BARTHELEMY, AUGUSTE MARSEILLE (1796 1867), French satirical poet, was born at Marseille. His name can hardly be separated from that of his friend and compatriot, J. P. A. Mery (1798-1866), with whom he carried on in Paris so intimate a collaboration that it is not possible to distinguish their personalities in their joint works. In 1825 appeared a clever political satire on the Government of Charles X., Les. Sidiennes, followed by La Villeliade at la prise du chateau de Rivoli (1827), La Corbiereide (1827), La Pe yronneide (1827), the joint pro ductions of Barthelemy and Mery. The success was immediate and pronounced ; 15 editions of the V illeliade were called for dur ing the year. A rapid succession of political squibs and satires was now poured forth by the authors, among the most remark able being Biographie des quarante de l'academie f rancaise (1826), and Napoleon en Egypte (1828), which passed through nearly a dozen editions in a year. In 1829 Barthelemy was imprisoned and fined 1,000 francs for the publication of their Fils de l'homme, a poem on the duke of Reichstadt, Napoleon's son. The revolution in 1830 liberated him and he and Mery celebrated the triumph of the people in one of their most brilliant efforts, L'Insurrection. From March 1831 to April 1832 they produced a series of verse satires issued weekly, the Nemesis, attacking the Government and ministers of Louis Philippe. For the next few years he enjoyed a handsome pension from the Government and refrained from all satirical writing. He again resumed his old style in 1844 but without the former success.
See J. Garson, Barthelemy et Mery etudies specialement dans leers rapports avec la legende napoleonienne, in vol. lviii. of the Memoires of the Academie Royale . . . de Belgique, and the Oeuvres of Bar thelemy and Mery, collected, with a notice by L. Reybaud, in 1831.