Théophile Marion Dumersan
Encyclopedia
Plou, Cher
Plou is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre region of France.-Geography:An area of farming and forestry comprising a small village and several hamlets situated some southwest of Bourges, at the junction of the D190, D114 and the D16e roads....
, Cher – 13 April 1849, Paris) was a French writer of plays, vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
s, poetry, novels, chanson
Chanson
A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...
collections, libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in 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 liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
s, and novels, as well as a numismatist and curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
attached to the Cabinet des médailles et antiques
Cabinet des Médailles
The Cabinet des Médailles, more formally known as Département des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiques de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, is a department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, France, housed in its former premises in Rue de Richelieu.The Cabinet des Médailles is a museum...
of the Bibliothèque royale.
Life
The family's real surname was Marion but – to distinguish himself from his brothers – Théophile's brother altered his surname to "du Mersan", after the name of one of its lands. The young Théophile had already found a taste for the theatre by 1795 by learning to read RacineJean Racine
Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
and Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
. In that year, aged 16, whilst his family was distressed by the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
, Théophile found work under Aubin-Louis Millin de Grandmaison
Aubin-Louis Millin de Grandmaison
Aubin-Louis Millin de Grandmaison was an antiquary and naturalist erudite in various domains, who followed Jean-Jacques Barthélemy as curator of the Cabinet des médailles et antiques of the former French royal library and took an interest in medieval art, which was just beginning to attract...
, curator of the Cabinet des médailles et antiques de la Bibliothèque royale
Cabinet des Médailles
The Cabinet des Médailles, more formally known as Département des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiques de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, is a department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, France, housed in its former premises in Rue de Richelieu.The Cabinet des Médailles is a museum...
. With his colleague Théodore-Edme Mionnet, future member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres is a French learned society devoted to the humanities, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France.-History:...
, he perfected a new system for classifying medals into geographical and chronological order, and protected the collection from dispersal by the allies after Napoleon's defeat. He then published at his own expense a history of the collection and description, as newly-rearranged according to historical principles, in 1838 All this led to his being named curator of the Cabinet in 1842.
At the age of 18, he put on his first play, titled Arlequin perruquier, ou Les Têtes à la Titus, a critique of the fashions and mores
Mores
Mores, in sociology, are any given society's particular norms, virtues, or values. The word mores is a plurale tantum term borrowed from Latin, which has been used in the English language since the 1890s....
of the day, and soon began supplying the théâtres de boulevard. In two years he wrote no less than 18 plays, including L'Ange et le diable in 1799 (a 5-act drama which was produced more than 5 times, a remarkable number for that era). In total, he produced 238 pieces, more than 50 of which he wrote without a collaborator. The others were the result of a collaboration with better Parisian vaudevillistes
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, including Jean-Nicolas Bouilly
Jean-Nicolas Bouilly
Jean-Nicolas Bouilly was a French playwright, librettist, children's writer, and politician of the French Revolution...
, Nicolas Brazier
Nicolas Brazier
Nicolas Brazier was a French chansonnier and Vaudeville playwright.-Life:Son of a boarding school master and author of school manuals, Brazier's education was however strongly neglected due to the French Revolution...
, Pierre-Frédéric-Adolphe Carmouche
Pierre Carmouche
Pierre-François-Adolphe Carmouche was a French playwright. He wrote more than 200 successful plays, comedies, vaudevilles and texts for opéras comiques, in collaboration with diverse collaborators - Brazier, Dumersan, Mélesville, de Courcy, etc.In 1824 he married the actress Jenny Vertpré.He also...
, Marc-Antoine Désaugiers, Mélesville and Eugène Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
. His greatest success was Les Saltimbanques, a "farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
désopilante" according to the Grand Dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle, put on at the Théâtre des Variétés
Théâtre des Variétés
The Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1975.-History:...
in 1838.
Amidst all these productions, Dumersan also found time to write works on numismatics
Numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...
and the history of the theatre, including the Manuel des coulisses, a lexicon of theatrical expressions and actors' slang. Towards the end of his life, he published several collections of chanson
Chanson
A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...
s, notably the Chansons nationales et populaires de France, published in two volumes in 1866.
