied of the   
gang1 a paroxyst ruisselant d'inousme4  
,in #ahcc he published a collection of  
ultra-romantic poems called ,feu et     
,flamme1 which reek with passion1       
despair1 scorn1 suicide1 and contempt   
for ,christianity4 ,yet he lived till   
#ahgb1 and though he published nothing  
more1 he left a collection of posthumous
 poems all of which breathe an extreme  
melancholy4 ,in the letter written to   

,asselineau ten years before his death  
he admitted that in the days of the     
cnacle he had une bonne grosse somme    
d'extravagance et de mauvais got1 but   
protested warmly against the application
 to them of the epithet ridiculous4     
,risible they might have been1 but only 
the bourgeois were ridiculous4 ,clestin 
,nanteuil was big1 fair1 gentle1 and so 
perfectly medieval that ,gautier        
caricatured him as ,elie                
,wildman-stadius1 the hero of one of his
 ,jeune-,france stories1 who lived in a 
,gothic manor on medieval fare1 read    
nothing but medieval illuminated        
manuscripts1 and was killed when the    
,gothic cathedral1 his sole external    
joy1 was struck by lightning4 ,gautier  
describes him personally as having the  
appearance of one of those long angels  
bearing censers or playing sambucs that 
live in the gables of cathedrals1 who   
has come down into the city in the midst
 of the busy burgesses1 keeping his     
nimbus all the while at the back of his 

head like a hat1 but without the least  
suspicion that it is not natural to wear
 one's aureole in the street4 ,he was a 
furious ,hernanist in #ahcj 7he was then
 only seventeen71 and called the        
,captain1 for leading the army to the   
fray4 ,in #ahdc1 when he was asked to   
bring three hundred young men to support
 ,les ,burgraves in the same manner1 he 
sadly said3 ,tell the master there are  
no more young men4 ,he might1 says      
,maxime du ,camp1 have been a great     
painter1 but he was compelled to live by
 illustrating4 ,whenever he had made a  
little money in this way he returned to 
his colours and his easel till it was   
exhausted4 ,he ended in the obscurity of
 ,dijon1 becoming the director of its   
school of art4  ,illustration3 ,clestin 
,nanteuil  ,maxime du ,camp compares    
,nanteuil's fate to that of ,gautier1   
who was forced by circumstances to waste
 so much of his talent in mere          
journalism2 but in #ahcj ,gautier1 a    
young man of nineteen1 who made long    

hair serve instead of a beard1 was still
 free as air4 ,in that year he brought  
out a little volume of poems1 and a year
 or two later produced the fantastic    
,albertus1 which he followed with ,les  
,jeune-,france4 ,his art studies had    
soon ceased because he discovered that  
he suffered from short sight1 and we may
 regard him in the days of the cnacle as
 a poet pure and simple4 ,one figure    
remains to be filled in1 the most       
pathetic of all the ,romantic band1     
,grard de ,nerval4 ,he was born in      
#ahjh1 the son of a ,doctor             
,labrunie--the family name of de ,nerval
 was only assumed by him when he began  
to write4 ,his youth was spent in the   
pleasant country of the ,valois1 and he 
received a very careful education from  
his father1 who taught him not only     
,latin and ,greek1 but ,german1         
,italian1 and the rudiments of ,arabic  
and ,persian4 ,even in his early days he
 was an eager reader of mystics and     
utopists1 which gave that first         

fantastical turn to his brain which     
ended later in complete madness4 ,his   
development was normal at first4 ,at the
 ,collge ,charlemagne he was the        
snapper-up of every prize1 and produced 
some quite worthless poetry in praise of
 ,napoleon that won high approval from  
his professors4 ,he followed this by a  
satire on the ,academy1 which appeared  
in #ahbf1 and in #ahbh he produced an   
ode to ,branger of a style to which his 
,romantic friends could only have       
applied the new epithet poncif4 ,the    
translation of ,faust1 which earned a   
very high compliment from the great     
,goethe himself1 turned him into his    
appropriate path and gave him a serious 
literary reputation which he never lost4
 ,he translated other fragments of      
,german poetry1 and wrote for the       
,mercure de ,france1 of which ,pierre   
,lacroix1 the ,bibliophile ,jacob1 was  
then the editor4 ,his adoption of a     
literary career was a grave             
disappointment to his father1 who had   

hoped to make a good official of him1   
and it is probable that parental        
coldness first caused him to find a     
congenial asylum in the new ,bohemia1 of
 which he was never a typical           
inhabitant4 ,when he came of age he     
inherited his mother's dowry1 which made
 the actual earning of money immaterial 
to him4 ,his success with ,faust had    
brought him into touch with ,hugo1 so   
that after the days of ,hernani he held 
in the cnacle the most distinguished1 if
 not the most influential1 position as a
 lieutenant of their demi-god1 with     
notable achievements in the field of    
letters already to his credit4  ,grard  
threw in his lot with the cnacle1 but1  
though he even wrote some revolutionary 
poems in #ahcj1 for which he was        
imprisoned in ,sainte ,plagie1 he was   
never quite at ease with ,borel and the 
,bousingot faction4 ,the flamboyant side
 of ,romanticism and its noisy          
gatherings had little appeal for him4   
,he was an eccentric and a solitary by  

nature1 as his writings1 with their     
strong reminiscence of ,heine1 show4 ,in
 the time of the cnacle he was1         
according to ,gautier1 a gentle and     
modest young man1 who blushed like a    
girl1 with a pink-and-white complexion  
and soft1 grey eyes4 ,under his fine1   
light golden hair his forehead1         
beautifully shaped1 shone like polished 
ivory4 ,he was usually dressed in a     
black frock-coat with enormous pockets1 
in which1 like ,murger's ,colline1 he   
buried a whole library of books picked  
up on the quais1 five or six notebooks1 
and a large collection of scraps of     
paper on which he wrote down the ideas  
that occurred to him on his long walks4 
,he was the perfect peripatetic3 as he  
once said1 he would have liked to walk  
through life unrolling an endless roll  
of paper on which he could jot his      
reflections4 ,he lived at this time with
 ,camille ,rogier1 the artist1 in the   
,rue des ,beaux ,arts1 but his friends  
could never be sure where to find him4  

,for him no hour was sacred to rest4 ,he
 wandered about ,paris at all times of  
the day and night1 dropping in on a     
friend for an hour or two1 ready to ride
 a hobby-horse with him in any          
direction1 then darting off again1 his  
thoughts in the clouds1 nobody knew     
whither1 and returning in the small     
hours1 only to flit from his bed at the 
dawn4 ,of all the gay companions of     
,bohemia he was the best loved1 for his 
childlike simplicity and his gentle     
manners won all hearts4 ,he went through
 life to his terrible death with        
complete unworldliness1 almost like a   
ghost1 unconscious of the material side 
of existence1 directing his feet only by
 the light of his spirit4 ,gautier1     
writing after his death1 protested      
vehemently that his was no ordinary     
tragedy of neglected genius2 he had     
money enough1 but money was nothing to  
him1 so he spent it without a thought2  
his work was always accepted by editors1
 and his plays1 though not successful1  

were all produced4 ,but success was the 
last of his preoccupations4 ,he was a   
wanderer living in a world of his own   
fantasies4 ,as he will appear again in  
these pages1 we may bid him farewell for
 the moment1 with the conviction that it
 would be pleasant to be transported for
 a season back to that turbulent vie de 
,bohme if only to find the kindly       
,grard's arm passed through one's own   
and to hear his gentle murmur3 ,tu as   
une fantaisie2 je la promnerai avec toi4
  ,i ought1 perhaps1 to apologize for   
allowing the persons of the cnacle to   
take up so much space before coming to  
their life1 yet ,i imagine1 on the      
whole1 that ,i have said too little     
rather than too much4 ,to go back to a  
past of which one has no experience is a
 matter of such extreme difficulty that 
a historian must often despair at the   
impossibility of reproducing the whole  
congeries of scattered detail from which
 alone his own mental picture could have
 taken shape4 ,the first ,bohemia1 that 

of the second cnacle1 was less a common 
life than a common recreation4 ,it was  
an incomplete vie de ,bohme in so far as
 its members were united1 not by a      
desire to share all the joys and        
difficulties of life1 but by a          
particular artistic enthusiasm4 ,there  
is no record that any of them worked or 
dwelt together1 that they took part in  
joint expeditions of amusement1 or that 
the mutual acquaintance of those female 
divinities for whom they plied so       
fatally their emotional bellows is to be
 presumed--and these are marked         
characteristics of ,murger's vie de     
,bohme4 ,when they ate together it was  
at the obscure cabaret kept by the      
,neapolitan ,graziano for the needs of  
his compatriots who worked in ,paris4   
,here1 in a plain whitewashed room with 
a sanded floor1 a dresser covered with  
violently coloured faience and plain    
wooden benches1 they were initiated by  
their host--a man of senatorial         
presence1 with an immense but perfectly 

correct nose and big black beard1 who   
seemed to dream all the while of his    
beloved ,italy--into the delights of    
spaghetti1 stufato1 tagliarini1 and     
gnocchi4 ,they were delicious meals1    
seasoned with good spirits1 and--to use 
the delightful ,french phrase--bedewed  
with sound wine of ,argenteuil or       
,suresnes christened magnificently with 
the names of the most exclusive         
vineyards in ,mdoc or ,burgundy4 ,still1
 they were felt at times to be a trifle 
wanting in ,romantic glamour4 ,it was   
all very well1 the grumblers remarked1  
to be enjoying incomparable macaroni1   
but when all was said and done there was
 little that an impartial observer could
 descry in these banquets to            
differentiate them from the prosaic     
meals of a ,joseph ,prudhomme4          
,something was wanting1 some tincture of
 the ,newstead spirit1 some infernal joy
 in the food1 some shudder in the       
drinking4 ,the macaroni remained        
obstinately matter-of-fact1 but a       

brilliant idea was mooted that would    
give a charnel flavour to the wine4     
,graziano's glasses were only glasses of
 quite modern exiguousness2 the true    
brotherhood should drink out of a skull4
 ,a skull was accordingly procured by   
,grard from his father1 the doctor1 and 
ingeniously mounted by ,gautier1 who    
screwed to its side an old brass handle 
from a chest of drawers4 ,in truth it   
was a noble bowl1 and the pious company 
drank from it with bravado1 each        
concealing with more or less ill-success
 his natural repugnance4 ,familiarity1  
however1 bred contempt1 till one        
uncompromising youth surprised his      
companions by noisily commanding the    
waiter to fill with sea-water4  ,why    
sea-water8 exclaimed a simple soul4     
,why sea-water6 ,because the master in  
',hans d',islande' says 'he drank the   
water of the sea from the skulls of the 
dead4' ,it is my desire to do the same4 
,yes1 the ,petit ,moulin ,rouge1 for all
 its good cheer and its death's-head    

mounted with a drawer-handle1 was too   
workaday for these eclectics4 ,they     
reached their true glory only in the    
gatherings which took place in ,jehan du
 ,seigneur's studio4 ,it was a room over
 a little fruiterer's shop that the     
cnacle sanctified as their conventicle4 
,in a little chamber1 wrote an older    
,gautier1 which had not seats enough for
 all its occupants1 gathered the young  
men1 really young and different in that 
respect from the young men of to-day1   
who are all more or less                
quinquagenarians4 ,the hammock in which 
the master of the dwelling took his     
siesta1 the narrow couchlet in which the
 dawn often surprised him at the last   
page of a book of verses1 eked out the  
insufficiency of conveniences for       
conversation4 ,one really talked better 
standing up1 and the gestures of the    
orator or declaimer only gained a more  
ample scope4 ,still1 it was extremely   
unwise to make too free with your arms  
for fear of knocking your knuckles      

against the sloping ceiling4 ,it was a  
poor man's room1 but not without        
ornament1 for it contained sketches by  
the two ,dvrias1 a head after ,titian or
 ,giorgione by ,boulanger1 two          
earthenware vases full of flowers on the
 chimneypiece1 the inevitable           
death's-head instead of a clock1 a      
looking-glass1 and a small shelf of     
books4 ,on either side of the glass and 
in the embrasures of the windows were   
hung the portrait medallions which      
,jehan made of his friends4 ,they had no
 money to get them cast in bronze1 so   
the world has lost in them a valuable   
appendix to the well-known busts of his 
contemporaries executed by the more     
distinguished ,romantic sculptor1 ,david
 d',angers4 ,here they would all gather 
of an evening3 ,grard if he happened to 
be passing in his amiable wanderings1   
,bouchardy the ,maharajah1 ,gautier--not
 yet the burly critic of ,la ,presse1   
but a thin youth of nineteen--,nanteuil 
with his ,gothic nimbus1 ,vabre bursting

 with some new joke1 ,borel swinging off
 his long cloak with a scowl1 ,o',neddy 
shedding ,dondey in the street1 ,mackeat
 and the rest1 each bursting with       
eloquence or roaring the ,chasse du     
,burgrave at the top of his voice4 ,when
 ,maxime du ,camp once asked ,gautier   
what they talked about1 he answered3    
,about everything1 but ,i haven't the   
least idea what they said1 because      
everybody talked at once4 ,however1 a   
very good idea of a typical evening in  
the cnacle is given in ,philothe        
,o',neddy's ,feu et ,flamme1 the first  
poem in which1 called ,pandmonium1 is a 
gorgeous description of their cave of   
harmony4 ,it is freely decorated with   
local colour1 which on a ,romantic's    
lips meant the borrowing of all he could
 carry away from the medieval           
stage-property room1 but it was drawn   
from life with all seriousness and      
sincerity4 ,the poem opens by depicting 
them all seated round the               
punch-bowl--punch1 it must be stated1   

was the only really respectable drink   
for a thorough-paced ,romantic4 ,he     
mixed it in a large bowl and set light  
to the fumes1 as the students are       
supposed to do in the first act of the  
,contes d',hoffmann1 and derived        
enormous satisfaction from sitting in an
 obscurity only lit by this bluish      
flame4 ,thus to recall the witches'     
cauldron and the fires of the ,inferno  
had an unfailing success as a stimulant 
to eloquence4 ,the scene1 then1 opens   
thus powerfully3      ,au centre de la  
salle1 autour d'une urne en fer1        
,digne mule en largeur des coupes       
d'enfer1     ,dans laquelle un beau     
punch1 aux prismatiques flammes1        
,semble un lac sulfureux qui fait houler
 ses lames1     ,vingt jeunes hommes1   
tous artistes dans le cur1     ,la pipe 
ou le cigare aux lvres1 l'il moqueur1   
,le temporal orn du bonnet de ,phrygie1 
,en barbe ,jeune-,france1 en costume    
d'orgie1     ,sont pachalesquement jets 
sur un amas     ,de coussins dont maint 

sicle a trou le damas1     ,et le sombre
 atelier n'a point d'clairage     ,que  
la gerbe du punch1 spiritueux mirage4   
,smoking1 it would be well to add1 was  
considered part of the whole duty of a  
,romantic man4 ,the cigar1 being        
,byronic1 was affected by the fatally   
inclined2 the pipe came1 not from       
,england1 but from ,germany2 it was     
,faust-like1 ,hoffmannesque2 it was also
 ,flemish1 of course1 and the ,flemish  
painters1 like ,steen and ,teniers1 were
 in high repute4 ,a pipe signified a    
more jolly potatory spirit than a cigar1
 but it was always possible for the     
irreconcilable satanics to regard the   
breathing out of smoke from either as   
symbolically demoniac4 ,the cigarette   
was not despised1 but its popularity was
 due also to its picturesque            
associations4 ,spain was the home of the
 cigarette1 the papelito as ,borel and  
his friends fondly called it4 ,when they
 rolled their fragrant ,maryland        
lovingly in the papel they assumed a    

,spanish allure1 ,granada rose before   
their eyes1 and invisible guitars played
 ,avez-vous vu dans ,barcelone8         
,however1 cigarettes would have been out
 of place in the prismatic flames of the
 punch-bowl4 ,their ,spanish nonchalance
 suited better the light of day3 evening
 shadows were consecrated to gloom and  
frenzy1 ,northern spirits4 ,hence it is 
not surprising to hear that all the     
company had      ,de haine virulente et 
de piti morose     ,contre la           
bourgeoisie et le ,code et la prose2    
,des curs ne dpensant leur exultation   
,que pour deux vrits1 l'art et la       
passion6  ,the conversation is compared 
with some aptitude to a ,spanish town   
devastated by an earthquake1 which      
confounds in one ruin palaces and huts1 
churches and houses of ill-fame4 ,so in 
their talk the ideal and the grotesque1 
poetry and cynical jesting are          
confounded pell-mell4 ,silence is made  
while a passage from ,victor ,hugo is   
declaimed1 after which four discourses  

are pronounced4 ,three are by ,borel1   
,clopet1 and ,bouchardy respectively1   
concealed in the names of ,reblo1 ,noel1
 and ,don ,jos1 and the second discourse
 is delivered by the swarthy ,o',neddy  
himself1 who1          ,faisant osciller
 son regard de maudit     ,sur le       
conventicule1  pours out a passionate   
complaint that poets have too long been 
under the yoke of governments and codes 
of law4 ,the evening closes with a      
violent tumult4 ,the punch has done its 
work1 and the cnacle is a-screaming with
 the ecstasy of energumens4      ,ce fut
 un long chaos de jurons1 de boutades1  
,de hurrahs1 de tolls et de             
rhodomontades4  ,they danced and sang   
like the demon crew in the master's     
,ronde du ,sabbat1      ,et jusques au  
matin les damns ,jeune-,frances         
,nagrent dans un flux d'indicibles      
dmences4  ,it is to be hoped that the   
worthy fruiterer was sleeping quietly in
 another part of ,paris1 and only the   
potatoes were kept awake and sleep      

banished from the pears4  ,if at this   
point our reader feels inclined to throw
 up his hands and exclaim ,how          
disgusting6 he will be well advised to  
put down the book4 ,one cannot approach 
,bohemia without a certain sympathy for 
youthful excesses1 howsoever opposed    
they may be to one's personal           
predilections4 ,if the cnacle indulged  
in occasional orgies--which1 even       
allowing a good deal for local colour in
 ,o',neddy's ,pandmonium1 they certainly
 did--they had a great many compensating
 virtues1 such as complete              
disinterestedness and a consuming love  
of art1 which were not conspicuous in   
,paris at the time4 ,maxime du ,camp in 
his memoir on ,gautier sets the extreme 
limit to which reasonable criticism of  
them can go when1 after remarking on the
 promise given by a violent youth for a 
fruitful middle age1 he says3           
,from that should we conclude that the  
young men who composed the      cnacle  
were all destined to become great men8  

,certainly not2      there were among   
them dreamers with illusions about      
themselves1      sterile dupes of the   
comedy that they played1 failures in    
whose      case the brilliant future    
which they promised themselves fell     
naturally into obscurity4 ,to more than 
one of them the saying of      ,rivarol 
could have been applied3 ',it is a      
terrible advantage never      to have   
done anything1 but it should not be     
abused4' ,in short1 only      one of    
them has made a name that will not      
perish3 ,thophile      ,gautier4 ,grard 
de ,nerval1 by whom he had been         
distanced at the      beginning of his  
life1 never passed a very moderate      
level1 did not      push his way in the 
crowd1 and came early to grief4 ,on the 
other      hand1 most of them were      
celebrated in the group1 ,i might say in
 the      coterie1 to which they        
belonged1 but their reputation never    
went      beyond the circle in which    
they lived4  ,maxime du ,camp takes a   

very superior point of view which is    
less than just4 ,the members of the     
cnacle1 it may be admitted1 overrated   
one another's talents and were ready1 in
 some instances1 to take posturing for  
performance2 but ,bohemia is not to be  
blamed because all her children were not
 great men any more than ,eton because  
all her alumni are not scholars4 ,as a  
matter of fact1 in this first ,bohemia  
of the cnacle there were very few of    
whom it could be said that their lives  
were ruined4 ,grard died a violent      
death1 but he was afflicted with mental 
disease4 ,apart from his eccentricity he
 was a scholar and a gentleman whose    
attainments equalled those of ,gautier  
himself1 though he could not bring      
himself to exploit them4 ,ptrus ,borel  
was the one real failure1 the poseur who
 inevitably came to grief4 ,his         
,bohemian career reached its apogee at  
his masked ball in #ahcb--;a caricature 
of ,dumas' own famous ball--held at his 
lodgings in the ,rue d',enfer1 an       

appropriate address4 ,he left ,paris    
shortly afterwards1 and1 after earning  
for some years a precarious livelihood  
and publishing ,madame ,putiphar1 he    
became an inspector of ,mostaganem1 in  
,algeria1 in which country he died      
wretchedly4 ,the rest1 though they did  
not quite achieve their proud dreams1   
continued1 most of them1 in the paths of
 art with rectitude and some success1   
,bouchardy and ,maquet as dramatists1 du
 ,seigneur as a sculptor1 ,nanteuil as  
an artist4 ,o',neddy1 once the cnacle   
dissolved1 as it did towards #ahcc1     
found poetry a resource in solitude1 and
 poor ,vabre1 if he made no figure in   
the world1 at least set himself the     
highest of ideals in devoting his life  
to the study of ,shakespeare4  ,the     
first ,bohemia1 for what that is worth1 
was singularly respectable in its       
results4 ,even had they been far worse1 
sufficient praise to stifle carping     
would be found in the indelibly         
beautiful memory which it left on the   

minds of its members4 ,in #aheg         
,bouchardy wrote of it to ,gautier in   
these words3       ,it was a holy and   
beautiful comradeship1 my dear ,tho1 in 
which      each was the loving brother1 
the devoted friend1 the                 
fellow-traveller who makes his friend   
forget the length and the      fatigue  
of the road4 ,it was a more beautiful   
comradeship than one      can say1 in   
which all wished the success of all     
without insensate      exaggeration and 
without collective vanity1 in which each
 of us      offered to lend his shoulder
 to the foot of him who wished to climb 
and to reach his goal4444 ,it was a     
happy time1 dear ,thophile1 of          
which we ought to be proud1 for when one
 has traversed this life so      often  
saddened by so much bitterness1 we ought
 to be proud of      having found in it 
some hours of joy1 we ought to boast of 
having      been happy6  ,even ,maxime  
du ,camp admits that the effect of the  
cnacle on ,gautier was incalculable3 its

 disinterested friendship and its       
enthusiasm made his individuality4 ,all 
his life he remained the mystic         
companion of ,victor ,hugo's first      
disciples4 ,weighed down in after years 
by the irksome tasks of journalism1 the 
slave who remembered his years of       
freedom with regret1 he responded to    
,bouchardy with tender melancholy from  
beside the rivers of ,babylon3       ,no
 doubt such joy could not last4 ,to be  
young and intelligent1 to      love one 
another1 to understand and commune in   
every realm of      art--a more         
beautiful manner of life could not be   
conceived1 and      from the eyes of all
 those who followed it its dazzling     
splendour      has never been           
obliterated4  ,at another time he wrote 
to ,sainte-,beuve3 ,nous tions ivres du 
beau1 nous avons eu la sublime folie de 
l'art4  ,these words1 issuing from a    
soul ever animated during its days on   
earth by a ,bohemian spirit1 cast a     
protecting spell round the memory of the

 first ,bohemian brotherhood through    
which no ,philistine anathemas can      
break4     ,,viii  ,,la ,,boh,,me       
,,galante      ,o le beau temps pass6   
,nous avions la science1     ,la science
 de vivre avec insouciance2     ,la     
gaiet rayonnait en nos esprits moqueurs1
     ,et l',amour crivait des livres    
dans nos curs6            ,,ars,,ne     
,,houssaye   ,the cnacle broke up       
towards #ahcc and its members scattered4
 ,all ,bohemian coteries must be        
short-lived1 but this one was specially 
doomed to a quick dissolution4 ,it was1 
,i will not say too romantic1 but too   
romantically ritualistic1 too much      
concerned with the vestments and incense
 and celebrations incident to the       
profession of ,hugoltry4 ,it is not hard
 to imagine how the too mystic          
significance given to its gatherings1   
its feasts1 and even its individual     
actions became to some of the brethren1 
now that ,romanticism was firmly        
established1 either unreal or merely    

tiresome3 divergences of taste and      
opinion began to creep in till1 in the  
end1 this attempted ,bohemia became a   
deserted shrine4 ,but the ,bohemian     
spirit could not thus be quenched2      
indeed1 it was only then fully kindled4 
,the deacons and acolytes1 whom the mere
 symbolism had mainly attracted1 were   
gone2 paid off the ,swiss ,guard whom   
the return of peace called back to civil
 life4 ,those who remained1 the most    
advanced of the initiated1 saw that the 
time had come for the casting away of   
symbols and the cessation of noisy      
worship4 ,bohemia had originated in a   
literary creed1 but in its consummation 
it was to pass beyond the letter and    
take hold of human life4 ,this          
consummation came with extraordinary    
rapidity2 there were no feeble          
tentatives1 no half-successes4 ,a new   
community arose in ,paris1 almost out of
 the ashes of the cnacle1 vastly        
different though it was from the obscure
 group in ,jehan du ,seigneur's humble  

studio4 ,it was animated by all that was
 best in ,romanticism--its disregard for
 academic convention1 its colour1 its   
joyousness1 its warmth of feeling1 and  
its sympathy with all human passions2   
but1 unlike the cnacle1 it did not      
trammel itself with ,romantic           
convention1 it set creation above       
imitation1 and--greatest of all         
differences--it was no society meeting  
at intervals for spiritual and corporeal
 refreshment1 but a genuine life in     
common lived just for the sake of living
 by a set of high-spirited1 joyous young
 men1 most of them true artists1 neither
 maniacs1 nor ne'er-do-wells1 nor       
idlers4 ,the cnacle was dead1 but la vie
 de ,bohme was born1 and its golden age 
came first4 ,the brotherhood of the     
,impasse du ,doyenn was1 in ,a4         
,delvau's words1 une ,bohme dore1 avec  
laquelle celle de ,schaunard n'a que des
 rapports trs loigns4#bj ,delvau1 who   
was of ,murger's generation1 knew well  
how quickly the glory departed4 ,yet at 

least ,murger's ,bohemians had this     
connexion with what ,grard de ,nerval   
named la ,bohme galante that they could 
look back to it as the ,romans to the   
reign of ,saturn4 ,it was constituted   
informally1 even fortuitously2 it       
existed without self-advertisement1 but 
it remained1 in the phrase of another   
,french writer1 la patrie de toutes les 
,bohmes littraires4  ,in #ahcb another  
,bohemian of the golden age had come to 
,paris1 a brave and merry soul called   
,arsne ,houssaye1 who had only breathed 
this terrestrial atmosphere for         
seventeen years4 ,it was not to champion
 a cause that he came1 but he was called
 thither by the poet within him to take 
his part in infusing a new vitality into
 life and letters4 ,like ,gautier1 he   
was a natural enfant de ,bohme1 yet did 
not at first find the brotherhood which 
he was to hymn in prose and verse2 it   
was still only a potentiality4 ,for a   
few months he lived in an odd little    
,bohemia of his own with a friend called

 ,van dell ,hell in a htel garni4 ,they 
wrote songs for a living1 wore the red  
hats by which the more violent students 
of the ,quartier ,latin proclaimed their
 republicanism1 and consoled themselves 
for the rebuffs of editors with the     
smiles of a certain ,nini yeux noirs4   
,houssaye in those amusing volumes which
 he called ,les ,confessions bears      
witness to the deplorable state of the  
literary market at the time4 ,novels and
 plays could not be sold1 poetry was not
 wanted as a gift1 and the newspapers   
regarded mere men of letters as too     
frivolous for employment4 ,poverty among
 the struggling writers was acute1 but  
nobody cared a fig about money when all 
cared so much about art--a merciful     
dispensation of ,providence4 ,yet1 if   
commercialism did not affect art1 the   
same can hardly be said of politics4    
,far too many of the young poets and    
artists1 who would have scorned to drive
 a mercenary bargain at the expense of  
their art1 exulted in defiling their    

artistic convictions with the reddest   
and most insensate republicanism1 not   
seeing that if art does not need to     
regard gold pieces1 neither does it need
 to trouble itself whether a king's head
 or a cap of liberty is their stamp4    
,arsne ,houssaye1 careless wretch1      
nearly missed the glory of ,bohemia     
entirely by mixing himself up in the    
insurrection of the ,clotre             
,saint-,merri4 ,he was arrested1 but a  
friendly commissary of police saved him 
from trial and imprisonment by sending  
him home to his wealthy1 loyal1 and     
scandalized family4 ,the ungrateful lad1
 instead of settling down to some solid 
profession1 simply bided his time till  
the disturbance was over1 and returned  
to ,paris1 only so far profiting by his 
warning that he left politics henceforth
 to look after themselves4 ,houssaye's  
father1 worthy man1 felt that money     
would be thrown away on such a ruffian1 
so ,arsne was left to his own resources1
 which1 if they were meagre in early    

days1 kept him alive for another        
sixty-three years4  ,bohemia was not to 
be baulked a second time4 ,the elements 
were present1 and all that remained to  
do was for somebody to give them a      
slight push1 such as ,lucretius gave to 
his atoms4 ,the push occurred at the    
,salon of #ahcc1 if ,houssaye is to be  
believed--a condition not inevitably    
fulfilled4 ,there1 one fine day1 he met 
,thophile ,gautier and ,nestor          
,roqueplan1 the former of whom was      
certainly a stranger to him4 ,a genial  
conversation on the merits of the       
pictures ensued1 in which ,arsne        
,houssaye made1 as he was destined to   
do1 a very good impression upon his     
senior4 ,gautier was not a man to leave 
hazard any further part after such a    
promising beginning1 and he accordingly 
proffered an invitation to djeuner next 
day in the words3 ,je te surinvite      
venir djeuner invraisemblablement demain
 chez les auteurs de mes jours4         
,houssaye turned up next day at ,no4 #h 

,place ,royale1 where the irrepressible 
,tho introduced his father as le        
respectable bonhomme qui me donna l'tre4
 ,the other guest at this djeuner was   
,grard de ,nerval1 whom with true       
instinct ,gautier had brought to test   
and to embrace the newly found brother4 
,the wit and gaiety1 the range and the  
emphasis of their postprandial          
conversation can be imagined4 ,at last  
,tho blurted out frankly3 ,tu sais que  
je ne te connais pas3 dis-moi huit vers 
de toi1 je le dirai qui tu es4 ,it was  
not a test which the future author of   
,vingt ,ans feared4 ,gautier found      
himself able to give an enthusiastic    
account of the new brother2 the two     
truest ,bohemians in ,paris were at once
 bosom friends1 and the most wayward of 
geniuses was a friend of both4  ,so far 
the credit had been with ,gautier1 but  
,bohemia was still without a            
dwelling-place1 and in this matter      
,grard de ,nerval deserved pious mention
 in the ,bohemian bidding prayer1 for it

 was owing to him that la ,bohme galante
 found a home suitable to the golden    
age1 a unique setting which posterity   
could remember but never reproduce4 ,it 
was a rare opportunity1 and it might    
almost be supposed that fortune1        
approving of ,tho's first amiable push1 
advanced willingly another step1 making 
peripatetic ,grard her tool4 ,in the    
course of his wanderings he had become  
acquainted with one of the most singular
 regions in all ,paris1 no sign of which
 remains to-day4 ,hardly a visitor to   
,paris omits a look into the ,louvre1   
but very few know that as they walk from
 the statue of ,gambetta to the entrance
 of the galleries they are crossing the 
site that ,bohemia in its florescence   
made memorable4 ,on that spot there     
stood in #ahcc part of an older ,paris1 
which in intention had long been cleared
 away1 but in fact remained another     
twenty years4 ,those who have read      
,balzac's ,cousine ,bette have made its 
acquaintance1 though ,i should wager    

that the majority of them have taken it 
for granted with other of ,balzac's     
topographical details4 ,let me recall to
 them the sinister quarter where        
,cousine ,bette1 at the opening of the  
story1 cherishes the young sculptor     
,steinbock and makes the acquaintance of
 the infamous ,monsieur and ,madame     
,marneffe4 ,with his practised touch for
 tragic effect ,balzac describes it     
thus3       ,the existence of the block 
of houses which runs alongside of the   
old ,louvre is one of those protests    
which the ,french people like to        
make against good sense1 so that ,europe
 may be reassured as to the      grain  
of intelligence accorded them and may   
fear them no more4444      ,anybody who 
comes towards the ,rue de la ,muse from 
the wicket      leading to the ,pont du 
,carrousel 444 may notice some          
half-score of      houses with ruined   
faades1 which the discouraged owners    
never      repair1 and which are the    
residue of an ancient quarter in course 

of demolition ever since ,napoleon      
resolved to complete the ,louvre4       
,the ,rue and ,impasse de ,doyenn are   
the only streets within this            
sombre1 deserted block1 the inhabitants 
of which are probably      phantoms1 for
 one never sees a soul there4444 ,these 
houses1 buried      already by the      
raising of the ,place du ,carrousel1 are
 enveloped      in the eternal shadow   
projected by the high galleries of the  
,louvre1 which are blackened on this    
side by the north wind4 ,the            
darkness1 the silence1 the chilly air1  
the cavernous depth of the      ground  
combine to make these houses kinds of   
crypts1 living tombs4      ,when one    
passes in a cabriolet along this dead   
half-quarter1 and      one's look       
penetrates the little alley de ,doyenn1 
a chill strikes      one's soul1 and one
 wonders who can live there and what    
must      happen there in the evening   
when that alley changes into a den of   
cut-throats1 and the vices of ,paris1   

wrapped in the mantle of      night1    
flourish at their height4  ,this can    
hardly be called an engaging            
description1 and even ,bohemians1 it    
might be supposed1 would shrink from    
such a dreadful slum4 ,but ,balzac was  
writing in #ahdg1 more than ten years   
after ,bohemia had left it1 and he was  
making a protest against the continued  
existence of this quarter1 which had    
probably deteriorated since the days    
when he sent there himself to offer     
,gautier work on the ,chronique de      
,paris4 ,however1 whether ,balzac was   
right in making the ,rue du ,doyenn an  
inferno or was only touching it up with 
livid tones appropriate to ,cousine     
,bette and the ,marneffes1 it was       
certainly a more smiling spot in #ahcc4 
,true1 it was tumbling down1 and lay    
below the level of the ,place du        
,carrousel1 in the midst of mournful    
dbris1 between the ,louvre and the      
,tuileries1 which ,napoleon had meant to
 join after sweeping it away2 the       

houses1 as ,gautier says1#ba were old   
and dark1 repairs to them were          
forbidden1 and they had the air of      
regretting the days when respectable    
canons and advocates were their         
inhabitants4 ,yet it was not a den of   
thieves by any means4 ,grard#bb records 
that many attachs and ,government       
officials lived in the quarter1 and that
 by the ,place du ,carrousel there was a
 collection of temporary wooden shops   
let out to curiosity dealers and        
print-sellers4 ,it was enlivened1 too1  
by the presence of a little ,dutch      
beer-house served by a ,flemish maid of 
considerable attractions4 ,the view from
 the upper windows included1 naturally1 
the heaps of stones1 the rubbish1 with  
the nettles and the dock-leaves by which
 ,nature tries to cover such deformities
 at once2 but it also included a good   
many trees1 and the ruins of a          
delightful old priory1 with one arch1   
two or three pillars1 and the end of a  
colonnade still standing4 ,this was the 

