* The 17th of December was really Thursday and not Sunday, as erroneously given.
BIROTTEAU (Madame), born Constance-Barbe-Josephine Pillerault in 1782. Married Cesar Birotteau in May, 1800. Previous to her marriage she was head “saleslady” at the “Little Sailor”* novelty shop, corner of Quai Anjou and rue des Deux Ponts, Paris. Her surviving relative and guardian was her uncle, Claude-Joseph Pillerault. Cesar Birotteau.
* This shop still exists at the same place, No. 43 Quai d’Anjou and 40 rue des Deux-Ponts, being run by M. L. Bellevaut.
BIROTTEAU (Cesarine). (See Popinot, Madame Anselme.)
BIXIOU,* Parisian grocer, in rue Saint-Honore, before the Revolution in the eighteenth century. He had a clerk called Descoings, who married his widow. The grocer Bixiou was the grandfather of Jean-Jacques Bixiou, the celebrated cartoonist. A Bachelor’s Establishment.
* Pronounced “Bissiou.”
BIXIOU, son of the preceding and father of Jean-Jacques Bixiou. He was a colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment; killed at the battle of Dresden, on the 26th or 27th of August, 1813. A Bachelor’s Establishment.
BIXIOU (Jean-Jacques), famous artist; son of Colonel Bixiou who was killed at Dresden; grandson of Mme. Descoings, whose first husband was the grocer Bixiou. Born in 1797, he pursued a course of study at the Lyceum, to which he had obtained a scholarship. He had for friends Philippe and Joseph Bridau, and Master Desroches. Later he entered the painter Gros’s studio. Then in 1819, through the influence of the Ducs de Maufrigneuse and de Rhetore, whom he met at some dancer’s, he obtained a position with the Minister of Finance. He remained with this administration until December, 1824, when he resigned. In this same year he was one of the best men for Philippe Bridau, who married Flore Brazier, known as La Rabouilleuse, the widow of J.-J. Rouget. After this woman’s death, in 1828, he was led, disguised as a priest, to the residence of the Soulanges, where he told the comte about the scandal connected with her death, knowingly caused by her husband; he told, also, about the bad habits and vulgarities of Philippe Bridau, and thus caused the breaking off of the marriage of this weather-beaten soldier with Mlle. Amelie de Soulanges. A talented cartoonist, distinguished practical joker, and recognized as one of the kings of bon mot, he led a free and easy life. He was on speaking terms with all the artists and all the lorettes of his day. Among others he knew the painter, Hippolyte Schinner. He turned a pretty penny, during the trial of De Fualdes and de Castaing, by illustrating in a fantastic way the account of this trial. A Bachelor’s Establishment. The Government Clerks. The Purse. He designed some vignettes for the writing of Canalis. Modeste Mignon. With Blondet, Lousteau and Nathan he was a habitue of the house of Esther Gobseck, rue Saint-Georges, in 1829, 1830. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life. In a private room of a well-known restaurant, in 1836, he wittily related to Finot, Blondet and Couture the source of Nucingen’s fortune. The Firm of Nucingen. In January, 1837, his friend Lousteau had him come especially to upbraid him, Lousteau, on account of the latter’s irregular ways with Mme. de la Baudraye, while she, concealed in an ante-room, heard it all. This scene had been arranged beforehand; its object was to give Lousteau a chance to declare, apparently, his unquenchable attachment for his mistress. The Muse of the Department. In 1838 he attended the house-warming of Heloise Brisetout in rue Chauchat. In the same year he was attendant at the marriage of Steinbock with Hortense Hulot, and of Crevel with the widow Marneffe. Cousin Betty. In 1839 the sculptor Dorlange-Sallenauve knew of Bixiou and complained of his slanders. The Member for Arcis. Mme. Schontz treated him most cordially in 1838, and he had to pass for her “special,” although their relations, in fact, did not transcend the bounds of friendship. Beatrix. In 1840, at the home of Marguerite Turquet, maintained by the notary Cardot, when Lousteau, Nathan and La Palferine were also present, he heard a story by Desroches. A Man of Business. About 1844, Bixiou helped in a high comedy relative to a Selim shawl sold by Fritot to Mistress Noswell. Bixiou himself had purchased, in a shop with M. du Ronceret, a shawl for Mme. Schontz. Gaudissart II. In 1845 Bixiou showed Paris and the “Unconscious Humorists” to a Pyrrenean named Gazonal, in company with Leon de Lora, a cousin of the countryman. At this time Bixiou dwelt at number 112 rue Richelieu, sixth floor; when he had a regular position he had lived in rue de Ponthieu. The Unconscious Humorists. In the rue Richelieu period he was the lover of Heloise Brisetout. Cousin Pons.
