4 Jockey Club: One of the most exclusive and elegant of the Parisian clubs, founded in 1834.
5 Comte de Paris: Louis-Philippe-Albert d’Orléans (1838-94), grandson of King Louis-Philippe.
6 Prince of Wales: The future Edward VII, Prince of Wales from 1841 to 1901.
7 marrons glacés: Candied chestnuts traditionally presented on New Year’s Day, especially in Paris.
8 to Lyon: The warehouse was situated near the Gare de Lyon, terminal station for the trains to Lyon.
9 Twickenham: Until 1871, the residence of the Comte de Paris, exiled in England.
10 Sacré-Coeur: A religious boarding school run by the nuns of Sacré-Coeur, a church in Paris.
11 de Bouillon: Branch of the de La Tour d’Auvergne family. Basin de Guermantes’s mother, Oriane de Guermantes’s mother, and Mme. de Villeparisis were sisters in the Bouillon family.
12 Sévigné: The Marquise de Sévigné (1626-96) is famous for her letters (over 1,500 have been published). Most of them written to her daughter, in a natural, racy, and picturesque style, they reveal her opinionated and spirited character and describe the life of the nobility at court and in the country, as well as historical and cultural events of her time. She was Proust’s grandmother’s favorite author.
13 Maréchal de MacMahon: Edmé Patrice, Comte de MacMahon, Duc de Magenta, Maréchal de France (1808-93). In 1873, he was elected President of the Republic by a monarchist coalition for a term of seven years. He resigned on January 30, 1879, before the end of his term.
14 most prominent statesmen in the reign of Louis-Philippe: The statesmen mentioned are probably the Duc d’Audiffret-Pasquier (1823-1905) and the Marquis d’Audiffret (1787-1878), who served respectively as president of the Chamber of Peers and as senator. Louis-Philippe, King of France, ascended the throne following the 1830 Revolution and abdicated following the 1848 Revolution.
15 like Molé, the Duc Pasquier, the Duc de Broglie: Louis Mathieu, Comte Molé (1781-1855), was prime minister under Louis-Philippe and a member of the Chamber of Peers. He was elected to the Académie Française after writing Essais de morale et de politique. Étienne-Denis Pasquier (1767- 1862) was named president of the Chamber of Peers by Louis-Philippe, who made him a duke in 1841. Duc Achille de Broglie (1785-1870) was a member of the Chamber of Peers under the Restoration, then, under Louis-Philippe, president of the council and minister.
16 Corot: Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1876), French painter especially known for his pastoral subjects and the serenity of his interpretations.
17 Flora: Proust inadvertently attributes both remarks to Flora.
18 Maubant: Henri-Polydore Maubant (1821-1902), a member of the Comédie-Française, specialized in the roles of noble father, king, and tyrant. He retired in 1888.
19 Mme. Materna: Amalie Materna (1844-1918), German opera star who created some of the great Wagnerian roles. She retired in 1897.
20 Saint-Simon: Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon (1675-1755), French author of the Mémoires, which cover the period 1675-1723 and give a detailed picture of the life of the court at that time.
21 Spain: Saint-Simon was sent to Spain as ambassadeur-extraordinaire to negotiate the royal marriage of the Infanta of Spain to Louis XV.
22 Maulévrier: Jean-Baptiste-Louis Andrault, Marquis de Maulévrier-Langeron (1677-1754), Marshal of France. He is described in Saint-Simon’s Mémoires of the year 1721.
23 “‘What virtues . . . abhor’”: The line is from Corneille’s La Mort de Pompée, act III, scene 4, and actually reads, ‘“Ô ciel, que de vertus vous me faites haïr.”
24 “against my heart”: À contrecœur, “reluctantly.”
25 the miracle of Saint Théophile or the four sons of Aymon: The Miracle de Théophile, composed by Rutebeuf, a thirteenth-century troubador, relates the adventures of Théophile d’Adana, who was not in fact a saint but a simple cleric, and who signed a pact with the devil, repented, and was saved through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. The story of the four sons of Aymon who offended Charlemagne, fled his wrath, and were finally reconciled with him is told in the late twelfth- or early thirteenth-century chanson de geste, Renaud de Montauban.
26 mouth-rinsing bowls: Bowls containing warm, flavored water presented at the end of the meal for rinsing the mouth and the fingers.
27 “granité”: A grainy water ice or granita served as dinner course or dessert.