,priory of ,doyenn1 the dome of which1  
according to ,grard1 fell one day in the
 seventeenth century upon eleven        
luckless canons who were celebrating the
 office4 ,its ruins stood out gracefully
 against the trees1 and of a summer     
morning or evening1 when1 amid the      
peaceful silence of this forgotten      
corner1 the bright rays of the ,parisian
 sun lit up the lichen on its stones and
 a fresh breeze from the neighbouring   
,seine gently swayed the branches of its
 framing trees1 it must have been well  
to be a-leaning out of a window4        
,however1 ,grard de ,nerval did more    
than find a quiet1 romantic corner      
hidden away in the busy heart of ,paris 
with a ruined priory to give distinction
 to its prospect2 he also found an      
appropriate dwelling4 ,in one of the old
 houses of the ,impasse du ,doyenn there
 was a set of rooms remarkable for its  
salon4 ,it was a huge room1 decorated in
 the old-fashioned ,pompadour style with
 grooved panellings1 pier-glasses1 and a

 fantastically moulded ceiling4 ,this   
decoration had for a long time been the 
despair of its owner and had driven away
 all prospective tenants1 the taste for 
curiosities being at that time          
undeveloped4 ,in vain had the landlord  
parcelled it out with party walls2 it   
was still mouldering on his hands when  
,grard came thither on one of his       
swallow-flights4 ,he at once persuaded  
the good-natured ,camille ,rogier to    
transfer his household gods from the    
,rue des ,beaux-,arts1 the party walls  
were knocked down1 and ,bohemia entered 
on its ideal home4 ,grard had still some
 of his patrimony left1 and chose to    
expend it upon his one hobby1 the       
collection of pictures and furniture4   
,it was a golden time for the collector4
 ,society had as yet not learned to     
appreciate old works of art1 dealers    
were not too well informed1 and the     
depredations of the ,bande ,noire1 that1
 under the ,restoration1 had sacked so  
many ancient ecclesiastical foundations1

 had brought a large quantity of        
precious old furniture1 tapestries1 and 
fabrics into the curiosity shops of     
,paris4 ,grard had acquired a wonderful 
canopied ,renaissance bed ornamented    
with salamanders1 a ,mdicis console1 a  
sideboard decorated with nymphs and     
satyrs1 three of each1 and oval         
paintings on its doors1 a tapestry      
delineating the four seasons1 some      
medieval chairs and ,gothic stools1 a   
,ribeira--a death of ,saint ,joseph--and
 two superb panels by ,fragonard1       
,l',escarpolette and ,colin ,maillard1  
which last he had bought for fifty      
francs the pair4 ,it was a magnificent  
studio1 worthy of la ,bohme galante4    
,there was no question of bare attics on
 a sixth story1 their tiny windows      
looking on a dreary sea of roofs1 of    
rickety chairs and peeling wall-paper4  
,in spite of its bare floors1 its faded 
colours1 its chipped corners1 and the   
incongruous presence of plain easels    
among its ancient splendours1 its riches

 were princely4 ,bohemian disorder might
 reign among paints and palette-knives1 
ends of paper inscribed with scraps of  
verse might dot its unswept floor1 the  
dbris of eating and drinking might      
litter the seats on which fastidious    
cavaliers once delicately sat1 but no   
realities of a careless existence could 
spoil its romantic atmosphere4 ,without 
its merry clan of inhabitants1 no doubt1
 it would have seemed odd and ghostly2  
yet if they brought back to it the      
necessary colour of youth1 it tinged1 in
 turn1 their life with a patina of old  
gold that never faded from their        
reminiscences4  ,illustration3 ,a       
,festivity in the ,impasse du ,doyenn   
,camille ,rogier was the real lessee1   
and ,grard his sub-tenant4 ,gautier had 
a couple of rooms in the ,rue du        
,doyenn1 which cut the ,impasse         
crosswise4 ,these at first were the only
 permanent inhabitants of the new       
colony1 but the great salon where       
,rogier and ,gautier worked soon became 

a meeting-place for a number of friends4
 ,work was stopped at five o'clock1 when
 ,arsne ,houssaye was certain to appear1
 ,roger de ,beauvoir1 then in his most  
brilliant day1 half ,bohemian1 half     
viveur1 and ,edmond ,ourliac1 the future
 dramatist4 ,one evening ,houssaye1     
,roger de ,beauvoir1 and ,ourliac stayed
 talking till dawn2 ,roger departed then
 to his more sumptuous apartments1      
,ourliac to his parents' house in the   
,rue ,saint ,roch1 but ,arsne ,houssaye 
stayed1 on ,rogier's invitation1 to     
complete the inner conclave of ,bohemia4
 ,his camp-bed was sent for next day1   
and he became ,rogier's second tenant1  
paying him indeed no money1 but         
spending1 in revenge1 chance gifts from 
home on luxurious feasts at the ,frres  
,provenaux4  ,such a society in such a  
setting could not long remain unknown4  
,with its circle of guests widening it  
grew in importance1 for in this golden  
age ,bohemia could be important without 
losing its quality4 ,gavarni1 the       

inimitable portrayer of ,parisian types1
 ,nanteuil1 ,chtillon1 ,marilhat1 even  
,delacroix1 were among the artists who  
found the gaiety of the ,impasse du     
,doyenn to their taste2 ,ptrus ,borel   
looked haggardly in occasionally2 the   
great ,dumas would rush in and out like 
a storm2 the ,roqueplans1 ,camille and  
,nestor1 showed there in moments spared 
from their more elegant wanderings2 and 
the effervescent ,roger de ,beauvoir as 
gaily composed there his witty rhymes as
 at a supper in the ,caf de ,paris4 ,it 
was no hole-and-corner ,bohemia at which
 the superior person could affect to    
turn up his nose2 it was a truly        
artistic centre in ,paris and1 at the   
same time1 a coterie admission to which 
was jealously enough guarded to exclude 
the half-baked dilettante who is the    
ruin of most artistic sets and the very 
negation of ,bohemia4 ,for a reason     
which will be obvious in the sequel1    
ladies with leanings to artistic        
society--another impossibility in       

,bohemia--were equally debarred from    
appearing4 ,it was a more or less       
closely knit society of young and gifted
 men1 lovers of the beautiful1 despisers
 of convention without gasconnade1      
neither rich nor desperately poor1 avid 
of pleasure1 and fashioning their       
conduct easily upon the standards of the
 day1 yet crowning all their hours1 even
 the most wanton1 with a graceful and   
light-hearted idealism that shields     
these pagan heroes of a golden age from 
any but an sthetic judgment1 a judgment 
which1 in the case of their own         
countrymen1 they confronted with serene 
self-confidence4  ,in all1 the group was
 fairly large3 its membership radiated  
dimly as far as the dandies on the      
boulevard and into the obscurer depths  
of the ,quartier ,latin4 ,but radiation 
was from a central nucleus--the original
 ,bohemian brethren whose home was in   
the ,impasse du ,doyenn3 ,camille       
,rogier1 ,grard de ,nerval1 ,thophile   
,gautier1 ,arsne ,houssaye1 and ,edmond 

,ourliac4 ,the rest were visitors1 but  
they alone were the true dwellers in la 
,bohme galante4 ,of their brotherhood   
and its life ,gautier1 ,grard1 and      
,houssaye have all given glimpses1 which
 compose a picture apt for pleasing and1
 occasionally1 envious contemplation4   
,arsne ,houssaye in his ,confessions is 
the fullest source of reminiscence1 and 
his words are delightfully illustrated  
by the poem1 originally entitled ,vingt 
,ans1 but in his complete works ,la     
,bohme de ,doyenn4 ,the poem1 addressed 
to ,gautier1 begins3      ,tho1 te      
souviens-tu de ces vertes saisons       
,qui s'effeuillaient si vite en ces     
vieilles maisons     ,dont le front     
s'abritait sous une aile du ,louvre8    
,levons avec ,rogier le voile qui les   
couvre1     ,reprenons dans nos curs les
 trsors enfouis1     ,plongeons dans le 
pass nos regards blouis4      ,chimres  
aux cils noirs1 ,esprances fanes1       
,amis toujours chantants1 ,amantes      
profanes1     ,songes venus du ciel1    

flottantes ,visions1     ,sortez de vos 
tombeaux1 jeunes ,illusions6     ,et    
nous rebtirons ce chteau prissable      
,que les destins changeants ont jet sur 
le sable3      ,replaons le sofa sous   
les tableaux flamands2     ,dispersons  
nos pieds gazettes et romans2           
,ornons le vieux bahut de vieilles      
porcelaines1     ,et faisons refleurir  
roses et marjolaines2     ,qu'un rideau 
de damas ombrage encore ces lits     ,o 
nos jeunes amours se sont ensevelis4    
,gautier1 ,grard1 and ,houssaye have    
already been introduced1 but a word must
 be said of the other two4 ,camille     
,rogier1 who was as old as ,grard1 was  
in ,houssaye's opinion the most charming
 man in the world4 ,already an artist of
 some repute1 he alone of the           
brotherhood was earning a living by his 
art--even more than a living1 for was he
 not rich enough to buy riding-boots and
 wear coats of pink velvet8 ,it was his 
departure for ,constantinople in #ahcf1 
where he remained eight years painting  

the ,eastern scenes which won him his   
chief fame1 that caused the disruption  
of this ,bohemian colony4 ,besides his  
mastery of the brush he was a very      
agreeable singer of chansons and        
ballads4 ,ourliac did not live in the   
,impasse du ,doyenn1 but with his       
parents in the ,rue ,saint ,roch1 and   
filled a small post in the office of the
 ,enfants ,trouvs which brought him #dh 
a year4 ,but he never failed to call on 
his way to work in the morning1 to      
recount a merry story1 and on his way   
home he stayed with them many an hour4  
,he1 who in ,houssaye's lines1          
gai convive1 arrivait en chantant       
,ces chansons de ,bagdad que ,beauvoir  
aimait tant1  was the merriest of all   
the band1 its ,molire1 says ,houssaye   
elsewhere1 ever sparkling with wit1 an  
inexhaustible raconteur of inimitable   
dramatic power4 ,he was a poet1 too1 a  
great student of ,german philosophy1 and
 was at the time working upon ,suzanne1 
the first work which made his name heard

 in the world of literature4  ,it was a 
jolly life in the ,impasse1 though money
 was plentiful but rarely1 and fortune  
had still to be wooed4 ,they rose early 
in the morning1 even after a bacchic    
evening1 and when ,tho joined them all  
four would set to their work1 while the 
,pompadour salon was hardly yet awake in
 the morning sun1 each singing the air  
which the new day found lingering in his
 head4 ,tho always painted or drew      
before he began to write1 but his       
serious task was the composition of     
,mademoiselle de ,maupin1 that          
masterpiece which was completed1 sold   
for a beggarly #fj1 and published in the
 joyous days of ,doyenn4 ,rogier was    
illustrating ,hoffmann's ,tales and     
,houssaye writing ,la ,pcheresse4       
,l'un crivait au coin du feu1 l'autre   
rimait dans un hamac2 ,tho1      tout en
 caressant les chats1 calligraphiait    
d'admirables chapitres1      couch sur  
le ventre2 ,grard1 toujours             
insaisissable1 allait et      venait    

avec la vague inquitude des chercheurs  
qui ne trouvent      pas4#bc  ,grard1   
his part in the foundation of la ,bohme 
galante performed1 felt under no        
compulsion to confine himself to the    
nest4 ,his companions1 indeed1 saw      
little of his amiable countenance1 for  
he wandered ceaselessly1 often only     
returning when the night sky grew pale1 
to leave before it was fairly blue4 ,he 
had a task1 nevertheless1 and that task 
was connected with his great romance4   
,it is a story as pathetic as ,charles  
,lamb's second love affair1 and the     
woman who won his heart was also an     
actress4 ,in the days of the cnacle     
,grard had fallen desperately in love   
with ,jenny ,colon1 of the ,opra        
,comique1 an actress of not more than   
ordinary talent4 ,it was a passion that 
went to the very roots of his being1 an 
infatuation enriched by all his romantic
 mysticism4 ,she was the goddess who    
ruled his dreams by night and day1 and  
it was for her in anticipation that     

,grard purchased his wonderful          
,renaissance bed with its salamanders   
and carved pillars4 ,no room that ,grard
 ever possessed was large enough to hold
 this bed1 which was always lodged with 
his friends1 first in the ,impasse1 and 
then in other parts of ,paris4 ,they    
respected his frenzy1 for the bed never 
had an occupant1 and they kept it sacred
 till its deluded owner was obliged by  
straitened circumstances to part with   
it4 ,grard's bed was the epitome of his 
life--a search for a phantom that his   
brain itself had fashioned4 ,his ,jenny 
,colon was a phantom1 but the real      
,jenny1 though her vulgar heart was     
unmoved by a shy poet's awkward homage1 
was not unwilling to accept his         
services4 ,commenting himself1 in ,la   
,bohme ,galante1 on ,arsne ,houssaye's  
stanza3      ,d'o vous vient1  ,grard6  
cet air acadmique8     ,est-ce que les  
beaux yeux de l',opra ,comique          
,s'allumeraient ailleurs8 ,la reine de  
,saba1     ,qui du roi ,salomon entre   

vos bras tomba1     ,ne serait-elle plus
 qu'une vaine chimre8#bd     ,et ,grard 
rpondait3 ,que la femme amre6  wrote3   
,la reine de ,saba1 c'tait bien elle1 en
 effet1 qui me proccupait      alors--et
 doublement4 ,le fantme clatant de la   
fille des      ,hmiarites tourmentait   
mes nuits sous les hautes colonnes de ce
      grand lit sculpt1 achet en        
,touraine1 et qui n'tait pas encore     
garni de sa brocatelle rouge  ramages4  
,les salamandres de ,franois      ,ier  
me versaient leur flamme du haut des    
corniches1 o se      jouaient des amours
 imprudents4444 ,qu'elle tait belle6 non
 pas      plus belle cependant qu'une   
autre reine du matin dont l'image       
tourmentait mes journes4 ,cette dernire 
ralisait vivante mon rve      idal et   
divin4  ,the question was to secure her 
dbut at the ,opra1 and for that purpose 
,grard undertook to write a libretto in 
verse for a ,reine de ,saba for which   
,meyerbeer1 then at the height of his   
popularity1 was to compose the music4   

,this was the task upon which he was    
ostensibly engaged when he joined for an
 hour or two the other workers in the   
,impasse du ,doyenn4 ,for some reason or
 other the project never came to        
maturity1 perhaps because ,grard could  
not work to order1 perhaps because      
,jenny ,colon married another4 ,all that
 is left of the ,reine de ,saba is a    
fragment published later in ,grard's    
,nuits de ,rhamadan1 and the whimsical  
reminiscence1 from which ,i have quoted1
 in ,la ,bohme ,galante4 ,in the latter 
he goes on to explain the academic air  
which he assumed one festive evening    
when the ,bohemians were amusing        
themselves with a costume ball4 ,he     
alone was abstracted because he had an  
appointment with ,meyerbeer at seven the
 next morning4 ,but he could not escape 
an adventure4 ,a fair mask who sat      
weeping in a corner of the room appealed
 to him to take her home4 ,her cavalier 
had deserted her for another and        
dismissed her rudely4 ,grard took her   

out on the ground of the old            
riding-school hard by1 where under the  
lime-trees they talked till the moon    
gave way to the dawn4 ,the ball was     
almost over1 and other masks found their
 way to this retreat4 ,it was proposed  
to adjourn to an early breakfast in the 
,bois de ,boulogne4 ,no sooner said than
 done4 ,the revellers set off joyously1 
,grard's belle dsole opposing only a    
feeble resistance4 ,but ,grard had his  
appointment1 and wished to work on his  
scenario4 ,in vain ,camille ,rogier     
rallied him on his desertion of the     
lady4 ,grard was firm1 and ,rogier with 
a laugh offered her his disengaged arm4 
,he departed1 bidding ,grard farewell   
with mocking bow4 ,and he had           
entertained her all the evening2 poor   
,grard6 such was his fate4 ,as he       
remarked3 ,j'avais quitt la proie pour  
l'ombre 444 comme toujours6  ,grard's   
adventure is in the nature of           
digression4 ,so1 indeed1 was his whole  
life2 but the others were not more      

discursive than befitted ,bohemians4    
,they slept in their beds and took their
 meals regularly4 ,luncheon1 after the  
morning's work1 was a frugal meal except
 for ,gautier1 who had developed from a 
weedy youth into a giant with a         
,gargantuan appetite4 ,they did not     
entirely fail to earn a penny1 but when 
literary labour was so poorly paid      
,gautier1 who was doing art criticism in
 a small paper for nothing1 was glad    
enough to see his mother arrive in the  
morning with two raw cutlets and a      
bottle of bouillon for his djeuner4     
,nevertheless1 when the afternoon was   
over and the visitors gone--,roger de   
,beauvoir to dress for an evening at the
 ,opra1 ,borel to rage at society in    
some poor garret--,rogier1 ,gautier1 and
 ,houssaye1 now and then capturing      
,grard1 set out to roam in the busy city
 whose festive lamps were glittering on 
the boulevards and twinkling along the  
,seine4 ,they dined--they were not too  
poor for that--in the ,palais ,royal    

more often than not1 and wandered for   
the rest of the night where their fancy 
took them4 ,now the theatre would entice
 them with some romantic play by ,hugo  
or ,dumas1 after which a supper with    
much punch would be indispensable2 now  
they would invade the ,chaumire or some 
other place of dancing4 ,at that time   
everybody danced deliriously1#be the    
quadrille being in great vogue since it 
lent itself readily to choreographic    
invention on the part of the individual4
 ,ourliac and ,houssaye1 for instance1  
attracted great attention by dancing a  
quadrille which represented ,napoleon at
 all the critical periods of his        
life--the siege of ,toulon1 the         
,pyramids1 ,waterloo1 and ,st4 ,helena4 
,another evening1 ,gautier having gone  
to visit his parents and ,grard absent1 
,houssaye might return quietly to the   
white and gold salon with ,rogier1 who  
would talk with him or sing him songs   
while the cats purred on their knees2   
or1 yet again1 they might carouse in the

 ,flemish cabaret hard by1 served by the
 young tavernire      ,qui tout en      
souriant nous versait de la bire4       
,quelle gorge orgueilleuse et quel il   
attrayant6     ,que ,prault a sculpt de 
mots en la voyant4      ,cette fille aux
 yeux bleus follement rjouie1     ,les  
blonds cheveux pars1 la bouche panouie1 
,jetant  tout venant son cur et sa      
vertu1     ,et faisant de l'amour un    
joyeux impromptu1     ,fut de notre     
jeunesse une image fidle2     ,ami1     
longtemps encor nous reparlerons d'elle4
  ,so sang of her ,houssaye1 whose      
souvenirs of ,bohemia at the magic age  
of vingt ans are deeply tinged with     
amorous memories4 ,in fact1 la ,bohme   
galante1 as its name implies1 was not a 
monastery1 and its life was not shared1 
but illuminated by a number of          
divinities whose aureoles had been over 
more than one windmill4 ,the chief of   
these was la ,cydalise1      ,respirant 
un lilas qui jouait dans sa main     ,et
 pressentant dj le triste lendemain4    

,she was treasure-trove of ,camille     
,rogier's1 a beautiful woman1 and       
titular mistress of the ,bohemian       
encampment4 ,they were all jealous of   
,rogier's good fortune1 for1 since he   
was twenty-five1 they considered him a  
patriarch1 and ,tho could not understand
 how ,cydalise could put up with such an
 old man4 ,she lived quite happily in   
the ,impasse1 making the afternoon tea1 
sitting as a model1 and inflaming all   
their hearts4 ,tho's passion was of a   
frantic heat4 ,he besieged ,cydalise    
with long and violent apostrophes1      
swearing to kill the senile tyrant who  
kept her in his power1 threats for which
 ,rogier1 ever smiling1 did not care a  
button4 ,poor ,cydalise1 she was a      
butterfly whose day was short4 ,to      
,rogier's great grief consumption seized
 her4 ,for some weeks he enlivened her  
sick-bed by singing her songs and       
drawing pictures for her amusement2 but 
the day came when her ears no longer    
heard and her lovely eyes were closed4  

,grard1 ,gautier1 ,roger de ,beauvoir1  
and ,ourliac went to her funeral1 and   
,bohemia lost its official mistress4    
,yet there were others4 ,grard draws a  
picture of ,gautier1 on a ,gothic stool1
 reading his verses while ,cydalise or  
,lorry or ,victorine swung herself      
carelessly in the hammock of ,sarah la  
blonde1 and ,arsne ,houssaye at the end 
of ,vingt ,ans recalls them in the      
lines3      ,judith oublie ,arthur1     
,franz1 ,rogier et le reste1     ,en    
donnant  son cur la solitude agreste2   
,rosine  ,chantilly caresse un jeune    
enfant     ,plus joli qu'un ,amour et   
plus joueur qu'un faon4             99  
99       99       99       99           
,ninon au ,jockey ,club vend chacun de  
ses jours2     ,charlotte danse         
encore--et dansera toujours4            
,alice8--il faut la plaindre et prier   
,dieu pour elle1     ,elle est dans les 
chiffons1 la pauvre ,chanterelle2       
,armande8--,un prince russe pris de sa  
beaut     ,travaille  lui refaire une   

virginit4     ,olympe8--un mauvais livre
 ouvert  chaque page--     ,ce matin je 
l'ai vue en galant quipage4444  ,the    
loves of ,doyenn were true enfants de   
,bohme1 neither great passions nor      
elective affinities1 but pastimes       
leaving regrets for inspiration2 not    
devouring flames1 but pleasantly        
crackling experimental fires1 drawn     
chiefly from those great hearths1 the   
stage and the corps de ballet4 ,how much
 fantasy went to their burning is       
illustrated in a story told by ,houssaye
 of ,grard1 who1 on one occasion1 to the
 despair of his friends1 became obsessed
 with a mad desire to set out that      
instant for ,cythera and revive the gods
 of ,greece4 ,prompt measures were      
necessary1 and ,houssaye devoted himself
 to the rescue by professing to enter   
into the scheme with joy1 only remarking
 that it would be well to have lunch    
first4 ,this seemed to ,grard a         
reasonable preliminary1 so they         
adjourned to the ,caf d',orsay1 where   

over the first bottle ,grard developed  
his scheme with growing eloquence4 ,but 
the first stage on the way to ,cythera  
lasted for several bottles1 and at the  
commencement of the next ,grard met a   
provisional goddess in the shape of an  
attractive grisette4 ,houssaye1         
convinced that his companionship was now
 no longer necessary1 abandoned the     
voyage1 and left ,grard to continue it  
up several flights of stairs4 ,the end  
of this ascent marked his farthest      
point2 after a halt of two days he      
descended and turned his footsteps back 
to ,bohemia4 ,the loves of ,bohemia     
which gambol so trippingly in the tongue
 of ,france are ill at ease in our      
austerer medium1 for our ,northern      
spirit has ever refused to admit1 as the
 ,french do with engaging candour1 that 
man1 particularly the artist-man1 is    
naturally polygamous4 ,lorry1           
,victorine1 ,armande1 and the rest were 
the only appropriate feminine           
attachments of ,bohemia1 even of the    

golden age1 the pagan loves of pagan    
heroes1 who were greedy of their        
caresses without hungering for their    
souls1 grew jealous at their eyes'      
wayward glances1 but took no umbrage at 
the inward abstraction of their minds1  
and were content with the homage of     
their play-hours without seeking to     
rival the ideals of their artistic      
contemplations4 ,but the mark of the    
golden age was that they played for love
 and not for money3 they would dance the
 heels off their slippers in the barren 
land of ,doyenn when all the millions of
 a dull prince would have moved their   
agile toes only to the most significant 
of kicks4 ,it was a mad little world1   
but good because ,mammon had not        
corrupted its natural spontaneity4      
,true1 it was deficient in some virtues1
 but some virtues are frankly           
middle-aged1 to be put on with a less   
tricksy cut of the clothes4 ,bohemia was
 young2 it loved and feasted and1 being 
poor1 made debts4 ,there is not much to 

be said for getting into debt1 in spite 
of ,panurge's ingenious discourse1      
except that it is an unavoidable        
corollary of certain conjunctions of    
temperament and circumstance4 ,it is    
difficult1 anyhow1 not to pardon ,grard 
for dissipating his capital and running 
up bills on account of his delightful   
inspiration of receiving a pressing     
creditor1 a furniture dealer1 with the  
recitation of a touching poem1          
,meublez-vous les uns les autres1 which 
affected the dun to tears4  ,we had no  
money1 but we lived en grands seigneurs1
 wrote ,arsne ,houssaye1 looking back4  
,indeed they did1 if it be princely to  
have pretty actresses to perform        
impromptu comedies and dancers of the   
,opra for one's partners in a quadrille4
 ,i suspect that these occasions were   
not so frequent as the exuberant        
narrator would have us suppose4 ,grard  
more frankly says they spent much       
valuable time making eyes at the        
landlord's wife1 who lived on the ground

 floor1 which argues an occasional      
dearth of desirable objects for idle    
glances4 ,nevertheless1 dances and      
comedies they did have1 and towards the 
end of its epoch la ,bohme galante had  
one supreme festival4 ,it was a combined
 dramatic entertainment and fancy-dress 
ball1 which took place in ,november     
#ahce4 ,the idea1 says ,gautier1 was    
,grard's own1 who thus made amends for  
his frequent absences by being          
responsible for the crowning glory of   
the first ,bohemia4 ,his suggestion     
rested on the artistic ground that it   
was a pity to inhabit a room and never  
to receive there a company worthy of it3
 a bal costum alone could produce a     
gathering that would not clash with the 
decorations4 ,that was all very well1   
but the general finances were in a      
melancholy condition1 and a reception1  
even in ,bohemia1 required capital4     
,grard brushed the objection lightly    
aside4 ,people who are without the      
necessaries of life1 he pointed out1    

must have the superfluities1 or they    
would have nothing at all1 which would  
be too little1 even for poets4 ,as for  
refreshments1 they would do better than 
give their guests cups of weak tea or   
rum punch2 they would feast the eye     
instead by having the room specially    
decorated with mural paintings by their 
friends1 the artists4 ,only princes and 
farmers-general could indulge in such   
magnificence1 and the fame of the       
,impasse would be undying4  ,the idea   
was not entirely new1 for ,dumas at his 
great ball in #ahcb had done very much  
the same4 ,for him all the leading      
artists of the day1 including           
,delacroix1 had painted the walls of the
 ballroom1 as he narrates in a spirited 
passage of his ,memoirs4 ,but ,dumas had
 not dared to make art take the place of
 bodily refreshment1 for he declares    
that his guests consumed the bag of     
several days' shooting and some thousand
 bottles of wine4 ,la ,bohme galante1   
though younger and less known artists   

were at its command1 placed art upon her
 proper pedestal4 ,ladders were quickly 
erected1 panels and piers were parcelled
 out1 and the work began4 ,it is a scene
 on which to dwell in envious           
imagination4 ,they were perched on      
ladders1 the merry band1 smoking        
cigarettes1 singing ,musset's songs or  
declaiming ,victor ,hugo1 with roses    
behind their ears--a counsel of         
,grard's1 who1 contenting himself with a
 general survey of operations1          
recommended a return to the classic     
festal usage of garlanding the head with
 flowers4 ,camille ,rogier1 smiling     
through his beard1 was painting         
,oriental or fantastically              
,hoffmannesque scenes2 the burly        
,gautier executed a picnic in the style 
of ,watteau1 a tantalizing subject for  
thirsty dancers2 ,nanteuil1 with his    
long golden hair1 limned a ,naiad2 and  
,adolphe ,leleux produced topers crowned
 with ivy in the manner of ,velasquez4  
,other friends were pressed into        

service1 ,wattier1 ,chtillon1 and       
,rousseau2 ,chassriau contributed a     
bathing ,diana1 ,lorentz some revellers 
in ,turkish costume1 and ,corot on two  
narrow panels placed two exquisite      
,italian landscapes4 ,any comrade might 
lend a hand1 and it was on this occasion
 that ,gautier first made the           
acquaintance of ,marilhat1 the ,oriental
 painter1 whom a friend brought in and  
who drew on a vacant space some         
palm-trees over a minaret in white      
chalk4 ,it is to this acquaintance that 
we owe ,tho's recollections of this     
remarkable day4 ,if that room1 decorated
 thus because a few louis d'or for      
refreshments were not forthcoming1 were 
now existing1 only a millionaire could  
buy1 and only a great gallery worthily  
house1 it4 ,yet regrets are misplaced1  
for it served its day1 and it is well   
that the salon of ,doyenn1 with its     
furniture and its painted panels1 in    
which the happy1 money-scorning         
,bohemians danced at their culminating  

festival1 should vanish before mercenary
 dealings could soil its freshness4     
,the fte was gorgeous4 ,true1 the       
landlord's wife had refused their       
invitation--a severe blow4 ,but the     
hosts with some consideration1 knowing  
that their revels would make sleep      
impossible in the quarter1 invited all  
their bachelor neighbours on the        
condition that they brought with them   
femmes du monde protected1 if they      
pleased1 by masks and dominoes4 ,the    
wonderful evening began with the        
pantomime of ,le ,diable ,boiteux1 in   
which many actresses from the boulevard 
took part4 ,then there were two little  
farces in which ,ourliac covered himself
 with glory as the buffo4 ,the first was
 ,le ,courrier de ,naples1 and the      
second1 written by ,ourliac himself1 ,la
 ,jeunesse du ,temps et le ,temps de la 
,jeunesse1 was introduced by a prologue 
by ,gautier1 read from behind the       
curtain4 ,ourliac was buried in         
bouquets1 and the noisy orchestra       

brought in from a guingette struck up4  
,the ruined quarter woke to life again1 
as in some ghost story2 the desert      
streets resounded with songs and        
laughter2 ,turks and dbardeurs affronted
 the frown of the staid old ,louvre1 and
 only the landlords and concierges1     
tossing sleeplessly1 consigned          
,bohemians to everlasting flames4 ,the  
dance1 sustained only by good spirits1  
never flagged1 till in the final galop  
every mask with his partner rushed      
pell-mell from the room1 leaped wildly  
down the rickety stairs1 dashed up the  
,impasse1 and came to rest under the    
moonlit ruins of the old priory1 where a
 little cabaret had opened1 and only the
 late dawn of winter drove ,bohemia to  
its bed1 to dream of the ,pompadour     
salon1 of ,ourliac's satirical          
buffoonery1 and of ,roger de ,beauvoir's
 magnificent ,venetian costume of       
apple-green velvet with silver          
embroidery1 and his inexhaustible wit1  
for once born of no champagne4  ,it is  

melancholy to go back to a deserted     
ballroom1 and we may spare ourselves the
 pain4 ,that joyous evening1 little as  
it may have seemed to do so1 marked the 
passing of the golden age4 ,bohemia's   
sun henceforth descended the skies4 ,the
 next year saw marked changes4 ,the     
landlord of the old house in the        
,impasse du ,doyenn saw with            
relief--,grard says he gave them notice 
to quit--the departure of his turbulent 
tenants4 ,if ,rogier had not gone to    
,constantinople it is possible that1    
even if the band had been compelled to  
change its quarters1 some reconstruction
 of la ,bohme galante might have been   
possible4 ,with him1 the stable1 the    
earner of money1 absent1 there was no   
hope4 ,the heroes of ,bohemia had to    
leave their enchanted garden for the    
ordinarily circumscribed dwelling of    
impecunious mortals1 and1 like the      
heroes of ,valhalla when ,freia is      
snatched from them1 a certain wanness   
came over the complexion of their lives4

