Paul Auguste Tousez, known as Paul Bocage, (5 October 1824, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

– 25 September 1887, in Paris) was a French

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

and

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. Nephew of the famous 19th century actor

Bocage Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of Northern France, Southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands and Northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use. ''Bocage'' may als ...

(Pierre-Martinien Tousez), he first wrote, using the collective pseudonym "Désiré Hazard" with

Octave Feuillet Octave Feuillet (11 July 1821 – 29 December 1890) was a French novelist and dramatist. His work stands midway between the romanticists and the realists. He is renowned for his "distinguished and lucid portraiture of life", depictions of fem ...

, who had been his classmate at College Louis-le-Grand, the novel ''Le Grand Vieillard'' (1845), ''Échec et mat'', a

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

of five acts, played at the Odeon in 1846, ''Palma, ou la Nuit du vendredi saint'', a

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

of five acts, played at the

Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. History It was first built very rapidly in 1781 under the direction of (1726–1810) to house th ...

in 1847, ''La Vieillesse de Richelieu'', a comedy of five acts, played the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

in 1849 ; ''York'', a comedy-vaudeville, played at the Palais-Royal in 1852. Paul Bocage also wrote, jointly with

Joseph Méry Joseph Méry (21 January 179717 June 1866) was a French writer, journalist, novelist, poet, playwright and librettist. Career An ardent romanticist, he collaborated with Auguste Barthélemy in many of his satires and wrote a great number of st ...

, ''Maître Wolframb'', a libretto for the

Théâtre Lyrique The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien). The company was founded in 1847 as the Opér ...

(1855), and, jointly with Théodore Cogniard, ''Janot chez les Sauvages'', a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

of one act, played at the

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 Mademoiselle ...

. He also attributes a share in ''Le Chariot d'enfant'', a drama of five acts, by Méry and

Gérard de Nerval Gérard de Nerval (; 22 May 1808 – 26 January 1855) was the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie, a major figure of French romanticism, best known for his novellas and poems, especially the collection '' Les ...

and Alexandre Dumas's ''Romulus'' (1854), ''Les Mariages du père Olifus'' (1861) et ''Les Mille et un fantômes'' (1849). Bocage wrote as well novelty items, using the title "Bric-a-Brac", for the magazine ''Le Mousquetaire''. The authorship of ''Les Mohicans de Paris'', a long novel serialized in that publication is also attributed to him. Finally, he published in 1860 ''les Puritains de Paris'' and ''la Duchesse de Mauves'' (1860, 4 vols. in-8).

References

* William Duckett, ''Dictionnaire de la conversation et de la lecture'', Paris, Michel Lévy, 1855, p. 574. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bocage, Paul 1824 births 1887 deaths Writers from Paris 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights French opera librettists 19th-century French novelists Ghostwriters