Selected works
Théâtre- Le Nécessaire et le superflu, comédie-vaudeville in 1 act, with Armand d'Artois, Paris, Théâtre du VaudevilleThéâtre du VaudevilleThe Théâtre du Vaudeville was a theatre in Paris. It opened on 12 January 1792 on rue de Chartres. Its directors, Piis and Barré, mainly put on "petites pièces mêlées de couplets sur des airs connus", including vaudevilles....
, 10 July 1813 Online text - Les Cochers, tableau grivois, mêlé de vaudevilles, in 1 act, with Gabriel de Lurieu and Nicolas Brazier, Paris, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 10 October 1825 Online text
- La Chambre de Suzon, comédie in 1 act, mix of couplets, with Pierre-Frédéric-Adolphe Carmouche and Charles-Augustin de Bassompierre Sewrin, Paris, Théâtre des VariétésThéâtre des VariétésThe Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1975.-History:...
, 15 December 1825 Online text - Les Paysans, ou L'Ambition au village, comédie in 1 act, mix of couplets, with Nicolas Brazier and Mélesville, Paris, Théâtre des Variétés, 28 February 1826 Online text
- L'Auvergnate, ou La Principale Locataire, vaudeville in 1 act, with Nicolas Brazier and Gabriel de Lurieu, Paris, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 26 April 1826 Online text
- Les Écoliers en promenade, comédie-vaudeville in 1 act, with Nicolas Brazier and Gabriel de Lurieu, Paris, Théâtre des Variétés, 5 July 1826 Online text
- Les Petites Biographies, comédie-vaudeville in 1 act, with Nicolas Brazier and Gabriel de Lurieu, Paris, Théâtre des Variétés, 29 August 1826 Online text
- Les Passages et les rues, ou La Guerre déclarée, vaudeville in 1 act, with Nicolas Brazier and Gabriel de Lurieu, Paris, Théâtre des Variétés, 7 March 1827 Online text
- Les Saltimbanques, comédie-parade in 3 acts, mixed-couplets, with Charles Voirin, Paris, Théâtre des Variétés, 23 January 1838 Online text
Chansons
- Chants et chansons populaires de la France (3 volumes, 1843–1844)
- Chansons et rondes enfantines, recueillies et accompagnées de contes, notices, historiettes et dialogues, par Du Mersan, enrichies de la musique en regard par Gustave Jeane-Julien (1846)
- Chansons sentimentales et romances d'amour, avec notices historiques et littéraires (1846)
- Chansons bachiques, grivoises et épicuriennes, avec notices historiques et littéraires (1846)
- Chansons nationales et républicaines, de 1789 à 1848, avec des notices historiques (1848)
- Chansons nationales et populaires de France, accompagnées de notes historiques et littéraires, avec Noël Ségur (2 volumes, 1866) Online text 1 2
Numismatique
- Notice des monuments exposés dans le Cabinet des médailles et antiques de la Bibliothèque du roi, suivie d'une description des objets les plus curieux que renferme cet établissement, de notes historiques sur fondation, ses accroissements et d'un catalogue d'empreintes de pierres gravées (1819)
- Description des médailles antiques du cabinet de feu M. Allier de Hauteroche (1829)
- Éléments de numismatique, ou Introduction à la connaissance des médailles antiques, suivis de quelques détails sur la manière de supputer les monnaies anciennes et sur leur valeur (1833)
- Histoire du cabinet des médailles, antiques et pierres gravées, avec une notice sur la Bibliothèque royale, et une description des objets exposés dans cet établissement (1838)
Other
- Poésies diverses (1822)
- Le Soldat laboureur, philosophical novel (3 volumes, 1822)
- L'Homme à deux têtes, histoire de Fernand-Carlos de Vargas, novel (2 volumes, 1825)
- Manuel des coulisses, ou Guide de l'amateur (1826)
- Histoire du théâtre de l'Odéon (1841)
- Mémoires de Mlle Flore [Corvée], artiste du théâtre des Variétés (collaboration, 3 volumes, 1845)