Étienne de SENANCOUR
Étienne Pivert de Senancour.
Born on 16 November 1770 in Paris, France.
Died on 10 January 1846 in Saint-Cloud, France.
Wikipedia: English,
French.
Categories: Novels,
Novella and Short Story,
Theatre,
Essays,
Political Pamphlets,
Articles,
Chronology,
References.
Medallion by David d’Angers.
NOVELS
Obermann (1804).
Subtitle: Lettres publiées par M. ... Sénancour, auteur de “Rêveries sur la nature de l’homme”... Epistolary novel. Written in 1802–1803. Published in Paris by Cérioux circa May 1804 as Oberman (JGLF, JTB). Second edition, with additions, published in Paris by Abel Ledoux on 25 May 1833 as Obermann, with a preface by Sainte-Beuve (BF). Copy of the second edition published in Brussels by Hauman and Cattoir in 1837. Third edition, with a preface by George Sand, published in Paris by Charpentier in February 1840. Reprints of the third edition published in Paris by Charpentier in 1844, 1847, 1852, 1863, 1865, 1874, 1882 and 1892. Critical edition by Gustave Michaut published in Paris by Édouard Cornély in 1912–1913.
French:
1804, vol. 1 and
vol. 2 (1st edition);
— 1833, vol. 1 and
vol. 2 (2nd edition);
— 1837, vol. 1 and
vol. 2 (Brussels);
— 1840 (3rd edition);
— 1844;
— 1852;
— 1863;
— 1874;
— 1912–1913, vol. 1 and
vol. 2 (critical edition);
— Reviews: 15 August 1804 (René Tourlet, Gazette nationale);
January 1832 (Sainte-Beuve, Revue de Paris);
29 June 1833 (Alida de Savignac, Journal des Femmes);
15 October 1910 (Victor Cherbuliez, Revue des Deux Mondes).
English:
Obermann, vol. 1 and
vol. 2 (Jessie Peabody Frothingham, 1901; selections);
— Obermann (Arthur Edward Waite, 1903, ed. 1909);
— Obermann, vol. 1 and
vol. 2 (J. Anthony Barnes, 1910).
Isabelle (1833).
Full title: Isabelle, lettres publiées par de Senancour. Epistolary novel. Published in Paris by Abel Ledoux on 22 July 1833 (BF).
French:
1833;
— Review: 1833 (César Famin, La France littéraire).
NOVELLA and SHORT STORY
Aldomen, ou Le bonheur dans l’obscurité (1795).
Subtitle: Par le citoyen Pivert. Epistolary novella. Published in Paris by Leprieur in Year III of the French Republic (22 September 1794–22 September 1795). Copy discovered in Paris in 1924 by André Monglond. New edition published in Paris by Les Presses françaises in 1925, with a presentation by André Monglond.
French:
1795.
Ynarès, ou Conjectures sur le sort futur de l’homme (1795).
Short story. Published in Paris by Leprieur in Year III of the French Republic, along with Aldomen.
French:
1795.
THEATRE
Valombré (1807).
Comedy in prose, in five acts. Published anonymously in Paris by Cérioux, Barba, Capelle and Renand, Madame Masson and Vente circa October 1807 (JGLF, mispelled Volumbré).
French:
1807;
— 1807.
ESSAYS
Les premiers âges (1792).
Subtitle: Incertitudes humaines. Published under the pseudonym of Rêveur des Alpes in 1792. Probably printed in Neuchâtel. Copy discovered in Leipzig in 1965 by Roger Braunschweig. Reprinted in Geneva by Slatkin in 1968, with a presentation by Roger Braunschweig.
French:
1792.
Rêverie (1792).
Published under the pseudonym of Rêveur des Alpes in 1792, along with Les premiers âges.
French:
1792.
Sur les générations actuelles (1793).
Subtitle: Absurdités humaines. Published under the pseudonym of Rêveur des Alpes in 1793. Dated from Paris on the title page, but probably printed in Neuchâtel. Reprinted in Geneva by Droz in 1963, with a presentation by Marcel Raymond.
