-Sfe PA R, I S e/^ THE NOVELISTS ARTHUR BARTLETT MAURICE THE PARIS OF THE NOVELISTS The fifteenth-century church of Saint-Medard. It was here that, in Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables," Jean Valjean, with Cosette, recognized in the sidewalk beggar his relentless pursuer, Javert, and began his epic flight, which ended in the Convent of the Little Picpus. THE PARIS OF THE NOVELISTS BY ARTHUR BARTLETT MAURICE Author of "The New York of the Novelists," "Fifth Avenue" "Bottled Up In Belgium" etc. GARDEN CITY NEW YORK DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 1919 COPYRIGHT, 1919, BT DOUBLEDAY, PAGB & COMPANT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDINQ THAT OF TRANSLATION INTO rOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDINQ THB SCANDINAVIAN PART I PAGE I. THE TRANSATLANTIC JOURNEY IN FICTION 3 The Point of Departure—^The Transatlantic Trip in Fiction—The Smoking Room in ** Captains Courageous"—"Their Silver Wedding Journey"—Tales of Romance and Intrigue—^The Suggestion of the Horizon— McAndrew's Point of View—Gateways of Approach—The English Countryside—^Along the Southerly Route—^The Road Through the Lowlands—^The Pilgrim's Personal Mem- ories. II. THE PARIS OF VICTOR HUGO . 13 The Astonishing Hugo—^The Publication of "Les Miserables"—^The Rue de Clichy, Hugo's First Paris Home—Associations of the Southern Bank—Hugo's Marriage— " " " Hemani "— Han d'Islande "— Bug-Jar- gal"—The Writing of "Notre Dame"—The Place des Vosges Residence—-The Trail of " '* Esmeralda—^The Source of Les Miserables —^The Flight of Jean Valjean and the Pursuit of Javert. vi CONTENTS PAGE III. THE PARIS OF THACKERAY AND DICKENS 28 "The Ballad of the Bouillabaisse"—Terre's " Tavern—"A Caution to Travellers —Thack- eray as Art Student and Correspondent— The Early Married Life—Mrs. Brookfield— The Paris of "Vanity Fair," "The New- comes,""»and "The Adventures of Phihp"— The Paris of Dickens's "ATale of Two Cities'* —Dickens's Days in Paris. IV.' THE TRAIL OF THE MUSKETEERS AND OTHERS 45 The Personal Alexandre Dumas—^The "Novel Manufactury"—From Villers-Cot- terets to Paris—Early Paris Homes—^The Chateau of Monte Cristo—Dumas's Death at Dieppe—^The City of the Valois—The Streets of the Musketeers. V. THE PARIS OF HONORfi DE BALZAC . 60 The Paris of Opening Paragraphs—^The Rue Lesdiguieres—The Happily Forgotten Novels —Balzac as Law Student and Publisher—In the Rue Visconti—The Secret of Achievement —The "Hotel des Haricots"—^The Hidden Chambers—"Les Jardies"—The "Maison Vauquer"—^The Faubourg Saint-Germain —^The Rue du Doyenne—^The Haunts of Cesar Birotteau, CONTENTS vii PAGE Vr. SINISTER STREETS 76 Slums of Paris—^Ancient Streets—The Old Cite of "Les Mysteres de Paris"—The Per- sonal Eugene Sue—"Les Mysteres," and "Le Juif Errant" as Serials—The Under- world of 1840—Caverns in the Cours la Reine—Paul de Kock—His Amazing Popu- larity—The Tribute of Major Pendennis— The Paris of Emile Gaboriau. VII. ABOUT PARIS WITH ALPHONSE DAUDET 92 The Rue MoufFetard—Daudet's First Im- pressions of Paris—In the Latin Quarter and the Marais—Scenes of "Sapho"—"Les Rois en Exil"—The Genesis of the Story— The Rue Monsieur le Prince—In the Paris Ghetto—Originals of the Daudet