by Prosper Mérimée · J'ai lu · libro de bolsillo · ISBN 9782290314883
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«La Vénus d'Ille et autres nouvelles» is a collection of fantastic tales by Prosper Mérimée, published by J'ai lu in paperback (96 pages, in French).
A Parisian antiquarian visits the town of Ille and is fascinated by a newly discovered statue of Venus. Its classical beauty combines with a disquieting expression, alternating irony and cruelty, as if the figure had a life of its own. The volume adds other tales by Mérimée where the erudite and the supernatural intertwine.
The title story was originally published in 1835; this edition is from 2001 and belongs to the Librio collection.
Intended for school reading in France and for those interested in the classic fantastic tale in its original language.
Prosper Mérimée was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, an important figure in the history of architectural preservation. He is best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen. He learned Russian, a language for which he had great affection, before translating the work of several notable Russian writers, including Pushkin and Gogol, into French. From 1830 until 1860 he was the inspector of French historical monuments, responsible for the protection of many historic sites, including the medieval citadel of Carcassonne and the restoration of the façade of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. Along with the writer George Sand, he discovered the series of tapestries called The Lady and the Unicorn, arranging for their preservation. He was instrumental in the creation of Musée national du Moyen Âge in Paris, where the tapestries now are displayed. The official database of French monuments, the Base Mérimée, bears his name.