28 Benozzo Gozzoli: Florentine painter (1420-97), one of the creators of the frescoes of the Campo Santo at Pisa badly damaged during World War II. One scene depicts the sacrifice of Isaac, but there is no gesture of dismissal directed at Sarah.
29 Indiana: A novel by George Sand published in 1832.
30 Hubert Robert: Hubert Robert (1733- 1808), French painter of landscapes and architecture, especially garden statues, porticos, ruins, and fountains; precursor of the Romantics.
31 Turner: Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1858), English painter, precursor of the Impressionists and of lyrical abstraction, much admired by Ruskin.
32 Morghen: Raphael Morghen (1758-1833), engraver commissioned by the Duke of Tuscany to make an engraving of Leonardo da Vinci’s fresco of the Last Supper.
PART I: Combray 2
1 ten leagues: One league is equal to two to three miles. Proust refers to both leagues and kilometers.
2 King Charles VI: Charles VI le Bien-Aimé (1328-1422), King of France (1380-1422), experienced alternating periods of lucidity and madness. A tarot game was invented to entertain him.
3 Saint Eloi: (c. 588-660) Treasurer and goldsmith of Clotaire II and Dagobert I, King of the Franks in 632.
4 Louis the Germanic: King of the Franks (817-43). He had three sons who conspired constantly against him. The tomb of the sons of Louis in the church at Combray is a fiction.
5 Sigebert’s: Sigebert was the name of three early kings of Austrasia—a part of the Merovingian kingdom of the Franks—in the sixth and seventh centuries.
6 Second Empire: The empire of Napoleon III, 1852-70, a period of financial and industrial expansion; its positivist and materialistic spirit was reflected in the pursuit of money and pleasure and its brilliant social life.
7 Morris column: The name given to columns on Paris streets on which plays and other entertainments are advertised. Named for the printer, Morris, who was the first concession holder.
8 Le Testament de César Girodot . . . Le Domino Noir: Le Testament de César Girodot was a comedy by A. Belot and E. Villetard. Oedipe-Roi was the French translation by Jules Lacroix of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. Les Diamants de la Couronne and Le Domino Noir were comic operas with lyrics by Eugène Scribe and music by Daniel Auber.
9 gentleman: “Gentleman” is in English in the original, as is “a cup of tea.”
10 “ ‘blue’ ”: Bleu, an express letter transmitted by pneumatic tube within Paris. (See note 20, p. 461.)
11 Vaulabelle: Achille de Vaulabelle (1799-1879), a French journalist and historian.
12 Virtues and Vices of Padua: Frescoes by Giotto in the Arena Chapel in Padua; seven virtues—Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance, Justice, Faith, Charity, Hope—face seven vices—Folly, Inconstancy, Anger, Injustice, Infidelity, Envy, Despair.
13 “La Nuit d’Octobre”: October (1837), Poem by Alfred de Musset (1810-57), one of the series entitled Les Nuits (Nights).
14 “ ‘The white Oloossone’ . . . ‘The daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë’ ”: The first line is La blanche Oloossone et la blanche Camyre. The actual line, from “La Nuit de Mai,” is La blanche Oloossone à la blanche Camyre. The second line is La fille de Minos et de Pasiphaë. From Racine’s Phèdre, act I, scene 1, line 36.
15 “ ‘Bhagavat’ and ‘Le Lévrier de Magnus’ ”: Both poems by Leconte de Lisle. “Bhagavat” is from the collection Poèmes antiques (1852), and “Le Lévrier de Magnus” from Poèmes tragiques (1884).
16 La Juive: Opera by Fromental Halévy first performed in 1835 at the Paris Opéra.
17
“Israel, break thy bond”: A line from the opera Samson et Dalila by Saint-Saëns.
18 Archers . . . without sound: In the original, Archers, faites bonne garde! / Veillez sans trêve et sans bruit.
19 Let you . . . Israelite: In the original, De ce timide Israelite/Quoi, vous guidez ici les pas!
20 Fields of our fathers . . . Hebron: In the original, Champs paternels, Hébron, douce vallée.
21 Yes, I am of the chosen race: In the original, Oui je suis de la race élue.
22 Malay kris: A dagger with a ridged serpentine blade.
23 Athalie or Phèdre: Dramas by Jean Racine (1639-99). Their dates are respectively 1691 and 1677.
24 dolce . . . lento: Musical indications in Italian meaning “sweet and soft” and “slow.”
25 portrait of Mohammed II by Bellini: Mohammed II, Sultan of the Ottoman empire from 1451 to 1481, was painted in Constantinople by the Venetian painter Gentile Bellini (c. 1429-1507).
