| Evidence: | 'I have fallen in love with the Charles of Orleans period and cannot get enough of it. I see six essays at least, on single characters: Charles, Rene of Anjou, Jacques Coeur, Villon, Louis XI, Joan of Arc. Would not that be a jolly book? I do not propose to write any of them just now; but study the period quietly. It suits me better than the Reformation , because − well, because it’s more romantic to begin with, and again because it is more manageable − not such a monstrous large order. |
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| Century: | 1850-1899 | ||||||||||
| Date: | Until: Oct 1875 | ||||||||||
| Country: | Scotland | ||||||||||
| Time: | n/a | ||||||||||
| Place: | city: Edinburgh county: Lothian |
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| Type of Experience (Reader): |
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| Type of Experience (Listener): |
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| Reader: | Robert Louis Stevenson |
| Age | Adult (18-100+) |
| Gender | Male |
| Date of Birth | 13 Nov 1850 |
| Socio-economic group: | Professional / academic / merchant / farmer |
| Occupation: | Writer |
| Religion: | Uncommitted |
| Country of origin: | Scotland |
| Country of experience: | Scotland |
| Listeners present if any: (e.g. family, servants,
friends, workmates) |
n/a |
| Additional comments: | n/a |
| Author: | Various |
| Title: | [Texts by or about 15th-century French literary and historical figures] |
| Genre: | History, Poetry, Biography |
| Form of Text: | Print: Probably books and articles. |
| Publication details: | n/a |
| Provenance: | unknown |
| Record ID: | 21724 | |
| Source - | ||
| Author: | Robert Louis Stevenson | |
| Editor: | Bradford A. Booth | |
| Title: | The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, April 1874-July 1879 | |
| Place of Publication: | New Haven and London | |
| Date of Publication: | 1994 | |
| Vol: | 2 | |
| Page: | 163 | |
| Additional comments: | Letter 422, To Frances Sitwell [? October 1875], [on Advocates’ Library paper]. Co-editor Ernest Mehew. The material in square brackets has been added by the editors |
| Citation: | Robert Louis Stevenson, Bradford A. Booth (ed.), The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, April 1874-July 1879 (New Haven and London, 1994), 2, p. 163, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/reading/recorddetails2.php?id=21724, accessed: 25 April 2024 | |
| It is not possible from the evidence of Letter 422 to pinpoint the texts RLS was reading in the furtherance of his interest in reading and writing about 15th-century French literary and historical figures. These texts would presumably have included both primary and secondary sources on 15th-century French literature and history, in French and possibly English and other languages. After the words “Joan of Arc”, Note 1 to Letter 422 reads: “Only the essays on Charles of Orleans and Villon were written. Charles of Orleans (1391-1465), whose court at Blois was a centre for poets, wrote many skilful and graceful ballades and rondeaux and inspired RLS’s own interest in these forms. Rene d’Anjou (1408-90) ‘the last of the troubadours’ was also a patron of poets and musicians at his court at Aix-en-Provence. Jacques Coeur (1395?-1456) was a merchant and financier.” The rest of the French personalities named here by RLS also lived essentially in the 15th century: Joan of Arc (1412-31; the poet Francois Villon (1431-after 1463), and King Louis XI (1423-83, reigned 1461-83). On page 158, a Note to the mention of “Rondeaux” in Letter 415 reads: In “An Epilogue” RLS says that he ‘carried in his knapsack the works of Charles of Orleans [cf. Letter 422] works of Charles of Orleans, and employed some of the hours of travel in the concoction of English roundels. In this path, he must thus have preceded Mr. Lang, Mr. Dobson, Mr. Henley, and all contemporary roundeleers. In the 1870s there was a great deal of interest in the revival and imitation of the traditional French forms of rondeaux, ballades and triolets.” The full title of the essay is “An Epilogue to 'An Inland Voyage'". "An Inland Voyage" was published, with the Epilogue, in 1878. The voyage in question took place in 1876. |
Reading Experience Database version 2.0. Page updated: 27th Apr 2016 3:15pm (GMT)