Marie Jeanne Riccoboni
Encyclopedia
Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni whose maiden name was Laboras de Mezières, was a French novelist.
She was born in Paris
in 1714.
In 1735 she married Antoine François Riccoboni, a comedian and dramatist, from whom she soon separated. She herself was an actress and had moderate success on the stage.
Madame Riccoboni's work is among the most eminent examples of the "sensibility" novel; among the parallels cited in English literature are works by Laurence Sterne
and Samuel Richardson
. A still nearer parallel may be found in the work of Henry Mackenzie
.
She obtained a small pension from the crown, but the Revolution
deprived her of it, and she died in December 1792 in great indigence.
For more biographical details, see the French Wikipedia and especially the website of the Association Riccoboni (mainly in French).
's Amelia, and supplied in 1765 a continuation (but not the conclusion sometimes erroneously ascribed to her) of Marivaux
's unfinished
Marianne. Riccoboni also corresponded with such luminaries as Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
, author of Les Liaisons Dangeureuses, as well as David Hume and the theater celebrity David Garrick (see J.C. Nicholls, ed. Madame Riccoboni’s letters to David Hume, David Garrick, and Sir Robert Liston : 1764-1783, Oxford: The Voltaire Foundation, 1976).
Some of her better known works are:
She was born in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1714.
In 1735 she married Antoine François Riccoboni, a comedian and dramatist, from whom she soon separated. She herself was an actress and had moderate success on the stage.
Madame Riccoboni's work is among the most eminent examples of the "sensibility" novel; among the parallels cited in English literature are works by Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne was an Irish novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He is best known for his novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy; but he also published many sermons, wrote memoirs, and was involved in local politics...
and Samuel Richardson
Samuel Richardson
Samuel Richardson was an 18th-century English writer and printer. He is best known for his three epistolary novels: Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded , Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady and The History of Sir Charles Grandison...
. A still nearer parallel may be found in the work of Henry Mackenzie
Henry Mackenzie
Henry Mackenzie was a Scottish novelist and miscellaneous writer. He was also known by the sobriquet "Addison of the North."-Biography:Mackenzie was born in Edinburgh....
.
She obtained a small pension from the crown, but the Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
deprived her of it, and she died in December 1792 in great indigence.
For more biographical details, see the French Wikipedia and especially the website of the Association Riccoboni (mainly in French).
Selected works by Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni
Apart from authoring the works listed below, Riccoboni was the editor of a periodical, L'Abeille (1761), wrote a novel (1762) on the subject of FieldingHenry Fielding
Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
's Amelia, and supplied in 1765 a continuation (but not the conclusion sometimes erroneously ascribed to her) of Marivaux
Pierre de Marivaux
Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux , commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French novelist and dramatist....
's unfinished
Unfinished work
An unfinished work is creative work that has not been finished. Its creator may have chosen never to finish it or may have been prevented from doing so by circumstances outside of their control such as death. Such pieces are often the subject of speculation as to what the finished piece would have...
Marianne. Riccoboni also corresponded with such luminaries as Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos was a French novelist, official and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses ....
, author of Les Liaisons Dangeureuses, as well as David Hume and the theater celebrity David Garrick (see J.C. Nicholls, ed. Madame Riccoboni’s letters to David Hume, David Garrick, and Sir Robert Liston : 1764-1783, Oxford: The Voltaire Foundation, 1976).
Some of her better known works are:
- Lettres de mistriss Fanni Butlerd (1757)
- the remarkable Histoire du marquis de Cressy (1758)
- Lettres de Milady Juliette Catesby (1759), an epistolary novel appreciated by Voltaire and translated into English by Frances BrookeFrances BrookeFrances Moore Brooke was an English novelist, essayist, playwright and translator.-Biography:Brooke was born in, Claypole, Lincolnshire, the daughter of a clergyman. By the late 1740s, she had moved to London, where she embarked on her career as a poet and playwright...
in 1760 - l'Histoire d'Ernestine (1765), which La HarpeJean-François de La HarpeJean-François de La Harpe was a French playwright, writer and critic.-Life:La Harpe was born in Paris of poor parents. His father, who signed himself Delharpe, was a descendant of a noble family originally of Vaud...
thought her masterpiece - three series of Lettres in the names of:
- Adelaide de Dammartin (comtesse de Sancerre) (2 vol., 1766)
- Elizabeth Sophie de Valliere (2 vol., 1772)
- Milord Rivers (2 vol., 1776)
Studies of Riccoboni's works
For a more complete survey of literature on Mme Riccoboni, see the bibliography by the Association Riccoboni.- Jan Herman, Kris Peeters and Paul Pelckmans, eds. Mme Riccoboni, romancière, épistolière, traductrice, colloque de l'université de Louvain-Anvers (2006) Louvain; Paris: Dudley, 2007.
- Annie Cointre, Florence Lautel-Ribstein, Annie Rivara, eds. La traduction du discours amoureux (1660-1830). Metz: CETT, 2006. (Two papers pertain to Riccoboni: Jan Herman and Beatrijs Vanacker, 'Madame Riccoboni travestie par Casanova : de nouveaux habits pour Juliette Catesby', and Raeleen Chai-Elsholz, 'Textual Allusions and Narrative Voice in the Lettres de Milady Juliette Catesby and its English Translation'.)
- Brigitte Diaz and Jurgen Siess, eds. L'épistolaire au féminin, correspondances de femmes, colloque de Cerisy-la-Salle (2003). Presses universitaires de Caen, 2006.
- Suzan Van Dijk, 'Fictions revues et corrigées : Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni en face de la critique contemporaine', in Journalisme et fiction au 18e siècle, eds. Malcolm Cook and Annie Jourdan. Bern: Peter Lang, 1999.
- Susan Sniader Lanser, Fictions of Authority. Women Writers and Narrative Voice. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992. (See esp. chapter 2: 'The Rise of the Novel, The Fall of the Voice: Juliette Catesby's Silencing', and chapter 3: 'In a Class by Herself: Self-Silencing in Riccoboni's Abeille.)
- Elizabeth Heckendorn Cook, 'Going Public: The Letter and the Contract in Fanni Butlerd', Eighteenth-Century Studies 24.1 (Fall 1990): 21-45.
- Joan Hinde StewartJoan Hinde StewartJoan Hinde Stewart is the 19th president of Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree, Summa Cum Laude, from St. Joseph's College in 1965, Stewart earned a Ph.D...
, 'Sex, Text, and Exchange: Lettres neuchâteloises and Lettres de Milady Juliette Catesby, Eighteenth-Century Life 13.1 (Feb. 1989): 60-68. - Andrée Demay, Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni : ou De la pensée féministe chez une romancière du XVIIIe siècle. Paris: La Pensée Universelle, 1977.
- Joan Hinde Stewart, The Novels of Mme Riccoboni. Chapel Hill: North Carolina Studies in the Romance Languages and Literatures, 1976.
- Kenneth R. Umland, Madame Riccoboni et Diderot : un débat sur l’art théâtral au dix-huitième siècle. [s.l.s.n.], 1975.
- Emily A. Crosby, Une romancière oubliée, Mme Riccoboni : sa vie, ses œuvres, sa place dans la littérature anglaise et française du XVIIIe siècle. Paris: F. Rieder, 1924; Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1970.