BLAMONT-CHAUVRY (Princesse de), mother of Mme. d’Espard; aunt of the Duchesse de Langeais; great aunt of Mme. de Mortsauf; a veritable d’Hozier in petticoats. Her drawing-room set the fashion in Faubourg Saint-Germain, and the sayings of this feminine Talleyrand were listened to as oracles. Very aged at the beginning of the reign of Louis XVIII., she was one of the most poetic relics of the reign of Louis XV., the “Well-Beloved;” and to this nick-name — as the records had it — she had contributed her full share. The Thirteen. Mme. Firmiani was received by the princess on account of the Cadignans, to whom she was related on her mother’s side. Madame Firmiani. Felix de Vandenesse was admitted to her “At Homes,” on the recommendation of Mme. de Mortsauf; nevertheless he found in this old lady a friend whose affection had a quality almost maternal. The princess was in the family conclave which met to consider an amorous escapade of the Duchesse Antoinette de Langeais. The Lily of the Valley. The Thirteen.
BLANDUREAUS (The), wealthy linen merchants at Alencon, time of the Restoration. They had an only daughter, to whom the President du Ronceret wished to marry his son. She, however, married Joseph Blondet, the oldest son of Judge Blondet. This marriage caused secret hostility between the two fathers, one being the other’s superior in office. Jealousies of a Country Town.
BLONDET, judge at Alencon in 1824; born in 1758; father of Joseph and Emile Blondet. At the time of the Revolution he was a public prosecutor. A botanist of note, he had a remarkable conservatory where he cultivated geraniums only. This conservatory was visited by the Empress Marie-Louise, who spoke of it to the Emperor and obtained for the judge the decoration of the Legion of Honor. Following the Victurien d’Esgrignon episode, about 1825, Judge Blondet was made an officer in the Order and chosen councillor at the Royal Court. Here he remained in office no longer than absolutely necessary, retreating to his dear Alencon home. He married in 1798, at the age of forty, a young girl of eighteen, who in consequence of this disparity was unfaithful to him. He knew that his second son, Emile, was not his own; he therefore cared only for the elder and sent the younger elsewhere as soon as possible. Jealousies of a Country Town. About 1838 Fabien du Ronceret obtained credit in an agricultural convention for a flower which old Blondet had given him, but which he exhibited as a product of his own green-house. Beatrix.
BLONDET (Madame), wife of the preceding; born in 1780; married in 1798. She was intimate with a prefect of Orne, who was the natural father of Emile Blondet. Distant ties bound her to the Troisville family, and it was to them that she sent Emile, her favored son. Before her death, in 1818, she commended him to her old-time lover and also to the future Madame de Montcornet, with whom he had been reared. Jealousies of a Country Town.
BLONDET (Joseph), elder son of Judge Blondet of Alencon; born in that city about 1799. In 1824 he practiced law and aspired to become a substitute judge. Meanwhile he succeeded his father, whose post he filled till his death. He was one of the numerous men of ordinary talent. Jealousies of a Country Town.
BLONDET (Madame Joseph), nee Claire Blandureau, wife of Joseph Blondet, whom she married when he was appointed judge at Alencon. She was the daughter of wealthy linen dealers in the city. Jealousies of a Country Town.