French:
1793.
Rêveries (1798–1799).
Full title: Rêveries sur la nature primitive de l’homme, sur ses sensations, sur les moyens de bonheur qu’elles lui indiquent, sur le mode social qui conserverait le plus de ses forces primordiales. First fascicle containing the “Préliminaires” and two “Rêveries” published in Paris by de la Tynna and Cérioux circa April 1798 (JTB). Second fascicle with five more “Rêveries” published in Paris by Cérioux circa September 1798 (JTB). Fascicle containing the first seven “Rêveries” published in Paris by Cérioux circa October 1798 (JGLF). First complete edition, with seventeen “Rêveries”, published in Paris by Laveaux, de la Tynna, Moutardier and Cérioux circa July 1799 (JGLF, JTB), dated Year VIII (which began on 22 September 1799). A copy dated Year VI in the British Library is the Year VIII edition with a manually modified date. Reprint published in Paris by Cérioux and Lepetit circa April 1802 as a purported second edition (JGLF, JTB), without Senancour’s knowledge. New edition, significantly modified, published in Paris by Cérioux in January 1809. Third edition, with further changes, published in Paris by Abel Ledoux in October 1833 (BF).
French:
1798, fascicle 1 and
fascicle 2;
— 1799 (1st edition);
— 1802 (false 2nd edition);
— 1809 (actual 2nd edition);
— 1833 (3rd edition);
— 1910 (critical edition, vol. 1);
— 1940 (critical edition, vol. 2, 1981 reprint);
— Reviews: 13 January 1809 (Gazette de France);
1833 (César Famin, La France littéraire).
De l’amour (1806).
Full title: De l’amour, considéré dans les lois réelles, et dans les formes sociales de l’union des sexes. Published in Paris by Cérioux and Arthus-Bertrand in February 1806 (JGLF). Second edition published in Paris by Capelle and Renand in May 1808 (JTB). Third edition published in Paris by Vieilh de Boisjoslin in November 1828 (BF), dated 1829, and titled De l’amour, selon les lois primordiales, et selon les convenances des sociétés modernes. Fourth edition published in Paris by Abel Ledoux in March 1834 (BF), titled De l’amour, selon les lois premières et selon les convenances des sociétés modernes.
French:
1806 (1st edition);
— 1808 (2nd edition);
— 1829 (3rd edition);
— 1834, vol. 1 and
vol. 2 (4th edition);
— c. 1920 (preface by François de Nion);
— Reviews: 11 May 1807 (La Revue philosophique, littéraire et politique);
10 July 1808 (Gazette de France;
reply by Senancour on 8 August 1808);
17 September 1808 (Stanislas de Boufflers, Mercure de France);
December 1828 (Revue encyclopédique);
6 February 1829 (Nouveau Journal de Paris);
6 March 1829 (Journal des débats);
21 June 1834 (Journal des Femmes.
Observations sur le “Génie du christianisme” (1816).
Full title: Observations critiques sur l’ouvrage intitulé “Génie du christianisme”, suivies de quelques réflexions sur les écrits de M. de B., etc. relatifs à la loi du divorce (“M. de B.” is Louis de Bonald). Published in Paris by Delaunay circa February 1816 (BF).
French:
1816 (eight pages are missing in this copy).
Libres méditations (1819).
Full title: Libres méditations d’un solitaire inconnu, sur le détachement du monde, et sur d’autres objets de la morale religieuse ; publiées par M. de Senancour. Written in 1813. Published in Paris by Pierre Mongie and Cérioux in April 1819 (BF). Second edition, revised and augmented, published in Paris by Vieilh de Boisjoslin in September 1830 (BF). Reprint of the second edition published in Paris by Trinquart in 1834 as a purported third edition. Third version, prepared by Senancour in 1830–1836 (with corrections up to 1842), published in Geneva by Droz in 1970, in a critical edition by Béatrice Le Gall.
French:
1819 (1st edition);
— 1830 (2nd edition).
Résumé de l’histoire de la Chine (1824).