 ,joy and beauty and work and love were 
left1 but the magic bloom had just      
faded4 ,with smaller resources and in a 
colder light the resettlement of        
,bohemia was a work of compromise1 not  
spontaneous achievement4 ,rogier was    
gone2 ,ourliac1 who produced ,suzanne   
with success1 married before long1 grew 
serious1 and ended his days in the      
fullest odour of piety2 ,roger de       
,beauvoir found the boulevard more to   
his taste than any less brilliant       
,bohemia4 ,gautier1 ,grard1 and         
,houssaye were left1 a trio of markedly 
divergent tastes4 ,they made one attempt
 at a common life in the ,rue           
,saint-,germain-des-,prs1 which seems to
 have lasted a year or two4 ,the details
 of it given by ,gautier#bf and         
,houssaye#bg differ considerably4       
,according to ,gautier they did their   
own cooking3 ,arsne ,houssaye was       
perfect in the panade1 ,gautier prepared
 the macaroni1 no doubt remembering     
,graziano1 while ,grard went1 with      

perfect self-possession1 to buy         
galantines1 sausages1 or fresh pork     
cutlets with gherkins at the            
neighbouring cook-shop4 ,houssaye1 on   
the other hand1 says that they had a    
rascally valet and a cook called        
,margot1 and that they broke up because 
they were at variance on the degree of  
luxury to be maintained1 ,grard1 whom   
anything satisfied1 departing to a bare 
htel garni1 ,gautier to a sumptuous     
apartment in the ,rue de ,navarin1 and  
,houssaye sharing rooms in the ,rue du  
,bac1 on the left bank1 with ,jules     
,sandeau4 ,i do not trouble to reconcile
 these two accounts1 for the memories of
 ,bohemia are invariably picturesque4   
,the fact remains that the old days     
could not come back4 ,the first         
,bohemians were growing older1 and the  
world was beginning to claim its once   
youthful defiers as servitors4 ,though  
,grard's bed remained with ,gautier as a
 memory of freer days1 he knew too well 
that the gates of the prison were       

closing upon him4 ,for a year or so he  
might pretend to mock destiny by        
producing another book of verses and a  
novel1 or by making a voyage in ,belgium
 accompanied by ,grard3 but he was a    
doomed man4 ,about #ahch he became the  
dramatic critic of ,la ,presse1 entering
 the mill in which he was to grind for  
over thirty years4 ,well might he say in
 #ahfg1 in an autobiographical notice3  
,l finit ma vie heureuse1 indpendante et
 prime-sautire4 ,houssaye kept up the   
pretence a little longer4 ,life in the  
,rue du ,bac was gay2 there were suppers
 with ,jules ,janin and ,sandeau at     
which ,gautier and ,ourliac sometimes   
appeared2 there was dancing2 there were 
the bright eyes of a certain ,ninon1 who
 inspired some pretty stanzas4 ,but     
these were the last echoes of la premire
 ,bohme1 as he had to admit4 ,when they 
died away he completed the chapter of   
his youth1 as ,gautier had done1 by     
travelling4  ,illustration3 ,grard de   
,nerval  ,grard alone escaped the       

inevitable superannuation of ,bohemia1  
because he was too ethereal to become   
amenable to the ordinary dynamic laws of
 society4 ,an attempt was made to catch 
him in the machinery by making him      
,gautier's assistant as dramatic critic 
of ,la ,presse4 ,the sprite within him  
would not submit to the drudgery1 and in
 a little while he gave it up4 ,he      
preferred1 as ever1 to wander at his    
will and at his own hours1 or to sit    
reading at the dead of night by the     
light of a brass chandelier balanced on 
his head4 ,it is not part of this book's
 plan to give complete biographies of   
those who appear in its pages1 but an   
exception shall be made in the case of  
,grard de ,nerval4 ,between #ahcg and   
#ahci he stayed in ,paris1 writing a    
comic opera1 ,piquillo1 with ,dumas1 in 
which ,jenny ,colon appeared1 several   
plays1 with a certain number of articles
 and reviews4 ,his way of life was      
always eccentric1 but he had his first  
definite attack of madness in #ahci or  

#ahdj1 and was placed in the famous     
establishment of ,doctor ,blanche4 ,he  
came out in #ahda and resumed a career  
of wider vagabondage than ever1 now with
 money1 now without1 but caring little  
in any case and ready to go to the ends 
of the earth with a whim and without a  
coin4 ,in #ahda he joined ,camille      
,rogier in ,constantinople1 and wandered
 subsequently in other parts of the     
,east--an experience which gave rise to 
some of his best descriptive work4 ,he  
returned to ,paris again1 where his     
spirit dwelt in the clouds and his body 
anywhere1 though he often allowed it to 
rest with one of his many friends1 with 
whom he would leave a shirt to be washed
 against his next coming4 ,he continued 
to write not very successful plays      
between #ahdf and #ahej1 when he again  
went completely mad and retired to ,dr4 
,blanche's house4 ,his second stay here 
was longer1 but as he soon became       
perfectly reasonable his friends were   
allowed to take him out for the day     

occasionally4 ,once more apparently     
cured he came out1 but though he made   
one or two voyages his faculties        
remained permanently clouded4 ,of this  
he himself was perfectly conscious1 but 
he bore his afflictions with perfect    
cheerfulness4 ,his money was all gone1  
and the flashes of sanity too rare for  
him to earn much2 he was homeless1 but  
not friendless1 for he never appealed to
 his friends in vain4 ,he came for      
crumbs like a bird in winter1 but like a
 bird he would not stay4 ,he would have 
been an appropriate guest at some       
strange ,nachtasil such as ,maxim ,gorki
 describes so powerfully4 ,who knows1   
too1 in what haunts he was not a        
familiar8 ,his comrades of older days   
could do no more than greet him and tend
 him when they saw him1 and his         
equanimity was too great to drive them  
to forcible detention4 ,as ,paul de     
,saint-,victor wrote after his death3   
,in vain his friends tried to follow him
 with their hearts and      eyes2 he was

 lost to sight for weeks1 months1 years4
 ,then1 one fine      day1 one found him
 by chance in a foreign city1 a         
provincial town1      or more often     
still in the country1 thinking aloud1   
dreaming with      open eyes1 his       
attention fixed on the fall of a leaf1  
the flight of      an insect or a bird1 
the form of a cloud1 the dart of a ray1 
on all      those vague and ravishing   
beauties that pass in the air4 ,never   
man      saw a gentler madness1 a       
tenderer folly1 a more inoffensive and  
more friendly eccentricity4 ,if he woke 
from his slumber1 it was to             
recognize his friends1 to love them and 
serve them1 to double the      warmth of
 his devotion and welcome as if he      
wished to make up to      them for his  
long absences by an extra amount of     
tenderness4  ,it was with a profound    
shock1 therefore1 that ,paris heard1 one
 morning in #aheg1 that ,grard had been 
found in the small hours1 hanged to an  
iron railing by a woman's apron-string1 

in one of the lowest and most ill-famed 
streets in ,paris1 the ,rue de la       
,vieille-,lanterne4 ,the mystery of his 
death has never been cleared up4 ,the   
inquest brought little light1 save that 
the inmates of a filthy little          
drink-shop probably knew more than they 
would tell4 ,what ,grard was doing in   
that foul haunt will never be known4 ,it
 is possible that he may have been      
murdered1 but1 as he had no money and   
was the gentlest of men1 it is more     
probable that with some dreadful cloud  
upon his brain he destroyed himself4    
,yet his very gentleness had made such  
an end unexpected1 for he seemed to be  
under the protection of the children's  
guardian angel4 ,some sudden impulse    
brought him a death alien to the        
character of his whole life4 ,,ii est   
mort1 said ,paul de ,saint-,victor1 de  
la nostalgie du monde invisible4 ,paix  
cette me en peine de l'idal6  ,from     
,grard's death1 which ,gustave ,dor made
 more hideous in a ghoulish picture1 it 

is a long cry back to the ,impasse du   
,doyenn and the ,pompadour salon of     
which he was the discoverer4 ,yet ,i    
will end this chapter1 as it was begun1 
with this once festive haunt4 ,not long 
did it outlive its ,bohemian colony4    
,the landlord1 explosively wrathful at  
the sight of the wall paintings1 at once
 covered the mess1 as he no doubt called
 it1 with a coating of distemper4 ,the  
treasures might1 even then1 have been   
saved in part1 had anyone but ,grard de 
,nerval bought from the demolishers     
,corot's panels1 the pictures by        
,wattier1 ,chassriau1 and ,chtillon1 and
 ,rogier's portraits of ,cydalise and   
,thophile ,gautier4 ,his hand was one to
 baulk destiny only for a little4 ,this 
moonstruck captain of a rickety craft   
let his cargo fall needlessly into the  
seas while he contemplated the stars and
 allowed the waves to swing the rudder4 
,so passed la ,bohme galante1 leaving   
only a gilded legend4     ,,ix          
,,schaunard ,,and ,,company      ,la    

,bohme carottire et geignarde d',henry  
,murger 444             ,,lepelletier3  
,verlaine   ,to follow the heroes into  
exile would be depressing as well as    
unprofitable4 ,it is better to stand    
respectfully aside from the             
,gtterdmmerung and wait till ,bohemia   
emerges again from the mists1 when a    
lapse of years has wrought some patent  
changes1 for it is easier to contemplate
 a result than to trace a process4 ,by  
leaping forward some ten years from the 
dispersal of the brotherhood that       
sanctified by its presence the ,impasse 
du ,doyenn it is possible to steal a    
march on ,time and anticipate with a    
rapid glance his changing hand4 ,yet to 
catch this later view it is necessary   
for the nonce to abandon the world of   
flesh and blood and to turn from the    
acts and reminiscences of actual mortals
 to the imaginary scenes and fictitious 
characters of a book of stories4 ,the   
tide of life was too strong upon        
,thophile ,gautier and ,arsne ,houssaye 

for them to pause and stamp out firmly  
the features of those precious days in  
la ,bohme galante2 they only caught     
fugitive impressions in retrospect4     
,henry ,murger1 less prodigal because   
less endowed1 crystallized as it passed 
a moment of ,bohemia1 the ,bohemia of   
common mortality1 in ,scnes de la ,vie  
de ,bohme4 ,as a confectioner encloses a
 fresh grape in a transparent coat of   
candied sugar1 so he1 even while he     
tasted1 sour and sweet1 the fruit of his
 days1 caught stray berries in a light  
film of art and presented them as       
dessert to the readers of the ,corsaire1
 a small but amusing journal4 ,sharp and
 savoury as they were1 ,time would have 
destroyed them1 as he destroyed the     
ambrosial lusciousness of the ,doyenn   
feasts1 but for that light film4 ,nobody
 remembers reminiscences1 but a         
well-told story preserves even the most 
trivial events4  ,murger's ,scnes de la 
,vie de ,bohme is a book which has now  
lived for nearly seventy years and does 

not seem likely as yet to pass into the 
lumber-room4 ,at the same time1 it is to
 be wished that more people in ,england 
knew it1 if only because the            
presupposition of such knowledge would  
make this chapter easier to write4 ,it  
is not1 of course1 difficult to         
criticize the ,scnes de la ,vie de      
,bohme2 many of ,murger's countrymen1   
indeed1 have done so4 ,its ethics1 its  
humour1 and its style have been         
attacked4 ,m4 ,boucher1 an estimable    
civil servant interested in literature1 
in his ,souvenirs d'un ,parisien calls  
it an effort to depict the life of      
low-class students1 accuses ,murger of  
insipidity and repetition1 and denies   
any wit to his tudiants demi-escrocs1   
demi-canailles4 ,m4 ,pelloquet1 who was 
good enough to pronounce a discourse    
over ,murger's grave1 said3 ,it is an   
unhealthy book1 in which vice grimaces1 
youth paints its cheeks like a          
superannuated coquette1 and a fictitious
 insouciance conceals1 not a laziness   

that is sometimes poetic1 but the       
cowardly indolence of men without       
courage and without talent4 ,he was also
 rash enough to predict that it would   
not live4 ,jules ,janin1 the critic1 in 
a wiser appreciation1 asserted that with
 a little more art and a little more    
poetry ,murger might have created more  
pardonable heroes and no less charming  
heroines4 ,gautier's dictum about the   
invertebrate verses of that feeble      
appendage to ,alfred de ,musset has     
already been quoted1 and the opinion of 
,verlaine's biographer appears at the   
head of this chapter4 ,murger's gravest 
fault1 however1 in the eyes of ,french  
people is that he wrote bad ,french4 ,to
 them the mishandling of that difficult1
 elusive1 and withal limited tongue is a
 crime of which we can hardly comprehend
 the enormity4 ,it is perfectly true    
that ,murger was culpable in this       
respect2 he was deficient in scholarship
 and in rhythmic sense1 so that his     
poems are weak and his prose1 even where

 he tried to give it an air of          
respectability1 betrays its             
imperfections no less manifestly than   
,m4 ,jourdain betrayed his birth4 ,we in
 ,england1 fastidious as our critics are
 in the matter of language1 have not our
 ears tuned to this painful degree of   
precision4 ,so long as a style          
effectively harmonizes with its         
environment we are content to let it    
stand3 the ,gothic grandeur of ,english 
can suffer without disfigurement the    
intrusion of the quaint4 ,to sympathies 
so trained ,murger's style in ,scnes de 
la ,vie de ,bohme should make a         
particular appeal1 since in that book1  
for the most part1 he makes no attempt  
to ape the academician1 but writes in   
the extravagant jargon of the very      
,bohemians he is describing--a language 
full of comic inversions1 extravagances1
 and lapses from grammar1 which are an  
essential part of the book's gaiety and 
charm4 ,though his matter is            
unmistakably ,parisian1 his humour is1  

in some respects1 remarkably ,english1  
delighting in broad and bustling effects
 rather than subtle strokes and sudden  
flashes4 ,as for the life and the       
characters that he depicts1 criticism of
 them will be implicit in the remainder 
of this chapter2 of the book as a whole 
no more need be said than that it has   
survived when all the rest of ,murger's 
work has been forgotten4 ,it is not a   
book to be placed unwarily in the hands 
of the young and tender2 parts of it are
 exaggerated1 parts may be wished away1 
but1 when all has been said1 it remains1
 not the picture of la vie de ,bohme at 
its best and brightest1 but the classic 
expression of the ,bohemian spirit--a   
frank confession1 not the               
pseudo-pathetic souvenir of a prosperous
 greybeard4 ,its pages are among those  
rare ones in the world's library that   
have caught and held for a moment the   
intangible freshness1 the poetry1 and   
the gaiety of youth4 ,for this alone it 
deserves never to grow old4  ,murger's  

,bohemia is described in a series of    
scenes taken from the life of four young
 men1 a quartet as fascinating to read  
of as ,dumas' ,musketeers1 though       
possibly less comfortable companions4   
,they were ,rodolphe1 the sentimental   
poet2 ,marcel1 the painter2 ,colline1   
the peripatetic philosopher and         
bookworm2 and ,schaunard1 painter and   
musician1 incomparable rogue whose      
masterpiece was a symphony ,sur         
l'influence du bleu dans la musique--a  
sly hit at debased ,romanticism4 ,chance
 brought them together4 ,schaunard1     
unable to pay his arrears of rent1 was  
forced to leave his lodging with his    
furniture in pawn4 ,a day's             
peregrination in search of a loan       
brought him three francs in cash1 which 
he spent in dinner1 together with the   
less tangible benefit of ,colline's and 
,rodolphe's acquaintance4 ,he swore     
brotherhood with ,colline over a dish of
 stewed rabbit in a little eating-house1
 and the pair collected ,rodolphe in the

 ,caf ,momus1 where1 at ,colline's      
expense1 they passed the rest of a not  
too abstemious evening4 ,meanwhile      
,marcel1 the painter1 who had taken     
,schaunard's room unfurnished in        
advance1 though having no furniture of  
his own but a second-hand scenic        
interior from the stock of a bankrupt   
theatre1 had been persuaded to take the 
lodging furnished with ,schaunard's     
furniture1 and had duly moved in4 ,late 
in the evening1 when a sharp shower of  
rain was falling1 ,schaunard1 in bacchic
 absence of mind1 offered asylum to his 
two new comrades4 ,hastily buying the   
elements of a supper1 they gaily invaded
 the apartment of ,marcel4 ,explanations
 were difficult1 but were accomplished  
during supper1 and next day ,marcel and 
,schaunard agreed to live together4 ,a  
dinner and a magnificent supper         
inaugurated the foundation of the new   
clan1 which was united1 so long as their
 ,bohemian days continued1 by an        
unbroken bond of friendship4 ,it is     

these young men whom ,murger's readers  
follow through their straits and shifts1
 their love affairs1 their              
extravagances1 their boisterous jokes1  
and their nave pleasures--the poet1 the 
artist1 the savant1 and the musician1   
characters drawn from ,murger himself   
and his living friends1 whose coats were
 ragged and whose pockets almost always 
empty1 who were the bane of respectable 
concierges and proprietors of cafs1 who 
bore short commons with cheerful bravado
 and succumbed to innocent gluttony in  
times of unexpected prosperity1 who were
 really funny even if they were         
sometimes vulgar1 whose expedients for  
catching the elusive pice de cent sous  
were as amazing as their puns1 who made 
life1 even in a garret1 a sentimental   
poem and a rollicking ballad1 and who   
had the sense to become prosaic before  
the sentiment grew threadbare or the    
ballad grew stale4 ,it is a great       
temptation to follow some of their      
adventures in greater detail from the   

day when ,marcel went out to dine in the
 sugar-merchant's coat while ,schaunard 
painted the latter's portrait in his own
 colour-stained dressing-gown1 to the   
day when ,rodolphe by composing a       
didactic poem at fifteen sous a dozen   
lines for a celebrated dentist1 ,marcel 
by painting the portraits of eighteen   
grenadiers at six francs a head1 and    
,schaunard by playing the same scale all
 day and every day for a month to       
revenge a rich ,englishman on an        
actress's parrot1 earned enough to give 
their mistresses new dresses and take   
them for a holiday in the fields of     
,fontenay-aux-,roses4 ,yet the impulse  
to discursive commentary must be        
checked1 for plucking flowers is a      
distraction from comparative botany4    
,murger1 after all1 tells his own story 
infinitely better than any translator   
could do1 and the purpose which is      
proper to the present book is to inquire
 what kind of a ,bohemia appears in     
,murger's light-hearted pages4  ,so far 

as ,bohemia was concerned1 the          
generation of #ahcj had entirely passed 
away by #ahdf1 when ,murger's sketches  
actually appeared1 and the young men of 
whom ,bohemia was composed were formed  
under less violent influences4 ,the last
 flashes of ,napoleon's glory had not   
illuminated their early days1 they knew 
little of the stifling reign of ,charles
 ,x1 and the ,revolution of #ahcj took  
place when they had only a little while 
outgrown the nursery4 ,by the time they 
grew up the complexion of affairs in    
,paris wore a more even tone4 ,assisted 
by ,guizot1 ,louis ,philippe had found  
the juste-milieu to his people's        
satisfaction1 revolutionary tendencies  
had been checked or diverted into       
harmless channels of humanitarian       
reform1 the bourgeois had firmly grasped
 his power and built up an already solid
 bulwark of commercial interest4 ,in the
 artistic world1 too1 things were       
quieter4 ,hernani1 once a scandal1 had  
become a classic1 and there was no      

further need of red waistcoats and      
furious claques4 ,romanticism1 indeed1  
had become so workaday that a successful
 little excitement was aroused by a     
reaction against it in what was called  
l'cole de bon sens1 whose chief poet1   
,ponsard1 gained quite a celebrity for a
 short time with his classic drama      
,lucrce4 ,beyond the gadfly of artistic 
impulse and the natural fermentation of 
the adolescent mind1 there was little to
 rouse a young man's passions or send   
his blood coursing faster through his   
veins2 there was no particular idol to  
worship1 no hobby-horse to ride1 as a   
,gautier or a ,borel had worshipped     
,hugo and mounted the gallant steed     
called ,middle ,ages4 ,the creed of     
,romanticism was so thoroughly          
established that there was nothing left 
to make any fuss about1 with the natural
 consequence that its early             
extravagances had fallen out of fashion 
and there was no further need to be     
satanic or profess excessive            

sensibility4 ,literature was feeling its
 way to the austerer ,romanticism of    
,flaubert and the ,goncourts1 as        
painting towards the realism of         
,courbet1 but the growth was still below
 ground and the surface as yet seemed   
undisturbed4 ,the generation of         
,rodolphe and ,schaunard found1         
therefore1 in ,paris no eager band to   
whom they could ally themselves and to  
whose educative influence they could    
submit4 ,driven by their impulses       
towards the arts1 with souls naturally  
romantic1 as most young men's souls are1
 they found no cause which they could   
immediately embrace in the manner of the
 second cnacle4 ,they missed that       
valuable education which is the         
idolization of a great man1 and were    
confined instead to fighting their own  
battle1 a very much less distinguished  
affair1 which allowed many little       
dishonourable compromises with indolence
 and in which victory meant no more than
 individual success4 ,this explains1 to 

some extent1 the absence of intellectual
 fecundity in ,murger's heroes1 which   
even their most devoted admirers cannot 
deny4 ,rodolphe's poems are indeed only 
pale imitations of ,alfred de ,musset1  
who was an almost inevitable model for  
any lyric youngster of the day2 his more
 serious effort1 a drama called ,le     
,vengeur1 good enough to burn for warmth
 in a draughty garret1 is not vouchsafed
 to us in quotation by ,rodolphe's      
creator4 ,marcel was obviously not a    
very gifted painter1 in spite of his    
famous ,passage de la ,mer ,rouge1 which
 was sent up in a different guise to    
each ,salon and inevitably rejected1 and
 when this great work was sold to become
 a shop-sign the artist's pride was not 
in the least revolted4 ,schaunard never 
gives any signs of musical inspiration  
till at the close he publishes a        
successful album of songs1 and ,colline1
 polyglot philosopher as he is dubbed1  
abandoned his career before anything    
tangible had been achieved to make an   

advantageous marriage and give musical  
evenings4 ,it would1 of course1 be      
pedantic to insist upon these           
considerations in the case of a book of 
short stories which aims chiefly at     
amusing1 but it is impossible not to be 
struck in reading the ,scnes de la ,vie 
de ,bohme by the absence from the       
conversation of the characters of any   
indication of their artistic ideals4    
,save when ,schaunard tells the         
sugar-merchant that he was a pupil of   
,horace ,vernet1 murmuring to himself1  
,horreur1 je renie mes dieux1 and       
,marcel makes a scornful allusion to the
 cole de bon sens1 the only proof that  
they are true artists lies in their     
creator's own assertion1 of which he is 
not entirely mindful in the dnouement4  
,the worst sinner of all is ,colline1   
for this mine of knowledge1 throughout  
the book1 is made chiefly remarkable for
 the composition of dreadful puns4 ,this
 may be partly due to that want of a    
little more art and a little more poetry

 of which ,janin accused ,murger1 but   
the fault was not only personal4 ,the   
second cnacle and the brotherhood of the
 ,impasse du ,doyenn were1 without      
doubt1 just as commonplace in their     
ordinary conversation1 but what lifted  
them off the ground was the enthusiasm  
of a hotly waged artistic struggle1     
which by ,murger's day had died down4   
,his four heroes are ,romantics in      
general1 but in no sense champions of   
any cause4  ,another unmistakable fact  
about ,rodolphe and his friends is that 
they were inconspicuous4 ,true1 they    
made the ,caf ,momus unbearable to its  
more peaceful customers1 and were not   
unknown at the ,chaumire1 but the ,caf  
,momus was in a back street1 and the    
,chaumire was certainly not the ,bal de 
l',opra4 ,they were miles away from the 
viveurs upon the boulevard1 and their   
connexion with the prominent writers and
 artists of the day was extremely       
remote4 ,they made no public appearance1
 they were not a force to be reckoned   

with4 ,they kept up the form of defying 
convention1 but it was now no more than 
a convenient form for the impecunious4  
,art and the bourgeoisie were beginning 
to play into one another's hands2 the   
former had gained its liberty to a great
 degree1 while the latter by the gilded 
pill of commercial success had purged   
artistic demonstration of its crudities4
 ,the time when eccentricity was a      
symbol had passed2 now it was only a    
skin to be sloughed1 as ,marcel saw when
 in a very sensible lecture delivered to
 ,rodolphe he said3       ,poetry does  
not exist only in a disordered life1 in 
improvised      happiness1 in love      
affairs that only last as long as a     
candle1 in      more or less eccentric  
rebellions against the prejudices which 
will      for ever be the sovereigns of 
the world3 a dynasty is more easily     
overturned than a custom1 even a        
ridiculous one4 ,to have talent it      
is not sufficient to put on a summer    
overcoat in ,may2 one can be a      true

 poet or artist and yet keep one's feet 
warm and have one's      three meals a  
day4  ,their ,bohemia1 in fact1 was a   
kind of undergraduate existence1 in     
which all sorts of disorder and youthful
 folly might be excused on the plea that
 youth must be served1 but which could  
in no sense be regarded as a part of    
civic life1 much less as the best part1 
the most truly disinterested and        
artistic4 ,this is a significant change 
of attitude from the days of la ,bohme  
galante1 which was one of the centres of
 ,paris4 ,that1 indeed1 was transitory  
and presupposed youth1 but it was not   
obscure and its inhabitants had no      
misgivings4 ,it was not they who gave it
 up as the writer of ,ecclesiastes put  
away childish things1 for they gloried  
in it all their days as the best part of
 their life2 it was that the world      
claimed them for its business in spite  
of themselves4 ,in their disinterested  
love of art they had made themselves    
valuable1 and when the command went     

forth ,come and be paid they were forced
 to go4 ,to guard against any accusation
 of misunderstanding ,murger1 it may be 
admitted that he calls his heroes only a
 small section of ,bohemia--they moved1 
to use his phrase1 in the troisimes     
dessous of literature and art--but there
 is no indication that ,murger conceived
 a ,bohemia which had its part in any   
higher sphere4 ,when ,rodolphe gets a   
lucky present of five hundred francs the
 determination he avows is not to       
suffuse his little corner of ,bohemia   
with a more worthy splendour1 but to    
become1 like every other successful man1
 a bourgeois4 ,these are my projects1 he
 cries to an astonished ,marcel4        
,sheltered from the material            
embarrassments of life1 ,i am going to  
work seriously2 ,i shall finish my great
 work1 and gain a settled place in      
public opinion4 ,to begin with1 ,i      
renounce ,bohemia1 ,i shall dress like  
everybody else1 ,i shall have a black   
coat1 and ,i shall frequent             

drawing-rooms4 ,such a speech would have
 fallen like a thunderbolt in ,camille  
,rogier's ,pompadour salon1 and its     
author considered charitably to be in   
the first stages of lunacy4 ,marcel1    
however1 falls in at once with the      
ambitious scheme1 and they are only     
saved by their ,bohemianism being       
stronger than their resolution4 ,both in
 the stories and the preface to the     
,scnes de la ,vie de ,bohme--where      
,murger speaks with a picturesque       
seriousness--there is no sign of that   
former joy in ,bohemian life as the life
 which was alone worth living by poets  
and artists4 ,throughout he regards it  
as a necessity conditioned by the       
artistic impulse combined with poverty1 
to be borne with the courage and gaiety 
of youth1 to be regretted perhaps from  
the vantage-point of subsequent         
prosperity4 ,the true ,bohemia--as      
distinct from the ,bohemia of mere      
idealists1 incapables1 and amateurs--he 
regards as a narrow1 stony path leading 

up the sides of an arduous mountain1    
beset by the chasms of doubt and misery1
 but making for a possible goal1 the    
goal of a sufficient income4 ,divested  
of all its agrments--resourcefulness1   
humour1 courage1 extravagance1 which are
 properly attributes of youth1 the real 
illuminant--,murger's ,bohemia is laid  
bare as a merely economic state4 ,the   
true ,bohemians1 he says1 are known upon
 the literary and artistic market-place1
 where their wares are saleable1 but at 
moderate prices2 their existence each   
day is a work of genius--preceded by a  
pack of ruses1 poaching in all the      
industries connected with the arts1 they
 hunt from morn till eve that ferocious 
animal which is called the five-franc   
piece4 ,to ,murger1 who wrote of what he
 knew1 the man who had the means to live
 a stable existence1 howsoever retired1 
was a fool if he remained in ,bohemia3  
to the inhabitants of la ,bohme galante 
it was the not being entirely destitute 
which made their life peculiarly worth  

living4 ,if ,colline ever speculated    
with any profundity he may have seen    
that his friends and he lived really in 
a prison of which poverty1 prodigality1 
and idleness were warders4 ,the ,bohemia
 of ,gautier1 ,grard de ,nerval1 and    
,houssaye had all the glory of a        
voluntary protest1 a passionate         
assertion of liberty1 a revivifying of  
life in accordance with new artistic    
ideas4  ,the difference is not simply   
one of degree4 ,the brotherhood of the  
,impasse du ,doyenn were less destitute 
and more talented than ,rodolphe and his
 friends1 but that is not a point that  
at this moment requires stress4 ,the    
important fact is that in a few years   
,bohemia had undergone a great change2  
that1 whereas a few years after #ahcj   
young men with a little money and some  
talent deliberately chose to make their 
life more picturesque than that of      
ordinary citizens and to escape from the
 suffocating atmosphere of commerce and 
officialdom1 a few years after #ahdj the

 ideal of struggling artists was to     
become as soon as possible successful   
merchants and to escape from the        
possibility of that picturesqueness     
which they welcomed as an alleviation of
 a state of transitory discomfort4 ,it  
would be quite beside the mark to regard
 ,bohemia as guilty in this of          
self-degradation2 so far1 indeed1 as the
 change was conscious1 the majority of  
mankind must logically find it          
praiseworthy1 for all human effort is   
judged by its tendency to well-being4   
,the change1 however1 was none of       
,bohemia's doing1 but was due mainly to 
the fact that art was beginning1 in the 
modern sense1 to pay4 ,the beginnings   
were small1 but they were quite evident1
 especially in the increased profits    
from journalism and illustration4 ,the  
old ,bohemia of the golden age rested on
 the supposition that the artist worked 
primarily to please himself1 and that   
money1 source of enjoyment as it was1   
remained a secondary consideration4 ,the

 supposition1 in the first forward rush 
of commercial prosperity1 was bound to  
become untenable4 ,writers and artists  
of obvious talent were too valuable     
commercial assets to be left to their   
careless selves2 they had to be tempted 
into the cage--an easy task1 for1 if    
money be regarded as a means of more    
enjoyment1 why should a ,bohemian resist
 it8 ,it was unimportant if individuals 
held out1 or were too uncompromising to 
suit the market2 the fact remained that 
there was a market and a list of        
quotations1 and this fact was the       
disruption of ,bohemia4 ,whereas it had 
been a true fraternity in which art was 
all-important and individual celebrity a
 thing of so little moment that there   
was complete equality of intercourse1 it
 now included the last two sections of a
 trisected world of artists--the        
well-paid1 the ill-paid1 and the not    
paid at all--and where money intervenes 
all equality ceases4 ,the majority of   
the well-paid were kept too busy even to

 see they had lost the old freedom2 they
 were tempted to live as other people in
 decent rooms and decent coats1 and as  
their vanity kept them from complaining1
 the ill-paid and the not paid at all   
naturally envied their state1 striving  
and jostling for an equally happy       
captivity1 or at least intending to do  
so as soon as their irrepressible blood 
took a staider course through their     
veins4 ,the charm of ,murger's merry    
crew is that their blood was too strong 
for their business instincts2 the       
,bohemian spirit snatched them along in 
spite of ,mammon1 for ,mammon1          
incomplete as his hold has always been  
over youth1 was in those days but just  
learning his strength4 ,where youth and 
art combine the ,bohemian spirit is     
always there2 only the possibilities of 
,bohemia have in the course of time been
 crowded out4 ,but in ,murger's ,paris  
,bohemia1 shorn of earthly glory as it  
was1 without lot in the brilliance of   
the boulevard1 cut off from the more    

thriving traders in the artistic        
market-place1 was still a possibility   
because the ,bohemian tradition was     
still fairly strong1 and because ,paris 
was still a small city1 its life little 
disturbed by a floating population of   
aliens and its interests completely     
self-centred4  ,the ,bohemia described  
by ,murger certainly corresponded in one
 respect with the general conception of 
,bohemianism to-day in that it was      
devoid of any material splendour4       
,neither ,rodolphe nor ,marcel indicates
 any desire for the old furniture1      
damasks1 and other decorations which so 
glittered in the eyes of the early      
,romantics1 but at any rate such things 
would have been beyond the capacity of  
their purses4 ,they were unequivocally  
poor4 ,when ,rodolphe was in funds he   
could afford a hundred francs a year for
 a garret in the ,rue de la ,tour       
d',auvergne2 when ,providence was less  
kind he lived in the ,avenue de         
,saint-,cloud1 on the fifth branch of   

the third tree on the left as you leave 
the ,bois de ,boulogne4 ,as for         
entertainments1 they came a long way    
behind the costume ball of the ,impasse 
du ,doyenn4 ,at ,rodolphe's ,wednesdays 
in the ,rue de la ,tour d',auvergne1 it 
was said1 one could only sit down       
morally and was forced to drink badly   
filtered water in eclectic earthenware4 
,even the grand soire given by ,rodolphe
 and ,marcel1 which began with a        
literary and musical entertainment and  
ended with a dance prolonged till       
sunrise1 only cost the hosts fifteen    
francs--miraculously acquired at the    
last moment--in addition to a set of    
chairs which fed the stove from midnight
 onwards1 though1 as these belonged to a
 neighbour1 they were probably not paid 
for4 ,their wardrobes were not          
conspicuous for any particularly        
,romantic or medieval effect1 but       
simply1 except in times of exceptional  
windfalls1 for extreme dilapidation4    
,schaunard's chief garment was an       

overcoat worn to a state of utter       
baldness2 ,colline's ulster1 crammed    
with books and papers1 had the surface  
of a file2 ,marcel's coat was called    
,mathusalem1 but he must have acquired  
it subsequent to the sugar-merchant's   
momentous visit1 for at that time1 after
 an hour's search to discover a costume 
fit to dine out in1 the net results were
 a pair of plaid trousers1 a grey hat1 a
 red tie1 a 7once7 white glove and a    
black glove4 ,to dine sufficiently at a 
small restaurant was for them no        
ordinary luxury1 and as for entering the
 ,rocher de ,caucale1 they might as well
 have aspired to membership of the      
,jockey ,club4 ,why1 ,schaunard had     
never seen a lobster till the old ,jew  
gave them all a feast after buying      
,marcel's ,passage de la ,mer ,rouge4   
,some days they dispensed with dining   
altogether1 on others the staple dish   
was pickled herrings2 so it is hardly   
surprising that on the proceeds of      
,marcel's picture they remained at table

 for five days1 the room filled with a  
,pantagruelic atmosphere and a whole bed
 of oyster-shells covering the floor4   
,it was not that they took up any       
quixotic attitude of art for art's sake1
 like the society called ,les ,buveurs  
d',eau1 whom ,murger describes in one of
 his stories and whose principle was not
 to make the slightest concession to    
necessity4 ,they were imperfect         
journeymen1 indolent1 careless1 too     
easily distracted1 but they were among  
those who were ill-paid rather than     
those who never tried to be paid4       
,rodolphe edited a small fashion paper1 
,l'charpe d',iris2 ,marcel painted      
ruined manors for a ,jew dealer and     
portraits of the lowliest possessor of a
 few spare francs2 ,colline gave lessons
 in the same range of subjects as ,pico 
di ,mirandola professed to discuss2 and 
,schaunard1 besides exhibiting a special
 ability as a borrower1 put music to bad
 poetry for hard-hearted                
music-publishers4  ,in comparing this   

