Chronology

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Image: Mérimée, Prosper. Chronique Du Règne De Charles IX. C. Lévy, Paris, 1892.

A good English biography on Mérimée: A.W. Raitt: Prosper Mérimée, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970.
BRIEF CHRONOLOGY

(A detailed chronology of all things touching on the life of Mérimée and his time is found at the beginning of each of the first fifteen volumes of his Correspondance Générale, compiled by Maurice Parturier. The following is a translation of the chronology presented at the beginning of Parturier’s edition of Mérimée’s Romans et Nouvelles, Garniers Frères, 1967. For educational use only.)

1803
September 28: Birth of Mérimée in Paris, 7 Carré Sainte-Geneviève.

1804
May 18: Napoleon I is proclaimed emperor.

1820
January: Mérimée translates, with J.-J. Ampère, the poems of Ossian.

1822
End: Mérimée reads his Cromwell for Viollet-le-Duc.

1823
September: Mérimée begins a novel, of which only one chapter now remains.

1824
April 29: Mérimée signs the manuscript of La Bataille.

1825
May 27: Publication of Le Théâtre de Clara Gazul.

1826
April 12: Publication of L. Vitet’s Les Barricades.

1827
End of July: Publication of La Guzla.

1828
Beginning of January: Mérimée duels with Félix Lacoste.
June 7: Publication of La Jaquerie, Scènes féodales, suivies de la Famille de Carvajal.

1829
March 5: La Chronique du temps de Charles IX is published by Alexandre Mesnier.
May 3: Mateo Falcone appears in the Revue de Paris.
June 14: Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement appears in the Revue de Paris.
July 26: Vision de Charles XI appears in the Revue de Paris.
September: L’Enlèvement de la redoute appears in the Revue française.
September 29: Mérimée attends the reading of Hernani in the home of Madame Hugo.
October 4: Tamango appears in the Revue de Paris.
November 15: Federigo appears in the Revue de Paris.

1830
February 14: Le Vase étrusque appears in the Revue de Paris.
February 19: Rondino appears in Le National.
February 25: Premiere of Hernani at the Théâtre-Français.
June 13: La Patrie de trictrac appears in the Revue de Paris.
June 27: Mérimée leaves for Spain.

1831
January 2: The first letter from Spain [“Les Combats de taureaux”] appears in the Revue de Paris.
February 2: Mérimée is named bureau chief at the department of the Navy.
March 13: Mérimée is head of the Count d’Argout’s cabinet at the ministry of commerce and public works.
March 13: The second letter from Spain [“Une Exécution”] appears in the Revue de Paris.
April 23: Céline Cayot debuts at the Théâtre des Variétés.
May 6: Mérimée is named a member the Legion of Honor.

1832
April 3: Mérimée is named commissioner for the execution of sanitary measures to fight cholera.
June 23: Marriage of Mélanie Double to the lawyer Collin.
August 25: 1572. La Chronique du règne de Charles IX (second edition) is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.
August 26: The third letter from Spain [“Les Voleurs en Espagne”] appears in the Revue de Paris.
September 21: Death of Walter Scott.
November: Mérimée is named maître des requêtes.
December 3: Mérimée leaves for Germany.
December 29: First meeting of Mérimée with Jenny Dacquin at Boulogne-sur-Mer.
December 31: Mérimée is named head of the Count d’Argout’s cabinet at the ministry of the interior.

1833
Toward April: Mérimée and George Sand have a failed one night stand.
June 4: Publication of Mosaique.
September 7: Publication of La Double Méprise.
December 29: The fourth letter from Spain [“Les Sorcières espagnoles”] appears in theRevue de Paris.

1834
May 27: Mérimée is named Inspector of Historical Monuments.
July 31: Mérimée leaves for his first round of inspections in the South of France.
August 15: Les Ames du Purgatoire appears in the Revue des Deux Mondes.

1835
January 10: Creation of the Historical Committee of Literature, Philosophy, Science and Arts.
July 24: Publication of Notes d’un voyage dans le Midi de la France.

1836
February 16: Madame Delessert becomes Mérimée’s mistress.
May 5: Mérimée leaves l’École des Beaux-Arts for la rue des Marais-Saint-Germain, no. 20.
May 14: Mérimée leaves on a voyage to Alsace and Rhénanie.
August 4: Mérimée meets Stendhal in Laon.
September 24: Les Ames du Purgatoire is reprinted in the Dodecaton.
September 27: Death of Léonor Mérimée, father of the writer.
October 22: Notes d’un voyage dans l’Ouest de la France is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.

1837
May 15: La Vénus d’Ille appears in the Revue des Deux Mondes.
May 25: Mérimée leaves for the Auvergne.
September 29: Creation of the Commission of Historical Monuments.

1838
April 15: Mérimée leaves la rue des Marais-Saint-Germain for la rue des Beaux-Arts, no. 10.
June 20: Mérimée leaves for a round of inspections in the West and the Southwest.
October 27: Notes d’un voyage en Auvergne is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.

