GONCOURT, de, de ga-koor, EDMOND LOUIS Atimixe Huoi: b. Nancy, 26 May 1822; d. 16 July 1896; and JULES ALFRED HUOT DE: b. Paris, 17 Dec. 1830; d. Auteuil, 20 June 1870; French novelists. The Goncourt brothers were not men of letters but artists primarily, and in 1849 they set out, knapsack on back, to traverse France for drawings and water-colors. Their notebooks made them writers as well as ar tists, and already in 1852 they had commenced that literary partnership which continued nearly 20 years. Their earliest serious works were a group of historical studies upon the second half of the 18th century, intended to be an ef fective resurrection of its habits of life, man ners and costume, which, though elaborate in detail, lacked calm and impartial historical sense, breadth of view and creative grasp of character. These books were 'Histoire de la Societe Francaise pendant la Revolution' (1854), 'La Societe Francaise pendant, le Di rectoire' (1855) ; 'Portraits intimes du XVIII Siecle' (1856-58) ; 'Histoire de Marie Antoin ette' (1858) ; 'Les Maitresses de Louis XV> (1860-79) ; 'La Femme au XVIII Siecle' (1862) and 'L'Amour au XVIII Siecle) (1877) ; 'Gavarni) (1873) and (L'Art an XVIII Sie cle) (1874). The more important work of the De Goncourt brothers was their novel writing; their conception of the novel was that it should be an imaginative attempt to grasp and sum marize the results of close and minute observa tion; their aim was to paint manners by taking the traits in which one man resembles a class; hence they select as generic types only persons of moderate faculties. Their 'Journal' (1:i7
96) is a poignant and significant literary docu ment, valuable for its information on the lit erature of the period. Their novels, descrip tive not so much of passion as of manners, in clude 'Les Hommes de Lettres' (1860), repub lished in 1869 under the title, 'Charles De mailly' ; Philomen0 (1861), describing the hospital life of a Sister of Charity; 'Renee Mauperin' (1864), a study of social life; 'Germinie Lacerteux> (1865), a character study of the gradual degradation of a domestic; (Manette Salomon) (1867), in which an ar tist's model plays the part of human vampire; and 'Madame Gervaisais> (1869), a study of mysticism. After the death of his brother, Ed mond wrote the 'La fille Elisa' (1878), a novel; 'L'tEuvre de Watteau' (1876), (L'CEuvre de Prudhon> (1877); and 'La Maison d'un Artiste' (1881).
On his death, Edmond de Goncourt left the greater part of his fortune to found an acad emy — the Academie Goncourt — and the first members of which were nominated by him.
They receive each an income of 6,000 francs; but membership is forfeited on election to the French Academy. Consult Bellock and Shed lock, 'Edmond and Jules de Goncourt' (1895); Paul Bourget, 'Nouveaux Essais de Psycholo gee' (1885); belzant, 'Les Goncourts' (1889); Wells, 'A Century of French Fiction' (1898).