,bohemia with that of ,gautier and      
,grard de ,nerval1 it is easy to see the
 justification of ,lepelletier's epithet
 carottire4 ,the graceful adjuncts and  
by no means contemptible achievements of
 a former day had vanished as completely
 as its enthusiasms4 ,the presence of   
,roger de ,beauvoir and ,nestor         
,roqueplan in the ,rue de la ,tour      
d',auvergne is as difficult to imagine  
as the composition of ,mademoiselle de  
,maupin4 ,yet ,rodolphe and his friends 
were at least as well off in one        
respect1 that is1 in their affairs of   
the heart1 if1 indeed1 they had not some
 advantage4 ,the divinities of the      
,impasse du ,doyenn1 ,cydalise excepted1
 seem to have had their home in the     
corps de ballet1 a body not notable for 
the tenderness or constancy of their    
attachments4 ,murger1 who1 like his     
,rodolphe1 was an amorous               
sentimentalist1 gave some poetic value1 
if not as much as he intended1 to the   
figures of ,mimi and ,musette1 the idols

 of ,rodolphe and ,marcel1 who play such
 a prominent part in the ,scnes de la   
,vie de ,bohme1 that it would be an     
affectation not to speak of them1       
although an ,englishman must always do  
so with some reserve4 ,in spite of all  
that may be said against them--indeed1  
is said by their very creator--there is 
a charm about ,mimi and ,musette which  
must always hold the reader of these    
stories1 a charm which includes         
,francine1 who died holding the muff    
bought for her by her lover1 and the    
vulgar ,phmie ,teinturire1 who shared   
the lot of a no more refined ,schaunard4
 ,without sympathizing1 at least        
temporarily1 with all the blend of      
mystery and frankness which a ,frenchman
 breathes into the word amour1 it is    
useless to read ,french literature4 ,to 
him love is the highest emotional       
value--emotion being in its turn the    
highest value in life--so that a union1 
whether it be celebrated in the         
,madeleine or in the mairie of the      

notorious thirteenth arrondissement1 is 
equally sacred and equally interesting4 
,we in ,england look at love differently
 and1 as we naturally think1 better1 but
 we are not hindered1 nevertheless1 from
 abandoning our view occasionally4 ,we  
do so implicitly when we shed tears over
 ,la ,dame aux ,camlias1 over ,madame   
,butterfly1 and over ,mimi herself in   
,puccini's ,la ,bohme4 ,to be honest1   
then1 we must accept ,murger's view1 if 
we enjoy his book1 as there is very     
little doubt that we do4 ,we applaud    
,musette when she surreptitiously waters
 the flowers whose duration is to       
measure that of her love for ,marcel2 we
 forgive her fickleness because she     
follows her fancy without calculation1  
even though on leaving the rich young   
nobleman to visit ,marcel she takes six 
days on the road2 we warm to ,mimi      
because ,rodolphe really loved her and  
she him1 though his jealousy and her    
love of luxury made their days a burden 
and their rupture certain2 and if we    

join heartily in ,marcel's ironical     
tirade against ,mimi the fine lady1 we  
cannot restrain our sadness at ,mimi    
returning to her old love to die4 ,the  
life of the ,impasse du ,doyenn was so  
joyous1 strong1 and full that its amours
 passagers can be taken for granted1    
happy fantasies without regrets2 but    
,murger's ,bohemia1 with its frequent   
moments of despondency and hardship1 was
 forced to rely upon its heart to supply
 that relieving colour which its        
surroundings could not give4 ,mimi and  
,musette1 ,phmie and ,francine1 even the
 little giletire who corrected          
,colline's proofs and never appeared1   
meant so much more than ,lorry or       
,victorine4 ,so long as their attachment
 lasted they made a home out of the     
barest garret1 doing for their men those
 thousand little things which men are   
too lazy or preoccupied to do for       
themselves4 ,besides1 they opened a     
field for the exercise of               
unselfishness--a valuable service in    

itself4 ,in this connexion ,i need only 
cite one delightful little story1 to    
which ,i have already referred1 entitled
 ,la ,toilette des ,grces1 an idyll     
which no afterthought can spoil4 ,it    
tells how ,rodolphe1 ,marcel1 and       
,schaunard1 having earned a little money
 by making their respective arts serve  
the humblest of commercial purposes1    
decided to surprise their mistresses by 
giving them new dresses4 ,one fine      
morning ,mimi1 ,musette1 and ,phmie were
 awakened by the entry of a procession  
headed by ,schaunard1 in a new coat of  
golden nankeen1 playing a horn1 and     
close behind him a shopman bringing     
samples4 ,they nearly went mad with joy4
 ,mimi jumped like a young kid1 waving a
 pretty scarf2 ,musette1 with each hand 
in a little green boot1 threw her arms  
round ,marcel's neck and clapped the    
boots like cymbals2 as for ,phmie1 she  
could only sob ,ah1 mon ,alexandre1 mon 
,alexandre6 ,the choice was made1 the   
bills discharged1 and it was announced  

to the dames that they must have their  
new dresses ready for a day in the      
country on the morrow4 ,that was a      
trifle2 for sixteen hours they cut and  
stitched1 and when next day the ,angelus
 sounded from the neighbouring church   
they were already taking their last look
 into the looking-glass4 ,only ,phmie   
had a little sorrow4 ,i like the green  
grass and the little birds1 she said1   
but one meets nobody in the country4    
,suppose we made our excursion on the   
boulevard4 ,but they went to            
,fontenay-aux-,roses instead1 and when  
they returned late at night there were  
only six francs left4 ,what shall we do 
with it8 asked ,marcel4 ,invest it in   
the funds1 said ,schaunard4  ,there are1
 doubtless1 artistic coteries to-day in 
whose existence parallels may be found  
to the ,scnes de la ,vie de ,bohme1 but 
reproduction is impossible1 for         
,murger's ,bohemia1 no less than la     
,bohme galante1 was conditioned by its  
time4 ,the conditions include a ,paris  

of provincial narrowness1 greater       
simplicity together with less           
conspicuous uniformity in ordinary life1
 less elaborate amusements1 no          
,montmartre cafs1 no swamping           
proletariat beside whose murs d',apaches
 the eccentricities of ,bohemia seem    
mild and unimportant1 a tiny fraction of
 the present opportunities for          
advertisement and publicity1 and a lower
 standard1 perhaps1 of general          
education4 ,to these one other condition
 may be added--the existence of ,musette
 and ,mimi1 who were the last of the    
grisettes4 ,murger himself1 in a passage
 which ,i cannot do better than quote in
 the original1 points out clearly their 
transitoriness3       ,ces jolies filles
 moiti abeilles1 moiti cigales1 qui     
travaillaient en chantant toute la      
semaine1 ne demandaient       ,dieu     
qu'un peu de soleil le dimanche1        
faisaient vulgairement      l'amour avec
 le cur1 et se jetaient quelquefois par 
la fentre4      ,race disparue          

maintenant1 grce  la gnration actuelle  
des jeunes      gens3 gnration corrompue
 et corruptrice1 mais par-dessus tout   
vaniteuse1 sotte et brutale4 ,pour le   
plaisir de faire de mchants             
paradoxes1 ils ont raill ces pauvres    
filles  propos de leurs      mains      
mutiles par les saintes cicatrices du   
travail1 et elles      n'ont bientt plus
 gagn assez pour s'acheter de la pte    
d'amandes4      ,peu  peu ils sont      
parvenus  leur inoculer leur vanit et   
leur      sottise1 et c'est alors que la
 grisette a disparu4 ,c'est alors que   
naquit la lorette4  ,illustration3 ,a   
,grisette  ,the grisette made love for  
love3 like a wild rose1 she had to be   
plucked1 and when men came to prefer    
buying bouquets in shops1 she naturally 
died away4 ,money already tainted       
,bohemia1 even here1 in its heart4 ,the 
opportunity of luxury tempted both ,mimi
 and ,musette to be unfaithful1 but     
since caprice was ever stronger with    
them than self-interest they were not   

undeserving to be called the last of the
 grisettes4 ,they were necessary        
adjuncts to ,bohemia1 and satisfactory  
adjuncts1 in spite of their caprices1   
for the last thing which ,bohemian man  
required was the ,bohemian or--to use an
 obsolete phrase--the emancipated woman4
 ,too ignorant to meet their lovers1    
even had they wished1 upon their own    
ground1 they held their place by keeping
 to their natural advantage1 the woman's
 desire to please4 ,so they passed      
through life1 making the feast more     
festive and the fast less desolate1     
filling a void and mending a sorrow as  
light-heartedly as they darned a sock or
 patched a ragged coat4 ,mimi and       
,musette were the true counterparts of  
,rodolphe and ,marcel1 and it is with   
regret that we see them disappear into  
an epilogue of prosperity and propriety4
 ,yet it was all they could do1 for what
 ,i have called the ,bohemia of common  
mortality became dangerous long before  
the age of thirty years4 ,rodolphe could

 not have written in middle age to      
,marcel as ,bouchardy did to ,thophile  
,gautier2 only hypocritically could he  
have said nous tions ivres du beau4     
,murger escapes any false effect of that
 kind in his conclusion3       ',we are 
done for1 old fellow1' says ,marcel1 'we
 are dead and      buried4 ,youth only  
comes once6 ,where are you dining       
to-night8'       ',if you like1'        
answered ,rodolphe1 'we will go and dine
 for twelve      sous at our old        
restaurant in the ,rue du ,four1 where  
the plates are      of village          
earthenware1 and where we were always so
 hungry when we      had finished       
eating4'       ',good heavens1 no4 ,i   
don't mind looking back at the past1 but
 it      shall be across a bottle of    
decent wine and seated in a good        
arm-chair4 ,it is no use1 ,i'm          
corrupted4 ,i only care now for what is 
good6'     ,x  ,,murger ,,and ,,his     
,,friends  ,si on excepte quelques      
natures fortement trempes qui se tirrent

 des impasses de la ,bohme1 le reste fut
 condamn  vivre difficilement en face   
d'un idal born et sans avenir4 ,ni      
tudes1 ni loisirs1 ni aisances ne       
permettaient  ces aspirants  l'art de   
s'lever et de conqurir un nom4          
,,champfleury3  ,souvenirs et ,portraits
 de ,jeunesse   ,in order to catch at a 
glance the result of a lapse of years ,i
 lingered in the last chapter over      
,rodolphe1 ,mimi1 and their friends1    
figures drawn from the moving scene of  
contemporary life1 yet snatched from the
 changes of time as permanently as those
 on ,keats's ,grecian urn4 ,the ,scnes  
de la ,vie de ,bohme show1 as it seems  
to me1 more clearly than any other kind 
of record1 the decadence of ,bohemia1   
regarding the degree of its approach to 
an ideal of complete artistic existence1
 since the great days that followed     
#ahcj4 ,this might1 indeed1 be a warrant
 for not returning to more documentary  
facts at all1 but there are always those
 to be considered who view ,fiction as a

 sprite so far divorced from actuality  
that they are unable to place any trust 
in her indications4 ,the teller of      
stories1 in their apprehension1 is      
always on the look-out for a good       
effect1 to which end he will minimize   
the essential and magnify the           
unessential1 distorting sober fact at   
the call of his individual imagination4 
,they are the people who read novels1 as
 they say1 for relaxation1 while finding
 wisdom alone in biographies and memoirs
 bristling with dates and packed with   
quotations4 ,the question1 ,what1 after 
all1 is sober fact8 is sufficient to put
 them into confusion1 but to propound   
that ancient problem would be here      
beside the mark1 for in a book that     
honestly professes to be as sober in    
fact as any it would be unbecoming      
unduly to press the point on behalf of  
fiction4 ,the warrant1 therefore1 will  
be allowed to pass1 and we return to    
those tales which men have told about   
themselves and their friends under the  

names which they bore at baptism1 duly  
signed and dated4 ,such information as  
they give concerning the later years of 
,bohemia is1 at best1 fragmentary1 but  
the fragments have some appearance of   
falling together in the light of        
,murger's picture4 ,a more diligent     
research might have produced a more     
detailed record1 but it may be          
questioned whether the total effect     
would have been any clearer4 ,there were
 scores of obscure persons in ,bohemia1 
but their daily uprising and lying-down 
were not so very widely different4 ,at  
least this may be asserted1 that after a
 certain number of facts it is safer to 
use the imagination for the rest4       
,murger and his friends were the        
legitimate successors of la ,bohme      
galante1 and in view of their fictitious
 counterparts already introduced the    
main interest of this chapter lies with 
them4 ,yet before they appear there are 
some byways of ,bohemia that call for   
inspection as an illustration and a     

contrast4 ,bohemia was1 of course1      
always bordered on one side by the      
student life of the ,quartier ,latin1   
the freedom and licence of which were   
both different and older in origin1     
going back to the days of the schoolmen1
 when indigent scholars of all nations  
filled the great university cities of   
,europe1 forming in each a picturesque  
but turbulent community4 ,even in most  
prosaic days the students of ,paris have
 kept up the medieval tradition1 but    
particular manifestations would         
naturally be influenced by the manners  
of the day4 ,it is1 therefore1 not      
surprising that the student quarter was 
profoundly affected by the ,romantic    
movement1 and reflected its battles and 
its extravagances with a hilarious      
distortion4 ,the motley world of the    
,quartier ,latin and those who1 though  
no longer students1 remained attached to
 it had their local colour1 their       
,gothic enthusiasms1 and their orgies4  
,they had dining clubs with fantastic   

names1 such as ,les #de jolis cochons1  
which indulged in something very like   
bump-suppers1 with loud singing in the  
streets1 window-breaking1 and practical 
joking to follow4 ,the campaign of      
,hernani was imitated in the ,salle     
,chanteraine--a theatre for             
amateurs--where there was nightly a     
fracas with fisticuffs between the      
various factions4 ,elaborate farces were
 organized to mystify the good people of
 ,paris1 of which ,maxime du ,camp gives
 a good example in his ,souvenirs       
,littraires4 ,it was called ,la grande  
chevauche de la ctelette aux cornichons4
 ,thirty young men1 dressed in velvet   
waistcoats and nankeen jackets1 with    
long hair and beards1 headed by a       
certain young teacher of history waving 
a stick1 marched solemnly in serried    
single file with a halting step1        
dangling their arms at the same time1   
from the ,place ,pigalle over the ,pont 
,royal1 crying in unison1 ,une deux1 une
 deux1 le cholra1 le cholra6 ,at the end

 of the ,pont ,royal they turned round  
in a body and shouted1 ,connaissez-vous 
le thermomtre de l'ingnieur ,chevalier8 
,solemnly facing about again1 they      
proceeded as before to ,sainte-,mand1   
where they lunched off pork cutlets4    
,the special home of the wildest jokers 
and most desperate caricatures of the   
new spirit was a certain tumble-down    
barrack1 ,no4 #i ,rue ,childebert1 a    
street on the south side of that        
beautiful old church                    
,saint-,germain-des-,prs1 and now merged
 in the ,boulevard ,saint-,germain4     
,this house1 familiarly called ,la      
,childebert1 was five or six stories    
high and thoroughly decayed1 for its    
owner1 a ,madame ,legendre1 refused to  
carry out any repairs4 ,she was         
justified in this attitude to some      
extent by the fact that few of her      
tenants paid any rent4 ,indeed1         
according to one witness1 no man in his 
senses would have paid any rent for a   
room upon the top floor from #ahcg      

onwards4 ,one student1 however1 an      
ingenious fellow called ,lepierre1 who  
both lived on the top floor and paid his
 rent1 succeeded in forcing the stingy  
lady to repair the roof4 ,having been   
drenched one night during a hard storm1 
he took his revenge by removing a       
portion of his flooring1 and hiring all 
the peripatetic water-carriers that     
could be found to pour water down the   
hole4 ,the concierge remonstrated1 but  
in vain1 and ,madame ,legendre was sent 
for in hot haste4 ,when she arrived in a
 cab she was gaily serenaded by the     
inhabitants1 and on proceeding to the   
flooded room she was horrified to find  
,lepierre in the costume of ,adam before
 the ,fall1 who claimed a right1 he     
said1 to have a bath at his own         
convenience4 ,madame ,legendre fled1 but
 the roof was repaired4 ,the gay        
desperadoes of ,la ,childebert were     
capable of carrying through any charge1 
howsoever lurid4 ,one of the most       
successful was known as le nez de       

,bouginier4 ,bouginier was an artist1   
the size of whose nose inspired his     
friend ,fourreau with the idea of an    
exaggerated caricature in which this    
feature was made enormous4 ,a stencil   
was cut and copied1 and for many days   
,bouginier's nose appeared on all the   
walls in ,paris4 ,it is even alleged    
that two parties of students1 about to  
travel in the ,east and wishing to meet 
on the voyage1 hit on the simple plan of
 following ,bouginier's nose4 ,the party
 starting first took a stencil with     
them1 so that the second party1 leaving 
a fortnight later1 were able to track   
them to ,marseilles1 ,malta1            
,alexandria1 and ,suez4 ,in a certain   
medallion in the ,passage du ,caire1    
just south of the ,boulevard ,bonne     
,nouvelle1 ,bouginier's nose is still   
immortalized4 ,la ,childebert was always
 up to something1 but a certain         
fancy-dress conversazione completely    
convulsed the neighbourhood4 ,the       
schools of art and poetry dressed       

according to their views1 and by        
universal consent the ,romantics1 for   
all they could do in pourpoints1        
doublets1 and general local colour1 were
 easily beaten by the ,classicists4     
,romulus and ,remus with their wolf and 
,hercules with the ,nemean lion created 
a furore2 so great was the real         
consternation of the district at the    
apparition of these wild beasts that the
 commissary of police had to intervene4 
,the wolf and the lion suffered         
themselves to be led with great docility
 to his office1 where they turned out to
 be a great ,dane and a mastiff         
respectively1 painted and padded with   
diabolical cleverness4  ,la ,childebert 
was strongly represented in a revellers'
 club called ,les ,badouillards1 that   
flourished between #ahce and #ahch4 ,in 
,paris ,anecdote ,privat d',anglemont1  
who is the chief authority on the       
,childebertian doings1 describes the    
qualifications of a perfect             
,badouillard4 ,he had to pass a regular 

test before entering the bacchic        
brotherhood2 he had to be strong and    
agile1 a clever and ready boxer1 fencer1
 and wrestler1 he must have proved his  
courage in several encounters1 shown a  
fine taste in choreographic fantasy at  
the ,chaumire and an ability to engage  
in a duel of slang with any chance      
person1 and have sworn eternal feud     
against the sleep and peace of mind of  
all bourgeois4 ,the initiation was a    
solemn and trying ceremony4 ,it began   
with a copious dinner1 followed by a    
ceaseless absorption of various liquors 
till the time came for going to the     
ball4 ,here the candidate stayed all    
night1 behaving as outrageously as      
possible4 ,he then adjourned without    
sleep to breakfast1 and passed the rest 
of the day in the cafs of the ,quartier 
,latin1 drinking1 playing billiards1 and
 flirting4 ,at night the programme was  
repeated1 and if by the third night he  
had accepted every challenge1 never     
fallen asleep1 nor tumbled under any    

table1 he was allowed to seek his bed a 
perfect ,badouillard4  ,for all its     
light-hearted absurdities ,la           
,childebert was not ,bohemia1 for its   
existence belonged rather to that of    
irresponsible students than of artists4 
,i only mention it by way of contrast1  
as ,i now mention again ,privat         
d',anglemont1 the author of ,paris      
,inconnu and ,paris ,anecdote1 legendary
 as a ,bohemian1 but of a very different
 type4 ,these two curious and valuable  
books are a complete study of the seamy 
side of ,paris during the latter part of
 ,louis ,philippe's reign4 ,the life of 
the porters in the ,halles1 the         
chiffonniers1 and all the pliers of     
obscure trades1 with their customs1     
their dwellings1 and their manners1 is  
most faithfully reproduced in them in a 
manner which could only have been made  
possible by a complete identification of
 the author with the subjects of his    
observation4 ,such1 in fact1 was the    
lifework of ,privat d',anglemont1 a     

,creole born in ,guadeloupe4 ,he became 
the legendary noctambule of ,paris1     
realizing1 as ,charles ,monselet says in
 his preface to ,paris ,anecdote1 the   
popular idea of a ,bohemian--that is1   
simply an eccentric vagabond4 ,in the   
sense of the word as used in this book1 
he was not a ,bohemian at all1 for1     
though he wrote articles and books upon 
his experiences1 he was in no sense an  
artist1 nor was he striving to make his 
life conformable to artistic liberty4   
,he was animated simply by a gipsy      
passion for roaming1 combined with a    
taste for mystery and romancing4        
,faithful as his books were1 he hardly  
ever spoke the truth3 twenty times he   
told ,thodore de ,banville the history  
of his life1 and each time it was       
different4 ,still1 he merits a word here
 on account of his reputation as the    
complete ,bohemian1 a reputation        
increased by his being an easy peg on   
which to hang any fantastic story that  
came into a journalist's brain4 ,thodore

 de ,banville1 who first met him in     
#ahda and1 according to ,monselet1      
idealized him absurdly1 gives some      
curious recollections of him in ,mes    
,souvenirs4 ,he was a handsome man1     
dark1 tall1 and slender1 rather         
resembling the elder ,dumas4 ,he passed 
most of his life wandering about the low
 quarters of ,paris in complete poverty1
 often begging a meal from one of the   
cabaretiers of the ,halles1 who all     
loved him4 ,yet1 de ,banville avers1 he 
was not really unprovided for1 since at 
irregular intervals a relative used to  
send him about #bjj from ,america in    
gold pieces4 ,but ,privat d',anglemont  
preferred to live without money1 so that
 he never hesitated in getting rid of   
this burden as soon as possible by      
standing a dinner to all the poor and   
hungry women he could find in the tiny  
inn called the ,buf ,enrag1 at the      
bottom of the ,rue de la ,harpe4 ,like  
,grard de ,nerval1 he would set out on a
 voyage at a moment's notice and without

 a moment's preparation1 and such was   
his charm that he had affectionate      
friends in the lower quarters of many a 
,french town4 ,once during his nightly  
wanderings he was stopped by some       
robbers4 ,but ,i'm ,privat1 he said1    
roaring with laughter4 ,at which the    
robbers joined in the laugh1 and invited
 him to supper4 ,by a ruined hut they   
sat down to drink the best champagne in 
the light of the stars1 to smoke1 and to
 tell stories4 ,privat delighted his    
hosts1 who invited him to meet them     
again2 but he shook his head1 saying1   
,n'engageons pas l'avenir4  ,privat     
d',anglemont1 who eventually died of    
consumption1 did little more than carry 
on the traditions of the noctambules1   
less mischievously than their founder1  
,rtif de la ,bretonne1 less modestly and
 artistically than ,grard de ,nerval1   
but so much more seriously than either  
of his predecessors that he left little 
scope for a new departure to his own    
successor1 ,alfred ,delvau4 ,he was not1

 in the truest sense1 a ,bohemian1      
though he led an existence ever         
bordering on the confines of ,bohemia4  
,the same may be said1 in a more        
transitory sense1 of ,flaubert1 the     
great renovator and refiner of          
,romanticism4 ,most of his life was     
spent in the country1 but there was a   
short period when he came to study law  
in ,paris1 which1 if it were not        
mentioned1 might justify a challenge    
from readers familiar with ,l',education
 ,sentimentale or ,maxime du ,camp's    
,souvenirs ,littraires4 ,so far as the  
first of these books is concerned1      
little time need here be spent in       
finding relevant points of comparison4  
,the last thing which ,flaubert desired 
to portray in that depressing picture   
was an existence in any sense artistic4 
,his hero is a provincial youth who1    
during his student days in ,paris1      
drifts aimlessly and indolently through 
a variety of second-rate experiences in 
company with second-rate friends4       

,flaubert's own experiences are1 no     
doubt1 frequently worked into the       
material1 but ,l',education             
,sentimentale is nothing so cheap as    
autobiography served in a thin sauce of 
fiction4 ,it is a novel in which the    
author has with the highest exercise of 
penetrative imagination treated what    
,mr4 ,henry ,james would call the       
germ--the dreary wastefulness1 that is1 
of such a life in case of such a young  
man as ,frdric ,moreau1 who with ,madame
 ,bovary is ,flaubert's contribution to 
the pathology of le mal romantique4     
,flaubert himself1 with all his         
excitability and extravagance1 was of a 
much stronger stamp2 the strength of his
 artistic conviction saved him from all 
such flabbiness4 ,he came to ,paris to  
study law1 but1 having failed to pass   
his examination1 returned to his home in
 #ahdc4 ,if he had stayed he might      
easily have become one of the leading   
figures1 certainly a powerful influence1
 in that ,bohemia which ,murger knew4   

,maxime du ,camp1 who made his          
acquaintance early in #ahdc1 shows him  
as a young man living always at a high  
pitch with the flamboyant vitality that 
would have done no dishonour to the     
,impasse du ,doyenn1 so far was he from 
being the victim of ,frdric's weak-kneed
 desolation4 ,he passed his days in an  
alternation of prodigality and poverty1 
spending fifty francs on his dinner one 
day and feeding on a crust and a slab of
 chocolate the next4 ,he lived in a kind
 of intellectual tornado1 both frantic  
and noisy4 ,he went into ecstasies over 
mediocre works in which he perceived    
beauties hidden from the rest of the    
world1 but which he loved to point out  
stridently to his friends1 intoning the 
prose1 roaring the verse at the top of  
his voice1 repeating incessantly any    
word which took his passionate fancy1   
and filling all the neighbourhood with  
his din4 ,he would wake up a friend     
without compunction at three in the     
morning to show him a moonlight effect  

on the ,seine2 one moment he would be   
inventing sauces to make brill          
appetizing1 and the next he would be    
plotting to smack ,gustave ,planche's   
face for having spoken slightingly of   
,victor ,hugo4 ,the cnacle composed of  
,louis de ,cormenin1 ,le ,poitevin1 ,du 
,camp1 and himself often dined at       
,dagneaux's1 one of the better          
restaurants of the ,quartier ,latin1 and
 stayed talking ceaselessly till the    
doors were closed4 ,their ambitions were
 as wild as their conversation2         
,flaubert and ,du ,camp seriously       
determined to learn everything between  
the ages of twenty-one and thirty1 to   
produce great works till forty1 and then
 to retire into the country4 ,except for
 the fact that1 according to his friend1
 ,flaubert disdained the women whom his 
beauty attracted1 this was a promising  
beginning for ,bohemia4 ,as the world   
knows1 fate decreed otherwise1 and he   
retired to develop in that close        
intellectual atmosphere with ,louis     

