Charles de Saint-Évremond

He wrote for his friends and did not intend his work to be published, although a few of his pieces were leaked in his lifetime. The first full collection of his works was published in London in 1705, after his death.

• Name — Charles de Saint-Évremond • Born — 1 April 1613 • Birthplace — Saint-Denis-le-Guast, near Coutances, in Normandy, France • Died — 9 September 1703 • Place of death — London, England • Occupation — Essayist, critic, soldier

He was born at Saint-Denis-le-Gast, near Coutances, the seat of his family in Normandy. He was a pupil of the Jesuits at the Collège de Clermont (now the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand), Paris; then a student at Caen. For a time he studied law in Paris at the College d'Harcourt (now Lycée Saint-Louis). He soon, however, took to arms, and in 1629 went with Marshal Bassompierre to Italy. He served through a great part of the Thirty Years' War, distinguishing himself at the siege of Landrecies (1637), when he was made captain. During his campaigns he studied the works of Montaigne and the Spanish and Italian languages. In 1639 he met Pierre Gassendi in Paris, and became one of his disciples. He was present at the battles of Rocroi, Nördlingen, and at Lerida. For a time he was personally attached to Condé, but offended him by a satirical remark and was deprived of his command in the prince's guards in 1648. During the Fronde, Saint-Évremond was a steady royalist. The Duke of Candale, of whom Saint-Évremond has left a very severe portrait, gave him a command in Guienne after he had reached the grade of maréchal de camp, and he is said to have pocketed 50,000 livres in less than three years from this office. He was one of the numerous victims involved in the fall of Fouquet in 1661. His letter to Marshal Créquy on the Treaty of the Pyrenees, which is said to have been discovered by Colbert's agents at the seizure of Fouquet's papers, seems a very inadequate cause for his disgrace. Saint-Évremond fled to the Netherlands and to England, where he was kindly received by Charles II and was pensioned. After James II's flight to France, Saint-Évremond was invited to return, but he declined. Hortense Mancini, the most attractive of Cardinal Mazarin's group of attractive nieces, came to England in 1670, and set up a salon for flirtation, gambling, and witty conversation, and here Saint-Évremond was for many years at home. He died aged ninety on 9 September 1703 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where his monument is in Poets' Corner, close to that of Prior.

• Illustration — Portrait of Charles de Saint-Évremond by Godfrey Kneller. c. 1680s Saint-Évremond never authorised the printing of any of his works during his lifetime, though Barbin in 1668 published an unauthorised collection but he empowered Pierre des Maizeaux to publish his works after his death, and they were published in London (2 volumes, 1705), and often reprinted. His masterpiece in irony is the so-called Conversation du maréchal d'Hocquincourt avec le père Canaye (the latter a Jesuit and Saint-Évremond's master at school), which has been frequently classed with the Lettres provinciales. His Œuvres meslées, edited from the manuscripts by Silvestre and Maizeaux, were printed by Jacob Tonson (London, 1705, 2 volumes; 2nd edition, 3 volumes, 1709), with a notice by Maizeaux. His correspondence with Ninon de l'Enclos, whose fast friend he was, was published in 1752; La Comédie des académistes, written in 1643, was printed in 1650. Modern editions of his works are by Hippeau (Paris, 1852), C. Giraud (Paris, 1865), and a selection (1881) with a notice by M. de Lescure. Among his plays is one called Politick Would-be, modelled on a character from Ben Jonson's Volpone.

• http: frenchphilosophes.weebly.com/saint-evremond.html • Discours sur Épicure. Paris: Claude Barbin, 1684. • Œuvres meslées de M. D. *** de S. Évremont. Paris: Claude Barbin, 1693. • Œuvres meslées Tome I. Paris: Claude Barbin, 1670. • Œuvres meslées Tome II. Paris: Claude Barbin, 1671. • Œuvres meslées Tome III. missing. • Œuvres meslées Tome IV. Paris: Claude Barbin, 1681. • Œuvres meslées Tome V. Paris, Claude Barbin, 1678. • Œuvres meslées Tome VI. Paris: Claude Barbin, [1683]. • Œuvres meslées Tome VII. Paris: Claude Barbin, 1684. • Œuvres meslées Tome VIII. Paris: Claude Barbin, 1684. • Œuvres meslées Tome IX. Paris: Claude Barbin, 1684. • Œuvres meslées Tome X. Paris: Claude Barbin, 1684. • Œuvres meslées Tome XI. Paris: Claude Barbin, 1684. • Les Académiciens: comédie. Paris: Charavay frères, 1879.

Charles de Saint-Évremond was recorded at birth as Charles Marguetel de Saint-Denis. He also worked under the names Descavenets and M. de S. The authorities additionally record the headings Saint-Évremond, Charles de Marquetel de Saint-Denis de Saint-Évremond and Charles Marguetel de Saint-Denis, Seigneur de Saint-Évremond. His recorded language was French.

Charles de Saint-Évremond is recorded with the occupation military personnel. Recorded with the occupation literary critic. Recorded with the occupation French moralist. Recorded as having studied at Lycée Louis-le-Grand, Lycée Saint-Louis and University of Caen Normandy.