Charac- ters. VIII. BOHEMIAN TRAILS 107 The Migration of Bohemia—**La Vie de Boheme" and "Trilby"—Henry Murger and his Contemporaries—^Youth and-Age—^A Bohemian's Expense Book of the Forties— "Trilby"—^The Studio in the Place St. Ana- tole des Arts—Du Maurier and Henry James —Du Maurier in Paris and Antwerp—Trails of the "Musketeers of the Brush"—Origi- nals of the Characters. viii CONTENTS PAGE IX. SOME OF THE LATER ENGLISHMEN 124 The Lesson of Laurence Sterne—^The France^ of Kipling's "The Light That Failed"—The Trail of Stevenson—"R. L. S." in Paris, Fontainebleau, and Grez—Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Brigadier Gerard— "The Refugees"—Leonard Merrick's Tri- cotrin and His Haunts—^The Paris of Arnold Bennett—^The Writing of "The Old Wives Tale"—W. J. Locke's "The Beloved Vaga- bond" and "Septimus"—Mr. Locke on His Own Characters. X. ZOLA'S PARIS 146 \The Bitter Years of Apprenticeship—^The World Seen from a Garret—Employment at Hachette's—First Published Books—^At Flaubert's Table—^The Story of the House at Med an—Paris Streets and the Novels of the "Rougon-Macquart"—Dram Shops, Markets, and Department Stores. XI. THE PARIS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 163 The Real Bel-Ami—^The Key to the Charac- ters—Maupassant's Heritage and Training— The Years of Achievement—The Day's Work —^The Valet, Fran9ois—^The Gathering Shad- ows—^The Downfall. XII. THE PARIS OF SOME AMERICANS . 177 Irving and Cooper—Poe's "The Mystery CONTENTS ix of Marie Koget," "The Purloined Letter," and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"—^A Digression—Paris in the Books of Archibald Clavering Gunter, Marion Crawford and W. D. Howells, Mark Twain, Henry James, Edith Wharton, Richard Harding Davis, Owen Johnson, Louis Joseph Vance, F. Berkeley Smith, Cleveland Moffett, Guy Wetmore Carryll—H. L. Wilson's "Ruggles of Red Gap"—Booth Tarkington's "The Guest of Quesnay," "The Beautiful Lady," and "His Own People"—Frank Norris in Paris—^An O. Henry Paris Trail. PART II ABOUT RURAL FRANCE PAGE XIII. THE MAGIC OF THE SEINE . 197 Between Paris Quais—^The Parisian Afield— The Musketeers in the Environs—^The River and Guy de Maupassant—Meudon and **Trilby"—The Trail of "Peter Ibbetson"— "Samuel Brohl et Cie"—Versailles—The Forest of Fontainebleau—Daudet*s "Sapho"— Ville d'Avray, Chaville, and the Lake at En- ghien. XIV. CHIMES OF NORMANDY ... 209 The Romance of Old Names—Calais and Thackeray's "Desseins"—Boulogne and "The Newcomes"—Conan Doyle*s "Uncle Bernac"—Fecamp, Etretat, and Guy de Maupassant—The Real Maison Tellier— Havre, "Pierre et Jean," and Henry James's "Four Meetings"—Maupassant's Literary " " Creed—Balzac's Modeste Mignon —Sands of Trouville—Ouida's "Moths"—Tarking- ton's "The Guest of Quesnay"—^The Kings of Yvetot—Mont Saint-Michel—Rouen and CONTENTS xi PAGE "Madame Bovary"—The Real Y.—The " Style of Gustave Flaubert— Bel-Ami," and " Boule-de-Suif"—Merrick's "Conrad in Quest of His Youth." • XV. A ROUNDABOUT CHAPTER . .' 227 — Land of the Carcassonne The Fading Twi- , light—"Mademoiselle de Maupin"—"Ma- non Lescaut"—With Balzac in Touraine— The Home of Eugenie Grandet—The Coun- try of Scott's "Quentin Durward"—About France with the Comedie Humaine—Con- carneau, and Blanche Willis Howard's " " " Guenn "—Pierre Loti's Pecheur d'Islande —Belle-Isle-en-Mer and the Death of Por- thos—Indret, and Daudet's "Jack." XVI. A PILGRIMAGE TO TARTARIN . '. 