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PREVOST, ANTOINE FRANCOIS (1697–1763)

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 312 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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PREVOST, See also:
ANTOINE, ANDRE (1858- )
ANTOINE See also:
FRANCOIS (1558-1614)
FRANCOIS (1697–1763) , See also:

French author and novelist, was See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born at Hesdin, See also:

ARTOIS

Artois, on the 1st of See also:

APRIL

April 1697. He first appears with the full name of Prevost d'Exiles in a See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter to the booksellers of See also:

Amsterdam in 1731. His See also:

FATHER

father, Lievin Prevost, was a lawyer, and several members of the See also:

FAMILY

family had embraced the ecclesiastical See also:

ESTATE (through O. Fr. estat, mod. flat, from Lat. status, state, condition, position, stare, to stand)

estate. Prevost was educated at the Jesuit school of Hesdin, and in 1713 became a novice ofthe See also:

order in See also:

Paris, pursuing his studies at the same See also:

time at the See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

college of La See also:

FLECHE (French for " arrow ")

Fleche. At the end of 1716 he See also:

LEFT

left the See also:

JESUITS

Jesuits to join the See also:

army, but he soon tired of See also:

LIFE

life in See also:

barracks, and returned to Paris in 1719 with the See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea, apparently, of resuming his novitiate. He is said to have travelled in See also:

Holland about this time; in any See also:

case he returned to the army, this time with a See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

commission. Some of his biographers have assumed that he suffered some of the misfortunes assigned to his See also:

hero See also:

Des Grieux. However that may be, he joined in 1719–1720 the learned community of the See also:

BENEDICTINES, or BLACK MONKS

Benedictines of St Maur, with whom he found See also:

REFUGE

refuge, he himself says, after the unlucky termination of a love affair. He took the vows at Jumieges in 1721 after a See also:

YEAR

year's novitiate, and received in 1726 See also:

PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest's orders at St Germer de Flaix. He resided for seven years in various houses of the order, teaching, See also:

PREACHING (Fr. preecher, from Lat. praedicare, to proclaim)

preaching and studying. In 1728 he was at the See also:

abbey of St Germain-des-Pres, Paris, where he was engaged on the Gallia christiana, the learned See also:

WORK

work undertaken by the monks in continuation of the See also:

WORKS

works of Denys de Sainte-Marthe, who had been a member of their order. His restless spirit made him seek from the See also:

Pope a See also:

TRANSFER (from Lat. transferre, to bear across, carry over)

transfer to the easier See also:

RULE

rule of See also:

CLUNY, or CLUGNY

Cluny; but without waiting for the brief, he left the abbey without leave (1728), and, learning that his superiors had obtained a lettre de cachet against him, fled to See also:

England.

In See also:

LONDON

London he acquired considerable knowledge of See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

HISTORY

history and literature, traceable throughout his writings. Before leaving the Benedictines Prevost had begun his most famous See also:

ROMANCE

romance, Me,mcires et avantures d'un homme de qualite qui s'est retire du monde, the first four volumes of which were published in Paris in 1728, and two years later at Amsterdam. In 1729 he left England for Holland, where he began to publish (See also:

Utrecht, 1730) a romance, the material of which, at least, had been gathered in London—Le Philosophe anglois, ou Histoire de See also:

MONSIEUR (Fr., formed from men, my, and sieur, lord)

Monsieur See also:

Cleveland, fits naturel de See also:

Cromwell, ecrite See also:

PAR (Lat. par, equal)

par lui-mesme, et traduite de l'anglois (Paris 1731-1739, 8 vols., but most of the existing sets are partly Paris and partly Utrecht). A See also:

SPURIOUS

spurious fifth See also:

VOLUME

volume (Utrecht, 1734) contained attacks on the Jesuits, and an English See also:

TRANSLATION

translation of the whole appeared in 1734. Meanwhile, during his See also:

RESIDENCE (Latin residere, to remain behind, to dwell, reside)

residence at the See also:

