''One of Cleopatra's Nights and Other Fantastic Romances'' is a collection of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

short stories by

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rem ...

, selected from his ''Nouvelles'' and ''Romans et Contes'' and translated from the French by

Lafcadio Hearn , born Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (; el, Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος Χέρν, Patríkios Lefkádios Chérn, Irish language, Irish: Pádraig Lafcadio O'hEarain), was an Irish people, Irish-Greeks, Greek-Japanese people, Japanese writer, t ...

. The translation was Hearn's first book, and is considered one of the best English translations of Gautier. It was first published in hardcover by Richard Worthington in 1882, and reprinted in 1886, 1888, 1890 and 1891; later reprint editions were issued by H. W. Hagemann (1894) and

Brentano's Brentano's was an American bookstore chain with numerous locations in the United States. As of the 1970s, there were three Brentano's in New York: the Fifth Avenue flagship store at Rockefeller Center, one in Greenwich Village, and one in Whit ...

in 1899, 1900, 1906, 1910, 1915, and 1927. The first British edition was published by MacLaren and Co. in 1907. The work was reprinted in 1999 by

Wildside Press Wildside Press is an independent publishing company in Cabin John, Maryland, United States. It was founded in 1989 by John Betancourt and Kim Betancourt. While the press was originally conceived as a publisher of speculative fiction in both trade ...

, a trade paperback edition with page count matching the original.

Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...

considered reissuing the collection as a volume in the

Ballantine Adult Fantasy series The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 (presumably in response to the growing popularity of Tolkien's works), the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which ...

, but this project was not realized.

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for the work has expired, so it now resides in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

. The text in various editions is available via

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, or

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*"To the Reader" (Lafcadio Hearn) *"

One of Cleopatra's Nights {{One source, date=January 2022 ''One of Cleopatra's Nights'' (french: Une nuit de Cléopâtre) is a historical short story by the French writer Théophile Gautier, first published as a six-part serial from November 29-December 6 1838 in '' La Pr ...

" (''Une nuit de Cléopâtre'', 1838) *" Clarimonde" (''La morte amoureuse'', 1836) *" Arria Marcella" (1852) *" The Mummy's Foot" (''Le Pied de momie'', 1840) *"Omphale: A Rococo Story" (''Omphale'', 1845) *"King Candaules" (''Le Roi Candaule'', 1844) *"Addenda" (Lafcadio Hearn)

Reception

In his introduction to the collection, translator

wrote that the stories "afford in the original many excellent examples of that peculiar beauty of fancy and power of painting with words which made Gautier the most brilliant literary artist of his time," and asserted, "At least three of the stories we have attempted to translate rank among the most remarkable literary productions of the century" (though he did not specify which three).

E. F. Bleiler Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" s ...

praised the collection for possessing the "glamour and fascination of the past, told with a fine mixture of sentimentality and horror." In his "Memorial Verses on the Death of Théophile Gautier",

Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as ''Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...

referenced "One of Cleopatra's Nights":

And that great night of love more strange than this,
When she that made the whole world's bale and bliss
⁠Made king of all the world's desire a slave,
And killed him in mid kingdom with a kiss…

In the same poem, Swinburne also referenced "Clarimonde":

The love that caught strange light from death's own eyes,
And filled death's lips with fiery words and sighs,
⁠And half asleep let feed from veins of his
Her close red warm snake's mouth, Egyptian-wise…

Adaptations

Operas

''Une nuit de Cléopâtre'', an opera in three acts by

Victor Massé Victor Massé (born ''Félix-Marie Massé''; 7 March 1822 – 5 July 1884) was a French composer. Biography Massé was born in Lorient (Morbihan) and studied at the Paris Conservatoire, winning the Prix de Rome in 1844 for his cantata ''Le Rén� ...

with a libretto by

Jules Barbier Paul Jules Barbier (8 March 182516 January 1901) was a French poet, writer and opera librettist who often wrote in collaboration with Michel Carré. He was a noted Parisian bon vivant and man of letters.Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...

's ''Swann's Way'' (1913). ''

Cleopatra's Night ''Cleopatra's Night'' is a short opera in two acts by American composer Henry Kimball Hadley. Its libretto is by Alice Leal Pollock based on the 1838 short story "One of Cleopatra's Nights" by French author Théophile Gautier. The opera premiered a ...

'', a short opera in two acts by American composer

Henry Kimball Hadley Henry Kimball Hadley (20 December 1871 – 6 September 1937) was an American composer and Conducting, conductor.''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th edition, p. 692 Early life Hadley was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, t ...

with a libretto by

Alice Leal Pollock Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

based on "One of Cleopatra's Nights," premiered at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

on January 31, 1920. The opera was revived the following season, and was broadcast on NBC radio in 1929. Henry T. Finck proclaimed it the best of ten American operas that had so far appeared at the Met.

Television

"The Mummy's Foot" was adapted as part of the

NBC Television The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

anthology series ''

Your Show Time ''Your Show Time'' is an American anthology drama series that debuted on NBC Television on the East Coast in September 1948 and then on both the East and the West Coast, as a network show, on January 21, 1949. The show was produced by Marshall ...

'', airing February 11, 1949. "One of Cleopatra's Nights" was adapted as part of the Spanish anthology series ''Hora once'', airing June 17, 1971. "Omphale: A Rococo Story" was adapted as part of the French anthology series ''Softly from Paris'', airing May 20, 1988. "Clarimonde" was adapted as part of the anthology series '' The Hunger'', airing March 20, 1998.

References

External links

Editions

1886 Worthington's edition
at

; other editions also available.
1888 Worthington edition
at

.
1890 Worthington edition
at

; sparsely illustrated.
1900 Brentano's edition
at

. * – transcript of the 1900 Brentano's edition.

Other translations

"The Dreamland Bride"
i
''The Mummy's Romance''
by Théophile Gautier, translated by G. F. Monkshood (pseudonym of William James Clarke), London: Greening & Co., 1908; a different translation under a different title of the story "Clarimonde." The collection also includes Monkhood's translation of "The Mummy's Foot" under the titl
"The Princess Hermonthis"

"The Dead Leman"
i
''Théophile Gautier's short stories''
G.P. Putnam, 1909, translated by George Burnham Ives; a different translation under a different title of the story "Clarimonde." The collection also includes Ives' translation o
"Arria Marcella.""The Vampire"
i
''The Romances of Théophile Gautier'', Volume Five
Little, Brown & Company, 1912, translated by F.C. de Sumichrast; a different translation under a different title of the story "Clarimonde." The collection also includes Sumichrast's translation o
"Arria Marcella.""King Candaules"
i
''The Romances of Théophile Gautier'', Volume Four
Little, Brown & Company, 1912, translated by F.C. de Sumichrast.
"The Mummy's Foot"
i
Romances of Théophile Gautier'', Volume Ten
Little, Brown & Company, 1912, translated by F.C. de Sumichrast.
"Omphale: A Rococo Story"
i
''The Works of Théophile Gautier'', Volume Twenty-One
New York: George D. Sproul, 1902, translated by F.C. de Sumichrast.

Illustrations and adaptations

Illustrations
by

Paul Avril Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

for a French edition of 1894. *{{IMSLP, work=Cleopatra's Night, Op.90 (Hadley, Henry Kimball), cname=''Cleopatra's Night''. 1882 short story collections Fantasy short story collections Works by Théophile Gautier French short story collections

Contents