Histoire de France (Michelet)

Overview

Histoire de France is the vast national history written by the historian Jules Michelet (1798–1874), issued in volumes between 1833 and 1867 (see Sources). It is one of the foundational texts of the French republican and romantic "national story" and treats the nation almost as a living person. Michelet was a liberal and anticlerical thinker (Wikipedia FR, "Jules Michelet"), which explains the tone Marie objects to below.

Marie and this work

On 3 October 1877 (075.0129) Marie has just read "un chapitre de l'Histoire de France de Michelet" and complains that when he speaks of God "il me semble qu'il plaisante, qu'il se moque de ceux qui n'y croient pas"; the remark comes while she is still occupied with her superstitious "sachet" (amulet).

On 23 September 1878 (082.0442) it is part of her self-imposed reading programme: "Quand j'aurai fini Tite-Live je lirai l'Histoire de France de Michelet", and then the Greeks she knows only by hearsay. Her books are still packed in crates. The programme is discussed in the RSR note at that paragraph.

Her later reading of Michelet on the Revolution is a different work: see Histoire de la Révolution française (Michelet).

Identification note

Marie's references to Michelet cover two works. 075.0129 and 082.0442 name the Histoire de France; 098.0144 and 104.0116 ("La Révolution") refer to the Histoire de la Révolution française and have their own entry. Which edition Marie owned is not stated.

References in Diary

Sources