BLONDET (Emile), born at Alencon about 1800; legally the younger son of Judge Blondet, but really the son of a prefect of Orne. Tenderly loved by his mother, but hated by Judge Blondet, who sent him, in 1818, to study law in Paris. Emile Blondet knew the noble family of d’Esgrignon in Alencon, and for the youngest daughter of this illustrious house he felt an esteem that was really admiration. Jealousies of a Country To
wn. In 1821 Emile Blondet was a remarkably handsome young fellow. He made his first appearance in the “Debats” by a series of masterly articles which called forth from Lousteau the remark that he was “one of the princes of criticism.” A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. In 1824 he contributed to a review edited by Finot, where he collaborated with Lucien de Rubempre and where he was allowed full swing by his chief. Emile Blondet had the most desultory of habits; one day he would be a boon companion, without compunction, with those destined for slaughter on the day following. He was always “broke” financially. In 1829, 1830, Bixiou, Lousteau, Nathan and he were frequenters of Esther’s house, rue Saint-Georges. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life. A cynic was Blondet, with little regard for glory undefiled. He won a wager that he could upset the poet Canalis, though the latter was full of assurance. He did this by staring fixedly at the poet’s curls, his boots, or his coat-tails, while he recited poetry or gesticulated with proper emphasis, fixed in a studied pose. Modeste Mignon. He was acquainted with Mlle. des Touches, being present at her home on one occasion, about 1830, when Henri de Marsay told the story of his first love affair. He took part in the conversation and depicted the “typical woman” to Comte Adam Laginski. Another Study of Woman. In 1832 he was a guest at Mme. d’Espard’s, where he met his childish flame, Mme. de Montcornet, also the Princesse de Cadignan, Lady Dudley, d’Arthez, Nathan, Rastignac, the Marquis d’Ajuda-Pinto, Maxime de Trailles, the Marquis d’Esgrignon, the two Vandenesses, du Tillet, the Baron Nucingen and the Chevalier d’Espard, brother-in-law of the marquise. The Secrets of a Princess. About 1833 Blondet presented Nathan to Mme. de Montcornet, at whose home the young Countess Felix de Vandenesse made the acquaintance of the poet and was much smitten with him for some time. A Daughter of Eve. In 1836 he and Finot and Couture chimed in on the narrative of the rise of Nucingen, told with much zest by Bixiou in a private room of a famous restaurant. The Firm of Nucingen. Eight or ten years prior to February, 1848, Emile Blondet, on the brink of suicide, witnessed an entire transition in his affairs. He was chosen a prefect, and he married the wealthy widow of Comte de Montcornet, who offered him her hand when she became free. They had known and loved each other since childhood. The Peasantry.
BLONDET (Virginie), wife by second marriage of Emile Blondet; born in 1797; daughter of the Vicomte de Troisville; granddaughter of the Russian Princesse Scherbelloff. She was brought up at Alencon, with her future husband. In 1819 she married the General de Montcornet. Twenty years later, a widow, she married the friend of her youth, who this long time had been her lover. Jealousies of a Country Town. The Secrets of a Princess. The Peasantry. She and Mme. d’Espard tried to convert Lucien de Rubempre to the monarchical side in 1821. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. She was present at Mlle. des Touches’, about 1830, when Marsay told about his first love, and she joined in the conversation. Another Study of Woman. She received a rather mixed set, from an aristocratic standpoint, but here might be found the stars of finance, art and literature. The Member for Arcis. Mme. Felix de Vandenesse saw Nathan the poet for the first time and noticed him particularly at Mme. de Montcornet’s, in 1834, 1835. A Daughter of Eve. Mme. Emile Blondet, then Madame la Generale de Montcornet, passed the summer and autumn of 1823 in Burgundy, at her beautiful estate of Aigues, where she lived a burdened and troubled life among the many and varied types of peasantry. Remarried, and now the wife of a prefect, eight years or so before February, 1848, time of Louis Philippe, she visited her former properties. The Peasantry.
BLUTEAU (Pierre), assumed name of Genestas. The Country Doctor.
BOCQUILLON, an acquaintance of Mme. Etienne Gruget. In 1820, rue des Enfants-Rouges, Paris, she mistook for him the stock-broker, Jules Desmarets, who was entering her door. The Thirteen.
BOGSECK (Madame van), name bestowed by Jacques Collin on Esther van Gobseck when, in 1825, he gave her, transformed morally and intellectually, to Lucien de Rubempre, in an elegant flat on rue Taitbout. Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life.
BOIROUGE, president of the Sancerre Court at the time when the Baronne de la Baudraye held social sway over that city. Through his wife, he was related to the Popinot-Chandiers, to Judge Popinot of Paris, and to Anselme Popinot. He was hereditary owner of a house which he did not need, and which he very gladly leased to the baronne for the purpose of starting a literary society that, however, degenerated very soon into an ordinary clique. Actuated by jealousy, President Boirouge was one of the principals in the defeat of Procureur Clagny for deputy. He was reputed to be unchaste at repartee. The Muse of the Department.
BOIROUGE (Madame), nee Popinot-Chandier, wife of President Boirouge; stood well among the middle-class of Sancerre. After having been leader in the opposition to Mme. de la Baudraye for nine years, she induced her son Gatien to attend the Baudraye receptions, persuading herself that he would soon make his way. Profiting by the visit of Bianchon to Sancerre, Mme. Boirouge obtained of the famous physician, her relative, a gratuitous consultation by giving him full particulars regarding some pretended nervous trouble of the stomach, in which complaint he recognized a periodic dyspepsia. The Muse of the Department.