,bouilhet and ,du ,camp1 of which the   
latter says3 ,living as we did1 in      
solitude1 we exchanged only the same set
 of ideas apart from all criticism1 so  
that things in general lost their right 
proportion in our minds4  ,flaubert's   
life in the ,rue de l',est was1 at best1
 only a tentative pathway in ,bohemia1  
like one of those tracks in a suburb    
that give hope of leading somewhere1 but
 change their mind en route4 ,it is too 
small a digression to be distracting1   
and ,i entered upon it1 among other     
reasons1 because its little adventure   
coincides in date with those movements  
in the central market-place yet to be   
touched on4 ,one more alley1 however1   
must be taken on the way1 for it is1    
indeed1 only just off the market-place4 
,the name upon its wall is that of      
,charles ,baudelaire1 a well-known      
figure whose exact relation to ,bohemia 
is1 nevertheless1 not so easy to        
determine4 ,he began very much in the   
manner of ,flaubert1 coming as a student

 to the ,quartier ,latin and residing at
 a not very strictly kept pension near  
the ,panthon between #ahci and #ahda1   
his eighteenth and his twentieth years4 
,i need not repeat the distinction made 
between student life--das               
,burschenleben--and out-and-out         
,bohemianism4 ,baudelaire filled his    
days to their fullest extent1 mixing    
together indiscriminately the enjoyments
 of student1 dandy1 and viveur1 so far  
as his means allowed4 ,it was only at   
the end of this time that his           
determination to take up literature     
scandalized his stepfather and caused   
his enforced sea voyage4 ,when he       
returned in #ahdb he had come of age and
 possessed a capital of #ge1jjj francs4 
,he set about spending this money with a
 gusto and in a manner not unworthy of  
the golden age of ,bohemia4 ,he had     
various lodgings till he settled for two
 years in a beautiful apartment in the  
old ,htel ,pimodan on the le            
,st4-,louis1 where his comrade was the  

painter ,boissard1 a good artist who1 as
 ,gautier said1 exhausted himself in    
enthusiasms1 and in whose wonderful     
,louis ,,xiv salon the society of       
hachischiens met4 ,had ,baudelaire been 
a true ,bohemian at heart he might have 
instituted a second ,bohme galante1 but 
he was wanting in that simplicity and   
goodfellowship which are signal         
qualities in the ,bohemian character4   
,he wished to make his life1 like his   
art1 a study in exquisite intensity1 so 
that in the days of his splendour his   
mode of living was rather that of a     
dandy than anything else4 ,he dressed   
with immense care1 but in a bygone      
fashion2 he pursued every kind of       
sensation1 frequented every kind of     
society1 and became the leader of a set 
who carefully cultivated eccentricity   
for its own sake1 an eccentricity too   
pos to serve as a type of ,bohemian     
manners4 ,to make himself a subject of  
astonishment was his chief amusement1 to
 which end his devices--such as entering

 a restaurant with a friend and feigning
 to begin a story with the loud         
exordium3 ,after ,i had murdered my poor
 father------were innumerable4 ,so much 
may be said with a certain pity or      
amusement1 but it must also be admitted 
that a certain refinement1 both social  
and intellectual1 kept him from         
associating himself entirely with the   
not over-discriminating ,bohemia of his 
generation4 ,it is all the more fair to 
say this because after #ahdd1 when his  
stepfather got a guardian appointed to  
take charge of his remaining capital and
 he was reduced to eking out a reduced  
income by journalism1 with all its      
attendant disappointments and hardships1
 he chose with some discrimination the  
extent to which he would throw in his   
lot with the ,bohemian life for which he
 had by that time every qualification4  
,he became a friend of ,murger and many 
other complete ,bohemians1 and there is 
a story of his asking the original of   
,schaunard to dine and giving him a     

piece of ,brie cheese and two bottles of
 claret1 asking him to imagine that he  
was enjoying the dessert after a good   
dinner4 ,yet his real intimates were a  
band of young men1 ,thodore de          
,banville1 ,charles ,monselet1 ,villiers
 de l',isle ,adam1 and ,leconte de      
l',isle1 who chose to maintain a certain
 amount of order in the midst of        
eccentricity and found boisterous       
joviality less to their taste than the  
more delicate affectations of wit4 ,here
 again ,i hold no brief for the complete
 ,bohemians4 ,they had their            
compensating virtues1 but it is hardly  
doubtful that ,baudelaire and his       
friends were the better educated and the
 more truly artistic set of the two4    
,this1 perhaps1 was the greatest tragedy
 of ,bohemia's decline1 that its        
spiritual distinction faded with its    
material well-being4 ,at any rate1 for a
 combination of reasons1 laudable and   
the reverse1 ,baudelaire's set was not  
,bohemia1 and if1 as ,i leave them1 ,i  

may insist particularly on one of the   
less laudable reasons1 it is that pose1 
which is another form of convention1    
must by the very conception of ,bohemia 
be excluded from its characteristics4   
,nadar hits the difference when1 in his 
curious little book on ,baudelaire1     
which is written in an idiom describable
 as a ,french version of that elliptical
 quaintness associated with our own     
,pink ',un1 he writes3 ,avec ces        
pileptiques1 combien loin du sans faon  
tout bonhomme1 de la simplesse  la bonne
 franquette de mon autre bande de       
,bohme1 'la bande de ,murger' et de     
notre ',socit des buveurs d'eau4' 444   
,we return1 then1 to the author of      
,scnes de la ,vie de ,bohme at the end  
of a rather circuitous route4 ,in       
speaking of the ,bohemia which he       
immortalized ,i have called it1 in      
distinction from certain modifications  
or superficial resemblances1 the central
 market-place1 but no more need be      
sought in that phrase than an effort to 

represent it by a handy image as        
exhibiting the main civic qualities and 
manners implied in the generic name4    
,compared with earlier days1 a far less 
proud and bustling burgherdom trod its  
rather muddy paving-stones1 for it had  
suffered as some agricultural centre    
when railways were beginning4 ,yet any  
pride of succession which they may have 
had was legitimately theirs1 for1 if    
they were less materially and           
intellectually endowed1 if the          
peculiarly happy circumstances of their 
civic foundation had passed to make     
their ultimate disruption certain under 
the changed conditions of all that is   
included in social development1 they    
still preserved the ,bohemian character1
 with its simplicity1 gaiety1 humour1   
and courage4 ,to labour the point       
further is unnecessary1 for if it is not
 already clear1 the fault is too remote 
to be here corrected4 ,in the ,scnes de 
la ,vie de ,bohme all the daily comedy  
and tragedy of this ,bohemia of common  

mortality finds expression3 the life    
there described so intimately and       
humorously stands or falls by its       
artistic truth1 to which no amount of   
possible documentary corroboration adds 
an iota4 ,nevertheless1 the professed   
concession to a desire for ascertainable
 facts with which this chapter opened   
must be made1 at the risk of seeming to 
expose the vanity of the researcher as  
the real object of indulgence4 ,since1  
in the garrulous world of to-day1 nobody
 can make the least incursion into the  
public eye1 much less produce a         
successful book or picture1 without the 
appearance of a crop of personal notes1 
so ,murger's picture may be taken for   
granted1 and what follows may appear in 
the light of personal notes1 claiming no
 more connexion than a general relation 
to the picture4  ,murger#bh was no son  
of a landed proprietor nor even sprung  
from a middle-class family1 as most     
,bohemians naturally were1 for the whole
 life of ,bohemia presupposes a more or 

less literary education seldom          
vouchsafed to the children of lower     
social order4 ,his father was a ,german 
tailor in the ,rue des ,trois ,frres1   
who wished1 not without reason1 that his
 son should succeed him in his trade4   
,murger's early education was therefore 
confined to the rudiments1 and his      
deficiencies in that respect were a     
burden upon him all his life4 ,the      
career of a tailor1 for all that1       
aroused his utmost aversion2 through his
 two friends1 ,emile and ,pierre        
,bisson1 who became clerks1 he acquired 
a violent taste for poetry1 with the    
composition of which he judged the      
shears incompatible4 ,his father took   
the rebellion hardly1 but got him a     
place1 since he liked pens and paper so 
much1 as errand-boy to an avou1 an      
occupation in which he continued to     
cultivate his poetic inclinations4 ,when
 seventeen years old1 in #ahci1 through 
the interest of ,m4 de ,jouy1 a critic  
and member of the ,academy1 he was      

appointed secretary to a ,russian       
diplomat1 ,m4 de ,tolstoi4 ,his salary  
was only #dj francs a month1 out of     
which he had to pay a small pension to  
his father for board and lodging2 still1
 he was happy4 ,his duties were very    
light1 and his employer1 who also had a 
literary turn1 took a certain amount of 
interest in him and gave him occasional 
presents of money4 ,during the next two 
years he made the acquaintance of that  
group of friends on which he drew for   
his stories of ,bohemia1 and experienced
 two love affairs4 ,the first object of 
his affections was la cousine ,angle1   
the heroine of a chapter in ,scnes de la
 ,vie de ,bohme1 in which ,rodolphe in  
his draughty garret1 by dint of burning 
his great tragedy in the stove1 warms   
himself sufficiently to write the       
commemorative poem for the tombstone of 
a defunct bourgeois1 buying with the    
proceeds a bunch of white violets for   
his disdainful cousin4 ,the second was a
 certain ,marie1 who eventually ran away

 with one of his friends--a tragedy     
which he relates in ,scnes de la ,vie de
 ,jeunesse4 ,by this time he had become 
a thoroughly developed ,bohemian1       
intolerant of all restraint4 ,he left   
his father's home1 and even for a time  
gave up his post with ,m4 de ,tolstoi4  
,it was then that ,henry ,murger's      
,bohemia was definitely formed1 a       
society described by one of them as ce  
demi-quarteron de potes  l'outrance1    
mais absolument indits1 runis dans un   
tas1 sans vestes ni semelles1 ne doutant
 de rien1 ni de leur lendemain1 ni de   
leur gnie1 ni du gnie de leur voisin1 ni
 de l'diteur  venir1 ni du succs1 ni des
 belles dames1 ni de la fortune--de     
rien1 si ce n'est de leur dner du soir1 
trop convaincus1 d'ailleurs1 quant  la  
question de leur djeuner du matin4      
,their names were the brothers ,bisson1 
,lelioux1 ,noel1 ,nadar1 ,guilbert1     
,vastine1 the brothers ,desbrosses1     
,cabot1 ,villain1 ,tabar1 ,chintreuil1  
,pottier1 ,karol1 ,schann1 and ,vernet4 

,they called themselves the ,socit des  
,buveurs d',eau1 but they were by no    
means so quixotic as ,murger draws that 
society in ,scnes de la ,vie de ,bohme4 
,it was simply a union for mutual help1 
the rules of which did not bar any      
commercial occupation4 ,the members     
lived as they pleased or as they could1 
and water was only a compulsory beverage
 at the official monthly meetings1 when 
they all submitted their work to the    
criticism of their brethren4 ,their     
ordinary occupations were various       
enough4 ,noel gave drawing lessons2     
another was a judicial stenographer2    
,jacques ,desbrosses1 nicknamed         
,christ--the original of ,jacques ,d----
 in ,scnes de la ,vie de ,bohme--and    
,cabot drew designs for monumental      
masons2 the other ,desbrosses1 called   
,gothique1 earned a little money by     
painting door-signs for midwives2       
,schann1 the original of ,schaunard1 was
 a musician1 and ,wallon1 ,murger's     
,colline1 who joined the society later1 

eked out his barren philosophy by giving
 lessons2 ,chintreuil1 afterwards to    
become a well-known artist1 was then a  
bookseller's assistant1 with            
,champfleury for his colleague2 and     
,nadar1 otherwise ,f4 ,tournachon1 whom 
,alphonse ,karr describes as a kind of  
giant with immense legs1 long arms1 a   
long body with a shaggy head of red hair
 above it1 and staring1 intelligent1    
flashing eyes1 was the poet and         
journalist who became a celebrated      
balloonist and an immensely successful  
photographer4 ,his caricature hangs in  
the section of the ,muse ,carnavalet    
devoted to early aeronautics in ,paris4 
,we may take it from ,murger that the   
shortcomings of fortune were borne with 
humorous fortitude on the credit of her 
occasional smiles1 but there was no     
illusion about the privations4 ,nadar1  
,champfleury1 and ,delvau all agree that
 a bitter wind blew upon them4 ,it was  
not so bad1 in ,nadar's opinion1 so long
 as they lived more or less together1   

and this they did for a short time in an
 old house by the ,barrire d',enfer1    
which looked like a farm with a farmyard
 inhabited by hens4 ,champfleury made   
their acquaintance at this time in a    
little dairy where they sometimes took  
their meals4 ,it was a strange society4 
,some wore blouses1 others ,phrygian    
caps1 while the brothers ,desbrosses had
 large sky-blue overcoats1 turned back  
with pink satin and fastened by huge    
mother-of-pearl buttons4 ,these two     
brothers were the originators of the    
colony at the ,barrire d',enfer1 and its
 chiefs surtout par leur misre4 ,they   
harboured some of the others1 who found 
a resting-place for the night in two    
hammocks slung in their small room4     
,murger was among them1 the art of      
painting being for the moment his       
preoccupation4 ,fine days were spent    
lounging on the roof and contemplating  
the then rural surroundings4 ,anybody   
arriving with five francs in his pocket 
would have been regarded as a           

millionaire2 indeed1 they were happy    
enough when they could afford a few     
fried potatoes for dinner4 ,yet they    
would not have exchanged their hovel for
 the ,garden of ,eden1 and they fed upon
 their dreams with inexhaustible        
confidence4 ,privation was still worse  
when the society broke up4 ,one         
,bohemian lived a whole week on raw     
potatoes brought by his poor mother from
 the country2 another went three days   
without food2 another passed a winter   
shirtless in a calico blouse and a      
lasting waistcoat2 another1 as a device 
to keep himself warm1 used to carry a   
log of wood up to his high garret1 drop 
it over the banisters1 and run down to  
fetch it again2 an older ,bohemian who  
heard of this manuvre exclaimed3        
,spendthrift1 why the log8  ,henry      
,murger himself1 who had abandoned      
painting and definitely adopted the     
vocation of a sentimental poet1 went to 
live with his friend ,lelioux1 first in 
the ,rue ,montholon and then in that    

garret at #d a year in the ,rue de la   
,tour d',auvergne where ,rodolphe's     
friends drank badly filtered water out  
of eclectic earthenware at his          
,wednesday receptions4 ,he had resumed  
his employment with ,m4 de ,tolstoi1 but
 he was too improvident to keep out of  
misery for many days together4 ,more    
than once he became so ill with purpura1
 an eruptive disease due in his case to 
the abuse of coffee1 that he had to go  
to the hospital4 ,some extracts from his
 letters during these years will give an
 idea of his destitution4 ,on ,december 
#ad1 #ahda1 he writes3       ,les       
,desbrosses passent la moiti de la      
journe  ne pas manger et      l'autre   
crever de froid4 ,les chats se mfient   
d'eux1 et1 en fait      de chmine1 ils  
ne possdent que leurs pipes--bien des   
fois sans      tabac4  ,march #f1 #ahdb3
       ,sans le ,christ1 qui m'a donn   
dner et  djeuner quatre fois la         
semaine1 je ne sais pas ce que je serais
 devenu4 ,ce garon n'a pas      vol son 

surnom4  ,april #be1 #ahdc3       ,nous 
crevons de faim2 nous sommes au bout du 
rouleau4 ,il faut      dcidment se faire
 un trou quelque part ou se faire sauter
 la      cervelle4  ,march #ag1 #ahdd3  
,de ,charybde en ,sylla1 mon cher ami6  
,la misre est plus horrible      que    
jamais chez moi et autour de moi4 ,ma   
place au ,commerce n'a      pas eu de   
suite2 je suis de nouveau sur le pav4   
,c'est horrible6      ,aussi le         
dcouragement m'a-t-il pris et tout  fait
 submerg4      ,encore quelques jours de
 cette position et je me fais sauter la 
cervelle ou je m'engage dans la         
marine4--,pardonne-moi ces plaintes6    
,c'est le cri de la fin4  ,like         
,colline1 he punned even in his misery4 
,letters of this doleful nature do not  
throw a very gay light upon the         
,bohemian market-place1 where there was 
high competition for a small custom and 
prices ruled low4 ,they contain a truth 
which no consideration of ,bohemia can  
omit1 but it was not the whole truth1 as

 ,murger himself testifies in his       
stories4 ,it was a life of good days as 
well as bad1 even in the leanest years1 
or ,scnes de la ,vie de ,bohme could    
never have been written4 ,murger himself
 had already begun to hand some small   
wares over his counter4 ,rodolphe1 the  
poet1 it will be remembered1 did not    
disdain to edit a small fashion paper   
called ,l'charpe d',iris1 in which1 to  
,colline's extravagant delight1 he      
inserted the philosopher's articles on  
metaphysics4 ,this was a direct touch   
from life1 for ,bohemia in more than one
 instance lent its pen to trade4 ,there 
was a certain ,charles ,vincent who     
edited two papers of the leather trade1 
,le ,moniteur de la ,cordonnerie and the
 ,halle aux ,cuirs4 ,in his editorial   
capacity he retained all the new pairs  
of boots and shoes sent in by           
advertisers1 and with these he often    
paid his contributors4 ,murger in #ahdc 
edited ,le ,moniteur de la ,chapellerie1
 the industrial fruits of which were1 no

 doubt1 less profitable1 but even a few 
hats and a few francs a month were of   
considerable value in ,bohemia4 ,they   
were1 of course1 nothing like the       
editorial profits of to-day4 ,receipts  
were extremely precarious1 when1 even on
 a well-written literary paper like     
,l',artiste1 the application of a       
contributor for payment caused a        
considerable rummaging in tills and     
pockets before twenty-five francs could 
be found dans la boutique4#bi ,yet small
 change was enough to stand a ,bohemian 
holiday1 and ,murger's gloomy letters   
must be discounted by balancing them    
against ,rodolphe's expedition to       
,versailles with ,mademoiselle ,laure   
after he had ransacked ,paris for the   
five francs necessary to do that        
expedition in sufficient style4 ,it     
would be absurd to suppose that ,murger1
 with ,nadar1 ,schann1 and a grisette or
 two1 did not sometimes invade the      
,chaumire in a joyous band or wake from 
sleep the serious inhabitants of the    

,rue de la ,tour d',auvergne4  ,at the  
same time1 howsoever the balance of     
pleasure and pain be struck1 it is clear
 that happy memories of this ,bohemia   
could only remain to those for whom it  
was only a necessary stage in life and  
not a death-trap4 ,this tendency to     
poetic melancholy and the painful       
slowness with which he worked might have
 caused ,henry ,murger to sink for ever 
like many of his friends4 ,he was saved1
 in the first instance1 by ,champfleury1
 who1 when he was finally sold up in the
 ,rue de la ,tour d',auvergne1 took him 
to live in the ,rue de ,vaugirard and   
induced him to abandon poetry for prose4
 ,jules ,husson-,fleury1 who was born at
 ,laon in #ahba and became a well-known 
writer under the name of ,champfleury1 a
 great collector of prints and          
porcelain1 on which he wrote some       
valuable monographs1 and finally the    
director of the ,svres manufactory1     
passed through ,bohemia during the same 
years as ,murger1 and in his ,souvenirs 

et ,portraits de ,jeunesse records many 
lively experiences4 ,he first came to   
,paris as shop-boy and assistant in a   
bookseller's shop where1 as ,i have     
already said1 the future painter        
,chintreuil was in the same service4    
,champfleury lost his place for reading 
the books on his errands instead of     
delivering them to the customers1 but   
during this year #ahci he saw something 
of ,murger and the colony of the        
brothers ,desbrosses4 ,he then left     
,paris for a year or two1 and returned  
when ,murger was living in the ,rue de  
la ,tour d',auvergne1 though the        
acquaintance was not at once renewed4   
,it was approximately in #ahde that they
 went to live together in the ,rue de   
,vaugirard1 after ,champfleury had met  
,murger again in the hospital4 ,they did
 not by any means leave ,bohemia2 in    
fact1 there is reason to suppose that to
 some extent the character of ,marcel   
was drawn from ,champfleury4 ,they wrote
 a vaudeville together which was never  

accepted1 and attacked the difficult art
 of writing stories4 ,murger was able to
 place some of his work in ,l',artiste1 
the editor of which was ,arsne          
,houssaye1 and in #ahdf the ,scnes de la
 ,vie de ,bohme began to come out in ,le
 ,corsaire4 ,they were poorly enough    
paid at the time1 but their             
dramatisation by ,barrire in #ahdi      
proved a huge success1 and from that    
time onwards ,murger settled down to    
more serious work and a less disorderly 
life4  ,but ,i am anticipating          
,champfleury's memories of the last days
 of ,bohemia4 ,in his view1 at any rate 
so far as ,murger and he were concerned1
 the indolence of ,bohemia has been much
 exaggerated4 ,in reality1 he says1 work
 was the basis of our life4 ,they had a 
joint library1 to which ,murger supplied
 the poets and ,champfleury the         
prose-writers4 ,the latter read         
voraciously to educate himself1 but     
,murger chiefly thumbed the pages of    
,victor ,hugo and ,alfred de ,musset2 he

 took regular doses of ,shakespeare in a
 ,french translation1 traces of which   
appear in ,scnes de la ,vie de ,bohme1  
but he had little knowledge of other    
classic authors4 ,he worked with        
extraordinary difficulty2 a page of     
prose cost him a night's work and       
intense intellectual labour1 for ,murger
 n'tait plein que de son cur4           
,champfleury1 for all his friendship1   
was a shrewd critic when he observed    
that his whole vision was introspective3
 ,he swept the same chimney so often    
that in the end the plaster came off and
 the bricks fell down2 or again3        
,besides his little library1 his        
belongings consisted of worn white      
gloves1 a velvet mask1 and a withered   
bouquet hung on the walls4 ,all         
,murger's work lies in his              
memories--some faded flowers1 a meeting 
at the ,bal de l',opra1 a heart-ache4   
,certain disorders of ,bohemia are not  
excused by ,champfleury1 particularly   
that of not paying debts4 ,his friend   

,fauchry1 an engraver who afterwards    
went to seek his fortune in ,australia1 
induced him at first to accept the      
,bohemian code1 which was3  #a4 ,never  
to pay one's rent4  #b4 ,to conduct     
one's removals by the window4  #c4 ,to  
consider all bootmakers1 tailors1       
hatters1 and restaurant-keepers as      
members of ,mr4 ,credit's family4  ,some
 went so far as to maintain that after a
 clandestine removal through the window 
no piece of furniture which had passed  
the gutter in the middle of the street  
could be reclaimed by the proprietor4   
,this less creditable attitude of       
,bohemia1 which is sufficiently         
prominent in ,scnes de la ,vie de       
,bohme1 was repudiated with some shame  
in after years by many of ,murger's     
friends4 ,in the book ,rodolphe pays his
 debts when he settles down1 and we have
 it on the authority of ,delvau that    
,schann 7,schaunard71 who eventually    
kept a respectable toy-shop1 and the    
original of ,musette1 who married a     

chemist1 took in their later days a more
 usual view of money matters4           
,champfleury confesses that he himself  
was saved by an amiable girl1 who for a 
time became the divinity of his garret4 
,unlike ,mimi and ,musette1 she had a   
horror of debt and vagabondage and      
inspired him with a pleasure in his own 
humble hearth1 so that he gradually     
detached himself from his comrades1 who 
were for the most part so ill provided  
for in the matter of lodging that their 
chief workroom was a caf1 where they    
arrived at nine in the morning1 to leave
 at midnight4 ,they read the newspapers1
 played at dominoes or tric-trac1 and   
occasionally did a little work4         
,fauchry1 in particular1 caused         
considerable surprise among the regular 
customers by bringing his whole         
engraving apparatus and solemnly setting
 to work4 ,some respect certainly is due
 to the proprietors of these little     
eating-houses who so gallantly put up   
with and gave credit to this noisy and  

not very profitable clientle1 who were  
capable of perpetrating all the outrages
 committed by ,rodolphe and the rest in 
their constant asylum1 the ,caf ,momus4 
,champfleury says little of the amiable 
goddess who rescued him from vagabondage
 except that she left him1 like ,mimi1  
because she grew tired of cheap muslin1 
but in another chapter he gives some    
account of two other idols of ,bohemia  
whom he calls ,mademoiselle ,m4 and     
,mademoiselle ,p4 ,mademoiselle ,m4 was 
dark and merry1 a thorough coquette who 
laughed at wounded hearts2 ,mademoiselle
 ,p4 was fair and melancholy1 always in 
tears for the last lover who had left   
her4 ,a generation of ,bohemians were   
their lovers1 poets and painters        
especially4 ,as the generation grew up  
the divinities grew wiser1 and          
,mademoiselle ,m4 was the first to do a 
little mental arithmetic4 ,for her own  
friends who had a future the days of    
idleness were over2 there was no future 
for her either among the stranded       

remainder or in a new generation4       
,accordingly she departed to more       
profitable spheres4 ,mademoiselle ,p4   
stayed a little longer1 still loving her
 poets1 and weeping toutes les larmes de
 son corps to find that she had a too   
formidable rival in the desire for fame 
which watched at the door of her lovers'
 hearts1 till finally she found a worthy
 man who was no poet to love her and    
eventually to marry her4 ,mademoiselle  
,m41 meanwhile1 had made by her         
conquests quite a respectable capital1  
with which one fine day she set sail for
 ,algiers4 ,unhappily she left          
,marseilles in a steamer which sank with
 all hands1 so that she and her gold    
came to rest at the bottom of the sea--a
 sad story from which ,champfleury in an
 unworthy moment makes some show of     
drawing a moral4 ,neither of these young
 women can be identified with ,murger's 
heroines4 ,musette1 as ,i have said1    
married a chemist2 ,phmie ,teinturire1  
,schaunard's choice1 was according to   

,delvau1 a not over-respectable person  
resembling a heroine of ,paul de ,kock2 
as for ,mimi1 ,delvau asserts that      
,murger loved her while he wrote the    
,scnes de la ,vie de ,bohme1 and that   
her life and wretched death are matters 
of fact4 ,however1 that we may not be   
too lugubrious let me add that ,i have  
read in the ,french equivalent of ,notes
 and ,queries a statement that she      
cheerfully lived to keep a stall in the 
market4  ,one more bead in this string  
of scattered facts1 and the hungerers   
for documentary evidence must go away   
satisfied4 ,the disorder of ,bohemia    
requires no emphasis1 but it is curious 
to note that the persons in whom its    
more orderly elements were incarnated   
were ,champfleury himself and the       
original of that odd figure1 ,carolus   
,barbemuche1 the solemn young tutor who 
in ,murger's story glances so enviously 
at the cnacle of ,rodolphe1 ,schaunard1 
and ,marcel in the ,caf ,momus1 who     
saves them from disaster by paying for  

their reckless ,christmas ,eve supper1  
who demands so humbly the privilege of  
being admitted to the clan1 who serves  
so long and expensive an apprenticeship 
and gives such a splendid festival on   
his reception1 even to the length of    
lending all his own presentable clothes 
to his guests for the occasion4 ,carolus
 ,barbemuche was drawn1 much to his     
disgust1 from ,charles ,barbara1 an     
obscure writer of fantastic stories1 who
 joined ,murger's ,bohemia after acting 
as tutor to two boys4 ,he had a face    
like a sphinx1 rarely smiled1 and seemed
 to be afraid of the wild jokes of his  
friends4 ,unlike the rest1 he lived     
almost a hermit's life1 receiving nobody
 in his garret1 and retiring there every
 night neither to read nor to write1 but
 to think1 a queer occupation for a     
,bohemian4 ,of him ,champfleury writes3 
,he and ,i represented order in a group 
doomed to disorder2 we were      the    
bourgeois of ,bohemia1 as much by our   
ambitions as our manner      of living4 

,the details of one day of our life1    
which continued in      the same way for
 ten years1 will show the succession of 
our studies      and our labours4       
,rising very early1 dashing from my bed 
to my      table1 ,i used to write till 
nine o'clock4 ,an hour sufficed me for  
breakfast and a walk to the library1    
where ,i worked till twelve2      there 
,i used to meet ,barbara1 whom ,i took  
to the public lectures at      the      
,collge de ,france1 the ,sorbonne1 or   
the ,jardin des ,plantes4 ,two          
lectures1 an hour each1 exhausted our   
attention1 and1 resuming our      walk1 
we arrived at ,schann's temple of music1
 exclusively      consecrated to        
quartets4 ,two hours of music every day1
 without      counting piano trios three
 times a week at another house1 made us 
able to read all the chamber music of   
the ,german masters4444      ,barbara   
was the finest instrumentalist in our   
band2 son and brother      of           
distinguished musicians1 he had received

 in early youth      excellent violin   
lessons1 the fruit of which was not lost
 later1      and he brought to the      
leading of a quartet a restrained       
emotion      which is to be found in    
some pages of his writings4  ,it is an  
unexpectedly pretty glimpse into a part 
of ,bohemia where ,murger was not at    
home4 ,when the quartets took place in a
 little square of the ,quartier ,latin1 
students and grisettes came to listen   
before the open window1 and workpeople  
on every story put out their heads to   
watch for the arrival of the musicians4 
,murger's disreputable ,schaunard1 with 
his symphony on ,l'influence du bleu    
dans la musique1 was always1 ,i must    
confess1 my favourite2 but to discover  
that he played the quartets of ,haydn1  
,mozart1 ,beethoven1 ,schubert1 and     
,mendelssohn for two hours a day with   
,barbemuche and ,marcel--well1 it was an
 intoxicating vision4 ,schaunard1 who   
had a passion for lobsters1 the composer
 7in his fleshly form of ,schann7 of a  

famous drinking song1 as second violin  
in a ,beethoven quartet--oh pleasant1   
pleasant fellow1 who truly deserved to  
come into the comfortable harbour of a  
toy-shop6  ,marcel1 so far as he was    
,champfleury1 found a haven too1 and    
lived till #ahhi4 ,colline retired to   
found a new religion in ,switzerland1   
and ,rodolphe-,murger1 though he        
lingered for some years in the band of  
artists and writers who haunted the     
brasserie where ,courbet raised the     
temple of realism1 finally turned his   
back on dissipation and settled at      
,marlotte1 even now a charming village  
near ,fontainebleau4 ,his chief         
recreation there was hunting1 an        
occupation quite innocuous to the game1 
if it be true that a certain hare       
survived his attentions for a whole     
season1 and when an unwary keeper shot  
it one misty afternoon1 he exclaimed    
with genuine compunction1 ,tiens1 c'est 
le livre de ,m4 ,murger6 ,in #ahfa he   
came to die in ,paris of arteritis1 and 

all the literary world visited his      
bedside4 ,he died two days after his    
admission to the hospital1 exclaiming1  
,pas de musique6 ,pas de bruit6 ,pas de 
,bohme6 ,bohemia1 indeed1 had long been 
dead1 and in his last moments he may    
have recognized that it was well4 ,there
 was no longer room for it in a busier1 
a better-swept world4 ,in its golden age
 ,bohemia did no more than share the    
imperfections of all human institutions4
 ,it had virtues1 a liberty1 a pride1   
and an ideal of its own4 ,murger had    
seen the beauty become a slattern1      
pretty no doubt beneath her smuts1 gay  
in the midst of her sorrows1 but free by
 tolerance1 not by protest1 her pride   
almost in the dust and her ideals in the
 possession of others4 ,in the words    
which ,thodore ,pelloquet spoke over his
 grave1 ,murger belonged to an evil     
generation3       ,il appartenait  une  
mauvaise gnration1  une gnration        
vieillie avant l'heure1 et1 malgr sa    
vieillesse prmature1 sans               

exprience1 sans enthousiasme et sans    
colre1 ayant de la vanit et      pas du 
tout d'orgueil1 une vanit niaise1       
purile1 qui se manifeste      surtout   
par l'affectation d'une ironie mesquine1
 en face de tous      les enthousiasmes 
et de toutes les grandes causes2  une   
gnration1 en un mot1 qui laissa prir    
dans ses mains le      magnifique       
hritage que lui avaient lgu les hommes  
de #ahcj4     ,,xi  ,,amusements ,,of   
,,bohemia   ,the pageant of #ahcj has   
passed1 and our gaze has been directed  
to its ,bohemian ingredients with the   
purpose of noting the particular marks  
and qualities which distinguished       
,bohemia1 and how their particular      
manifestations were conditioned and     
varied by the progress of the years4    
,looking out of the window of the       
present1 we have been unable at any     
moment to call a halt1 lest we should   
lose a comprehensive view of the main   
development4 ,now that this view has    
been gained it will do no harm to send  

the procession once more before the     
mind's eye1 that we may fix at leisure  
any less important details which may    
seem in themselves attractive4 ,one of  
the most happy qualities of the         
,bohemian nature is its capacity for    
amusing itself4 ,real boredom and       
lackadaisical idleness do not come into 
the list of its shortcomings4 ,the      
passionate ,romantics1 indeed1          
fashionably suffered from spleen and    
ennui1 they proclaimed a cur us comme   
l'escalier d'une fille de joie1 but the 
,bohemian1 so far as he indulged in     
these peculiarities1 was amusing        
himself4 ,to him spleen and ennui were  
part of the game which he embraced with 
enthusiasm and in which he desired to   
excel2 yet they were parts to which1 as 
a general rule1 he did not pay too much 
attention1 preferring the more positive 
and assertive sides of ,romanticism4    
,neither ,gautier nor ,grard de ,nerval 
nor ,rodolphe nor ,schaunard presents   
himself to the imagination as suffering 

from boredom4 ,an unfailing capacity for
 amusing oneself and finding amusement  
in one's fellow-men is an essential     
,bohemian trait4 ,the preceding chapters
 have not been wholly devoid of         
indications as to the way in which these
 talents were exercised by the ,bohemian
 clans1 but it was necessary to insist  
rather on the diversions which          
characterized the particular spirit of  
each brotherhood than on the general    
opportunities which they all enjoyed    
with slight variation4 ,the field is now
 open without restriction1 and it will  
not be amiss to take a glimpse here and 
there at the ,bohemian enjoying his     
leisure1 if only to add a few vivid     
touches that will enliven the background
 of the picture4 ,the work of ,bohemia  
can always be taken for granted2        
artistic endeavour1 whether actively or 
indolently pursued1 varies but little in
 external feature2 the change1 the      
colour1 the tragedy and comedy are only 
to be found within the artist's mind2   

but the amusement of ,bohemia1 so far   
from being hidden1 courts publicity4 ,it
 takes its colour1 too1 so largely from 
the changing world around that there is 
great pictorial value in its easily     
observable vicissitudes4 ,for that      
reason ,i devote this chapter to the    
subject of its title without further    
apology1 but only with the caution that 
here the accidents rather than the      
essentials of ,bohemia are regarded4    
,the privilege of amusement is open to  
everybody1 but to see what ,bohemia made
 of its privileges in that respect is1  
perhaps1 to quicken it for the          
imagination by an extra spark4          
,precisians might say that dress hardly 
comes under the head of amusements and  
that on certain views it is more        
properly included in the category of    
necessities or of nuisances4 ,yet there 
is no doubt that for all women--and for 
more men than would admit it--to be well
 dressed is an enjoyment1 a term only   
differing from amusement by a smaller   

suggestion of possible frivolity4 ,it is
 quite a sufficient warrant1 at all     
events1 for giving dress a small part in
 this chapter2 besides1 the costume of  
any individual or society is both a sure
 indicator of qualities and an apt focus
 for judgment4 ,in ,england1 the very   
home of illustrated books and papers1 it
 is not necessary to say much in evoking
 the costume of a past age1 so that the 
subject may be treated quite shortly1   
especially as regards the men of        
,bohemia1 whose dress was too often a   
deplorable tragedy4 ,when ,marcel went  
to ,musette's party with ,mathusalem    
buttoned up to the neck over a blue     
shirt dotted with the figures of a      
boar-hunt he was1 as ,murger says1      
dressed in the worst taste possible4 ,in
 such a case there is no more to be     
said2 his appearance would vary little  
from age to age4 ,to the ,bohemian in   
his lean days1 certainly1 it would be an
 insult to impute enjoyment of his      
tattered wardrobe4 ,those who most      

enjoyed dressing1 without a doubt1 were 
the ,bohemian generation who cheered    
,hernani with such frenzy1 for they made
 their pourpoints1 felt sombreros1      
,robespierre waistcoats1 and ,phrygian  
caps effective details in the general   
,romantic demonstration and1 as such1   
matters of intense pleasure4 ,but these 
extravagances have already caught our   
attention2 they were part of that       
frantic desire for novelty and colour   
which was a symptom of le mal           
romantique2 their proper complement was 
that rage for fancy-dress balls which   
broke out shortly after #ahcj and laid  
every nationality and period under      
contribution for picturesque costumes4  
,so far as the men are concerned1 it    
need only be pointed out that the       
general dress of the time--against which
 ,bohemia stood out at first and into   
which it gradually faded--was that of   
tight pantaloons with straps1 long coats
 with full skirts and accentuated       
waists1 full cravats1 lavish jewellery1 

and high hats in a bewildering variety  
of shapes1 cylindrical1 conical1        
inverted conical1 curly1 straight1 with 
broad brims and with scarce a brim at   
all--the civilian uniform1 in fact1 of  
our own late ,georgian and early        
,victorian era4 ,it was a dress that    
only a few could wear with distinction2 
on the rest it wrinkled and puffed in   
inevitable ugliness4 ,a ,roger de       
,beauvoir could look immaculately       
moulded1 but one has only to glance at  
the caricatures of ,travis1 ,monnier1   
,daumier1 and ,gavarni to see how       
unequivocally hideous were the clothes  
of an average man4 ,to be out at elbows 
in this exacting fashion was indeed to  
be a sorry sight1 and one can well      
imagine poor ,lucien de ,rubempr to have
 been in his provincial attire fair game
 for the sneers of ,rastignac and de    
,marsay4 ,still1 even the ,bohemian had 
a new suit at times1 and it lights the  
memory of ,arsne ,houssaye1 ,camille    
,rogier1 ,murger1 ,champfleury1 and the 

rest to recall that it was not for      
comfortable lounge suits and flannels   
that they got into debt1 but for correct
 suits of tails1 flowery waistcoats1    
top-hats1 and patent leather boots4 ,it 
gives a quaint touch of decorum to the  
picture of their wildest excesses4      
,women entered ,bohemia as guests rather
 than as inhabitants1 and to the fair   
visitors conformity to fashion was      
anything but a trifle4 ,to deck         
themselves fittingly was their constant 
amusement1 and one in which they took   
good care that their swains should be   
sharers4 ,the female dress of the time  
is well known to us from early pictures 
of ,queen ,victoria and the paintings of
 ,winterhalter2 there are few1 too1 who 
at one time or another have not seen    
some of ,gavarni's beautiful fashion    
plates4 ,the ,empire style had entirely 
disappeared1 and the accent was in #ahcj
 laid chiefly on the waist4 ,the        
shoulders were sloping and wide1 the    
sleeves so voluminous that by #ahcf they

 were like miniature balloons1 the skirt
 very wide and full1 ending above the   
ankles4 ,the waist and head were made to
 seem very small in proportion1 so that 
two loaves placed one on top of the     
other would have made a very good       
caricature of a woman's figure at any   
time during the golden age of ,bohemia4 
,the hair was elaborately done to frame 
a pretty face daintily under a large    
poke-bonnet4 ,it was pre-eminently the  
day of fragile women3 nothing in their  
costume seemed made for hard wear4      
,cydalise or ,victorine1 as she swung in
 the hammock among the gallants of the  
,impasse du ,doyenn1 would have kicked a
 little cross-laced foot out from       
ethereal folds of flowered muslin1 and  
gathered a gauzy scarf enticingly round 
bare shoulders4 ,fashions were indeed   
expensive for a fond lover's pocket1 but
 at least he was never at a loss what to
 buy for his mistress1 so many were the 
little accessories to the ,graces'      
toilet4 ,he was never wrong1 for        

instance1 in offering a piece of gay    
ribbon1 for there were bows everywhere1 
on the bosom1 on the sleeves1 and1 with 
long dazzling streamers1 round the      
waist4 ,there was no end to their       
variety and combination of colours1     
brilliant and pale2 even the crudest    
,scottish tartans were not considered   
amiss1 as a certain dress in the ,london
 ,museum will show the incredulous4 ,if 
ribbon was too paltry1 a man in a really
 generous mood would present a cashmere 
shawl1 an expensive and much appreciated
 luxury4 ,the manipulation of shawls on 
frail1 rounded little persons1 who1 in  
,england at least1 still fainted at will
 and indulged in the vapours1 was a     
matter of some art4 ,balzac1 in one of  
his short stories1 asserts that a femme 
du monde could be distinguished from the
 actress or the grisette by the handling
 of her cachemire alone4 ,there was only
 one great change in woman's dress      
between the earlier and later days of   
,bohemia1 and that was in the sleeves1  

which dwindled suddenly as if the       
balloons had been pricked1 and became   
either closely fitting or almost        
disappeared into two little frilly      
bands4 ,in fact1 during the forties1    
before skirts began to be exaggerated on
 horse-hair paddings and verge upon the 
crinoline1 female costume was as nearly 
natural as it can be if corsets be      
granted4 ,nothing can be more charming  
than the appearance of the ,queen of the
 ,belgians in her portrait by           
,winterhalter which hangs in the gallery
 at ,versailles4 ,she wears a red velvet
 dress1 cut simply as to the corsage1   
with the skirt reaching the ground in   
full1 stately folds3 there is no        
extravagance of bows and frills1 only a 
little lace at the bosom and sleeves4   
,so1 if we would picture ,mimi or       
,musette1 as they were dressed for that 
memorable day at ,fontenay-aux-,roses1  
in the new muslin frocks made by their  
own hands1 we must imagine dainty little
 women1 looking as if a breath would    

blow them away1 their pretty cheeks     
showing between two bewitching clusters 
of ringlets1 straw bonnets with not too 
large brims upon their heads1 tied with 
a coquettish ribbon1 gowns of flowered  
muslin1 light1 simple1 and flowing1 and 
scarfs pinned round their sloping       
shoulders or held in place by mittened  
hands4 ,gavarin drew them to the life   
time and time again1 and they were      
considerably more attractive than any   
would-be ,bohmiennes of our time in     
their rough1 untidy tweeds or amorphous 
rational dress4  ,from the amusement of 
clothing the body it is an easy         
transition to that of refreshing it4    
,eating and drinking1 like dress1 may   
from a certain point of view come under 
the head of necessities1 but indulgence 
in good cheer when possible is a habit  
of young people of which a ,bohemian was
 by no means contemptuous4 ,a word1     
therefore1 about his particular haunts  
among the thousand cafs and restaurants 
of ,paris will not be out of season4    