Published in Paris by Lecointe and Durey in October 1824 (BF). Second edition published in Paris by Lecointe and Durey in February 1825 (BF).
French:
1824 (1st edition);
— 1825 (2nd edition).
Résumé de l’histoire des traditions (1825).
Full title: Résumé de l’histoire des traditions morales et religieuses, chez les divers peuples. Published in Paris by Lecointe and Durey in September 1825 (BF). Second edition published in Paris by Lecointe and Durey in March 1827 (BF).
French:
1825 (1st edition);
— 1827 (2nd edition).
Résumé de l’histoire romaine (1827).
Published in Paris by Lecointe and Durey in July 1827 (BF).
French:
1827, vol. 1 (République romaine) and
vol. 2 (Empire romain).
Petit vocabulaire de simple vérité (1833).
Published in Paris in September 1833 (BF).
French:
1833 (1st edition);
— 1834 (2nd edition).
POLITICAL PAMPHLETS
Énoncé rapide et simple (1802).
Full title: Énoncé rapide et simple de quelques considérations relatives à l’acte constitutionnel qui doit être proposé à la République helvétique. Printed in February 1802, in Paris according to the title page, but more probably in Lausanne.
French:
1802.
Lettre d’un habitant des Vosges (1814).
Full title: Lettre d’un habitant des Vosges sur MM. Buonaparte, de Chateaubriand, Grégoire, Barruel, etc. ; publiée par M. de Senancour. Dated from Remiremont on 14 May 1814. Published in Paris in May 1814 (BF).
French:
1814.
Seconde et dernière lettre d’un habitant des Vosges (1814).
Full title: Seconde et dernière lettre d’un habitant des Vosges, publiée par M. de Sénancour. Dated from Remiremont on 30 May 1814. Published in Paris by Chanson in June 1814 (BF).
French:
1814.
Juin, et 14 juillet 1814 (1814).
Dated 29 June 1814 and signed by “L’habitant des Vosges”. Published in Paris in July 1814.
French:
1814.
Simples observations (1814).
Full title: Simples observations, soumises au congrès à Vienne, et au gouvernement français, par un habitant des Vosges ; publié par M. de Sénancour. Dated from Remiremont on 22 October 1814. Published in Paris by Delaunay, Madame Goullet and Blanchard in November 1814 (BF).
French:
1814.
De Napoléon (1815).
Subtitle: Publié par M. de Senancour. Published in Paris by Laurent-Beaupré in March 1815 (BF).
French:
1815 (1st edition);
— 1815 (2nd edition);
— Mention: 5 April 1815 (Journal de Paris).
Quatorze juillet 1815 (1815).
Signed by Senancour as the editor. Printed in Paris by Abel Lanoë in July 1815 (BF).
French:
1815.
ARTICLES
At least 280 articles in newspapers and periodicals. See the list in Jean Senelier’s Hommage à Senancour (1971).
In Mercure de France:
