Jacques-Maximilien Benjamin Bins, comte de Saint-Victor (1772 - 1858) was a French poet and

man of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

Personal

Bins de Saint-Victor was born in Fort Dauphin, Saint Domingue (now

Fort-Liberté Fort-Liberté ( ht, Fòlibète) is a commune and administrative capital of the Nord-Est department of Haiti. It is close to the border of the Dominican Republic and is one of the oldest cities in the country. Haiti's independence was proclaimed ...

, Haiti) on the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

in 1772. At the time of his birth, Saint Domingue was a French colony. He died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1858. His son,

Paul de Saint-Victor Paul Bins, comte de Saint-Victor (11 July 1827 in Paris – 9 July 1881 in Paris), known as Paul de Saint-Victor, a French author and critic. He is likely most known today as a French cultural figure mentioned by Marcel Proust in the novel ''In Se ...

, became a well-known essayist and critic.

Career

During the

First Empire First Empire may refer to: * First British Empire, sometimes used to describe the British Empire between 1583 and 1783 * First Bulgarian Empire (680–1018) *First French Empire (1804–1814/1815) * First German Empire or "First Reich", sometimes u ...

, Bins de Saint-Victor was arrested as a royalist conspirator and incarcerated at Paris. After the fall of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, he was one of the editors of the ''

Journal des débats The ''Journal des débats'' ( French for: Journal of Debates) was a French newspaper, published between 1789 and 1944 that changed title several times. Created shortly after the first meeting of the Estates-General of 1789, it was, after the ou ...

'' and also worked on the ''Drapeau blanc''. Having tried without success to found a bookstore with

Félicité Robert de Lamennais Félicité may refer to: Geography * Félicité (island), Seychelles * Sainte-Félicité (disambiguation) **Sainte-Félicité, Chaudière-Appalaches, Quebec **Sainte-Félicité, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Quebec People *Félicité Carrel, Italian mounta ...

, he spent some time in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. On his return he worked at the '' La France'' newspaper. In addition to his poetical works and a verse translation of

Anacreon Anacreon (; grc-gre, Ἀνακρέων ὁ Τήϊος; BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ...

, he published numerous historical studies as well as three opera libretti.

Works

Poems

*''Amour et galanterie dans le genre de Faublas'', 2 vol., 1801 *''L'Espérance'', poème, 1802 *''Les Grands Poètes malheureux'', 1802 *''Le Voyage du poète'', poème, 1806 *''Odes d' Anacréon'', traduites en vers sur le texte de Brunck, 1810 *''Ode sur la Révolution française et sur la chute du tyran'', 1814 *''Ode sur la première et la seconde Restauration du trône'', 1815 *''Œuvres poétiques'', 1822

Essays and correspondence

*''Musée des antiques'', dessiné et gravé par Pierre Bouillon, avec des notices explicatives par Jacques Bins de Saint-Victor, 3 vol., 1810-1821 *''Préface des Soirées de Saint-Pétersbourg'' de

Joseph de Maistre Joseph Marie, comte de Maistre (; 1 April 1753 – 26 February 1821) was a Savoyard philosopher, writer, lawyer, and diplomat who advocated social hierarchy and monarchy in the period immediately following the French Revolution. Despite his clos ...

-Edition de 1922. *''Tableau historique et pittoresque de Paris depuis les Gaulois jusqu'à nos jours'', 3 vol., 1808-1809 ; 2nd édition augmentée, 8 vol., 1822-1827 *''Quelques observations sur la lettre de Fouché au duc de Wellington, suivies du texte de cette lettre et de quelques notes explicatives'', 1817 *''Atlas du Tableau historique et pittoresque de Paris depuis les Gaulois jusqu'à nos jours'', 214 planches, 1827 *''Documents historiques, critiques, apologétiques concernant la Compagnie de Jésus'', 3 vol., 1827-1830 *''Lettres sur les États-Unis d'Amérique, écrites en 1832 et 1833, et adressées à M. le Cte O'Mahony'', 2 vol., 1835 *''Correspondance littéraire, découverte d'une petite mystification'', 1837 *''De l'Origine et de la nature du pouvoir d'après les monuments historiques, ou Études sur l'histoire universelle'', 1840 *''Les Fleurs des saints. Actes des saints martyrs rédigés et classés d'après l'ordre chronologique'', 1845

Opera libretti

*''La rivale d'elle-même'',

opéra-comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

in one act, music by

Jean-Pierre Solié Jean-Pierre Solié (also Soulier, Solier, Sollié; 1755 in Nîmes – 6 August 1812 in Paris) was a French cellist and operatic singer. He began as a tenor, but switched and became well known as a baritone. He sang most often at the Paris Opér ...

, premiered at the

Salle Favart The Salle Favart, officially the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, is a Paris opera house and theatre, the current home of the Opéra-Comique. It was built from 1893 to 1898 in a neo-Baroque style to the designs of the French architect Louis Bernie ...

, 3 October 1800 *''L'habit du chevalier de Grammont'', opéra-comique in one act, music by Eler, premiered at the

Théâtre Feydeau The Théâtre Feydeau (), a former Parisian theatre company, was founded in 1789 with the patronage of Monsieur, Comte de Provence (later to become Louis XVIII), and was therefore initially named the Théâtre de Monsieur. It began performing in t ...

, 6 December 1803 *''

Uthal Uthal ( ur, ) is a city of Lasbela District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Uthal is headquarters of Uthal Tehsil an administrative subdivision of the district. Demography The Bela population consists principally of Baloch, followed ...

'', opera in one act in verse imitated from

Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora'' (1763), and later combined under t ...

, music by Méhul, premiered at the Salle Favart, 17 May 1806

References

External links

;Texts available at '' Gallica''
''L'Espérance''''Les Grands Poètes malheureux''
*''Tableau historique et pittoresque de Paris depuis les Gaulois jusqu'à nos jours'
I-1I-2II-1II-2III-1III-2IV-1IV-2''Quelques observations sur la lettre de Fouché au duc de Wellington''
;Texts available online * *
''Le Voyage du poète''''Odes d'Anacréon''''Œuvres poétiques''Jacques Bins, comte de Saint-Victor
file on Data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Bins de Saint-Victor, Jacques, comte 1772 births 1858 deaths 19th-century French poets 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French male writers French opera librettists French people of Haitian descent People from Saint-Domingue People from Fort-Liberté