,after #ahcj the great houses in the    
,palais ,royal had fallen out of        
fashion1 and the four leading           
restaurants of ,paris were on the       
boulevard4 ,bohemians1 it is true1 were 
not often to be found within them1 but  
in the golden age1 when ,bohemia was    
nearer to the dandies and viveurs1 it   
would at least have been possible that  
in a moment of extravagance some        
,bohemian friend should have accompanied
 ,roger de ,beauvoir into the ,caf de   
,paris1 the ,caf ,riche1 the ,caf       
,hardy1 or the ,caf ,anglais4 ,the ,caf 
de ,paris was opposite ,tortoni's1 which
 stood at the end of the ,rue ,taitbout4
 ,besides being the home of the         
aristocratic petit cercle1 it was       
renowned for its witty conversation and 
its general air of luxury4 ,since it was
 favoured by the aspirants to smartness1
 as well as the perfect examples1 its   
society was less select than that of the
 ,caf ,riche1 at the corner of the ,rue 
,lepeletier1 or the ,caf ,anglais1 which

 still remains in its old position4     
,there was a quiet solidity about the   
,caf ,anglais1 in particular1 which gave
 it a peculiar air of distinction1      
though its company was gay enough at    
supper-time4 ,it was especially famous  
for its roast meat and its grills1      
though in these matters the ,caf ,hardy1
 at the corner of the ,rue ,laffitte1   
ran it close4 ,hardy was an ,english    
cook who invented the djeuner  la       
fourchette1 and popularized it by       
setting up the first silver grill in    
,paris4 ,customers chose their own      
cutlet or steak and saw it cooked before
 their eyes4 ,at all these four the     
prices were very high1 and with regard  
to two of them it was said3 ,on doit tre
 riche pour dner au ,caf ,hardy1 et     
hardi pour dner au ,caf ,riche4         
,however1 the chief haunt for ,bohemians
 with money to spend was the ,rocher de 
,cancale1 where it was easier to be     
uproarious without offending the        
proprieties4 ,this famous restaurant    

still stands in the dirty1 provincial   
,rue ,montorgueil1 in the midst of small
 shops whose wares overflow on to the   
pavement4 ,the stately ornamentation of 
dark painted wood is still visible on   
its upper stories1 but the specimens of 
edibles in its ground-floor windows tell
 too plainly to what depths it has sunk4
 ,it is no longer a possible home for   
,rastignac and his boon companions1 nor 
would it tempt ,arsne ,houssaye to      
entertain there the brethren of la      
,bohme galante1 for it merely plies the 
trade of the convenient marchand de vin 
in a rather squalid quarter4 ,the       
,rocher de ,cancale had declined already
 during the later days of ,bohemia1 and 
in ,murger's day they repaired on jours 
de liesse to the ,caf de l',odon1       
,hill's ,tavern in the ,boulevard des   
,capucines1 or the ,cabaret ,dinochan at
 the corner of the ,rue de ,navarin4    
,the first of these was1 in particular1 
the haunt of ,baudelaire and his        
friends1 where the unfortunate ,hgsippe 

,moreau made his brief acquaintance with
 the main stream of ,bohemia towards the
 end of his days1 which had been mainly 
passed in a backwater4 ,hill's ,tavern  
was one of the many chop-houses in the  
,english style that flourished in ,louis
 ,philippe's ,paris--only the ,petit    
,lucas1 a charming place for a quiet    
dinner1 remains to-day--to cater for the
 down-at-elbows ,englishmen1 jockeys1   
and trainers1 of whom there was always a
 certain number4 ,at supper-time1       
however1 it was invaded by ,bohemia1 and
 was often so full that its doors had to
 be closed4 ,one of its peculiarities   
was that its private rooms were named   
after ,shakespeare1 ,byron1 and other   
great poets4 ,the ,caf ,dinochan1       
according to ,delvau1#cj was the ground 
on which a great many small papers of   
the day were started4 ,monselet1 ,nadar1
 ,fauchry1 and ,champfleury were among  
its customers1 and ,murger died in debt 
to its proprietor for twelve hundred    
francs1 for it was said of this worthy  

creditor3 ,on dne trs-bien chez lui     
quand on a quarante sous dans une       
poche--et dix francs dans l'autre4 ,yet 
the full apparatus of a restaurant was  
not necessary to the gaiety of ,bohemian
 suppers1 for in scanty days they made  
just as merry in the shops of one or two
 bakeries on rolls and warm milk4 ,the  
,boulangerie ,cretaine in the ,quartier 
,latin was famous for its milk rolls and
 for the brilliant conversation of      
,privat d',anglemont1 who1 though it was
 against his principle to get into debt1
 ran up a bill there for halfpenny rolls
 of six hundred francs4 ,the other      
famous baker was the ptissier ,pitou1 by
 the ,porte ,montmartre1 where a crowd  
of ,bohemians used to congregate after  
the midnight closing of the cafs4 ,in   
the back shop was a table running round 
three sides of the square1 and at this  
piano1 as it was called1 the quaint     
figure of ,guichardet presided4         
,guichardet1 whose nez vermeil et digne 
was celebrated in one of ,banville's    

triolets1 was a ,bohemian of the type of
 ,balzac's ,comte de la ,palfrine1 one  
who had voluntarily dropped out of the  
race of life while preserving all his   
dignity and pride4 ,he passed his days  
in amiable vagabondage1 but preserved a 
perfume of exquisite politeness and     
witty impertinence which made him the   
most delightful companion in the world4 
,so says ,delvau1 according to whom he  
was the only man left in ,france who    
really knew how to say ,femme charmante6
  ,so far ,i have mainly mentioned the  
haunts of ,bohemians with the means and 
inclination for a certain amount of     
self-indulgence4 ,but in ,bohemia       
occasions preponderated when indulgence 
in anything beyond bare necessities was 
an impossibility4 ,the left bank swarmed
 with cheap refuges for those who had   
hearty appetites and only a few pence4  
,there was ,viot's for the poorest of   
the poor2 ,dagneaux's or ,magny's in the
 ,rue ,contrescarpe-,dauphine--rather   
superior houses where it was possible to

 procure a semblance of good cheer2 and 
the ,cabaret of ,mre ,cadet outside the 
,barrire ,montparnasse1 where ,schaunard
 had his first meeting with ,colline    
over the stewed rabbit with two heads4  
,this last had a garden which ran along 
the ,montparnasse cemetery1 and under   
the shade of its dusty shrubs not only  
literary ,bohemians but nearly all the  
young actors and actresses of the ,thtre
 ,montparnasse and the ,thtre du        
,luxembourg made their scanty meals4    
,you might as well have asked for sphinx
 there as chicken1 says ,delvau1 the    
staple dishes being stewed rabbit and   
choucroute garnie4 ,to give a longer    
catalogue of such places would be       
neither instructive nor amusing1 and    
their types are easily enough found in  
the ,paris of to-day4 ,there are two1   
however1 that call for special mention1 
for fiction has carried their fame      
beyond the days of their material       
existence4 ,no reader of ,balzac's      
,illusions ,perdues can have forgotten  

the description of the cheap            
eating-house at the corner of the ,place
 de la ,sorbonne and the ,rue ,neuve de 
,richelieu1 with the small panes of     
glass of its front window1 its          
comforting announcement of pain         
discrtion1 its long tables like those of
 a monastic refectory1 its varieties of 
cow's flesh and veal1 and the hurried   
air of its diners1 who came there to eat
 and not to loiter4 ,this famous house1 
where a dinner of three dishes with a   
carafon of wine or a bottle of beer cost
 ninepence1 where ,lucien de ,rubempr   
met ,lousteau and made the acquaintance 
of d',arthez and his virtuous friends1  
was the restaurant of ,flicoteaux1 no   
product of ,balzac's imagination1 but a 
name known to all the strugglers for    
fame and fortune4 ,it was a sure ground 
on which to observe ,bohemia1 not indeed
 in its greatest indigence1 but on the  
days when there was at least no margin4 
,thackeray mentions it in his ,paris    
,sketch-,book1 and there is a passage in

 ,lytton ,bulwer's ,france which vividly
 gives the impression produced by       
,flicoteaux on an ,english eye3         
,enter he says between three and four   
o'clock1 and take your seat      at one 
of the small tables1 the greater number 
of which are already      occupied4 ,to 
your right there is a pale young man3   
his long hair1      falling loosely over
 his face1 gives an additional wildness 
to the      eye1 which has caught a     
mysterious light from the midnight      
vigil2      his clothes are clean and   
threadbare2 his coat too short at the   
wrists2 his trousers too short at the   
legs2 his cravat of a rusty      black1 
and vaguely confining two immense shirt 
collars1 leaves his      thin and       
angular neck almost entirely exposed4   
,to your left is a      native of the   
,south1 pale and swarthy3 his long black
 locks1 parted      from his forehead1  
descend upon his shoulders2 his lip is  
fringed      with a slight moustache1   
and the semblance of a beard gives to   

his      meditative countenance an      
antique and apostolic cast4 ,ranged     
round      the room1 with their thin1   
meagre portions of meat and bread1 their
      pale decanter of water before     
them1 sit the students1 whom a youth    
of poverty and privation is preparing   
for a life of energy or      science4   
,flicoteaux has long been swept away1   
and buildings of the ,sorbonne now      
occupy its site4 ,gone1 too1 these many 
years1 is the ,caf ,momus1 which stood  
in a back street by the old church of   
,saint-,germain l',auxerrois1 the       
hostelry celebrated by so many exploits 
of ,murger's four heroes in ,scnes de la
 ,vie de ,bohme4 ,it was here that      
,schaunard and ,colline collected       
,rodolphe for the ,bohemian brotherhood1
 and it became their home1 not so much  
for meals1 though it was the scene of   
their reckless ,christmas ,eve supper   
which introduced the saviour            
,barbemuche1 but rather for the lighter 
consommations over which1 by the ,french

 custom1 they could spend unlimited     
hours--a precious privilege when a cold 
garret was the only alternative4 ,there 
was nothing fictitious about the ,caf   
,momus2 it was a real establishment     
serving some respectable shopkeepers of 
the quarter1 when by some mischance1    
from the good ,m4 ,momus' point of view1
 it attracted the ,bohemian horde of    
,murger1 ,champfleury1 ,nadar1 ,schann1 
,wallon1 and many of the other ,buveurs 
d',eau4 ,even on ,murger's testimony1   
they must be admitted to have abused    
their privileges without shedding any   
very great glory in return1 and we may  
take as fairly true the list of         
grievances which was drawn up by the    
proprietor against ,rodolphe and his    
friends1 from which it appears that they
 spent the whole day there from morning 
to midnight1 making a desert round them 
with their strident voices and          
extravagant conversation2 that ,rodolphe
 carried off all the papers in the      
morning and complained if their bands   

were broken1 and that by shouting every 
quarter of an hour for ,le ,castor1 a   
journal of the hat trade edited by      
,rodolphe1 the companions had forced a  
subscription on the proprietor2 that    
,colline and ,rodolphe played tric-trac 
all day1 refusing to give up the table  
to other people2 that ,marcel set up his
 easel in the caf1 and even went so far 
as to invite models of both sexes2 that 
,schaunard had expressed his intention  
of bringing his piano there1 and that   
,phmie ,teinturire never wore a bonnet  
when she came to meet him2 that1 not    
content with ordering very little1 the  
four friends presumed to make their own 
coffee on the premises2 and that the    
waiter1 corrupted by their influence1   
had seen fit to address an amatory poem 
to the dame du comptoir4 ,murger puts a 
touch of exaggeration into this         
complaint1 but it is to be feared1      
nevertheless1 that no trifling dossier  
of misdemeanours could have been        
compiled against the originals of       

,rodolphe1 ,marcel1 and the rest4 ,we   
have it on ,delvau's authority1 at all  
events1 that the profit of their custom 
was quite disproportionate to its       
assiduity1 when he tells of their       
stratagem for obtaining asylum at small 
cost4 ,the smallest possible order was a
 demi-tasse1 which consisted of a small 
cup of coffee1 four lumps of sugar1 and 
a thimbleful of cognac2 this cost five  
sous1 a sum of importance in ,bohemia4  
,the practice1 therefore1 was that a    
certain student1 ,joannis ,guigard1 who 
was of the band1 went in first1 ordered 
a demi-tasse1 and went upstairs to      
consume it4 ,murger would then arrive1  
ask if ,guigard were upstairs1 and run  
up4 ,the rest followed in succession    
with the same question till the cnacle  
was complete and in a position to have a
 sip of coffee and some hours of warmth 
for nothing4 ,after a short while ,momus
 grew tired of these troublesome        
customers and formally gave them notice 
to quit4 ,they accepted the intimation1 

but vowed revenge4 ,accordingly1 a few  
days later1 one of the band turned up   
with six wet-nurses in his train1 while 
another brought six funeral mutes4 ,the 
rest of the band then arrived1 and the  
,bohemian spokesman1 probably ,schann1  
delivered a flowery discourse upon the  
affinity of life and death1 with        
allusions to their guests' professions4 
,he wound up by telling the mutes to    
bury the ,caf ,momus and take the nurses
 as a reward4 ,to make matters worse1 he
 directed that the milk and beer which  
had been ordered should be warmed as a  
mixture4 ,the mutes and nurses1 furious 
at being thus deceived and insulted1    
broke into angry expostulations1 and1   
aided by the jests of the ,bohemians1   
the proceedings ended in a tremendous   
disturbance4 ,schann and two others were
 arrested1 and the next day ,momus sold 
his business4  ,the extent to which     
,bohemia1 at its different phases1      
shared in the various pastimes of ,paris
 cannot be determined with any accuracy1

 so much depended on individual taste   
and individual wealth4 ,it is certain1  
however1 that after #ahcg gambling was  
not a ,bohemian distraction1 for in that
 year the public gaming-houses were     
closed4 ,before that time they were such
 a popular institution that the early   
,bohemia cannot be conceived to have    
entirely eschewed it4 ,at the beginning 
of ,la ,peau de ,chagrin ,balzac draws a
 powerful picture of the wretched crowd 
that haunted the ,palais ,royal1 where  
,raphael de ,valentin lost his last gold
 coin at a single coup4 ,there were no  
less than four gaming-houses in the     
,palais ,royal1 ,nos4 #i1 #aac1 #abd1   
and #abi1 where the minimum stake was   
two francs for roulette and five francs 
for trente-et-un4 ,besides the ,palais  
,royal1 there were ,paphos1 ,frascati1  
and the select ,cercle des trangers4    
,the popularity of gambling can be      
judged from the fact that the ,treasury 
profited annually by it to the extent of
 five and a half million francs4 ,yet   

there is no record that the truly       
artistic members of ,bohemia1 like      
,gautier or ,houssaye1 so wasted time or
 money1 while ,murger and his friends   
were spared the temptation4 ,in music1  
too1 ,bohemia played no very great part1
 in spite of the devotion of            
,champfleury1 ,barbara1 and ,schann to  
,beethoven's quartets4 ,there was plenty
 of fine music to be heard in ,paris    
during the time3 ,habeneck was          
introducing ,beethoven's symphonies1    
,berlioz was revolutionizing            
orchestration1 while ,liszt1 ,chopin1   
,paganini1 ,vieuxtemps1 and de ,briot   
were among the soloists4 ,certainly     
those ,bohemians of the golden age who  
had access to the salons of the         
,princess ,belgiojoso or ,madame de     
,girardin must often have heard these   
great artists1 but it is not to be      
supposed that they were great supporters
 of concerts1 unless it were of the     
,concerts ,musard4 ,these concerts1     
which won great fame through the        

personality of ,musard1 the conductor1  
began in #ahcc in the ,salle            
,saint-,honor2#ca their programmes were 
excellent and the prices low enough to  
attract the least well off4 ,musard had 
a genius for making pot-pourris of      
operatic tunes and for introducing new  
effects1 especially into dance music4   
,his electric style of conducting made  
the ,bals ,musard far more popular than 
the great balls at the ,opra4 ,he       
contrived a wonderful quadrille1 for    
instance1 out of ,les ,huguenots1 during
 which red lights were lit1 tocsins     
pealed1 tom-toms boomed1 screams        
resounded1 and the whole illusion of a  
massacre was thrillingly kept up4 ,he   
also composed a contre-danse in the     
finale of which he broke a chair1 and   
his triumph was a certain galop in which
 he discharged a pistol4 ,this was      
thoroughly in keeping with the ,romantic
 spirit1 and after its first performance
 he was publicly chaired round the hall 
by the excited dancers4 ,so far as pure 

music was concerned1 however1 it        
appealed most to ,parisians in the form 
of opera4 ,meyerbeer's ,robert le       
,diable and ,les ,huguenots produced    
frenzies of enthusiasm3 no ,romantic1   
consequently no ,bohemian of ,gautier's 
day1 could afford not to have listened  
to them4 ,rossini's great vogue began at
 the same time1 while ,donizetti and    
,auber shared the honours of light opera
 till ,offenbach appeared to carry all  
before him4 ,musical ,bohemia was well  
educated1 if not in composition1 at     
least in execution1 when it was possible
 to hear ,duprez1 ,rubini1 ,lablache1   
,tamburini1 ,grisi1 ,mario1 ,persiani1  
and ,pauline ,viardot-,garcia4 ,the     
ballet1 too1 with ,carlotta ,grisi1     
,taglioni1 and ,fanny ,elssler1 was an  
additional attraction at the ,opra4 ,the
 devotion of la ,bohme galante to the   
corps de ballet has appeared in an      
earlier chapter1 and it was a devotion  
shared by most masculine society4       
,murger's ,bohemia flourished after the 

greatest operatic enthusiasms1 which its
 more classically inclined members      
probably despised2 but their exchequers 
were not of the sort to allow for       
tickets at the grand opera1 though they 
turned up in force at the light operas  
of the ,thtre ,bobino4 ,at this little  
theatre1 more properly called the ,thtre
 du ,luxembourg1 there was a continuous 
uproar made by ,bohemians and students4 
,when this grew too unbearable the      
manager would appear in his             
dressing-gown and protest that the      
police would arrive if the respectable  
inhabitants of the quarter were         
disturbed2 whereupon the whole audience 
struck up as one man ,grtry's air ,o    
peut-on tre mieux qu'au sein de la      
famille8 accompanied by the wheezy      
orchestra and conducted by the manager  
himself4 ,at such a scene ,schaunard and
 ,marcel must often have assisted4      
,nevertheless1 in the eyes of ,bohemia1 
the glory of the opera paled entirely   
before that of the drama4 ,there was not

 one ,bohemian with any literary talent 
who did not try to write a play--nay1   
many plays--tragedies in alexandrines1  
comedies1 or vaudevilles2 and when they 
were not writing plays they were        
haunting the theatres as dramatic       
critics1 selling their articles simply  
for the sake of a free entry1 unless1   
like ,lucien's immoral set1 they added  
the profits of blackmail4 ,from the     
second cnacle to the end of ,murger's   
,bohemia there was no end so generally  
pursued as dramatic composition4        
,bouchardy and ,augustus ,mackeat were  
dramatists1 so were ,ourliac1 ,arsne    
,houssaye1 and ,grard de ,nerval2       
,gautier was a dramatic critic2 ,murger 
and ,champfleury failed as              
vaudevillists2 and it is quite likely   
that ,rodolphe's magnificent drama1 ,le 
,vengeur1 had its counterpart in        
reality4 ,the pote chevel and the humble
 conteur alike turned their eyes        
continuously towards the stage1         
besieging luckless managers without     

cease4 ,the reason of this was partly1  
as may be supposed1 that a successful   
play1 then as to-day1 gave far quicker  
and more splendid pecuniary returns for 
labour than any other form of literary  
composition4 ,a concrete instance of    
that is the case of ,murger himself1 who
 was set on his legs entirely by the    
sudden vogue of the dramatized ,scnes de
 la ,vie de ,bohme4 ,but there was      
another reason at least as strong1 far  
deeper1 and more honourable4 ,the stage1
 as ,i have already pointed out1 was the
 battlefield of the ,romantic struggle4 
,hernani brought home the new truths to 
the public far more vividly than any    
novel or poem could have done2 every    
night they were declaimed before        
compelled attention4 ,it is not         
surprising1 then1 that the stage played 
so great a part in the amusements of    
,bohemia4 ,it was1 with one other1 the  
chief of their pastimes4 ,for them to   
listen to ,chatterton1 the ,tour de     
,nesle1 or ,antony was not only a       

distraction1 it was a frantic excitement
 which made their blood seethe almost   
painfully and sent geysers of hot       
eloquence from their lips as they       
munched the hot rolls of the            
,boulangerie ,cretaine4 ,these young    
enthusiasts were not stinted of good    
fare4 ,mademoiselle ,mars1 ,marie       
,dorval1 ,rachel and ,judith appeared at
 the ,franais during these eighteen     
years2 at the ,folies-,dramatique       
,frdric ,lematre created with enormous  
success the part of ,robert ,macaire2   
while at the ,funambules ,gaspard       
,deburau was winning eternal fame as the
 incomparable ,pierrot4 ,there were a   
host of other theatres besides1 the     
,varits1 ,porte ,saint-,martin1 ,odon1  
not to mention smaller ones1 managed for
 the most part by men of taste1 supplied
 with plays by men with some pretension 
to talent1 and criticized by unsparing  
critics1 from ,jules ,janin downwards1  
who knew what they wanted and did not   
hesitate to speak when they did not get 

it4 ,in the stage ,bohemia found not    
only amusement and inspiration but part 
of its livelihood3 it lived next door to
 that special world composed of actors  
and actresses4 ,yet1 though ,bohemians  
went to supper with ,mademoiselle ,mars1
 ,dumas was very much at home with      
,marie ,dorval1 ,roger de ,beauvoir     
played pranks with ,bache1 and ,rodolphe
 had a love affair with ,mademoiselle   
,sidonie1 the two worlds were definitely
 separated4 ,in fact1 the life of       
dramatic artists1 whatsoever ,bohemian  
flavouring it may have1 has always had a
 mysterious taste of its own1 incapable 
of mixture with any other blend of      
artistic life1 so that1 interesting as  
it may have been in ,paris during these 
years1 its omission from these pages has
 been intentional4  ,illustration3 ,bal 
,masqu  l',opra  ,the one other         
amusement--a pure pastime involving no  
material profit--which was particularly 
popular in ,bohemia was dancing4 ,in    
this respect ,bohemia was no exception  

from the rest of ,parisian society1 for 
in all classes there was an             
inextinguishable passion for the dance4 
,but the ,bohemian1 obeying only his own
 laws of social propriety1 was in a more
 favourable position for taking full    
advantage of all public opportunities   
for this exercise and of all the        
agrments in the way of casual           
intercourse with both sexes which it    
implied4 ,all the year round there were 
public balls given in ,paris1 at which  
the ,bohemian was in his element1 giving
 rein to his inventive humour1 his high 
spirits1 and his gift of seductive      
gallantry4 ,during the first few years  
after #ahcj1 the golden age of ,bohemia1
 the balls at the ,opra were the most   
frequented1 especially in the days of   
the carnival4 ,there masks and dominoes 
covered dancers of every rank in        
society1 for even the femme du monde    
slipped in unbeknown to her husband4    
,this scene of utmost gaiety and        
brilliance1 of which ,balzac gives a    

picture at the opening of ,splendeurs et
 ,misres des ,courtisanes1 was closely  
rivalled by the ball at the ,varits1 at 
which a still more feverish excitement  
reigned4 ,or if the ,bohemian preferred 
to make sure of a grisette as a partner 
he went to the ,prado1 the site of which
 was opposite the ,palais de ,justice1  
where1 under ,pilodo1 the famous        
conductor1 he could join ,louise la     
,balocheuse1 ,angelina l',anglaise1 or  
,ernestine ,confortable in the giddy    
whirl4 ,the waltz was recognized at this
 period1 but the quadrille easily held  
the place of honour1 especially as it   
lent itself more freely to individual   
invention1 such as ,ourliac's           
magnificent variation depicting the     
grandeur and fall of ,napoleon4 ,it was 
through this licence in the figures of  
the quadrille that the chahut and the   
cancan were introduced by the rakish set
 among the viveurs which included       
,charles de la ,battut1 ,alton-,shee1   
,monnier1 and the famous ,chicard--a    

leather-merchant who made a name by his 
grotesque costumes and wild dances1 the 
term chicard1 which degenerated into    
chic1 becoming a general denomination   
for his imitators4 ,i have not been able
 to arrive at the difference between the
 chahut and the cancan1 but both were   
originally primitive dances indulged in 
by the lowest classes1 quaint1 but in   
all probability perfectly decent4 ,the  
rage for extravagance during the early  
thirties changed them into formidable   
pantomimes of violence1 if not always of
 indecency1 which every complete        
reveller rendered with his own          
individual touch4 ,heine1 in the course 
of one of his articles in the ,augsburg 
,gazette1 said of the cancan3       ,it 
must be regarded simply as a pantomime  
of ,robert ,macairedom4      ,anybody   
who has a general idea of the latter    
will understand those      indescribable
 dances1 expressions of persiflage in   
dance1 which      not only mock sexual  
relations1 but civic relations too1 all1

 in      fact1 that is good and         
beautiful1 every kind of enthusiasm1    
patriotism1 uprightness1 faith1 family  
feeling1 heroism1 divinity4  ,heine's   
view is rather too ,teutonic1 for the   
popularity of the cancan was due to the 
high spirits of the ,romantic           
enthusiasm1 and its degree of morality  
or immorality depended upon the         
individual dancer4 ,not much harm can be
 imagined to have dwelt in the          
dance-persiflage of the ,impasse du     
,doyenn1 whatever a ,chicard or a       
,milord ,arsouille may have made of it4 
,the feature of public balls1 however1  
was certainly a ,dionysiac exaltation   
which culminated in the final galop     
infernal1 as it was called1 into which  
,musard particularly infused a special  
fury4 ,it was less a dance than a       
stampede of maniacs1 who rushed round   
the room1 men and women1 clutching one  
another anyhow1 wigs flying1 tresses    
waving1 dresses rent from fair          
shoulders1 all shrieking and shouting1  

brandishing arms1 kicking legs1 and     
stamping heedlessly on those who were   
unlucky enough to fall4  ,illustration3 
,the ,galop ,infernal  ,the balls of the
 ,opra declined in attraction and became
 dull about #ahcf1 but they were revived
 with still greater splendour two years 
later1 when ,musard was made conductor  
and members of the ballet were drafted  
in to enliven the company4 ,such balls1 
however1 became too much public         
functions to suit the less splendid     
,bohemia of a later day1 which found    
diversion more suited to its pocket and 
its manners at the ,chaumire or the     
,closerie des ,lilas on the left bank4  
,it was at such places as these that    
,rodolphe and ,marcel disported         
themselves1 and ,schaunard was arrested 
for chorgraphie trop macabre4 ,the      
,chaumire was a large garden on the     
,boulevard ,montparnasse1 a miniature   
edition of ,cremorne or ,vauxhall1 with 
a primitive shooting gallery1 a skittle 
alley1 and switchback4 ,it was open all 

day for students to promenade after     
lectures and make their addresses to the
 grisettes working under the trees4 ,its
 dances were very simple affairs2 a few 
lamps and ,chinese lanterns1 a small    
orchestra1 a bar for lemonade and       
galette were all that the management    
supplied1 the fun1 of which they had    
enough and to spare1 being the dancers' 
contribution4  ,the ,closerie des       
,lilas1 though less generally popular   
than the ,chaumire1 was more            
particularly associated with ,bohemia   
than the latter1 for ,murger1 ,vitu1    
,fauchry1 ,thodore de ,banville1 and one
 or two others of that set frequented it
 regularly1 as a ,french writer#cb says1
 avec quelques comparses sans           
importance1 among whom1 no doubt1 were  
,mimi and ,musette4 ,this little        
dancing-hall began in #ahch as ,la      
,chartreuse1 being so called because it 
was on the site of the old ,carthusian  
monastery in the ,rue d',enfer4 ,it was 
in some sort the trial-ground for those 

of the fair sex who aspired to become   
stars of the ,prado and the ,chaumire4  
,privat d',anglemont has described it in
 a rare pamphlet as it was in its early 
days under its extraordinary manager1   
,carnaud4 ,as ,la ,chartreuse it was the
 most primitive kind of guingette1 the  
dancing-place being a large marquee1    
into which one descended by a steep     
flight of steps4 ,on the left were an   
orchestra and caf1 and the only         
ornaments were nine plaster statues     
representing the ,muses1 which were     
handily adapted for supporting petroleum
 lamps on their arms4 ,there1 says      
,privat d',anglemont1 decent dress was  
not de rigueur2 one came as one liked1  
or rather as one could--the women in    
bonnets or1 in default of other         
adornments1 covered simply by their     
hair1 and the men in blouses4 ,it       
certainly was the most original bar in  
,paris4 ,it had a physiognomy of its    
own1 strange1 quaint1 even a little     
burlesque1 but it existed4 ,its         

population was to be seen nowhere else2 
it seemed to exist only at the          
,chartreuse and for the ,chartreuse4    
,since this ball disappeared its        
population has completely vanished4     
,illustration3 ,la ,guinguette          
,everything about the ,chartreuse was   
original1 not only the dancers and the  
dances but the orchestra1 the music1 and
 the manager4 ,every kind of percussion 
was added to the usual instruments1 the 
noise of money-bags1 pistol shots1 rows 
of explosive caps1 resounding anvils1   
and sheets of metal struck to represent 
the roaring of lions and tigers4 ,all   
the music was composed by ,carnaud      
himself1 who was conductor1 first       
violin1 restaurateur1 composer1 and     
advertisement-writer in one4 ,at every  
special fte he invented a new quadrille 
and a new exotic word to describe it1   
such as la fte des vendanges1 quadrille 
dchirancochicandard1 or l'htel des      
haricots1#cc avec accompaniments de     
chanes et de bruits de clefs1 grand     

quadrille exhilarandliranchocnosophe4   
,carnaud was succeeded by the famous    
,bullier1 who altered the name to the   
,closerie des ,lilas and replaced the   
simple marquee by an ,oriental palace   
with a garden1 ,moorish pavilions1      
billiard tables1 swings1 and a          
pistol-shooting gallery4 ,a decent      
orchestra was installed and four        
admirable waiters4 ,with these          
improvements the balls1 held every      
,sunday1 ,monday1 and ,thursday1 began  
to attract the beau monde of the        
,quartier ,latin1 and several of the    
dancers gained the coveted honour of a  
sobriquet4 ,there were ,jeanne la       
,juive1 for instance1 ,maria les ,yeux  
,bleus1 ,josphine ,pochardinette1 and   
the literary ,clmentine ,pomponnette1   
who used to show her admirers a farce   
she had written dans les loisirs que lui
 laissait l'amour4 ,this transformation 
took place about #ahdg1 and it was then 
that one of the ,moorish pavilions was  
especially consecrated to ,murger's     