1839
March 15: Death of the Count of Montijo.
June 29: Mérimée leaves for the South of France and Corsica.
August 15: Mérimée leaves Toulon for Bastia.
October 7: Mérimée leaves Bastia for Livourne.

1840
March 28: Publication of Notes d’un voyage en Corse.
July 1: Colomba appears in the Revue des Deux Mondes.
July 5: Mérimée leaves for Poitou, Saintonge, Biscay and Spain.
September 1: Revolution in Madrid.
October 21: Mérimée, returning from Spain, arrives in Bayonne.
December 15: Funeral of Napoleon at Invalides.

1841
May 29: Publication of Colomba by Magen and Comon.
June 4: Mérimée leaves for Normandie, Brittany and Creuse.
August 25: Mérimée leaves Marseille for Greece and Asia Minor.
December 16: Mérimée leaves Malta for Marseille.

1842
March 9: Élie Lapierre and Dentu give up the rights to La Chronique du règne de Charles IX.
March 19: Mérimée signs a contract with G. Charpentier for the publication of his works.
June 28: Mérimée leaves for the South of France.
August 13: La Chronique du règne de Charles IX (Charpentier edition) is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.
August 20: Colomba (Charpentier edition) is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.

1843
February 18: Tra los montes, by Théophile Gautier (Voyages en Espagne), is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.
End of June: Arrival in Paris of the Countess of Montijo and her daughters. They will leave for Madrid in October.
July 31: Mérimée leaves for Burgundy and Jura.
November 17: Mérimée is elected to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.

1844
March 14: Mérimée is elected as a member of the Académie française.
March 15: Arsène Guillot appears in the Revue des Deux Mondes.
August 22: Mérimée leaves for the Southwest of France.

1845
February 6: Welcoming of Mérimée into the Académie française.
May 16: Mérimée finishes Carmen.
August 5: Mérimée leaves for Dordogne, Languedoc, and Provence.
October 1: Carmen appears in the Revue des Deux Mondes.

1846
February 24: L’Abbé Aubain appears in the Constitutionnel.
April 27: Mérimée finishes Il Viccolo di Madama Lucrezia.
June 27: The Bibliographie de la France registers a reprint of Colomba.

1847
Beginning of Year: Carmen, with Arsène Guillot and l’Abbé Aubain, is published by Michel Lévy frères.
May 29: Carmen is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.
September 6: Mérimée and Léon de Laborde are given charge of a mission in French Africa.
September 22: Mérimée leaves for a tour of Picardy and Normandy.
December 1: First installment of L’Histoire de Don Pèdre, roi de Castille in the Revue des Deux Mondes.

1848
February 25: Proclamation of the Republic.
March 19: Publication of the Boucly report on the robberies committed by Mérimée’s friend, Libri.
May 18: Mérimée receives Jean-Jacques Ampère at the Académie française.
December 1: Mérimée is named as a member of the Real Academia de la Historia.
December 10: Louis-Napoléon, is elected president of the Republic.

1849
September 6: Mérimée leaves for a tour of Touraine, Poitou, Charente, and Périgord.
October 22: Gustave Flaubert leaves for Egypt.

1850
March 13: First performance of Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement.
May 26: Mérimée leaves for London.
September 16: Mérimée leaves for Auvergne, Provence, and Languedoc.
October 19: The brochure H. B. is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.

1851
October 18: Mérimée leaves for Gand, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam.
December 2: Government coup.
December 20: Success of the plebiscite sanctioning Louis-Napoléon’s coup.

1852
January 21: Mérimée is promoted and becomes an officer of the Legion of Honor.
Toward April 14: Nouvelles appears in libraries.
April15: “Le Procès de Libri,” by Mérimée, appears in the Revue des Deux Mondes.
April 30: Death of Anne-Louise Mérimée (born Moreau), mother of Mérimée.
May 26: Mérimée is sentenced to fifteen days in prison for insult against the magistracy for his defense of Libri.
July 6: Mérimée is imprisoned in the Conciergerie.
December 2: Proclamation of the Empire.
December 15: Le Faux Démétrius, scènes dramatiques appears in the Revue des Deux Mondes.
December 25: Épisode de l’histoire de Russie. Les Faux Démétrius is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.

1853
January 26: Mérimée signs a receipt of 450 francs for the reprinting of 1500 copies of La Chronique du règne de Charles IX.
June 7: Mérimée reads his translation of Pushkin’s La Dame de pique at the Académie française.
June 23: Mérimée is named a senator.
September 1: Mérimée leaves for Madrid.
December 18: Mérimée returns to Paris.

1854
June 21-23: Les Cosaques de l’Ukraine appears in Le Moniteur universel.
July 16: Mérimée leaves for London.
August 23: Mérimée leaves for Munich and Vienna.
September 20: Battle of the Alma.
December 29: Valentine Delessert sends back to Mérimée the letters that she had received from him.

1855
February 10: Mélanges historiques et littéraires is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.
July 21: A new edition of Les Aventures du baron de Faeneste, by Th. Agrippa d’Aubigné, reviewed and annotated by Mérimée, is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.
September 8: Capture of Sébastopol.