26 Le Cid: 1636 tragedy by Pierre Corneille (1606-84), part of the classic repertory of the Comédie-Française.
27 “the Queens of Chartres”: Statues on the western portal of Chartres Cathedral, for a long time assumed to be kings and queens of France but in fact representing characters from the Bible.
28 The happiness . . . stream: Racine, Athalie, act II, scene 7, line 688. The actual line is Le bonheur des méchants comme un torrent s’écoule.
29 “theater in bed”: Allusion to Alfred de Musset’s Theater in an Armchair, i.e., a play meant to be read to oneself from a book.
30 proud as Artaban: Expression derived from the novel Cléopâtre by Gauthier de la Calprenède (1614-63). The character Artaban has become proverbial for his pride.
31 the “mechanics” of life at Versailles: The phrase recurs several times in Saint-Simon’s Mémoires.
32 The woods are dark, the sky still blue: Les bois sont déjà noirs, le ciel est encor bleu. A line by Paul Desjardins (1859-1940), French writer and thinker.
33 Fall in love . . . plum: In the original, Qui du cul d’un chien s’amourose, Il lui parait une rose. Literally, “He who falls in love with a dog’s bottom/Will think it’s a rose.”
34 Fabre: Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915), French teacher and entomologist who retired in 1871 to devote himself to the study of insect life, one of his special interests being the Hymenoptera. He published ten volumes of studies, Souvenirs entomologiques, from 1879 to 1907.
35 Balzac’s flora: The plant, sedum, appears in at least two of the novels in Balzac’s La Comédie humaine.
36 “for wounded hearts . . . shadow and silence”: Aux coeurs blessés l’ombre et le silence. Epigraph from a novel by Balzac, Le Médecin de campagne (The Country Doctor).
37 Jacobin: Member of a society of revolutionary democrats in France during the Revolution of 1789; hence, a political radical.
38 Andromedas: In Greek mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of Cassiopeia, who boasted that Andromeda was more beautiful than the daughter of Nereus, the Sea God. The daughter was punished for the mother’s arrogance and, chained to a rocky cliff by the sea, was rescued by Perseus.
39 Ar-mor, the Sea: Ar-mor is the Celtic name for Brittany, meaning “on the sea.”
40 Anatole France: French novelist, critic, and literary figure (1844-1924). He wrote about the Cimmerians in Pierre Nozière (1899).
41 country of the Cimmerians in the Odyssey: The Cimmerians were an ancient people from the north shore of the Black Sea who invaded Lydia in Asia Minor in the seventh century. In the Odyssey, Homer describes them as living in darkness.
42 that erudite crook: The crook in question is most likely Vrain-Lucas, who forged signatures which he attributed to Rabelais, Pascal, Joan of Arc, Julius Caesar, and Cleopatra. His story was told by Alphonse Daudet in L’Immortel (1888).
43 burdened . . . across my brow: Indirect quotation from Racine’s Phèdre, act I, scene 3: Que ces vains ornements, que ces voiles me pèsent! / Quelle importune main en formant tous ces noeuds / A pris soin sur mon front d’assembler mes cheveux?
44 some novel by Saintine: Joseph Xavier Boniface, known as Saintine (1798-1865), French novelist best known for his novel Picciola.
45 some landscape by Gleyre: Charles-Gabriel Gleyre (1806-74), Swiss academic painter.
46 the little hooded monk in the optician’s window: A figure in a box that predicted weather changes.
47 Chanson de Roland: Song of Roland, most famous of the chansons de geste of the Middle Ages.
48 kith and kindred: The humor of Françoise’s mistake is more evident in the original. Instead of parenté, “family,” “relations,” she says parentèse, “parenthesis.”
49 Viollet-le-Duc: Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (1814-79), French architect and writer who restored many monuments of the Middle Ages, including the Sainte- Chapelle, Notre-Dame, and the feudal château of Pierrefonds.
50 that painting by Gentile Bellini . . . Saint Mark’s: The reference must be to Gentile Bellini’s Procession in St. Mark’s Square, valued especially for its quality as documentary evidence of the appearance of St. Mark’s Cathedral in the fifteenth century.
51 their pretty name: Boutons d’or, or “gold buttons.”
52 “vacation house”: The irony is lost in translation, since the French maison de plaisance, though it means “country house,” translates literally as “pleasure house” (as in “pleasure boat”).