,bohemian set4 ,it is needless to say   
that the name of ,bullier still remains 
in the ,bal ,bullier of to-day4  ,one   
other popular ball must be mentioned1   
the ,bal ,mabille1 which for so long was
 one of the sights of ,paris4 ,this     
public ball was instituted by ,mabille1 
a dancing-master1 in the ,champs        
,elyses4 ,the price of entrance at first
 was fifty centimes1 with an extra fee  
for each quadrille1 and in #ahdc the    
whole of the dances were included in an 
initial sum of two francs4 ,the fame of 
the ,bal ,mabille was due first to its  
polkas1 a dance which became the rage at
 the time1 and secondly to the most     
celebrated of polka-dancers1 ,elise     
,sergent1 known as ,la ,reine ,pomar4   
,her dancing was a revelation of fire   
and passion which won her recognition on
 the very first evening of her          
appearance4 ,crowds came to see her     
dance1 articles were devoted to her by  
the journalists of the day1 and ,privat 
d',anglemont wrote a sonnet to her4     

,paris1 in fact1 went mad about her1 and
 she had many lovers1 among whom1 it is 
said1 was ,alphonse ,karr1 which brings 
her into some kind of connexion with    
,bohemia4 ,but ,reine ,pomar and her    
rival1 ,cleste ,mogador1 who also made  
her dbut at ,mabille1 were too much on  
the plane of grandes cocottes for any   
real relation with the ,bohemia of their
 day4 ,they might have danced for love  
at the ,impasse du ,doyenn1 but         
,schaunard and ,marcel had nothing to   
offer them to compare with the splendour
 of the viveurs which was laid at their 
feet4 ,bohemia found its pleasure at    
less expense and with less restraint in 
the company of ,mimi and ,musette in a  
,moorish pavilion at the ,closerie des  
,lilas1 where ,colline's bad puns found 
appreciative listeners and ,schaunard's 
pas de fascination were greeted with    
rapturous applause4     ,,xii  ,,the    
,,paris ,,of ,,bohemia                  
,paris sombre et fumeux1     ,o dj1     
points brillants au front de maison     

ternes1     ,luisent comme des yeux des 
milliers de lanternes2     ,paris avec  
ses toits dchiquets1 ses tours     ,qui 
ressemblent de loin  des cous de        
vautours1     ,et ses clochers aigus    
flche dentele1     ,comme un peigne     
mordant la nue chevele4                 
,,th,,ophile ,,gautier   ,the last      
chapter was devoted to certain          
accidental adjuncts of la vie de ,bohme 
by way of general illustration1 though  
they consisted of simple amusements     
common not only to the ,parisians of the
 day but to civilized society of most   
epochs4 ,the present chapter1 which ,i  
have reserved till the last1 might      
logically have claimed an earlier place1
 for its subject1 as ,i have already    
pointed out1 is distinctive of the      
society in which ,bohemia played an     
important part4 ,bohemia1 of course1    
neither monopolized ,paris nor even a   
portion of it1 but the ,paris of        
,bohemia's florescence and decline was a
 unique background for these events1 a  

necessary condition1 though temporary in
 itself1 which it would pass the bounds 
of human possibility to reconstruct4    
,interesting as it is to imagine        
correctly the dress of the ,bohemian and
 his mistress1 the places where they    
dined1 or the gardens where they danced1
 the re-presentation of the city where  
they lived1 so small1 so sensitively    
vibrant1 so congested1 so hopelessly out
 of date1 except for a few new patches1 
so dirty1 so noisy1 and so picturesque1 
ranks far higher in importance4 ,yet1   
though ,i might have put this chapter   
first1 ,i choose to put it last because 
,i cannot hope that it will be          
appreciated by any but those who have   
already some memory of ,paris and on    
whom the spell of its fascination has1  
at least1 been lightly cast4 ,the       
general description of ,bohemian life   
may provide some entertainment to those 
who know not ,paris2 for their sake ,i  
have sought not to break the general    
interest4 ,my story is now told1 and ,i 

am free to call those who have breathed1
 even for a moment1 the quick breeze off
 the ,seine or seen the sunshine strike 
through the trees in the ,tuileries     
,gardens1 to stay with me for a last    
look back upon that city of beauty and  
adventure which calls1 like the ,east1  
to those who love it4 ,to have gained   
even a superficial view of modern       
,paris1 to have caught some of her      
accents and contrasts--the radiance of  
the ,bois de ,boulogne1 the vivacity of 
the boulevards1 the cafs overflowing on 
to the pavements1 the view from her     
bridges1 the differences between the two
 banks1 the mean alleys lurking         
mischievously at the back of splendid   
thoroughfares1 the broadest omnibuses   
comically invading the narrowest        
streets--is to have formed some general 
notion with which an earlier ,paris can 
be compared4 ,and with a reader who has 
penetrated deeper1 whose nostrils yearn 
for her indescribably subtle perfume1   
who knows the different aspects of her  

streets from days of diligent tramping1 
who has seen her river blending with her
 sky in a hundred harmonies1 who has    
felt her moods and her humours1 finding 
like a true lover her blemishes as      
adorable as her perfections1 who has    
recognized her past in her present1 and 
who1 though a stranger1 has divined in  
ecstasy the wild throb of her romantic  
heart--with him my task is easier still4
 ,such a one will already have guessed  
the intoxication of the air which a     
,roger de ,beauvoir delicately breathed1
 when ,paris1 her spirit newly quickened
 with the exhilaration of a potent      
elixir1 was yet unspoiled by modern     
cosmopolitan vulgarity1 and her inner   
soul shone out1 through all her         
deformities and incongruities1 with a   
gay and unmasked confidence4  ,she did  
not shine before an unseeing generation1
 for the ,parisians of the ,romantic age
 adored their city1 dandies1 ,bohemians1
 and bourgeois alike1 all passionately  
conscious of their privileged           

citizenship1 though they could admit    
with ,maxime du ,camp that under ,louis 
,philippe she was one of the dirtiest1  
the most tortuous1 and the most         
unhealthy in the world4 ,as they lived  
in her1 so they wrote of her--with      
pride4 ,victor ,hugo did her great      
homage in ,notre ,dame de ,paris and    
,les ,misrables1 ,eugne ,sue in ,les    
,mystres de ,paris1 and ,paul de ,kock  
in all his work1 but these achievements 
appear as slight and partial sketches   
beside the wonderful and penetrating    
picture which ,balzac drew of ,paris--at
 once the background and the            
protagonist--in his greatest novels4    
,balzac1 besides giving us a world1 gave
 us a great city4 ,minute as were the   
studies he made of the provinces1 they  
are nothing to the picture that he drew 
of the city which he regarded as the    
brain of the whole world1 the leader of 
its civilization4 ,he gloated over      
,paris as a scientist gloats over an    
interesting organism that he has first  

observed and then skilfully dissected4  
,he had dissected ,paris even on the    
threshold of his career4 ,in some of his
 early stories1 like a brilliant young  
surgeon fresh from his researches1 he   
overweights the matter in hand with the 
results of the laboratory4 ,ferragus    
begins with a long comparison of the    
streets of ,paris2 ,la ,fille aux ,yeux 
d',or with a marvellous tirade on the   
restless race for money and pleasure    
that is run by all classes1 a tirade    
which1 probing as it does all the strata
 of society1 is an epitome1 in some     
sort1 of all his work4 ,paris1 that     
small enceinte which was enclosed within
 what is now the second line of         
boulevards1 still innocent of the       
reforming hand of ,haussmann1 becoming  
rich1 but hardly yet industrial1 not yet
 the pleasure-ground of all the world1  
destitute of railways1 squalid1         
ill-kept1 nevertheless was transformed  
by his wonderful imagination into the   
type of all great cities1 which will    

ever remain true4 ,to him she was le    
plus dlicieux des monstres1 as he says  
in ,ferragus4 ,mais1  ,paris1 he cries1 
qui n'a pas admir tes sombres paysages1 
tes chappes de lumire1 tes culs-de-sac  
profonds et silencieux2 qui n'a pas     
entendu tes murmures1 entre minuit et   
deux heures du matin1 ne connat encore  
rien de ta vraie posie1 ni de tes       
bizarres et larges contrastes4 ,il est  
un petit nombre de gens 444 qui dgustent
 leur ,paris4444 ,pour ceux-l ,paris est
 triste ou gai1 laid ou beau1 vivant ou 
mort2 pour eux ,paris est une crature2  
chaque homme1 chaque fraction de maison 
est un lobe du tissu cellulaire de cette
 grande courtisane de laquelle ils      
connaissent parfaitement la tte1 le cur 
et les murs fantasques4 ,aussi ceux-l   
sont les amants de ,paris4444  ,there   
are a happy few to whom it would be     
enough to say that the ,paris of        
,bohemia was the ,paris of ,balzac--such
 devotees1 ,i mean1 as have thought it  
worth while to pay attention to that    

accurate topography in which ,balzac    
took so great a pride1 following it in a
 contemporary map so that1 in their     
walks about the modern city1 streets and
 houses incessantly recall his          
characters and his scenes4 ,but life is 
short for such agreeable exercises1 so  
this chapter must inadequately proceed4 
,i have already touched on the social   
implications of ,louis ,philippe's      
,paris1 its smallness and its diminutive
 population1 and my present aim is      
simply to present more fully its        
external aspect1 which changed so       
quickly after #ahdh4 ,the rapidity of   
the change may well be judged by a      
passage in ,thophile ,gautier's         
article#cd on ,paul de ,kock1 published 
in #ahgj4 ,no apology is necessary for  
transcribing it3       ,those he says   
who were born after the ,revolution of  
,february #bd1      #ahdh1 or a little  
before1 cannot imagine what the ,paris  
was like in      which the heroes and   
heroines of ,paul de ,kock move2 it     

resembled      ,paris of to-day so      
little that ,i sometimes ask myself1 on 
seeing      these broad streets1 these  
great boulevards1 these vast squares1   
these interminable lines of monumental  
houses1 these splendid      quarters    
which have replaced the market-gardens1 
if it is really      the city in which  
,i passed my childhood4 ,paris1 which is
 on the way      to become the          
metropolis of the world1 was then only  
the capital of      ,france4 ,one met   
,french people1 even ,parisians1 in its 
streets4 ,no      doubt foreigners came 
there1 as always1 to find pleasure and  
instruction2 but the means of transport 
were difficult1 the ideal      of       
rapidity did not rise above the classic 
mail-coach1 and the      locomotive1    
even in the form of a chimera1 was not  
yet taking shape      in the mists of   
the future4 ,the physiognomy of the     
population had      not therefore       
sensibly changed4       ,the provinces  
stayed at home much more than now1 only 

coming to      ,paris on urgent         
business4 ,one could hear ,french spoken
 on that      boulevard which was then  
called the ,boulevard de ,gand and which
 is      now called the ,boulevard des  
,italiens4 ,one frequently saw a type   
which is becoming rare and which1 for   
me1 is the pure ,parisian               
type--white skin1 pink cheeks1 brown    
hair1 light grey eyes1 a                
well-shaped figure of moderate stature1 
and1 in the women1 a      delicate      
plumpness hiding small bones4 ,olive    
complexions and black      hair were    
rare2 the ,south had not yet invaded us 
with its      passionately pale tints   
and its furious gesticulations4 ,the    
general      aspect of faces was        
therefore rosy and smiling1 with an air 
of      health and good humour4         
,complexions now considered distingus   
would at that time have caused          
suspicions of illness4       ,the city  
was relatively very small1 or at least  
its activity was      restricted within 

certain limits that were seldom passed4 
,the      plaster elephant in which     
,gavroche found shelter raised its      
enormous silhouette on the ,place de la 
,bastille1 and seemed to      forbid    
passers-by to go any further4 ,the      
,champs ,elyses1 as soon as      night  
fell1 became more dangerous than the    
plain of ,marathon2 the      most       
adventurous stopped at the ,place de la 
,concorde4 ,the quarter      of ,notre  
,dame de ,lorette only included vague   
plots of ground or      wooden fences4  
,the church was not built1 and one could
 see from the      boulevard the ,butte 
,montmartre1 with its windmills and its 
semaphore waving its arms on the top of 
the old tower4 ,the ,faubourg           
,saint-,germain went early to bed1 and  
its solitude was but rarely             
disturbed by a tumult of students over a
 play at the ,odon4      ,journeys from 
one quarter to another were less        
frequent2 omnibuses      did not exist1 
and there were sensible differences of  

feature1      costume1 and accent       
between a native of the ,rue du ,temple 
and an      inhabitant of the ,rue      
,montmartre4  ,gautier is referring in  
this passage to the ,paris of his       
childhood1 in the second decade of the  
nineteenth century1 but1 though by his  
,bohemian days the ,church of ,notre    
,dame de ,lorette had been built1       
omnibuses had been instituted1 and      
railway stations were about to break out
 on the face of ,paris1 his picture     
would have remained substantially true  
of ,paris during the whole of ,louis    
,philippe's reign4 ,there was a certain 
amount of change during the time3 the   
,palais ,royal declined in popularity1  
ceasing to be a scene of extravagance1  
dissipation1 and debauchery not to be   
equalled in the world1 as ,coghlan's    
,guide to ,paris put it2 a few old      
houses were pulled down here and there1 
and the desert patches on the outskirts 
began to be filled by a straggling      
population1 but1 in general1 ,louis     

,philippe's ,paris can be considered as 
a stable whole4 ,most visitors to ,paris
 do not1 of course1 realize the         
boundaries of the large circle which now
 forms the city1 for they enjoy         
themselves at the centre1 though they   
may1 perhaps1 remember how far from the 
terminus a train passes the             
fortifications4 ,in ,louis ,philippe's  
day the outer line of boulevards1 on    
which stood the fortifications and      
barrires1 was that second ring of to-day
 which even visitors reach at times2 a  
barrire existed at the ,arc de          
,triomphe1 at the ,place ,pigalle1 where
 the amusements of ,montmartre only just
 begin1 at the cemeteries of ,pre       
,lachaise and ,montparnasse4 ,the actual
 diameter of the city was then about    
three miles1 but for all practical      
purposes it was little more than two1   
for the outskirts were still occupied by
 large market-gardens1 plots of land    
acquired for future use by speculators1 
with here and there some mushroom rows  

of houses1 half finished and nearly     
empty1 the work of a bankrupt who had   
too far anticipated the coming boom1    
farmyards1 chicken-runs1 cow-stalls1    
grass1 odd weeds1 and all the           
disfigurements of a landscape over which
 the impending march of a city has      
thrown a blight4 ,only on the northern  
heights were there still windmills and  
vineyards4 ,these outskirts had only a  
scanty population1 for there were no    
thousands of workpeople to spread over  
the heights of ,belleville or           
,mnilmontant1 or southwards over        
,montrouge1 so that it was easy for a   
starveling company of ,bohemians1 headed
 by the ,desbrosses and ,murger1 to find
 shelter in an old farm by the ,barrire 
d',enfer--now the busy ,place           
,denfert-,rochereau--or for ,balzac's   
,colonel ,chabert to live in a          
tumble-down cottage well inside the     
boundaries4 ,the fact was1 as the       
dramatist ,victorien ,sardou has said in
 a passage of reminiscence1#ce that     

under ,louis ,philippe one-third of the 
total surface of ,paris was not built   
on4 ,there were gardens everywhere1     
except in the very centre of the city1  
and on the left bank1 especially1 houses
 were only dotted in the midst of       
orchards1 kitchen-gardens1 farmyards1   
and parks4 ,it was this fact that made  
,paris1 however quick the flame that    
burnt at her heart1 in most respects a  
provincial city4 ,only in such a city   
could ,bohemia perfectly have realized  
itself2 an industrial metropolis would  
have swallowed it or brushed it         
contemptuously aside4  ,paris1 then1    
compared with herself of to-day1 would  
have been almost unrecognizable4 ,there 
was no sign of the rich and luxurious   
quarter which has grown up round the    
,champs ,elyses1 with its magnificent   
hotels and fine mansions4 ,the ,champs  
,elyses were used during the daytime for
 riding or driving1 but there was hardly
 a house to be seen except two or three 
wretched cafs4 ,after sunset it was     

madness to go past the rond-point1 for  
beyond was the home of thieves and      
cut-throats1 the ,bois de ,boulogne1    
needless to say1 being in a much more   
wild state than to-day4 ,the ,parc      
,monceau was practically in the country1
 and even the ,quartier du ,roule1 by   
the top of the ,boulevard ,malesherbes1 
was all market-gardens when ,rosa       
,bonheur lived there as a child4 ,as for
 the ,batignolles1 that ,kensington of  
modern ,paris1 its repute was as        
unsavoury as that of the ,london fields 
now respectably covered by ,sloane      
,square and ,sloane ,street4 ,the       
quarter chosen by wealth1 as opposed to 
blue blood1 which lived in dreary htels 
surrounded by high walls in the         
,faubourg ,saint-,germain1 lay in the   
neighbourhood of the present            
,saint-,lazare terminus4 ,the favourite 
street was the ,rue de la ,ppinire1     
continued by the ,rue ,saint-,lazare4   
,only a small part of the ,rue de la    
,ppinire is now left1 most of it being  

called the ,rue ,la ,botie1 but it      
retains its old name between the        
,boulevard ,malesherbes and the ,rue    
,saint-,lazare4 ,another fashionable    
street was the ,rue de ,provence1 which 
runs parallel to the south of the ,rue  
,saint-,lazare4 ,in the former was the  
famous house inhabited successively by  
seven of ,balzac's courtesans1#cf in the
 latter the charming house of ,baron    
,nucingen4 ,every ,englishman knows the 
clamour and smell and garish shops of   
the ,rue ,saint-,lazare to-day1 and the 
,rue de ,provence is just a plain       
bourgeois thoroughfare of shops1 cafs1  
flats1 and a post-office4  ,the         
fashionable boulevards have already     
appeared in a previous chapter1 but a   
word must be said of the difference     
between the then and now of that        
brilliant corner of ,paris which most   
,europeans and ,americans see once      
before they die4 ,to-day1 without a     
doubt1 the ,boulevard des ,capucines1   
which stretches from the ,madeleine to  

the ,opra1 has the most distinguished   
and luxurious appearance4 ,the          
,boulevard des ,italiens beyond the     
,opra is dowdier and more workaday4 ,in 
the days of ,bohemia the ,boulevard des 
,capucines had no social existence4 ,it 
had as yet not been levelled with the   
,rue ,basse du ,rempart1 which1 some    
fifteen feet below it1 followed the     
course of the ancient moat2 it was      
flanked by plots of land on which new   
houses were being erected1 and its only 
traffic was the omnibus which jogged    
between the ,madeleine and the          
,bastille4 ,the present ,opera-house and
 ,place de l',opra were not existent1   
for the ,opra stood just off the        
,boulevard des ,italiens1 beyond        
,tortoni's1 while the ,rue de la ,paix  
came quietly into the boulevard at a    
sharp angle1 instead of arriving in that
 busy open space1 with ,cook's office as
 its centre1 over which traffic plies in
 all directions with bewildering        
activity4 ,the ,avenue de l',opra1 also1

 was not known to ,bohemia4 ,at that day
 a pedestrian who wished to go direct   
from the top of the ,rue de la ,paix to 
the ,louvre had to thread a maze of     
narrow streets--an example of which     
remains in the ,rue des ,petits         
,champs--which became meaner and more   
sinister as he neared the ,louvre4 ,the 
,louvre quarter1 so close to brilliance 
and luxury1 was a squalid plague-spot1  
that has since been thoroughly cleansed4
 ,the brotherhood of the ,impasse du    
,doyenn1 ,i suspect1 were careful to    
have a companion when they ascended the 
,rue ,froidmanteau or the ,rue          
,traversire after dark4 ,if one crosses 
the ,avenue de l',opra between the      
entrance of the ,rue de l',echelle on   
one side and the ,rue ,molire on the    
other1 one will have exactly traversed  
the site of the infamous ,rue de        
,langlade where in ,splendeurs et       
,misres des ,courtisanes ,vautrin found 
,esther la ,torpille on the verge of    
death1  propos of which ,balzac has a   

lurid passage on the thick shadows1 the 
flickering lights1 the phantom forms1   
and disquieting sounds which            
characterized at nightfall this lacis de
 petites rues4  ,illustration3 ,the ,rue
 ,st4 ,denis  ,on the north-east and the
 east of the ,louvre lay the most       
unregenerate portion of ,paris1 a       
district as tortuous1 narrow1 and       
unhealthy as in the ,middle ,ages1 yet  
the centre of ,parisian commerce4 ,even 
to-day the visitor may wonder that such 
a district can exist in a capital city1 
when he ventures into the ,rue          
,quincampoix1 the ,rue des ,francs      
,bourgeois1 and the other alleys which  
cut them at right angles4 ,but at least 
this quarter has been cleared by the    
thorough reorganization of the ,halles  
and by the construction of some large   
arteries1 the ,boulevard de ,sbastopol1 
the ,rue ,rambuteau1 the ,rue ,etienne  
,marcel1 and the ,rue de ,turbigo4 ,it  
is sufficient to glance at a map of     
,louis ,philippe's ,paris1 such as      

,dulaure's1 to see what a maze it was   
then4 ,save for the two narrow          
thoroughfares1 the ,rue ,saint-,martin  
and the ,rue ,saint-,denis1 going from  
north to south1 it had hardly a single  
continuous street4 ,a stroll in the     
region of the old church of             
,saint-,merri will show many of these   
streets in their original dimensions2   
there is the ,rue des ,lombards1 for    
instance1 where ,balzac's ,matifat      
presided over the wholesale drug market1
 and the ,rue ,aubry le ,boucher1       
formerly the ,rue des ,cinq ,diamants1  
where in the virtuous ,anselme          
,popinot's shop the first measures were 
taken for the reconstruction of ,csar   
,birotteau's shattered fortunes4 ,the   
darkness and insalubrity of this quarter
 are specially commented on at the      
beginning of ,balzac's ,une ,double     
,famille1 where he says that a          
pedestrian coming from the ,marais      
quarter to the quays near the ,htel de  
,ville by the ,rue de l',homme ,arm and 

other streets--practically the route of 
the present ,rue des ,archives down to  
the ,place ,lobau--would think he was   
walking in underground cellars4 ,this   
unsavoury network in the day of ,bohemia
 continued right on to the quays1 which 
have now been cleared by the            
construction of the ,thtre and ,place du
 ,chtelet1 the ,thtre ,sarah ,bernhardt1
 the ,place de l',htel de ,ville1 and   
the ,place ,lobau with its barracks4    
,but in ,louis ,philippe's reign the    
,rue de la ,vieille ,lanterne1 where    
poor ,grard de ,nerval was found hanged1
 occupied the site of the stage of the  
,thtre ,sarah ,bernhardt1 and instead of
 the ,place ,lobau the ,rue de la       
,tixanderie and the ,rue du             
,tourniquet-,saint-,jean forked at the  
back of the ,htel de ,ville4 ,the house 
described in ,une ,double ,famille stood
 in the ,rue du                         
,tourniquet-,saint-,jean1 which was only
 five feet wide at its broadest and only
 cleaned when flooded by a shower4 ,the 

inhabitants lit their lamps at five in  
,june and never put them out in winter4 
,illustration3 ,rue de la ,tixeranderie 
,another typical specimen of the ,paris 
,i am describing is to be seen in that  
curious confluence of three narrow      
streets1 the ,rues de la ,lune1         
,beauregard1 and de ,clry1 just off the 
,boulevard ,bonne ,nouvelle4 ,the ,rue  
de la ,lune is dominated by the         
forbidding portals of a gloomy church1  
and its cobble-stones are quite deserted
 even when the activity of the          
neighbouring boulevard is at its height4
 ,no flight of imagination is needed to 
realize its appropriateness as the scene
 of that tragic close to ,illusions     
,perdues1 where in a garret ,lucien     
writes drinking songs over the corpse of
 his wretched ,coralie to pay the       
expenses of her burial4 ,this street and
 the two others1 which meet at an       
extraordinarily acute angled building1  
diverge into the squalor of the ,rue    
,montorgueil4 ,it is easier to see the  

conditions in which la vie de ,bohme was
 passed in such spots as these than in  
the regions towards ,montmartre4 ,the   
,rue de la ,tour d',auvergne still      
exists1 but to search there for the     
garret of ,murger and ,champfleury is   
disappointing4 ,one ascends the cheerful
 ,rue des ,martyrs from ,notre ,dame de 
,lorette1 with its prospect of the ,sacr
 ,cur standing out against the open     
heavens1 and on turning along the ,rue  
de la ,tour d',auvergne one is          
confronted by a respectable1 clean1     
sleepy street that might grace any neat 
provincial town in ,france4 ,all        
suggestion of ,bohemianism is remarkably
 absent1 even on the top floors4 ,in    
,murger's day this quarter was far less 
civilized1 as may be seen from a        
water-colour sketch by ,victor ,hugo    
which hangs in the ,carnavalet ,museum4 
,this represents the view southwards    
from the ,rue de la ,tour d',auvergne--a
 wild foreground of uncultivated land   
with sombre trees and dilapidated       

fences1 and in the distance all ,paris  
spread out in panorama4  ,illustration3 
,rue ,pirouette  ,the left bank has     
changed no less than the right4 ,the    
luxurious quarter of the ,faubourg      
,saint-,germain has spread immeasurably1
 and even where old streets remain1 as  
many do in the ,quartier ,latin1 their  
houses have been rebuilt4 ,many a       
,bohemian could probably have told a    
parallel to ,champfleury's touching     
story of how1 long after his mistress   
had left him1 he witnessed by chance the
 demolition of an old wall of a house in
 the quarter1 and there on the topmost  
story was laid bare the room1 with its  
very wallpaper unchanged1 where they    
spent so many happy months of youth and 
love4 ,in particular1 this part of      
,paris was cleared and aired by the     
construction of those two very important
 thoroughfares1 the ,boulevard          
,saint-,germain1 which broke through a  
host of little streets1 including the   
rampageous ,rue ,childebert1 and the    

,boulevard ,saint-,michel1 which        
replaced and widened the straggling old 
,rue de la ,harpe4 ,before these were   
made1 the ,quartier ,latin had not a    
single main street1 though it was not   
quite so uncivilized as the ,halles     
quarter1 nor so large4 ,southwards by   
the gardens of the ,luxembourg it soon  
became comparatively bourgeois and      
spacious with pleasant houses and       
gardens1 built originally for rich      
nobles and prelates1 but relinquished at
 the dictation of fashion to prosperous 
tradespeople and officials like the     
,phellions and ,thuilliers of ,balzac's 
,les ,petits ,bourgeois4 ,searches for  
vestiges of ,bohemia in general on      
either side of the ,boulevard           
,saint-,germain are fruitful enough2    
many an htel garni recalls that in which
 ,lucien first hid his diminished head1 
or the early home of ,arsne ,houssaye1  
when ,nini ,yeux ,noirs was his divinity
 and revolution his creed4 ,specific    
quests1 however1 are apt to be          

disappointing4 ,the ,rue des ,quatre    
,vents1 the headquarters of d',arthez'  
cnacle1 in ,balzac's time one of the    
most horrible streets in ,paris1 remains
 blamelessly near ,saint-,sulpice as    
dull and decent as the ,rue de la ,tour 
d',auvergne2 and the ,rue ,vaugirard1   
where the second cnacle1 headed by      
,ptrus ,borel1 held its frantic orgies  
round the punch-bowl and where ,murger  
wrote his ,scnes de la ,vie de ,bohme1  
is devoid of any spark of romance4 ,on  
the other hand1 a visit to the          
delightful ,cour de ,rohan1 just off the
 ,boulevard ,saint-,germain1 will land  
you en pleine ,bohme1 as will certain   
streets leading up towards the ,church  
of ,saint-,etienne du ,mont1 or the     
narrow passages by the ,church of       
,saint-,sverin4 ,it is just too late to 
see another unmistakable relic of       
,balzac's ,paris1 for the ,maison       
,vauquer of ,pre ,goriot has just been  
pulled down4 ,yet to make a pilgrimage  
to its site gives a very good impression

 of the gloominess which ,bohemian high 
spirits had usually to combat4 ,the     
,maison ,vauquer stood near the junction
 of the ,rue des ,postes and the ,rue   
,neuve ,sainte-,genevive1 now the ,rue  
,lhomond1 and the ,rue ,tournefort1     
south of the ,panthon4 ,i have walked   
down the ,rue ,lhomond at three on a    
sunny autumn afternoon1 yet ,i met no   
soul in this dingy street1 which seemed 
to catch not a ray of the sun's         
illumination4 ,it is crossed by two     
sinister little lanes1 the ,rue ,amyot1 
at the corner of which ,crizet1 in ,les 
,petits ,bourgeois1 carried on the      
business of a small usurer in a         
loathsome1 grimy house1 and the ,rue du 
,pot de ,fer1 before coming to which one
 passes a high1 dark barrack1 heavy iron
 bars shielding its dirty lower windows1
 the ,institution ,lhomond pour         
l'ducation des jeunes filles--poor      
jeunes filles6 ,when the ,rue           
,tournefort meets the ,rue ,lhomond     
there is a very steep descent1          

accurately described by ,balzac1 into   
the ,rue de l',arbalte4 ,almost any of  
the mournful dwellings with weedy       
gardens on this slope might have been   
the hideous pension where ,goriot died1 
while at the corner of the ,rue de      
l',arbalte there is a veritable dungeon1
 only two tiny windows in cracked frames
 piercing its high1 blank wall4 ,if you 
proceed into the narrow ,rue            
,mouffetard1 one long1 smelly vegetable 
market1 you will then realize the       
general state of all but the best of    
,louis ,philippe's ,paris4  ,it was part
 of the old world1 unconscious of its   
impending reformation in the light of   
the new ideals of comfort and sanitation
 which were to become the accented notes
 of modernity4 ,it was a provincial city
 of small compass with no industrial    
suburbs1 no railways--let alone trams or
 river steamboats--and a population of  
considerably less than a million        
concentrated for the most part in its   
overcrowded quarters by the river banks1

 where the excitement of its spiritual  
life made up for the deficiencies of its
 material well-being4 ,there were few   
public buildings of recent construction2
 the ,louvre was still disfigured by the
 dbris of the ,place du ,carrousel2 the 
,htel de ,ville1 ,notre ,dame1 and the  
,palais de ,justice were hemmed in by   
crabbed streets and thickly clustering  
old houses4 ,private gardens were many1 
but public squares were few4 ,except for
 the boulevards the streets had medieval
 paving with central gutters1 from which
 all and sundry were liberally splashed1
 so that for well-dressed persons to    
venture in them on foot was an          
impossibility4 ,an ,american writing in 
#ahce says of them3 ,they are paved with
 cubical stones of eight or ten inches1 
convex on the upper surface like the    
shell of a terrapin2 few have room for  
side-walks1 and where not bounded by    
stores they are as dark as they were    
under ,king ,pepin4 ,some seem to be    
watertight4#cg ,they were seldom swept1 

never flushed1 and primitively lit4 ,the
 noise1 too1 except on the boulevards1  
was deafening and incessant4 ,not only  
did the eternal rumbling of wheels over 
cobblestones and the sharp clatter of   
stumbling hoofs assail the ear1 but also
 the ringing of bells1 the rattle of    
water-carriers' buckets1 the din of     
barrel-organs and itinerant singers1 and
 all those street cries of fish-sellers1
 clothes-merchants1 rag and bone men1   
glaziers1 umbrella menders1 and         
fruit-vendors so picturesque in isolated
 survival1 but so unbearable in the     
ensemble of their heyday4 ,it would be a
 mistake1 however1 to imagine this      
,paris as sleepy1 stagnant1 or unpricked
 by the progressive spirit2 on the      
contrary1 she was exceedingly           
wide-awake4 ,but1 whereas the           
,englishman at once translates his      
progressive idea into mechanism1 the    
,frenchman prefers to let the first     
thorough ferment take place in his mind 
alone1 allowing it1 if need be1 to      

inspire in him the primitive actions of 
attack and defence1 but leaving more    
complicated handiwork to a later date1  
when the logic of change has been worked
 out1 according to which he then acts   
rigorously4 ,in this light the ,paris of
 ,bohemia must be                       
regarded--picturesquely stagnant        
externally1 seething inwardly--and of   
this condition ,bohemia was the type4   
,its extravagant or tattered dress1 its 
,rabelaisian speech and self-indulgence1
 the antiquated splendours of the       
,impasse du ,doyenn and the equally     
antiquated hovels and garrets of its    
poverty1 its disregard of public        
convenience and its real antagonism to  
democracy1 were externals voluntarily or
 of necessity adopted from an earlier   
age2 they were the old bottles which    
served for a moment to hold and to      
flavour with a distinctive tang the new 
wine of the ,romantic vintage4 ,other   
vintages of equal potency have quickened
 men's hearts since then1 and every new 

age1 whether its ideals be artistic or  
social1 will have its particular ferment
 that will find its appropriate vessels1
 but the past can never return any more 
than the first delirious headiness can  
be restored to an old wine that now     
charms with its matured delicacy4       
,bohemia is a thing of the past with    
that irrevocable ,paris with its        
tortuous1 noisy streets1 its high       
gables1 its wide skirts and embroidered 
waistcoats1 its      ,fashionables      
musqus1 gueux  mine incongrue1          
,grisettes au pied leste1 au sourire    
agaant1     ,beaux tilburys dors comme  
l'clair passant--  the ,paris of        
,balzac1 the ,paris of ,roger de        
,beauvoir and ,alfred de ,musset1 the   
,paris of ,thophile ,gautier and ,grard 
de ,nerval1 the ,paris of ,rodolphe1    
,schaunard1 and ,marcel1 the ,paris1 in 
fine1 which was the only home of les    
vrais ,bohmiens de la vraie ,bohme4     
,,index   ,names of characters in       
fiction are printed in italics4  ,a     