BOIROUGE (Gatien), son of President Boirouge; born in 1814; the junior “patito” of Mme. de la Baudraye, who employed him in all sorts of small ways. Gatien Boirouge was made game of by Lousteau, to whom he had confessed his love for that masterful woman. The Muse of the Department.
BOISFRANC (De), procureur-general, then first president of a royal court under the Restoration. (See Dubut.)
BOISFRANC (Dubut de), president of the Aides court under the old regime; brother of Dubut de Boisfrelon and of Dubut de Boislaurier. The Seamy Side of History.
BOISFRELON (Dubut de), brother of Dubut de Boisfranc and of Dubut de Boislaurier; at one time councillor in Parliament; born in 1736; died in 1832 in the home of his niece, the Baronne de la Chanterie. Godefroid succeeded him. M. de Boisfrelon had been one of the “Brotherhood of Consolation.” He was married, but his wife probably died before him. The Seamy Side of History.
BOISLAURIER (Dubut de), junior brother of Dubut de Boisfranc and of Dubut de Boisfrelon. Commander-in-chief of the Western Rebellion in 1808-1809, and designated then by the surname of Augustus. With Rifoel, Chevalier du Vissard, he plotted the organization of the “Chauffeurs” of Mortagne. Then, in the trial of the “brigands,” he was condemned to death by default. The Seamy Side of History.
BOIS-LEVANT, chief of division under the Minister of Finance in 1824, at the time when Xavier Rabourdin and Isidore Baudoyer contested the succession of office in another division, that of F. de la Billardiere. The Government Clerks.
BOLESLAS, Polish servant of the Comte and Comtesse Laginski, in rue de la Pepiniere, Paris, between 1835 and 1842. The Imaginary Mistress.
BONAMY (Ida), aunt of Mlle. Antonia Chocardelle. At the time of Louis Philippe, she conducted, on rue Coquenard (since 1848 rue Lamartine), “just a step or two from rue Pigalle,” a reading-room given to her niece by Maxime de Trailles. A Man of Business.
BONAPARTE (Napoleon), Emperor of the French; born at Ajaccio, August 15, 1768, or 1769, according to varying accounts; died at St. Helena May 5, 1821. As First Consul in 1800 he received at the Tuileries the Corsican, Bartholomeo di Piombo, and disentangled his countryman from the latter’s implication in a vendetta. The Vendetta. On the evening of the battle of Jena, October 13, 1806, he was met on that ground by Laurence de Cinq-Cygne, who had come post haste from France, and to whom he accorded pardon for the Simeuses and the Hauteserres, compromised in the abduction of Senator Malin de Gondreville. The Gondreville Mystery. Napoleon Bonaparte was strongly concerned in the welfare of his lieutenant, Hyacinthe Chabert, during the battle of Eylau. Colonel Chabert. In November, 1809, he was to have attended a grand ball given by Senator Malin de Gondreville; but he was detained at the Tuileries by a scene — noised abroad that same evening — between Josephine and himself, a scene which disclosed their impending divorce. Peace in the House. He condoned the infamous
conduct of the police officer Contenson. The Seamy Side of History. In April, 1813, during a dress-parade on the Place du Carrousel, Paris, Napoleon noticed Mlle. de Chatillonest, who had come with her father to see the handsome Colonel d’Aiglemont, and leaning towards Duroc he made a brief remark which made the Grand Marshal smile. A Woman of Thirty.
BONAPARTE (Lucien), brother of Napoleon Bonaparte; born in 1775; died in 1840. In June, 1800, he went to the house of Talleyrand, the Foreign Minister, and there announced to him and also to Fouche, Sieyes and Carnot, the victory of his brother at Montebello. The Gondreville Mystery. In the month of October of the same year he was encountered by his countryman, Bartholomeo di Piombo, whom he introduced to the First Consul; he also gave his purse to the Corsican and afterwards contributed towards relieving his difficulties. The Vendetta.
BONFALOT, or BONVALOT (Madame), an aged relative of F. du Bruel at Paris. La Palferine first met Mme. du Bruel in 1834 on the boulevard, and boldly followed her all the way to Mme. de Bonfalot’s, where she was calling. A Prince of Bohemia.
Works of Honore De Balzac Page 1555