1856
June 13: “Baptême du prince impérial” appears in Le Moniteur universel.
July 16: Mérimée leaves for Edinburgh.
November 23: Mérimée leaves for Cannes.

1857
June 9: Mérimée leaves for London and Manchester (Exposition of Manchester).
June 25: Baudelaire’s Fleurs du mal is available for purchase.

1858
January 31: Death of Gabriel Delessert.
March 27: Mérimée reports on modifications to be introduced at the Imperial Library (today the B.N.).
June 20: Mérimée leaves for Switzerland, Germany, and Austria.
October 2: Volume I of Les Oeuvres complètes de Branthôme is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.
December 11: Volume II of Les Oeuvres complètes de Branthôme is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.
December 26: Mérimée leaves for Cannes.

1859
May 3: War with Austria.
May 26: Ivan Tourguéniev arrives in Paris.
June 4: Battle of Magenta.
August 16: Decree of political amnesty.
September 29: Mérimée leaves for Madrid.
November 17: Mérimée leaves Madrid for Paris.
December 4: Mérimée leaves for Cannes.
December 10: Volume III of Les Oeuvres complètes de Branthôme is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.

1860
July 18: Mérimée leaves for London.
August 11: Mérimée is named commander in the Legion of Honor.
September 16: Death of the dutchess of Albe.
November 15: Mérimée leaves for Cannes.

1861
July: “La Révolte de Stenka Razine,” a review by Mérimée, appears in the Journal des Savants.
July 11: Mérimée leaves for London.
September 10: Mérimée arrives in Biarritz.

1862
March 25: Mérimée returns to Cannes.
May 5: Mérimée arrives in London as jury member for the World’s Fair.
November 25: Mérimée leaves for Cannes.

1863
January: The first article on Bogdan Chmielnicki appears in the Journal des Savants.
April 20: Mérimée returns to Paris.
May 14: Mérimée receives a copy of Pères et Enfants, a novel by Ivan Tourguéniev.

1864
June 29: Mérimée leaves for London.
September: Mérimée’s first article on Histoire du règne de Pierre le Grand, by Oustrialov, appears. (Case of tsarévitch Alexis.)
October 8: Mérimée leaves for Spain.
November 23: Mérimée arrives in Cannes.

1865
February 5: Les Cosaques d’autrefois appears is published by Michel Lévy.
October 1: Mérimée’s review on the first volume of L’Histoire de Jules César appears in theJournal des Savants.

1866
June 15: “Apparitions,” written by Ivan Tourguéniev and translated by Mérimée, appears in the Revue des Deux Mondes.
July 3: Battle of Sadowa.
August 14: Mérimée is named High Officer of the Legion of Honor.
September 1: Mérimée leaves for Biarritz.
September: Mérimée writes La Chambre Bleue.
October 21: Mérimée leaves Biarritz for Paris.
October 30: Mérimée sends the manuscript for La Chambre Bleue to the Empress Eugénie.
October 31: Mérimée reads La Chambre Bleue for Mme Delessert, who offers him her friendship.
November 7: Mérimée leaves for Cannes.

1867
April 26: Fumée, a novel by Ivan Tourguéniev, appears in the third issue of Rousskii Viéstnik.
June 19: Maximilien is shot in Queretaro.
November 3: Battle of Mentana.

1868
January 20-27: Mérimée’s articles on “Alexandre Pouchkine” appear in Le Moniteur universel.
March 28: Fumée, by Ivan Tourguéniev, is registered in the Bibliographie de la France.
April 15: Mérimée leaves Cannes for Montpellier.
May 25: Mérimée’s “Ivan Tourguéniev” appears in Le Moniteur universel.
September 3: Mérimée finishes Lokis.
September 25: Mérimée lunches with Mme Delessart and reads Lokis to her.
September 29: Isabelle II is dethroned.

1869
January 29: Mérimée refuses to publish Lokis.
January 30: Mérimée proposes to revise and correct Il viccolo di Madama Lucrezia.
April 25: Mérimée leaves Cannes for Paris.
May 30: Tourguéniev’s Nouvelles moscovites, translated by both the author and Mérimée, first appears. Mérimée’s will drafted.
July 22: Mérimée reads Lokis to the Empress and her maids of honor.
September 15: “Le Manuscrit du professeur Wittembach (Lokis)” appears in the Revue des Deux Mondes.
November 21: Mérimée finishes his Notice sur Cervantes.

1870
January 21: Mérimée begins Djoûmane.
February 10: Mérimée writes Djoûmane.
March 1: Étrange histoire, a novel written by Ivan Tourguéniev and translated by Mérimée, appears in the Revue des Deux Mondes.
March 18: Mérimée uses a dream in Djoûmane.
March 21: Mérimée asks for the name of a ford for Djoûmane.
April 7: Mérimée reserves Djoûmane for his posthumous works.
May 8: Plebiscite
July 19: Mérimée returns the first proofs of his Notice sur Cervantes to Hetzel.
August 18: First interview of Thiers and Mérimée.
August 20: Second interview of Thiers and Mérimée.
September 2: Capitulation at Sedan.
September 10: Mérimée leaves for Cannes.
September 23: Death of Mérimée.