241 The Rails of the P. L. M.—At the "Emper- eurs"—Streets of Tarascon—The Baobab Villa—^The Castle of King Rene—The Bridge to Beaucaire—The Writing of "Tartarin de Tarascon." XVII. MEDITERRANEAN WATERS . 252 Villemessant and Dante's Escape—^The Magic of Marseilles—Conrad's "The Arrow of Gold"—Dickens's "Little Dorrit"—Dau- det's "Tartarin" and "Sapho"—R. H. Davis and Marseilles—^The Shadow of "Monte Cristo"—^The Cannebiere and the Catalans xii CONTENTS — — ' PAGE Quarter ^The Chateau dTf —and Its Story The Island of—Monte Cristo The Real Ed- mond Dantes Maquet's— Share in Writing "Monte Cristo" ^Zola in Marseilles—^Along the Riviera—De Maupassant and Cannes. XVIII. WHERE THE WALL OF STEEL HELD 266 In Flanders Field—^The Heritage of Disaster —^The Fiction of the Young Republic—^The Napoleonic Era—The War of 1870—^A Stev- ensonian Prophecy—^The Great Conflict. XIX. THE OLD-WORLD OPEN ROAD . 273 The Trail of the Musketeers—^The Journey to England—Seventeenth-century Inn Names—Crossing the Channel—Old-World Hostelries—^Wine and Water—Proverbs for Travellers—^The Cost of Travel. XX. MY OLD EUROPE 281 INDEX .295 FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS The Fifteenth-century Church of St. Medard Frontispiece FACING PAGE Old Paris from Notre Dame 22 The Old Pont Neuf 72 Paris Was Born in the Isle of the Seine .... 88 The Morgue 120 The Rue du Haut Pave, Looking Toward the Pantheon 136 "Most of the Streets Were very Narrow and Had no Sidewalks" 202 The Vieux Port of Marseilles 254 ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT FAGS The Passage des Patriarches. A Bit of Old Paris Skirted by Jean Valjean and Cosette in the Flight from Javert. Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" 26 The Rue St. Dominique of the Old Faubourg St. Germain. In This Street Was the Hotel dc Florae of Thackeray's "The Newcomes" 37 Courtyard of the Conciergerie. Whence Sidney Carton Went to Execution. Dickens's "A " Tale of Two Cities 42 Meung. Where D'Artagnan First Came upon ziii xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS the Scene of Fiction. Dumas's *'The Three Musketeers" 48 D'Artagnan's Lodging in the Rue Tiquetonne. Dumas's "Twenty Years After" .... 58 The Rue Visconti. Where Honore de Balzac Estabhshed the Printing Press That Ruined Him 63 The Maison Vauquer. Where Pere Goriot Lived and Died, and Trompe-la-Mort Plotted. The Rue Neuve Sainte-Genevieve Is Now the Rue Tournefort. Balzac's "Pere Goriot" . 68 A Sinister Street of Old Paris. Sue's "The Mysteries of Paris" 76 The Rue de Venise. A Quaint, Old World Pas- sage Still to Be Found Near the Halles Centrales 78 The Old Temple Market. Sue's "The Mys- teries of Paris" 84 The Old Mont Sainte-Genevieve. Crested by the Church That Links the Present and the Romantic Past 92 A Montmartre Street of R. L. Stevenson's "New Arabian Nights," and Leonard Merrick's "Tricotrin Stories" 128 The Old Rue St. Martin. Conan Doyle's "The Refugees" 134 The Genealogical Tree of Zola's Rougon-Mac- quart Family 155 The Cabaret of the Assassins.