Joseph Balsamo (Dumas, novel and 1878 Odéon play)

Overview

The novel. Joseph Balsamo is the first part of Alexandre Dumas père's cycle Mémoires d'un médecin (followed by Le Collier de la reine, Ange Pitou and La Comtesse de Charny), written in collaboration with Auguste Maquet and published in the newspaper La Presse from 31 May 1846 to 22 January 1848. The action is set at the end of the reign of Louis XV (1770-1774). Its hero, Joseph Balsamo, is a fictional version of the Sicilian adventurer Giuseppe Balsamo, "comte de Cagliostro" (1743-1795): the head of a secret society that plots the fall of the monarchy, a mesmerist who keeps in his power the sleeping Lorenza Feliciani. (Wikipedia fr, "Joseph Balsamo (roman)"; "Joseph Balsamo", the historical Cagliostro.)

The play. On 18 March 1878 the Odéon created Joseph Balsamo, a "drame en cinq actes" by Alexandre Dumas père and (for the stage adaptation) his son Alexandre Dumas fils, with sets by Jean-Louis Chéret. (Wikipedia fr, "1878 au théâtre" and "Alexandre Dumas (fils)".) One later account calls it a failure at the Odéon, but I could not verify its run or reviews.

Marie and this work

The novel (January-March 1875). On 3 January 1875, after reading late, her face is flushed "par la lecture de Joseph Balsamo" (028.0136). On 31 January, trying to put the child Olga into a trance, she remembers "le comte de J. Balsamo" (029.0139). On 28 March, imagining herself married to the Duke of Hamilton in her dreams while really on her way from the café to the theatre, she calls this "une double existence comme dans J. Balsamo" (030.0399) (possibly the novel's mesmerised sleeper who lives a waking and a sleeping life; Marie does not say). All three are references to the novel.

The play (21 March 1878). "Une soirée délicieuse. Nous sommes allées voir Joseph Balsamo qu'on vient de monter à l'Odéon. Je connais le roman comme toutes les œuvres principales d'A[lexandre] Dumas dont je raffole absolument." (079.0025). It is her only recorded visit to the play, three days after the première.

Balsamo as a type. In 1878 she uses Balsamo as a figure for Paul de Cassagnac, the man she was then infatuated with: his house is "l'intérieur d'un Joseph Balsamo quelconque, d'un homme à bonnes fortunes, panaché de politique, de dévouements" (077.0353, 23 January 1878); he has "ses façons indulgentes comme Balsamo" (077.0357) and "airs de Balsamo" (077.0388, 25 January); and in 080.0252 (21 May 1878) she fears that a clairvoyant ("la Marie de Cassagnac", presumably the somnambulist he consults; not otherwise identified) may tell "le nouveau Balsamo" what she really thinks. Here "Balsamo" is a character type (the magnetic, mysterious ladies' man at the centre of political intrigue), not the title of a work.

Sources

Supersedes: `people/mentioned/JOSEPH_BALSAMO.md` and `people/mentioned/BALSAMO.md` (duplicate stubs). The historical Cagliostro has no entry of his own.