Fortuné Hippolyte Auguste Abraham-Dubois (11 September 1821 – 26 February 1891), under the ''nom de plume'' Fortuné du Boisgobey, was a French novelist.
Life
Fortuné du Boisgobey was born at Granville (
Manche
Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.[Lycée Saint-Louis
The lycée Saint-Louis is a highly selective post-secondary school located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, in the Latin Quarter. It is the only public French lycée exclusively dedicated to providing ''classes préparatoires aux grandes éc ...]
.
[Notes 1891.] He served as paymaster to the Army of Africa through several campaigns in
Algeria
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from 1844 to 1848. His parents were wealthy, yet at forty or upwards, he took to writing.
In 1843, using the name Fortuné Abraham-Dubois, he made his literary debut in the ''Journal d'Avranches'' with a series entitled ''Lettres de Sicile'' recounting a voyage he had taken the year before.
[Chevrier 1997.] His first successful novel, ''Les Deux comédiens'' appeared in 1868, under the du Boisgobey pen name in the ''Petit Journal''.
[Moon 1891.]
The story was popular, and M. Paul Dalloz of the ''Petit Moniteur'' signed a contract with the author for seven years at 12,000ƒ a year.
His reputation was increased by the publication of ''Une Affaire mystérieuse'' and ''Le Forçat colonel'', both published there in 1869.
In 1877, ''Figaro'' engaged him for a series of novels, which increased the success of that paper.
He was prolific, with more than sixty works to his name, and became one of the most popular ''
feuilleton
A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of french: feuillet, the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criti ...
'' writers.
In 1885 and 1886 he was President of the Committee of the
Société des gens de lettres
Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA.
Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...
.
Du Boisgobey died in 1891 after a long illness.
Works
Du Boisgobey was the chief of the followers of
Émile Gaboriau
Émile Gaboriau (9 November 183228 September 1873) was a French writer, novelist, journalist, and a pioneer of detective fiction.
Early life
Gaboriau was born in the small town of Saujon, Charente-Maritime. He was the son of Charles Gabriel Ga ...
, with whom his name is generally associated.
He even wrote a sequel, ''La Vieillesse de M. Lecoq'', using Gaboriau's character
Monsieur Lecoq
Monsieur Lecoq is the creation of Émile Gaboriau, a 19th-century French writer and journalist. Monsieur Lecoq is a fictional detective employed by the French Sûreté. The character is one of the pioneers of the genre and a major influence on ...
in 1877-78.
[Lai 2004.] His novels deal with crime, the police, and Parisian life. They had a high circulation, and the greater part of them have been translated into English.
English translations exist for the following works.
* ''Le Forçat colonel'' (1871) -
* ''Le Chevalier Casse-Cou'' (1873) - The Chevalier Casse-Cou /
** ''Le Camélia rouge'' - The Red Camelia
** ''La Chasse aux ancêtres'' - The Search for Ancestors
* ''Le Vrai Masque de fer'' (1873) - The Iron Mask
* ''L’As de cœur'' (1875) -
* ''La Tresse blonde'' (1875) -
* ''Le Coup de pouce'' (1875) -
* ''Les Mystères du nouveau Paris'' (1876) - The Mysteries of New Paris
* ''L'Enragé'' (1876) - Marie-Rose; or, The Mystery
* "La Jambe Noire" (1877) -
* ''Une Affaire mystérieuse'' (1878) -
* ''La Vieillesse de M. Lecoq'' (1878) -
** ''Première partie'' - The Old Age of Monsieur Lecoq
** ''Deuxième partie'' - The Nabob of Bahour
* ''L'Épingle rose'' (1879) -
