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Gustave Flaubert Correspondence

An inventory of his correspondence at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: LDC
Date: 06 Nov 2008



Biographical History

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) was a French author and novelist known for his realist works such as Madame Bovary.

Gustave Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821 to Anne-Justine-Caroline Fleuriot and Achille-Cléophas, chief surgeon at the Hôpital Dieu in Rouen. Flaubert was one of three children, having a brother, Achille, and a sister, Caroline. During his boyhood, the Flaubert family lived in one of the wings of the hospital where his father worked. At his father's urging, Flaubert enrolled in law school in Paris in 1841. However, Flaubert suffered from an epileptic seizure in January of 1844 while riding home from school. Although he recovered, he continued to suffer relapses. After this point, his father accepted Gustave's decision to pursue writing as a career.

While in Paris, Flaubert met Maxime Du Camp. Flaubert accompanied Du Camp on a trip to the Middle East in 1849, visiting Cairo, Alexandria, Beirut, Jerusalem, and Damascus, as well as cities in Turkey, Greece, and Italy. Flaubert was also a close friend and frequent correspondent of Amantine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin, a French novelist and feminist who wrote under the pseudonym George Sand. He went on to have a successful literary career and is viewed as one of the great French novelists. Flaubert died on May 8, 1880 of a stroke.

Selected Works

1838 Mémoires d'un fou ( Memoirs of a Madman)
1842 Novembre ( November)
1857 Madame Bovary, mours de province ( Madame Bovary. A Tale of Provincial Life or Madame Bovary. Provincial Manners)
1869 L'Éducation sentimentale, histoire d'un jeune homme ( Sentimental Education: A Young Man's History)
1874 La Tentation de saint Antoine ( The Temptation of Saint Anthony)
1877 Trois contes ( Three Tales)
1881 Bouvard et Pécuchet

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Gustave Flaubert Correspondence collection contains incoming and outgoing correspondence from the French author. The bulk of the collection is outgoing correspondence with the exception being a single letter from George Sand to Flaubert. Most of the letters are accompanied by a typescript version and/or a handwritten translation.


Arrangement of the Collection

The collection contains one series, Correspondence, which is divided into two subseries: Incoming correspondence and Outgoing correspondence.


Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.


Subject Headings

Persons

Flaubert, Gustave, 1821-1880 Correspondence.
Sand, George, 1804-1876.

Subjects

Authors, French.
French literature, 19th century.
Novelists, French.

Genres and Forms

Correspondence.

Occupations

Authors.
Novelists.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Gustave Flaubert Correspondence
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries


Table of Contents

Correspondence


Inventory