Charles Paul de Kock facts for kids
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Charles Paul de Kock (May 21, 1793 in Passy, Paris – April 27, 1871 in Paris) was a French novelist. Although one of the most popular writers of his day in terms of book sales, he acquired a literary reputation for low-brow output in poor taste. In 2021 Brad Bigelow wrote: "Today, if we set aside over-priced print on demand reprints of his ancient editions, the works of Paul de Kock haven't seen a new English edition (or translation) in at least a century."
Contents
Biography
His father, Jean Conrad de Kock, a banker of Dutch extraction, was guillotined in Paris 24 March 1794, a victim of the Reign of Terror. His mother, Anne-Marie Perret, née Kirsberger, was a widow from Basel.
Paul de Kock began life as a banker's clerk. For the most part he resided on the Boulevard St. Martin in Paris, where he was born and lived out his life, rarely leaving the city.
He began to write for the stage very early and composed many operatic libretti. His first novel, L'Enfant de ma femme (1811), was published at his own expense when he was 18 years old. In 1820 he began his long and successful series of novels dealing with Parisian life with Georgette, ou la Nièce du tabellion. He was most prolific and successful during the Restoration and the early days of Louis Philippe.
Literary reputation
By 1830, de Kock was one of the most popular authors in Europe. His books typically sold 2-3,000 copies, while Balzac, Georges Sand, and Eugene Sue were fortunate to sell more than 1,000 of theirs.
According to Théophile Gautier, "There never was an author more popular in the real meaning of the word. He was read by everybody." According to William Thackeray, in 1841, "The French writer whose works are best known in England is Monsieur Paul de Kock."
Works
Paul de Kock wrote about 100 volumes. With the exception of a few excursions into historical romance and some miscellaneous works of which his share in La Grande yule, Paris (1842), is the chief, they are all stories of middle-class Parisian life, of guinguettes and cabarets and equivocal adventures of one sort or another. The most famous are André le Savoyard (1825) and Le Barbier de Paris (1826). The stories are full of observation at first hand and of spicy humor.
Typical examples of his work are:
- Gustave le mauvais sujet (1821)
- Frère Jacques (1822)
- La laitière de Montfermeil (1827)
- Monsieur Dupont (1825)
- Un Tourlouron (1837)
- La femme, le mari et l'amant (1829)
- Le cocu (1831)
- La pucelle de Belleville (1834)
A 56-volume edition of his works came out in 1884. He has had imitators, among them his son Henri (1819–92).
See also
In Spanish: Paul de Kock para niños