** ''Première partie'' - The Coral Pin
** ''Deuxième partie'' - The Temple of Death
* ''L'Héritage de Jean Tourniol'' (1879) - The Robbery of the Orphans; or, Jean Tourniol's Inheritance
* ''Le Crime de l'Opéra'' ou "''La Rideau Sanglante''" (1879) - The Crime of the Opera House / The Opera-House Tragedy
**
**
* ''La Main coupée'' (1880) - /
** ''Première partie'' - The Countess Yalta; or, The Nihilist Spy
** ''Deuxième partie'' - Doctor Villagos; or, The Nihilist Chief
* ''Où est Zénobie?'' (1880) - Where's Zenobia? / Zénobie Capitaine
**
**
* ''Le Tambour de Montmirail'' (1880) -
* ''L'Affaire Matapan'' (1881) - / The Matapan Jewels
* ''L'Équipage du diable'' (1881) - / Satan's Coach
* ''Le Crime de l'omnibus'' (1881) - / The Crime in the Omnibus
* ''Le Pavé de Paris'' (1881) -
* ''Les Deux bonnets verts'' (1881) - / Mérindol
* ''Le Pignon maudit'' (1882) - / The Privateersman's Legacy
* ''Le Bac'' (1882) - / Was it a Murder? or, Who is the Heir? / The Ferry-Boat / Article 722; or, Roger's Inheritance
* ''Les Suites d'un duel'' (1882) -
* ''La Revanche de Fernande'' (1882) -
* ''Le Cochon d'or'' (1882) -
* ''Bouche cousue'' (1883) - Sealed Lips
* ''Le Collier d'acier'' (1883) -
* ''Le Coup d'œil de M. Piédouche'' (1883) - / The Parisian Detective / Piedouche, a French Detective / The Severed Head; or, A Terrible Confession
* ''Le Billet rouge'' (1884) - / Lover or Blackmailer?
* ''Le Mari de la diva'' (1884) -
* ''Le Secret de Berthe'' (1884) -
** ''Première partie'' - Bertha's Secret
** ''Deuxième partie'' - The Countess de Marcenac
* ''Babiole'' (1884) -
** ''Première partie'' -
** ''Deuxième partie'' - The Victim of Destiny
* ''Margot la Balafrée'' (1884) - / The Vitriol Thrower
** ''Première partie'' - The Sculptor's Daughter
** ''Deuxième partie'' - The Count's Ring
* ''La Voilette bleue'' (1885) - / The Angel of the Belfry / The Blue Veil; or, The Crime of the Tower
* ''Le Cri du sang'' (1885) - /
* ''Le Pouce crochu'' (1885) - / Zig-Zag the Clown; or, The Steel Gauntlets
* ''La Belle geôlière'' (1885) -
* ''La Bande rouge'' (1886) -
** ''Première partie'' - The Red Band
** ''Deuxième partie'' - Scarlet Mystery / The Mystery of the Oak
* ''Porte close'' (1886) - / The Closed Door
* ''Rubis sur l'ongle'' (1886) -
* ''Cœur volant'' (1886) -
* "Le Gredins" (1887)
**
**
* ''Jean Coup-en-deux'' (1887) -
* ''Cornaline la Dompteuse'' (1887) -
* ''L'Œil-de-chat'' (1888) - The Cat's-Eye Ring: A Secret of Paris Life
* ''Grippe-Soleil'' (1887) - The Bride of a Day: a Story of Paris Life
* ''Le Chalet des Pervenches'' (1888) -
* ''Mariage d'inclination'' (1888) -
* ''Le plongeur: scènes de la vie sportive'' (1889) - The High Roller; or, Plunging and Honeyfugling on the Race-Track: A Sporting Romance
* ''Fontenay Coup-d'Epée'' (1890) -
* ''Le Chêne-Capitaine'' (1890) - In Chase of Crime
* ''Un Cadet de Normandie au XVIIe siècle'' (1891) - An Ocean Knight; or, The Corsairs and their Conquerors
* ''Acquittée'' (1892) -
Notes
References
"Notes" The Critic 15 (375): 131. 1891-03-07.
* Chevrier, Thierry (1997). "Dossier: Fortuné du Boisgobey" (in French). Le Rocambole 1 (1): 23-74. 0765-0507.
* Moon, George Washington (1891)
Men and Women of the Time London: George Routledge and Sons. pp. 278.
* Lai, Rick (2004). "THE MONSIEUR LECOQ CHRONOLOGY"
Retrieved 2010-06-19.
*
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boisgobey, Fortune du
1821 births
1891 deaths
People from Manche
Lycée Saint-Louis alumni
19th-century French novelists
French male novelists
19th-century French male writers