''Le Constitutionnel'' (, ''The

Constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...

'') was a French political and literary newspaper, founded 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 ...

during the Hundred Days by Joseph Fouché. Originally established in October 1815 as ''The Independent'', it took its current name during the

Second Restoration The Bourbon Restoration was the period of French history during which the House of Bourbon returned to power after the first fall of Napoleon on 3 May 1814. Briefly interrupted by the Hundred Days War in 1815, the Restoration lasted until the J ...

. A voice for Liberals,

Bonapartist Bonapartism (french: Bonapartisme) is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In thi ...

s, and critics of the church, it was suppressed five times, reappearing each time under a new name. Its primary contributors were Antoine Jay, Évariste Dumoulin, Adolphe Thiers, Louis François Auguste Cauchois-Lemaire, as well as Alexander Chevassut and his son-in-law Nicole Robinet de La Serve. During the 19th century,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an monarchs were wary of the press and often suppressed it because they believed it could spark popular uprisings. Newspapers which covered national news were rare and read by few, especially since Germany and Italy were not yet nation-states. According to the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

'', "the first signs of a popular press" appeared in Continental Europe with '' La Presse'' in 1836, founded by

Émile de Girardin Émile de Girardin (22 June 180227 April 1881) was a French journalist, publisher and politician. He was the most successful and flamboyant French journalist of the era, presenting himself as a promoter of mass education through mass journalism. ...

."Publishing, history of." ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 27 January 2009. At the same time, Louis Véron founded the ''

Revue de Paris ''Revue de Paris'' was a French literary magazine founded in 1829 by Louis-Désiré Véron. After two years Veron left the magazine to head the Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded ...

'' in 1829 and revived ''Le Constitutionnel'' in 1835. In 1848, it played a key role in the election of

Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and was a major government newspaper of the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the Second and the Third Republic of France. Historians in the 1930 ...

. Véron asked Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve to write a weekly column on current literary topics. Sainte-Beuve called the now-famous collection ''Causeries du lundi'' ("Monday Chats"). His essays appeared in ''Le Constitutionnel'' from October 1849 to November 1852 and from September 1861 to January 1867 as well as in other papers. They were ruminations on authors and their works, with an emphasis on French literature. Sainte-Beuve's reputation as one of the most important French literary critics of the day rested on these columns, in which he guided the literary tastes of the populace.Martin Travers, ''European Literature from Romanticism to Postmodernism: A Reader in Aesthetic Practice'', Continuum International Publishing Group (2001), 90. Like other papers at the time, ''Le Constitutionnel'' had a "literary slant", which covered up their lack of national news, a slant, which according to ''Britannica'', "persists to some degree in the modern era" in French newspapers. In 1862, Jules Mirès purchased the newspaper as its quality was worsening. Beginning in 1880, it saw a real decline and ceased publication in 1914. Under the editorship of Louis Véron, from 1844 to 1862, the following works were published serially: * '' Jeanne'' by

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

* '' Le Juif errant'' by

Eugène Sue Marie-Joseph "Eugène" Sue (; 26 January 18043 August 1857) was a French novelist. He was one of several authors who popularized the genre of the serial novel in France with his very popular and widely imitated ''The Mysteries of Paris'', whic ...

* ''L’Allée des veuves'' et ''Les Grands Danseurs du Roi'' by Charles Rabou * ''

Le Cabinet des Antiques ''Le Cabinet des Antiques'' (''The Cabinet of Antiquities'') is a French novel published by Honoré de Balzac in 1838 under the title ''les Rivalités en province'' (''Rivalries in the provinces'') in '' le Constitutionnel'', then published as a ...

'' (under the title ''les Rivalités de Province'') by Balzac in 1838 * ''

La Cousine Bette ''La Cousine Bette'' (, ''Cousin Bette (given name), Bette'') is an 1846 novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. Set in mid-19th-century Paris, it tells the story of an unmarried middle-aged woman who plots the destruction of her extended fami ...

'' by Balzac in 1846 * '' Le Cousin Pons'' by Balzac in 1847 * '' Le Colonel Chabert'' by Balzac in 1847 * '' Le Député d'Arcis'' by Balzac in 1852 * ''Renée de Varville'' by Virginie Ancelot * The novels of Alexandre Dumas,

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

, and Alfred de Musset

Notes

External links

* ''Le Constitutionnel'' digitized issue
from 1819 to 1914
in Gallica, the digital library of the BnF.

References

*"Le Constitutionnel". ''Larousse encyclopédique en dix volumes''. Vol. III. *Imhaus, Patrick. ''Robinet de La Serve: l'énergumène créole''. Océan Éditions. Saint-André, 2007. . *Véron, Louis. ''Mémoires d’un bourgeois de Paris''. de Gonet, 1853–1855. {{DEFAULTSORT:Constitutionnel, Le Constitutionnel, Le Constitutionnel, Le Publications disestablished in 1914 1815 establishments in France 1914 disestablishments in France Newspapers published in Paris