HAGUE, THE (in Dutch, 's Gravenhage, or, abbreviated, den Haag; in Fr. La Haye; and in Late Lat. Haga Comitis)

Hague, he engaged on a translation of the Historia of De See also:

Thou, and, relying on the popularity of his first See also:

BOOK

book, published at Amster-See also:

dam a See also:

SUITE (Suite de pieces; Ordre; Partita)

Suite in three volumes, forming volumes v., vi., and vii. of the See also:

ORIGINAL

original Memoires et avantures d'un homme de qualite. The seventh volume contained the famous Manon Lescaut, separately published in Paris in 1731 as See also:

Les Aventures du See also:

chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut, par Monsieur D.... The book was eagerly read, chiefly in pirated copies, as it was forbidden in See also:

France. In 1733 he left the Hague for London in See also:

COMPANY

company with a See also:

LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

lady whose See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, as given by Prevost's enemies, was far from desirable. In London he edited a weekly See also:

GAZETTE

gazette on the See also:

MODEL (0. Fr. modelle, mod. modele; It. modello, pattern, mould; from Lat. modus, measure, standard)

model of See also:

ADDISON, JOSEPH (1672-1719)

Addison's Spectator, Le Pour et contre, which he continued to produce, with See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short intervals, until 1740. In the autumn of 1734 Prevost was reconciled with the Benedictines, and, returning to France, was received in the See also:

BENEDICTINE

Benedictine monastery of La Croix-See also:

SAINT (lat. sanctus, " holy ")

Saint-Leufroy in the See also:

DIOCESE (formed on Fr. diocese, in place of the Eng. form diocess—current until the 19th century—from Lat. dioecesis, med. Lat. variant diocesis, from Gr. Swucio•tc, " house-keeping," " administration," &miceas, " to keep house," " to govern ")

diocese of See also:

EVREUX

Evreux to pass through a new, though brief, novitiate. In 1735 he was dispensed from residence in a monastery by becoming See also:

ALMONER (from Lat. eleemosynarius, through med. Lat. almosynarius, almonarius, and Fr. almosnier, aumosniea, &c., mod. Fr. aumonier)

almoner to the See also:

prince de See also:

Conti, and in 1754 obtained the priory of St Georges de Gesnes. He continued to See also:

pro-duce novels and See also:

TRANSLATIONS

translations from the English, and, with the exception of a brief See also:

EXILE (Lat. exsilium or exilium, from exsul or exul, which is derived from ex, out of, and the root sal, to go, seen in salire, to leap, consul, &c.; the connexion with solum, soil, country is now generally considered wrong)

exile (1741–1742) spent in See also:

BRUSSELS (Fr. Bruxelles, Flem. Brussel)

Brussels and See also:

FRANKFORT

Frankfort, he resided for the most See also:

PART

part at See also:

CHANTILLY

Chantilly until his See also:

DEATH

death, which took See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place suddenly while he was walking in the neighbouring See also:

woods on the 23rd of See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December 1763.

Hideous particulars have been added, but the cause of his death, the rupture of an aneurism, has been definitely established. Stories of See also:

CRIME (Lat. crimen, accusation)

crime and disaster were related of Prevost by his enemies, and diligently repeated, but they have proved to be as apocryphal as the details given of his death. Mallon Lescaut, one of the greatest novels of the See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, is very short; it is entirely See also:

FREE

free from improbable incident, it is penetrated by the truest and most cunningly managed feeling; and almost every one of its characters is a See also:

TRIUMPH (triumphus)

triumph of that See also:

ANALYTIC (the adjective of " analysis," q.v.)

analytic See also:

PORTRAITURE

portraiture which is the See also:

SECRET (Lat. secretum, hidden, concealed)

secret of the See also:

MODERN

modern novel. The chevalier des Grieux, the hero, is probably the most perfect example of the carrying out of the sentiment " All for love and the See also:

