RESTIP DE LA BRETONNE, Nicolas Edme, French novelist and reformer : b. Sacy, 1734; d. 1806. Bretonne, though unknown to the general public, holds a remarkable place in French literature. The son of a farmer, he was educated by the Jansenists, and on their ex pulsion from France became a printer, and later went to Paris. He married Agnes Le Buges. Six or seven years after his marriage he began to write, and until his death poured out a stream of books, amounting in all to about 200. They were upon almost every kind of subject, and many were written in the wildest vein of license, both of speech and morals. Many of his books he printed himself and to-day the original editions are very rare. It is impossible to mention his works in detail, because of the fact that they are so numerous and also be cause of the subject matter. Perhaps the best known of his novels is 'Le paysan pervertP (1777), a novel that had back of it a moral pur pose, though written in a very immoral manner. Bretonne's (Les Contemporaines) (42 vols., 1780-85) is a great collection of short stories, dealing with marriage, love and intrigue. (La pornographe> (1769) was a plan to regulate prostitution, and the plan was tried in one of the German cities of the time. Perhaps the most important of his works was his remarkable autobiography, Nicolas,' published in 16 volumes. This extraordinary work, which is one of the strangest pieces of literature in the world, presented his life story and his views upon society, morals and also his numerous love episodes. It ranks but little below
nova,' to which it is often compared. In 1795 Bretonne received a pension of 2,000 francs from the French government, and just before his death he was even• a place in the Ministry of Police, which he did not live to fill. His other works are all filled with the same frank ness of expression. Among them might be mentioned Justine' ; (Fines du Palois Royal' ; nouvel (Le pied de Fanchette.> Though for some time Bretonne was considered simply as a pornographic writer, and was nick-named the °Rousseau du ruisseau —Rousseau of the gutter," to-day his works are considered valuable studies of the life of his time. It should be understood that Bre tonne, though the author of many books, has not been translated in English, and there seems to be no reason for thinking that any of his works ever will be. There are numerous edi tions of his most important novels in French, and (Monsieur Nicolas' has been translated into Italian and German. Consult Duhren, Eugene, De la Bretonne' (Berlin 1906) ; Monsilet, C., De la Bretonne) (Paris 1853). 'the edition of Nicolas,' Bretonne's leading work, is that published by Liseux (14 vols., Paris 1883-84).