,,abrant,s1 ,duchesse d'1 #ga           
,alton-,shee1 see ,aulnis1 ,duc d'      
,ampre1 ,jean-,jacques1 #cf1 #cg1 #ea   
,amusements of ,bohme1 #agf-agh1        
#ahb-ahf1 #aih-bjj1 #bad1 #bae1 #beb-bha
  ,ancelot1 ,madame1 #ga1 #gb1 #ie      
,anglemont1 ,privat d'1 #bbd-bbh1 #bfb1 
#bgh1 #bgi1 #bhj  ,anglomania in ,paris1
 #hg1 #hh  ,arsouille1 ,milord1 see     
,battut1 ,charles de la  ,arthez1       
,daniel d'1 #ad1 #ae1 #abg-abi1 #bih    
,artois1 ,comte d'1 #bc  ,arvers1 ,flix1
 #ajb  ,asselineau1 ,charles1 #ef1 #eh1 
#ei1 #fa1 #aji  ,aulnis1 ,duc d'1 #gj1  
#gh1 #gi1 #hj1 #ia1 #bge   ,b           
,,badouillards1 ,,les1 #bbd1 #bbe  ,bal 
,bullier1 #bgi1 #bhj   ,mabille1 #bhj   
,bal ,musard1 #bgj1 #bgf  ,balzac1      
,honor de1 #dd1 #de1 #fg1 #ga1 #gb1 #gc1
 #gh1 #ha1 #ii1 #abi1 #afd1 #afe1       
#beh1 #bhe1 #bhf1 #cjb   characters in  
the novels of1 #ad1 #ae1 #af1 #di1      
#ei-fa1 #fb1 #fg-fi1 #ge1 #gf1   #gh1   
#hj-hf1 #ii1 #ajb1 #aaa-aad1 #abg-abi1  
#afc-afe1 #bef1 #bfa1 #bfb1 #bfd1 #bfh1 

#bga1 #bgd1 #bij1 #bib1 #bid1 #bie1     
#bif1 #bih1 #bii  ,banville1 ,thodore   
de1 #cc1 #gc1 #ajd1 #aji1 #bbf1 #bbg1   
#bcc1 #bgg  ,barbara1 ,charles1         
#bdh-bej1 #bfe1 #bfi  ,barbemuche1      
,carolus1 see ,barbara1 ,charles        
,barrire d',enfer1 ,bohemian colony at  
the1 #bci-bdc  ,barrire1 ,thodore1 #bdd 
,bastide1 ,jules1 #cf1 #cg  ,battut1    
,charles de la1 #ij1 #ia1 #bge1 #bgf    
,baudelaire1 ,charles1 #ac1 #ae1 #cc1   
#eg1 #fa1 #ff1 #bcj-bcc1 #bfa           
,beauvoir1 ,roger de1 #ac1 #dd1 #gc1    
#gf1 #ic-ig1 #aja1 #ajb1 #ajf1 #afh1    
#afi1 #agg1 #ahf1 #ahg1 #bab1 #bee1     
#bef1 #bei1 #bgc1 #bhd1 #cjb            
,belgiojoso1 ,prince1 #ga1 #ic1 #ajb    
,princess1 #ac1 #ga1 #hf  ,bquet1 #aja1 
#ajf  ,branger1 #bc1 #bd  ,berlioz1     
,hector1 #gc1 #abb1 #bfi  ,berry1       
assassination of the ,duc de1 #bc       
,bisson1 the brothers1 #bcf1 #bcg       
,bixiou1 #hb1 #hd-hf1 #ii  ,blanche1    
,doctor1 #aij  ,buf ,enrag1 ,cabaret du1
 #bbg  ,bohme1 ,la1 meaning of the term1

 #a-ab   its place and period1 #ab-bj   
rise and fall1 #ahcj-ahdh1 #ba-cd       
general characteristics of1 #aaa-abi    
,romanticism of1 #be1 #bf1 #bi-ca1      
#dj-ej1 #ef-fd1 #aca-aei1 #bjj-bjd1 #bgb
   its place in ,parisian society1      
#fe-fh1 #gc1 #gf1 #gg1 #aaj   amusements
 of1 #agf-agh1 #ahb-ahf1 #aih-bjj1 #bad1
 #bae1 #beb-bha   drama in1 #acb-acf1   
#adj1 #ada1 #age1 #agf1 #bgb-bgd   life 
of1 #abf-bea   love in1 #agc-agf1       
#agh-ahb1 #bac-bah1 #bdf-bdh   music in1
 #bdi1 #bej  ,bohme1 ,la1 the ,paris of1
 #bhb-cjb   smoking in1 #aea1 #aeb ,see 
also ,cnacle1 the ,second3 ,bohme       
,galante2       ,buveurs d',eau2        
,gautier2 ,murger1 c4   ,galante1 ,la1  
#aeh-aic1 #aid1 #bjc1 #bje1 #bjf1 #bjg1 
#baj1 #baf1 #bba   see ,doyenn1 ,impasse
 du  ,boissard1 #bca  ,borel1 ,ptrus1   
#ae1 #da1 #dc1 #eg1 #eh1 #fa1 #acc1     
#ace1 #acf-adj1 #add1 #adi-aee1         
#afi1 #agg1 #bja1 #bih  ,bouchardy1     
,joseph1 #acf1 #adj1 #aeb1 #aee1 #aef1  
#bah1 #bgb  ,bouff1 #aja  ,bouginier's  

nose1 #bbc1 #bbd  ,bouilhet1 ,louis1    
#bcj  ,boulevard des ,italiens1 #gd1    
#aab1 #aba1 #bhh1 #bib1 #bic            
,bousingots1 #ee1 #fb1 #add  ,briffaut1 
#aja1 #ajf  ,brot1 ,alphonse1 #acf1 #acg
  ,bullier1 #bgi   ,bal1 #bgi1 #bhj     
,burnett1 ,george1 #ag  ,buveurs d',eau1
 ,socit des1 #bab1 #bcc-bdb1 #bff-bfh   
,byron1 ,lord1 influence of on ,bohme1  
#ce-cg1 #fd1 #abe1 #acd1 #aea   ,c      
,,cabanon1 ,emile1 #ig1 #aja1 #ajb1 #ajf
  ,cabaret du ,buf ,enrag1 #bbg         
,cabaret ,dinochan1 #bfa1 #bfb   of ,mre
 ,cadet1 #bfc   of ,mre ,saguet1 #abi1  
#acj  ,cabot1 #bcg1 #bch  ,cadet1       
,cabaret of ,mre1 #bfc  ,caf ,anglais1  
#ia1 #if1 #bei1 #bfj   ,hardy1 #if1     
#bei1 #bfj   ,momus1 #aih1 #bjd1 #bdf1  
#bdh1 #bfe-bfh   de l',odon1 #bfa       
d',orsay1 #aha   de ,paris1 #gi1 #hf1   
#hg1 #ia1 #afi1 #bei1 #bfj   ,riche1    
#bei1 #bfj   ,tortoni1 #ac1 #hf1 #bei   
,camp1 ,maxime du1 #dj-db1 #id1 #ie1    
#acb1 #acd1 #adb1 #aej1 #aec1 #aed1     
#aef1 #bbb1       #bbh-bcj1 #bhd        

,cancan1 ,the1 #hj1 #ia1 #bge1 #bgf     
,carnaud1 #bgh1 #bgi  ,carnival1 #hj1   
#hi-ia1 #bgd-bgf  ,cnacle1 the first1   
#abi-acb   the second1 #abf-aeg1 #aeh1  
#aei1 #bjc1 #bga1 #bgb1 #bih   of the   
,rue des ,quatre ,vents1 #abg-abi       
,cercle des trangers1 #bfi  ,chahut1    
,the1 #bge  ,champfleury1 #ih1 #ii1     
#aja1 #ajb1 #bai1 #bce1 #bch1 #bdc-bej1 
#bef1 #bfb1 #bff-bfh1 #bgb1      #bif1  
#big  ,chanteraine1 ,salle1 #bba1 #bbb  
,charles ,x1 #bc1 #bd1 #bjj             
,chartreuse1 ,la1 see ,closerie des     
,lilas  ,chassriau1 #ahe1 #aic          
,chteaubriand1 ,duc de1 #cg1 #ga        
,chtillon1 #afi1 #ahe1 #aic             
,chaudesaigues1 #ajc  ,chaumire1 ,la1   
#ig1 #agg1 #bjd1 #bbe1 #bdb1 #bgg1 #bgh 
,chicard1 #bge1 #bgf  ,chintreuil1 #bcg1
 #bch1 #bdc  ,childebert1 ,la1 #bbb-bbe 
,clotre ,saint-,merri1 insurrection of  
the1 #bg1 #ei1 #abh1 #afa  ,clopet1     
,lon1 #acf1 #acg1 #aeb  ,closerie des   
,lilas1 ,la1 #ig1 #bgg-bha  ,coleridge1 
,s4 ,t41 #aj1 #ag1 #ah  ,colline1 #abf1 

#aih-bah1 #bch1 #bda1 #bej1 #bfc1       
#bfe-bfg1 #bha  ,colon1 ,jenny1         
#agd-agf1 #aij  ,cormenin1 ,louis de1   
#bcj  ,corot1 #ahe1 #aic  ,courbet1     
#bja1 #bej  ,courtille1 ,descente de la1
 #ij  ,cretaine1 ,boulangerie1 #bfb1    
#bgc  ,cydalise1 #agi1 #ahj1 #aic1 #bac1
 #beg   ,d  ,,dagneaux',s ,restaurant1  
#bcj1 #bfc  ,dancing1 #hj1 #ia1 #aee1   
#agg1 #agh1 #aha-ahe1 #bjd1 #bbe1 #bgj1 
#bgd-bha  ,delacroix1 #dh1 #abb1 #afi1  
#ahd  ,delvau1 ,alfred1 #aei1 #afj1     
#bbg1 #bce1 #bch1 #bde1 #bdg1 #bdh1     
#bfa-bfc1 #bfg1 #bfh  ,desbrosses1 the  
brothers1 #bcg-bda1 #bdc1 #bij          
,dinochan1 ,cabaret1 #bfa1 #bfb         
,dondey1 ,thopile1 see ,o',neddy1       
,philothe  ,dor1 ,gustave1 #aib         
,dorval1 ,marie1 #ac1 #bgc  ,doyenn1    
,impasse du1 ,bohemian brotherhood in1  
#aeh-aic1 #bjc1 #bjf1       #baj1 #bac1 
#bad1     #bbi1 #beg1 #bgf1 #cja        
,priory of1 #aff   ,rue du1 #afd1 #afe1 
#afh  ,doze1 ,mademoiselle1 #ajf  ,drama
 in ,bohme1 #adj1 #ada1 #age1 #agf1     

#bba1 #bbb1 #bgb-bgd2 and see ,hernani  
,dress of the ,romantic period1 #ib1    
#if1 #aca1 #aci1 #ada1 #ade1 #aea1 #bci1
 #bcd-bei  ,dumas1 ,alexandre1 #ac1 #ee1
 #gf1 #aee1 #ahd1 #aij1 #aih1 #bbf      
,duponchel1 #ig  ,duras1 ,duchesse de1  
#ga  ,dyer1 ,george1 #ag   ,e  ,,cole de
 bon sens1 #bja1 #bjc   ,f  ,,faubourg  
,saint-,germain1 #fi1 #gj1 #big         
,fauchry1 #bde1 #bdf1 #bfb1 #bgg        
,flaubert1 ,gustave1 #cc1 #bja1 #bbh-bcj
  ,flicoteaux's ,restaurant1 #bfd1 #bfe 
,fontenay-aux-,roses1 #bjj1 #baf        
,frascati1 #bfi  ,fraser1 ,major1 #ia1  
#ib   ,g  ,,gambling1 see ,paris        
,gautier1 ,thophile1 #ac1 #ae1 #af1 #bj1
 #cc1 #dd1 #de1 #ej1 #ee1 #ef1 #gf1     
#aaj1       #abb1 #abf1 #abi1 #acb-aeg1 
#afj1 #afb1 #afd-agc1 #agg-ahj1         
#ahc-ahi1       #aic1 #aid1 #bja1 #bjg1 
#bab1 #bah1 #bec1 #bfi1 #bgb1 #bhb1     
#bhg-bhi1 #cjb  ,gavarni1 #ac1 #afi1    
#bef1 #bei  ,gay1 ,delphine1 #gb1 #gc1  
#ic   ,sophie1 #gb1 #gc  ,gigoux1 ,jean1
 #fa  ,gilbert1 #ec  ,girardin1         

,delphine de1 see ,gay1 ,delphine       
,emile de1 #cj1 #ajc  ,goncourt1 the    
brothers de1 #bja  ,graziano's          
,restaurant1 #acf1 #adg1 #adh           
,grisettes1 #baf-bah1 #bej1 #beh-bei1   
#bgd1 #bgg-bhj  ,guichardet1 #bfb1 #bfc 
,guigard1 ,joannis1 #bfg  ,guilbert1    
#bcg  ,guizot1 #bjj   ,h  ,,habeneck1   
#bfi  ,hardy1 ,caf1 #ie1 #bei1 #bfj     
,haricots1 ,htel des1 #bgi  ,heine1     
,heinrich1 #bge  ,hernani1 performance  
of in #ahcj1 #be1 #bf1 #bh1 #acb-acf1   
#bja1 #bba1 #bee1 #bgb  ,hill's ,tavern1
 #bfa  ,houssaye1 ,arsne1 #gf1 #aaf1    
#aeh1 #afj-afc1 #afh-age1 #agg-ahi1     
#aid1       #bjg1 #bdd1 #bef1 #bfa1     
#bfi1 #bgb1 #bih  ,hugo1 ,madame1 #gb   
,victor1 #ac1 #be1 #bh1 #ca1 #cb1       
#de-dh1 #ee1 #fb1 #gb1 #gc1 #abb1       
#abi-acb1       #add1 #bja1 #bhe1 #big  
worshipped in ,bohme1 #be1 #de-dh1 #eb1 
#abb1 #acb-acf1 #adh1       #aeb1 #aec1 
#aef1 #aeh1     #ahd1 #bja1 #bdd   ,i   
,,impasse du ,doyenn1 see ,doyenn   ,j  
,,janin1 ,jules1 #ahi1 #aif1 #bjc1 #bgc 

,jeune-,france section of ,romanticists1
 the1 #de1 #eg1 #eh1 #fa1 #id1 #ie1     
#aci1 #adb1 #aej-aec  ,johnson1 ,samuel1
 #aj  ,jonson1 ,ben1 #aj  ,jouy1 de1    
#bcf   ,k  ,,karr1 ,alphonse1 #bch1 #bhj
  ,kock1 ,paul de1 #bhe1 #bhg   ,l      
,,lafayette1 #bd  ,lamartine1 #eb1 #ec1 
#ee1 #gc  ,lamb1 ,charles1 #aa1 #ag1    
#agc1 #agd  ,lassailly1 #dd             
,lautour-,mzray1 #ajc  ,leconte de      
l',isle1 #bcc  ,legendre1 ,madame1 #bbb1
 #bbc  ,leleux1 ,adolphe1 #ahd          
,lelioux1 #bce1 #bdj  ,le ,poitevin1    
#bcj  ,louis1 ,,xviii1 #bc  ,louis      
,philippe1 #ac1 #bb1 #bd1 #bf1 #bg1 #ei1
 #gi1 #bjj1 #bja  ,love in ,bohme1      
#agc-agf1 #agh-ahb1 #bac-bah1 #bdf-bdh  
,lucas1 ,le ,petit1 #bfa   ,m           
,,mabille1 ,bal1 #bhj  ,mackeat1        
,augustus1 #acf1 #ada1 #aee1 #bgb       
,magny's ,restaurant1 #bfc  ,maison     
d',or1 ,la1 #if  ,mal du ,sicle1 ,le1   
#ce-fd1 #beb1 #bec1 #bee  ,mal          
,romantique1 see ,mal du ,sicle         
,malitourne1 ,armand1 #aja1 #ajf        

,maquet1 ,augustus1 see ,mackeat        
,marcel1 #ae1 #af1 #ba1 #aai1 #abj1     
#abf1 #aih-bah1 #bdd1 #bdh1 #bej1       
#bed1 #bfe-bfg1 #bga1 #bgg1 #bhj1 #bhb  
,marilhat1 #afi1 #ahe  ,maurier1 ,george
 ,du1 #g-i  ,medivalism1 worship of by  
,french ,romantics1 #dc-df1 #id1 #ie1   
#acd1 #ada1 #adb1 #aej-aec1 #bja1 #baj1 
#baa1 #bba1 #bbd  ,mercur1 ,elisa1 #bi  
,meyerbeer1 #age1 #agf1 #bgj  ,mimi1    
#bac-bah1 #bdf-bdh1 #beh1 #bei1 #bgg1   
#bha  ,mogador1 ,cleste1 #bhj  ,momus1  
,caf1 #aih1 #bjd1 #bdf1 #bdh1 #bfe-bfh  
,monnier1 ,henri1 #ig-aja1 #bge         
,monselet1 ,charles1 #bbf1 #bcc1 #bfb   
,montmartre1 #fg1 #baf1 #bhh-bij1 #bif1 
#big  ,moreau1 ,hgsippe1 #bi1 #ec1 #bfa 
,murger1 ,henry1 #ae1 #af1 #cc1         
#aid-aig1 #bcb-bea1 #bef1       #bfa1   
#bfb1 #bff-bfh1 #bfi1 #bgb1 #bgg1 #bhj1 
#bij1 #bif1 #bih   ,scnes de la ,vie de 
,bohme1 #a1 #aa1 #ab1 #ae1 #af1 #ba1    
#cc1       #cd1 #aai1 #abj1 #abf1 #adg1 
#aei1 #afj1 #aid-bah1 #bai1 #bcg1       
#bch1 #bda-bdi1 #bed1 #bfc1 #bfe-bfg1   

#bgb1 #bgc1 #bgg1 #bih   ,bohemian      
generation of1 #fd1 #bjj-bea1 #bfc1     
#bff-bfh1 #bgj1       #bga1 #bgg-bha    
,musard1 #ad1 #bfi1 #bgj1 #bgf   ,bal1  
#bgj1 #bgf  ,musette1 #bac-bah1 #bdf1   
#bdg1 #bed1 #beh1 #bei1 #bgg1 #bha      
,music in ,bohme1 #bdi1 #bej   in       
,paris1 #ac1 #ad1 #ga1 #gc1 #bfi-bga    
,musset1 ,alfred de1 #ac1 #ag1 #dh1 #ga1
 #gf1 #ib1 #ic1 #ajb1 #ajf1 #aae1 #ahd1 
#bjb1 #bdd1 #cjb   ,n  ,,nadar1 #bcc1   
#bce1 #bcg1 #bch1 #bdb1 #bfb1 #bff-bfh  
,nanteuil1 ,clestin1 #acc1 #acf1 #ada1  
#adb1 #adi1 #aee1 #afi1 #ahd  ,nerval1  
,grard de1 #ac1 #af1 #ah1 #acc-acf1     
#adc-adf1 #adh1 #adi1       #aed1 #aee1 
#afj1 #afb-aic1 #bjg1 #bab1 #bbg1 #bec1 
#bgb1 #bie1 #cjb  ,nodier1 #db1 #gb1 #gc
  ,noel1 #bce1 #bcg1 #bch   ,o          
,o',,neddy1 ,philothe1 #dj1 #ef1 #abd1  
#abe1 #acf1 #acg1 #ada1 #aej-aec1 #aee  
,opra1 #gi1 #if1 #ig1 #ajd1 #bgj1 #bga1 
#bic   ,bal de l'1 #bjd1 #bde1 #bgd1    
#bgf  ,ourliac1 ,edmond1 #gf1 #afi-agb1 
#agg1 #ahf1 #ahg1 #bgb1 #bge   ,p       

,,palais ,royal1 #bfh1 #bhi  ,palfrine1 
,comte de la1 #ad1 #ajb1 #aaa-aad1 #bfb 
,paphos1 #bfi  ,paris1 #aa1 #ab-ae1 #bd1
 #bg1 #ff1 #fg1 #aje1 #aaf1 #bhb-cjb    
balls in1 #aee1 #agg1 #agh1 #aha-ahe1   
#bjd1 #bbe1 #bgj1 #bgd-bha   ,caf de1   
#gi1 #hf1 #hg1 #ia1 #afi1 #bei1 #bfj    
drama in1 #bba1 #bbb1 #bga-bgd2 and see 
,hernani   gambling in1 #bfh1 #bfi      
literary salons in1 #gj-gc   music in1  
#ac1 #ad1 #ga1 #gc1 #bfi-bga            
restaurants1 c41 in1 #aba1 #abi1 #acj1  
#acf1 #adg1 #adh1 #afi1       #agg1     
#aha1 #aih1 #bjd1 #baa1 #bbe1 #bbg1     
#bcj1 #bdf1 #bdh1       #bei-bfh2 and   
see ,cabaret2 ,caf   ,society in1       
#fe-hf1 #ajg1 #ajh   student life in1   
#bba-bbe1 #bca2 and see under ,bohme    
,pelloquet1 ,thodore1 #aig1 #bea  ,petit
 ,lucas1 ,le1 see ,lucas   ,moulin      
,rouge1 see ,graziano  ,phmie           
,teinturire1 #bac-bag1 #bdg1 #bff       
,pilodo1 #bge  ,pimodan1 ,htel1 #bca    
,piton1 le ptissier1 #bfb  ,planche1    
,gustave1 #bbi  ,pomar1 ,reine1 #bhj    

,ponsard1 #bja  ,pottier1 #bcg  ,prado1 
#bge  ,privat d',anglemont1 see         
,anglemont  ,punch1 a ,romantic drink1  
#aej   ,q  ,,quartier ,latin1 the1 #h1  
#bb1 #ge1 #afj1 #agj1       #bba-bbg1   
#bca-bcc1 #bdi1 #bej1 #bfb-bfe1         
#bgf-bhj1 #big-bii   ,r  ,rastignac1    
#ad1 #ge1 #gh1 #hj-hb1 #bef1 #bfa       
,rcamier1 ,madame1 #cf1 #cg1 #ga        
,restaurants1 see under ,paris          
,revolution of #ahcj1 the1 #bb1 #bd-cd1 
#bjj  ,rocher de ,cancale1 ,le1 #aba1   
#baa1 #bfj1 #bfa  ,rodolphe1 #ae1 #aai1 
#abj1 #abf1 #aih-bah1 #bcf1       #bcg1 
#bda1 #bdb1 #bdd1 #bdh1 #bec1 #bfe-bfg1 
#bgc1 #bgg1 #cjb  ,rogier1 ,camille1    
#aja1 #ajb1 #ade1 #afg-agb1 #agg-ahj1   
#ahd1 #ahg1 #aic1 #bef  ,romantic       
,period in ,france1 the1 #ab1 #af1 #bj  
salons of1 #gj-gc  ,romanticism1 #be1   
#bf1 #bh-cb1 #ce-fd1 #abi-aei1 #bja-bjc1
       #bba-bbd1 #beb1 #bec1 #bee1 #bhd1
 #cja1 #cjb  ,romieu1 #ig1 #ih1 #ajb    
,roqueplan1 ,camille1 #afi   ,nestor1   
#ac1 #ag1 #ajd1 #aje1 #aaa1 #afb1 #afi1 

#bab  ,rousseau1 #ahe  ,rubempr1 ,lucien
 de1 #ad1 #af1 #fb1 #ge1 #gf1 #he1 #bef1
 #bfd1 #bga  ,rue de la ,tour           
d',auvergne1 #baj-bab1 #bdj1 #bdb1 #bdc1
 #bif1 #big   de la ,vieille ,lanterne1 
#aib1 #bie   ,saint-,germain-des-,prs1  
,bohemian colony in1 #ahg1 #ahh   ,s    
,,saguet1 ,cabaret of ,mre1 #abi1 #acj  
,sainte-,beuve1 #ac1 #ag1 #bh1 #eb1 #ec1
 #abb1 #abi-acb1 #aeg  ,saint-,victor1  
,paul de1 #aia1 #aib  ,sand1 ,george1   
#af1 #ag1 #ic  ,sandeau1 ,jules1 #ahh1  
#ahi  ,scnes de la ,vie de ,bohme1 see  
under ,murger  ,schann1 #bcb1 #bcg1     
#bch1 #bdb1 #bde1 #bdh1 #bdi1 #bff-bfh1 
#bfi  ,schaunard1 #ae1 #af1 #abf1 #aei1 
#aih-bah1 #bcb1 #bch1 #bdh1 #bej1       
#bec1 #bfc1 #bfe-bfh1 #bga1 #bhj1 #bha1 
#cjb  ,seigneur1 ,jehan du1 #acf1 #acg1 
#aci-ada1 #adh-aec1 #aee  ,snancour1 #cg
  ,seymour1 ,lord1 #gi1 #hh-ij          
,shakespeare1 #aj  ,smoking in ,bohme1  
#aea1 #aeb  ,stal1 ,madame de1 #cg      
,steele1 ,richard1 #ag  ,students1 life 
of ,parisian1 #bba-bbe1 #bca  ,sue1     

,eugne1 #gj1 #bhe   ,t  ,,tabar1 #bcg   
,tattet1 ,alfred1 #ajb1 #ajc1 #ajf      
,thackeray1 #bfd  ,thtre ,bobino1 #bfc1 
#bga   ,franais1 #acc-acf   du          
,luxembourg1 see ,thtre ,bobino         
,montparnasse1 #bfc   des ,varits1 ball 
at1 #bgd  ,thom1 ,napolon1 #acf         
,tolstoi1 ,monsieur de1 #bcf1 #bdj      
,tortoni's ,caf1 #ac1 #hf1 #bei         
,tournachon1 ,f41 see ,nadar  ,tout     
,paris1 ,le1 #gc-gf  ,trilby1 #g1 #h    
,trois ,frres ,provenaux1 ,les1 #aba1   
#afi   ,v  ,,vabre1 ,jules1 #ef1 #acc1  
#acf-ach1 #adj1 #aee  ,vastine1 #bcg    
,vauquer1 ,la ,maison1 #ad1 #af1 #ha1   
#bih1 #bii  ,vernet1 ,horace1 #bjc      
,vron1 ,doctor1 #ajc1 #ajd  ,vigny1     
,alfred de1 #ag1 #bh1 #eb1 #ec1 #ee1 #gc
  ,villain1 #bcg  ,villiers de l',isle  
,adam1 #bcc  ,vincent1 ,charles1 #bda1  
#bdb  ,viot's ,restaurant1 #bfc  ,vitu1 
#bgg  ,viveurs1 ,les1 #gj1 #gf-ajh1     
#bjd1 #bca1 #bge1 #bgf   ,w  ,,wallon1  
,jean1 #bch1 #bej1 #bff-bfh  ,wattier1  
#ahe1 #aic  ,,printed ,,at ,,the        

,,ballantyne ,,press ,,london ,,england 
99       99       99       99       99  
,the following typographical errors were
 corrected by the etext transcriber3    
,clestin ,nauteuil,clestin ,nanteuil #h 
,les ,champs ,elises,les ,champs ,elyses
  ,gerard de ,nerval,grard de ,nerval   
,les ,jeune ,france4,les ,jeunes        
,france4  ,elie ,wildmannstadius,elie   
,wildman-stadius  decorated thus because
 a lew louis d'ordecorated thus because 
a few louis d'or  nor ne'er-do-weelsnor 
ne'er-do-wells  ,charles ,mouselet says 
in his preface to ,paris                
,anecdote1,charles ,monselet says in his
 preface to ,paris ,anecdote1  ,pimodan1
 ,hotel1 #bca,pimodan1 ,htel1 #bca      
99       99       99       99       99  
,,footnotes3  #a ,les ,enfants ,perdus  
de ,romantisme4  #b ,a4 ,cassagne3 ,la  
,thorie de l'art pour l'art en ,france  
chez les derniers romantiques et les    
premiers ralistes4  #c ,essais de       
,psychologie contemporaine1 the chapter 
on ,flaubert4  #d ,philothe ,o',neddy3  

,feu et ,flamme4  #e ,see ,ren ,canat3  
,du ,sentiment de la ,solitude morale   
chez les romantiques et les parnassiens4
  #f ,see ,chapter ,,vii4  #g           
,asselineau3 ,bibliographie ,romantique4
  #h ,causeries sur les artistes de mon 
temps4  #i ,mrs4 ,trollope3 ,paris and  
the ,parisians in #ahce4  #aj ,derniers 
,jours de ,bohme4  #aa ,les ,salons de  
,paris4  #ab ,challamel3 ,souvenirs d'un
 ,hugoltre4  #ac ,paris in #ahbi and    
#ahcj4  #ad ,major ,fraser's name       
appears in many memoirs of the time1 but
 ,i owe the above account to ,an        
,englishman in ,paris1 by ,a4 ,d4       
,vandam4  #ae ,vignettes ,romantiques4  
#af ,lon ,sch tells his story in ,la    
,jeunesse ,dore sous ,louis ,philippe4  
#ag ,histoire du ,romantisme4  #ah      
,jules ,claretie3 ,ptrus ,borel4  #ai   
,maxime du ,camp3 ,thophile ,gautier4   
#bj ,grard de ,nerval4  #ba ,portraits  
contemporains4 ,the article on the      
artist ,marilhat4  #bb ,la ,bohme       
,galante4  #bc ,arsne ,houssaye3 ,les   

,confessions4  #bd ,grard1 to be        
precise1 quotes an earlier and more     
cruel version3                          
444,la reine du ,sabbat     ,qui1 depuis
 deux hivers1 dans vos bras se dbat1    
,vous chapperait-elle ainsi qu'une      
chimre444   #be ,see ,chapter xi for a  
further account of ,bohemia's           
amusements4  #bf ,in a preface to ,grard
 de ,nerval's uvres4  #bg ,les          
,confessions4  #bh ,the following       
account combines much of the information
 given in three books3 ,champfleury's   
,souvenirs et ,portraits de ,jeunesse2  
,henri ,murger et la ,bohme1 by ,a4     
,delvau2 and the curious little         
,histoire de ,murger pour servir        
l'histoire de la ,vraie ,bohme1 par     
trois ,buveurs d',eau1 the anonymous    
authors of which are known to be his    
friends1 ,lelioux1 ,nadar1 and ,noel4   
,it is in the last named that some of   
,murger's letters are given4 ,there is a
 certain amount of conflict between the 
dates given in these different books1   

but since they are all equally likely to
 be inaccurate1 ,i have chosen to ignore
 the discrepancies1 which are not very  
important4  #bi ,this appears in        
,charles ,monselet's diary printed in   
the memoir by ,a4 ,monselet4  #cj       
,histoire anecdotique des ,cafs et      
,cabarets de ,paris4  #ca ,in the summer
 they took place in the ,champs ,elyses4
  #cb ,m4 ,henri d',almras in ,la ,vie  
,parisienne sous ,louis ,philippe1 from 
whose book other details of these balls 
are taken4  #cc ,the popular term for   
the prison in which refractory members  
of the ,garde ,nationale were confined4 
#cd ,now printed in his ,portraits      
,contemporains4  #ce ,the preface to    
,george ,cain's ,coins de ,paris4  #cf  
,see ,les ,comdiens sans le savoir4  #cg
 ,sanderson3 ,paris in #ahce4