WORLD

world well lost " that exists in fiction, at least where the circumstances are those of See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary and probable life. Tiberge, his friend, is hardly inferior in the difficult part of See also:

MENTOR

mentor and reasonable See also:

man. Lescaut, the heroine's See also:

BROTHER

brother, has vigorous touches as a See also:

BULLY (of uncertain origin, but possibly connected with a Teutonic word seen in many compounds, as the Low Ger. bullerjaan, meaning " noisy "; the word has also, with less probability, been derived from the Dutch beel, and Ger. Buhle, a lover)

bully and Bohemian; but the triumph of the book is Manon herself. Animated by a real See also:

AFFECTION (Lat. ad, and facere, to do something to, sc. a person)

affection for her See also:

LOVER, SAMUEL (1797-1868)

lover, and false to him only because her love of splendour, comfort and luxury prevents her from welcoming privation with him or for him, though in effect she prefers him to all others, perfectly natural and even amiable in her degradation, and yet showing the moral of that degradation most vividly, Manon is one of the most remarkable heroines in all fiction. She had no See also:

LITERARY

literary ancestress; she seems to have sprung entirely from the See also:

IMAGINATION

imagination, or perhaps the sympathetic observation, of the wandering See also:

SCHOLAR, SCHOLARSHIP

scholar who See also:

drew her. Only the Princesse de See also:

CLEVES (Ger. Cleve or Kleve)

Cleves can See also:

CHALLENGE (O. Fr. chalonge, calenge, &c., from Lat. calumnia, originally meaning trickery, from calvi, to deceive, hence a false accusation, a " calumny ")

challenge comparison with her before or near to her own date, and in Manon Lescaut the See also:

plot is much more See also:

COMPLETE

complete and interesting, the sentiments less artificial, and the whole See also:

story nearer to actual life than in Madame de la Fayette's masterpiece. Prevost's other works include: Le See also:

DOYEN, GABRIEL FRANCOIS (1726-1806)

Doyen de Killerine, histoire morale, composee sur les memoires dune illustre famille d'See also:

Ireland (Paris, 1735; 2nd part, the Hague, 1739, 3rd, 4th and 5th parts, 1740) ; Tout pour l'amour (1735), a translation of See also:

DRYDEN, JOHN (1631-1700)

Dryden's tragedy; Histoire d'une Grecque moderne (Amsterdam [Paris] 2 vols., 1740) ; Histoire de See also:

MARGUERITE

Marguerite d'See also:

ANJOU

Anjou (Amsterdam [Paris] 2 vols., 1740); Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de Matte (Amsterdam, 1741); Campagnes philosophiques, ou memoires ... contenant l'histoire de la guerre d'Irelande (Amsterdam, 1741); Histoire de See also:

Guillaume le Conquerant (Paris, 1742); Histoire generate des voyages (15 vols., Paris, 1746-1759), continued by other writers; translations from See also:

SAMUEL

Samuel See also:

Richardson, Pamela (4 vols., 1742), Lettres anglaises ou Histoire de See also:

MISS

Miss Clarisse Harlowe (6 vols., London, 1741) ; Nouvelles lettres anglaises, ou Histoire du chevalier Grandisson (Amsterdam, 3 vols., 1755) ; Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de la vertu (See also:

COLOGNE (Ger. Koln, or officially, since 1900, Coln)

Cologne, 4 vols., 1762), from Mrs See also:

Sheridan's Memoires of Miss See also:

Sidney Bidulph; Histoire de la maison de See also:

Stuart (3 vols., 1740) from See also:

Hume's History of England to 1688; Le Monde morale, on Memoires pour servir a l'histoire du cwur humain (2 vols., See also:

Geneva, 1760), &c. For the bibliography of Prevost's works, which presents many complications, and for documentary See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence of the facts of his life see H. Harrisse, L'See also:

ABBE (Serbo-Croatian Rai))

Abbe Prevost (1896) ; also a thesis (1898) by V.

Schroeder.

End of Article: PREVOST, ANTOINE FRANCOIS (1697–1763)

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