• Du style dans les descriptions,
21 September 1811.
• Review of Vernier’s Du bonheur individuel,
26 October 1811.
• Réflexions sur l’amitié,
2 November and
9 November 1811.
• Review of Rehfues’s L’Espagne en 1808,
9 November 1811.
• Conseils d’un sage littérateur à un jeune auteur,
30 November 1811.
• Sur Fontainebleau,
4 January 1812.
• Extrait d’une dissertation sur le roman,
18 January 1812.
• Sur le rire,
8 February 1812.
• Review of d’Escherny’s Mélanges de littérature,
11 April,
25 April and
2 May 1812.
• De l’effet général des lumières,
5 September 1812.
• Review of Lévis’s Maximes et réflexions,
17 October and
24 October 1812.
• Review of Leschevin’s Voyage à Genève,
7 November 1812.
• Review of Aperçu sur le cœur humain,
17 April 1813.
• Review of Vernier’s Abrégé analytique de la vie et des œuvres de Sénèque,
8 May 1813.
• Review of Quesné’s Lettres à Madame de Fronville,
12 June 1813.
• De l’impartialité dans les écrits,
3 July 1813.
• Des succès en littérature,
24 July 1813.
• Extraits d’un dictionnaire moderne,
7 August 1813.
• Du style dans ses rapports avec les principes...,
14 August and
21 August 1813.
• Review of Fabre d’Olivet’s Les vers dorés de Pythagore,
28 August and
4 September 1813.
• Review of Quesné’s Éloge de Blaise Pascal,
16 October 1813.
• Review of Madame de Lambert’s Œuvres complètes,
4 December 1813.
CHRONOLOGY
Books and pamphlets published during Senancour’s lifetime:
1792: Les premiers âges. — Rêverie.
1793: Sur les générations actuelles.
1795: Aldomen.
1798: Rêveries, fascicles 1 and 2.
1799: Rêveries, 1st edition.
1802: Énoncé rapide et simple. — Rêveries, false 2nd edition.
1804: Oberman, 1st edition.
1806: De l’amour, 1st edition.
1807: Valombré.
1808: De l’amour, 2nd edition.
1809: Rêveries, actual 2nd edition.
1814: Lettre d’un habitant des Vosges. — Seconde et dernière lettre d’un habitant des Vosges. — Juin, et 14 juillet 1814. — Simples observations.
1815: De Napoléon. — Quatorze juillet 1815.
1816: Observations sur le “Génie du christianisme”.
1819: Libres méditations, 1st edition.
1824: Histoire de la Chine, 1st edition.
1825: Histoire de la Chine, 2nd edition. — Histoire des traditions, 1st edition.
1827: Histoire des traditions, 2nd edition. — Histoire romaine.
1828: De l’amour, 3rd edition (dated 1829).
1830: Libres méditations, 2nd edition.
1833: Obermann, 2nd edition. — Isabelle. — Petit vocabulaire de simple vérité, 1st edition. — Rêveries, 3rd edition.
1834: De l’amour, 4th edition. — Petit vocabulaire de simple vérité, 2nd edition. — Libres méditations, false 3rd edition.
1837: Obermann, reprint.
1840: Obermann, 3rd edition.
1844: Obermann, reprint.
REFERENCES
Sainte-Beuve:
“M. de Sénancour” (1832)
in Portraits contemporains.
French:
1832.
Sainte-Beuve:
“Obermann” (1833)
in Portraits contemporains.
French:
1833.
Aurore Dupin (George Sand):
“M. de Sénancour”
in Journal des femmes, 15 February–15 March 1835.
French:
15 February,
1 March and
15 March 1835.
Jules Levallois:
“Une évolution philosophique au commencement du XIXe siècle”
in Séances et travaux de l’Académie des sciences morales et politiques, vol. 130, 1888.
French:
1888.
Alvar Törnudd:
“Quelques feuilles d’un manuscrit inédit de Sénancour”
in Mémoires de la Société néophilologique à Helsingfors, II, 1897.
French:
1897.
Jules Levallois:
Un précurseur : Senancour, 1897.
French:
1897.
Maxime Beauvilliers:
“Senancour — J. Levallois”
in L’Abeille de Fontainebleau, 30 July 1897.
French:
30 July 1897.
Alvar Törnudd:
Étienne Pivert de Sénancour: En literaturhistorisk studie, 1898.
Finnish:
1898.
Victor Giraud:
“Sur une lettre inédite de George Sand à Senancour”
in Revue de Fribourg, February 1904.
French:
February 1904.
Joachim Merlant:
Bibliographie des œuvres de Sénancour, 1905.
French:
1905.
Joachim Merlant:
Sénancour, 1907.
French:
1907;
— 1970 (reprint).
Gustave Michaut:
Senancour, ses amis et ses ennemis, 1909.
Contains the Notice biographique written by Eulalie-Virginie de Senancour in 1850.
French:
1909.
Jean Senelier:
Hommage à Senancour, 1971.
Contains previously unpublished works by Senancour. Dated 1970 on the title page, but printed and copyrighted in 1971.
French:
1971.
Created on 17 August 2025. Updated on 23 August 2025.