53 Lohengrin: Opera by Richard Wagner (1813-83), who was immensely popular in Europe in the late nineteenth century.
54 Carpaccio: Vittore Carpaccio (c. 1455-1525), Venetian painter.
55 Baudelaire: Charles Baudelaire (1821-67), French poet and critic.
56 flowery Delos: Greek island; in Greek mythology, the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis.
PART II: Swann in Love
1 Planté: Francis Planté (1839-1934), a French pianist and composer whose concerts were very successful beginning in 1872.
2 Rubinstein: Anton Grigorievitch Rubinstein (1829-94) was, along with Liszt, the most illustrious pianist of his time.
3 Potain: Pierre-Charles-Édouard Potain was elected to the Académie de Médecine in 1882, and to the Institute in 1893.
4 the ride from The Valkyrie or the prelude from Tristan: The Valkyrie (1854-56) and Tristan and Isolde (1865) are both operas by Richard Wagner.
5 fishing for compliments: In English in the original.
6 conclave: A meeting of Roman Catholic cardinals to choose a new pope. Proust is probably referring to the conclave of 1878.
7 What is then . . . understand: A quotation from the end of act 1 of La Dame blanche, an opera by François-Adrien Boieldieu. In the original, Quel est donc ce mystère? / Je n’y puis rien comprendre.
8 Fleeting vision: An allusion to Herod’s aria in act II of Hérodiade, an opera by Jules Massenet. In the original, Vision fugitive.
9 In these affairs . . . blind: A quotation from the end of Amphitryon, a comic opera by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry. In the original, Dans ces affaires / Le mieux est de ne rien voir.
10 home: In English in the original.
11 Vermeer of Delft: Jan Vermeer (1632-75), Dutch painter.
12 Areopagus: The ancient tribunal of Athens; used figuratively to indicate an assembly of virtuous, wise people. The reference seems to be to some fable, but its identity remains unclear.
13 “Patronne’s”: Feminine form of patron, “boss” or “manager.”
14 Reichstag: German legislative assembly.
15 Ninth . . . The Meistersingers: The reference is to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Wagner’s opera The Meistersingers.
16 di primo cartello: Italian term indicating singers of highest quality, who have “top billing.”
17 Academy: Potain was elected to the Académie de Médecine in 1882. The Académie was founded (in 1880) primarily to advise the government on questions of public health.
18 Gambetta’s funeral: Léon Gambetta, an important political leader and deputy t
o the National Assembly, was buried in January 1883.
19 Les Danicheff: Play by Pierre de Corvin-Koukowsky in collaboration with Dumas fils (see note 55 below).
20 M. Grévy’s: Jules Grévy was president of the Republic from 1879 to 1887.
21 gentleman: In English in the original.
22 Pieter de Hooch: Dutch painter (1629-83?) known for his handling of light and perspective.
23 cattleyas: Orchids with large, richly colored flowers developed by the English horticulturist W. Cattley.
24 Our Lady of Laghet: Notre-Dame de Laghet is a place of pilgrimage situated in the Alpes-Maritimes, to the north of Turbie and close to Nice.
25 Zipporah . . . Sistine Chapel: The figure of Zipporah appears in the Sistine Chapel in a series of frescoes by Botticelli depicting the life of Moses, her husband.
26 Antonio Rizzo: The Correr Museum in Venice possesses a bronze bust of Andrea Loredan (who, unlike Pietro Loredan, was never a doge) attributed to the Paduan sculptor Andrea Briosse (1471-1532), known as Riccio or Rizzo.
27 Ghirlandaio: Ghirlandaio (1449-94), Florentine painter, one of the best of the Italian primitives. The reference here is to his Portrait of an Old Man and His Grandson, which hung in the Louvre in Proust’s day. The old man in the picture, a nobleman, has a large prominent nose covered with warts.
28 Tintoretto: Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto (1518-94), Venetian painter whose self-portrait hung in the Louvre in Proust’s day.
29 La Maison Dorée: An elegant restaurant opened in 1840 and situated at 1, rue Lafitte, at the corner of the boulevard des Italiens.
30 the Paris-Murcia fete . . . Murcia: A fete given on December 18, 1879, in aid of the victims of the flooding that occurred in the Murcia province of Spain on October 14 and 15, 1879.
31 Prévost’s: Tearoom at 39, boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle, which opened in 1825 and owed its reputation to its chocolate.
32 Tortoni’s: A café at 22, boulevard des Italiens.
33 Café Anglais: A café at 13, boulevard des Italiens.
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