Jean-Louis-Auguste Commerson (2 germinal an XI, 23 March 1803 – 24 July 1879) was a 19th-century French writer, journalist and playwright. J-L-A Commerson

Short biography

A specialist of puns and journalistic "canards" (false report launched in the media in order to mislead the public), Commerson wrote many humorous books, including ''Pensées d'un emballeur pour faire suite aux « Maximes » de

François de La Rochefoucauld François de La Rochefoucauld may refer to: * François III de La Rochefoucauld (1521–1572), French courtier and soldier * François de La Rochefoucauld (writer) (1613–1680), French author * François de La Rochefoucauld (cardinal) (1558–164 ...

'' (1851), ''Un million de bouffonneries'' (1854), ''Le Petit Tintamarre ''(1857), ''La Petite Encyclopédie bouffonne'' (1860) and ''Un million de chiquenaudes et menus propos tirés de la Gazette de Merluchon'' (1880). He also authored comédies en vaudevilles, alone or in collaboration, and established the periodical ''Le Tam-tam''. He signed most of his works of his surname but only occasionally used the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

s Joseph-Prudhomme and Joseph Citrouillard.

Works

Theatre

*1840: ''Les Trente'', « drame national » in four acts and in verse *1845: ''Un souper sous la Régence'', comédie-vaudeville in one act, with

Raymond Deslandes Raymond Deslandes, called Raimond Deslandes, (12 July 182523 March 1890) was a 19th-century French journalist, playwright and theater manager. He wrote, alone or in collaboration (particularly with Eugène Labiche), numerous comedies. He also d ...

Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques is a name that was used for a number of different theatres in Paris from 1785 to 1890. First (boulevard du Temple, 1785–1799) The first Délassements-Comiques was a small theatre on the boulevard du Temple, ...

, 15 November *1846: ''Les Fleurs animées'', vaudeville in one act, with Charles Labie and Xavier de Montépin,

Théâtre du Vaudeville The Théâtre du Vaudeville was a theatre company in Paris. It opened on 12 January 1792 on rue de Chartres. Its directors, Piis and Barré, mainly put on "petites pièces mêlées de couplets sur des airs connus", including vaudevilles. Af ...

, 13 July *1849: ''Ma tabatière ou Comment on arrive'', comédie-vaudeville in four

tableaux The International Conference on Automated Reasoning with Analytic Tableaux and Related Methods (TABLEAUX) is an annual international academic conference that deals with all aspects of automated reasoning with analytic tableaux. Periodically, it joi ...

, with the

Cogniard brothers The Cogniard brothers were two French brothers who worked as playwrights and theatre directors, producing an incalculable number of vaudevilles, reviews, féeries and operettas. The elder of the two was Charles-Théodore or Théodore Cogniard ( ...

, Théâtre du Gymnase-Dramatique, 15 March *1849: ''Une bonne fille'', vaudeville in one act, Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, 11 November *1849: ''Les Fredaines de Troussard'', vaudeville in one act, with Édouard Brisebarre and

Charles Potier Charles Joseph Édouard Potier, called Charles ( Bordeaux, 1806 – Asnières-sur-Seine, 28 April 1870) was a 19th-century French actor and playwright. A son of Charles-Gabriel Potier, an actor at the Théâtre des Variétés (1826), the Thé ...

Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques The Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques was a theatre in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened first in 1832 in the site of the old Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the Boulevard du Temple, under Frédérick Lemaître it became a noted venue ...

, 13 November *1853: ''Les Deux Marguerite'', vaudeville in one act, with Félix Dutertre de Véteuil,

Théâtre des Variétés The Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7–8, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1974. History It owes its creation to the theatre director Mademoisell ...

, 12 July *1853: ''La Pêche aux corsets'', vaudeville in one act, with Eugène Furpille, Théâtre de la Gaîté, 22 October *1854: ''Un mari à l'étouffée'', vaudeville in one act, with Eugène Chavette, Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, 28 January *1854: ''Les Binettes contemporaines'', review in three acts and 7 tableaux, with Clairville and J. Cordier,

Théâtre du Palais-Royal The Théâtre du Palais-Royal () is a 750-seat Parisian theatre at 38 rue de Montpensier, located at the northwest corner of the Palais-Royal in the Galerie de Montpensier at its intersection with the Galerie de Beaujolais. Brief history ...

, 23 December *1855: ''Où sont les pincettes ?'' folie-vaudeville in one act, with Eugène Chavette, Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, 13 June *1855: ''Un suicide à l'encre rouge'', vaudeville in one act, with Eugène Furpille, Théâtre de la Gaîté, 10 September *1856: ''Un monsieur bien mis'', vaudeville in one act, with

Henri Rochefort Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mo ...

, Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, 10 March *1859: ''Le Jugement de Pâris'', operetta in one act mingled with dances and

extravaganza An extravaganza is a literary or musical work (often musical theatre) usually containing elements of burlesque, pantomime, music hall and parody in a spectacular production and characterized by freedom of style and structure. It sometimes als ...

, with Ernest Alby, music by

Laurent de Rillé Laurent may refer to: *Laurent (name), a French masculine given name and a surname **Saint Laurence (aka: Saint ''Laurent''), the martyr Laurent **Pierre Alphonse Laurent, mathematician **Joseph Jean Pierre Laurent, amateur astronomer, discoverer ...

, théâtre des Folies-Nouvelles, 11 February *1859: ''La Clarinette mystérieuse'', vaudeville in one act, with

Jules Moinaux Jules Moinaux, real name Joseph-Désiré Moineaux or Moineau"Moinaux or Moineau? The surname appears never to have been finally determined. Joseph-Désiré's father enrolled his son as Moineau but himself signed Moinaux. An uncle, born in 1826, is ...

, Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, 18 June *1860: ''Quatre femmes sur les bras'', vaudeville, with Théodore Labourieu, Théâtre de la Gaîté, 17 March *1860: ''Le Marchand de parapluies'', revue in three acts, with Paul Faulquemont, Théâtre Beaumarchais, 17 December *1864: ''La Vengeance de Pistache'', vaudeville in one act, with

Amable Bapaume Amable Bapaume (26 March 1825 – 7 July 1895) was a 19th-century French novelist, journalist and playwright. Biography For several years, Bapaume was a teacher in Paris at the collège Sainte-Barbe and the . In 1847, he published a first nove ...

théâtre Déjazet The Théâtre Déjazet is a theatre on the boulevard du Temple (popularly known as the ' boulevard du crime’) in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, France. It was founded in 1770 by Comte d'Artois who later was crowned Charles X. It was then clos ...

, 26 March *1866: ''Doña Framboisias'', folie-vaudeville in one act, with Amable Bapaume,

Théâtre des Folies-Marigny The Théâtre des Folies-Marigny, a former Parisian theatre with a capacity of only 300 spectators, was built in 1848 by the City of Paris for a magician named Lacaze and was originally known as the Salle Lacaze. It was located at the east end o ...

, 6 July *1867: ''Les Vacances de Cadichet'', vaudeville n one act, with Amable Bapaume, Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques, 22 July

Texts

*1922: ''Les Plaisirs de la ville, poèmes dédiés aux jolies femmes''Text online
/small> *1825: ''Contes et Nouvelles''Text online
/small> *1825: ''Hommage à La Fayette''Text online
/small> *1851: ''Pensées d'un emballeur pour faire suite aux « Maximes » de La Rochefoucauld'', foreword by

Théodore de Banville Théodore Faullain de Banville (14 March 1823 – 13 March 1891) was a French poet and writer. His work was influential on the Symbolist movement in French literature in the late 19th century. Biography Banville was born in Moulins in Allier, ...

Text online in ''Bibliothèque des calembours''
/small>. Reprint : Garnier, 1978. *1854: ''Le Code civil dévoilé, dédié aux emballeurs, aux réfugiés polonais et aux gardes nationaux sans ouvrage et notamment aux licenciés de l'École de droit, pour cause d'incapacité notoire'' *1854: ''Rêveries d'un étameur, pour faire suite aux pensées de

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal ( , , ; ; 19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pascal's earlies ...

'' *1854: ''Un million de bouffonneries, ou Le Blagorama français'' *1854–1855: ''Les Binettes contemporaines, par Joseph Citrouillard ommerson reviewed by Commerson, to compete with those of

Eugène de Mirecourt Charles Jean-Baptiste Jacquot (19 November 1812 – 13 February 1880), who wrote under the pen name Eugène de Mirecourt, was a French writer and journalist. The main critic of Alexandre Dumas, he contributed novels, short stories and biograph ...

'', portraits by

Nadar Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (5 April 1820 – 20 March 1910), known by the pseudonym Nadar, was a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist, balloonist, and proponent of heavier-than-air flight. In 1858, he became the first perso ...

, 10 vol., 1854–1855 Texte en ligne 12345
/small> *1857: ''Le Petit Tintamarre'', humorous weeklyText online
/small> *1858: ''Lettre d'un vieux fou à un jeune sage''Text online
/small> *1860: ''Petite encyclopédie bouffonne''
/small> *c.1880: ''Un million de chiquenaudes et menus propos tirés de la « Gazette de Merluchon »''

Newspapers

''Le Tam-tam, magazine hebdomadaire de littérature, d'arts, de sciences et d'industrie'' was a newspaper published by Commerson from 1835. It would change titles several times during its publication: ''Le Tam-tam républicain, organe des clubs'' (March 1848) ; ''Le Tam-tam de 1848'' (July 1848). Jean-Baptiste Dalès called Dalès ainé collaborated with this paper which is sometimes called "former ''Tam-Tam''" to distinguish it from two other publications by Commerson: *''Le Tam-tam, revue critique des Polichinels politiques, financiers, religieux et autres'' by Napoléon Citrouillard ommerson specimen issue 10 March 1871 ; *''Le Tam-tam...'', 1872-1877.

Quote

According to Jacques Rouvière, the sentence "Cities should be built in the country, the air is healthier"", generally attributed to

Alphonse Allais Alphonse Allais (20 October 1854 – 28 October 1905) was a French writer, journalist and humorist. Life Allais was born in Honfleur, Calvados. He died in Paris. Work He is the author of many collections of whimsical writings. A poet as much ...

, is to be found in the ''Pensées d'un emballeur'' by Commerson. In fact, it seems that this joke already was in ''Le Pamphlet provisoire illustré'' (1848)."An axiom of Pierre Leroux. But, my good sir Cabet, because you love the peace of the fields, we need to build cities in the country."

Auguste Vitu Auguste-Charles-Joseph Vitu (7 October 1823 – 5 August 1891) was a 19th-century French journalist and writer. Biography The natural son of a Parisian rentier, Vitu began his career as a typographer-worker before becoming a journalist. In 1 ...

(dir.), ''Le Pamphlet provisoire illustré'', new series, 1st year, 16–19 October 1848, (p. 4). ; mentioned by ''Le Préfet maritime'' o
Alamblog
11 October 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commerson, Jean 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French journalists French male journalists Writers from Paris 1802 births 1879 deaths 19th-century French male writers