Armand Silvestre

Paul Armand Silvestre (18 April 1837 – 19 February 1901) was a 19th-century French poet and conteur born in Paris.

He studied at the École polytechnique with the intention of entering the army, but in 1870, he entered the department of finance. Silvestre had a successful civil service career, was decorated with the Legion of Honour in 1886, and in 1892 was made inspector of fine arts. Armand Silvestre made his entry into literature as a poet and was reckoned among the Parnassians.

Works Silvestre's works were published mainly by Alphonse Lemerre and Gervais Charpentier.

Some of his poems were set to music by Gabriel Fauré, under the form of mélodies for voice and piano, including Le Secret and L'Automne. Thirteen of his poems were set by André Messager. His Jours Passés was set by Léo Delibes under the title Regrets. Jeanne Rivet used Silvestre's text for her song "Notre Amour".

Poetry Rimes neuves et vieilles, with a preface by George Sand (1866); see on Gallica Les Renaissances (1870) La Gloire du souvenir, poème d'amour (1872) Poésies, 1866–1874. Les Amours. La Vie. L'Amour (1875) La Chanson des heures, poésies nouvelles (1874–1878) (1878) Le Pays des roses, poésies nouvelles, 1880–1882 (1882) Le Chemin des étoiles : les Adorations, la Chanson des jours, Musiques d'amour, Dernières tendresses, Poèmes dialogués, 1882–1885 (1885) Le Dessus du panier : Impressions et souvenirs, Soleils toulousains, Propos de saison, Au pays des rêves (1885) Poésies, 1872–1878. La Chanson des heures (1887) Les Ailes d'or, poésies nouvelles (1890) Roses d'octobre, poésies, 1884–1889 (1890) Poésies, 1866–1872. Rimes neuves et vieilles. Les Renaissances. La Gloire du souvenir (1892) L'Or des couchants, poésies nouvelles, 1889–1892 (1892) Trente Sonnets pour Mademoiselle Bartet (1896) Les Aurores lointaines, poésies nouvelles, 1892–1895 (1896) Les Tendresses, poésies nouvelles, 1895–1898 (1898) Les Fleurs d'hiver, poésies nouvelles, 1898–1900 (1900) His volumes of verse include: Rimes neuves et vieilles (1866), to which George Sand wrote a preface Les Renaissances (1870) La Chanson des heures (1878) Le Chemin des étoiles (1885)

The poet was also a contributor to Gil Blas and other Parisian journals, distinguishing himself by the licence he permitted himself. To these "absences" from poetry, as Henri Chantavoine calls them, belong the seven volumes of La Vie pour rire (1881–1883), Contes pantagruéliques et galants (1884), Le Livre des joyeusetés (1884), and Gauloiseries nouvelles (1888).

Prose

Les Farces de mon ami Jacques (1881) Les Mémoires d'un galopin, suivis de Petite Histoire naturelle (1882) Le Péché d'Ève (1882) Le Filleul du docteur Trousse-Cadet, suivi des Nouveaux Malheurs du commandant Laripète (1882); see on Gallica Histoires belles et honnestes (1883); see on Gallica Madame Dandin et mademoiselle Phryné (1883) Contes grassouillets (1883) Les Mélancolies d'un joyeux (1883); see on Gallica Chroniques du temps passé. Le Conte de l'archer (1883) Pour faire rire. Gauloiseries contemporaines (1883) Contes pantagruéliques et galants (1884) En pleine fantaisie (1884) Les Bêtises de mon oncle (1884) Le Livre des joyeusetés (1884) Histoires de l'autre monde : mœurs américaines (1884) Le Falot (1884) Contes à la comtesse (1885) Les Merveilleux Récits de l'amiral Le Kelpudubec (1885) Joyeusetés galantes, suivies de Laripète citadin (1885) Les Cas difficiles (1886); see on Gallica Contes de derrière les fagots (1886) illustrated by Félix Lacaille Les Veillées de Saint-Pantaléon (1886) Histoires inconvenantes (1887) Le Livre des fantaisies. Joyeusetés et mélancolies (1887) Au fil du rire (1888) Histoires joyeuses (1888); see on Gallica Fabliaux gaillards (1888); see on Gallica Joyeux devis (1888) Maïma (1888); see on Gallica Gauloiseries nouvelles (1888); see on Gallica Propos grivois (1888); see on Gallica Rose de mai, roman (1888); see on Gallica Le Nu au Salon (5 volumes, 1888-1892) Contes à la brune (1889); see on Gallica Histoires scandaleuses (1889) Un premier amant (1889); see on Gallica Livre d'amour (1890); see on Gallica Les Facéties de Cadet-Bitard (1890) Qui lira rira (1890); see on Gallica Trente bonnes farces (1890) Le Célèbre Cadet-Bitard (1891); see on Gallica Les Malheurs du commandant Laripète, suivis de : Les Mariages de Jacques (1891) L'Épouvantail des rosières (1891); see on Gallica Contes salés (1891) Histoires joviales (1891) L'Effroi des bégueules (1891); see on Gallica Floréal (1891) Portraits et souvenirs, 1886–1891 (1891) Histoires extravagantes (1892) Pour les amants (1892) Au pays des souvenirs : mes maîtres et mes maîtresses (1892) Aventures grassouillettes (1892) Contes audacieux (1892); see on Gallica Contes divertissants (1892) Nouveaux contes incongrus (1892) La Russie, impressions, portraits, paysages (1892) Contes hilarants (1893) Histoires réjouissantes (1893) Amours folâtres (1893) Facéties galantes, contes joyeux (1893) Histoires abracadabrantes (1893) Contes désopilants (1893) Procès Rousseil-Tessandier et biographie de Mlle Rousseil (1893) La Semaine pour rire (152 fascicules, 1893–1896) La Kosake (1894) Fantaisies galantes (1894) Veillées joviales (1894) Fariboles amusantes (1895) Histoires gaies (1895) Nouvelles gaudrioles (1895); see on Gallica Le Passe-temps des farceurs (1895) La Plante enchantée (1895) Contes au gros sel (1896) Contes irrévérencieux (1896); see on Gallica Récits de belle humeur (1896); see on Gallica Les Veillées galantes (1896) La Semaine joyeuse, (85 fascicules, 1896–1898) Contes tragiques et sentimentaux (1897) Le Petit art d'aimer, en quatorze chapitres (1897) Histoires gauloises (1898) Belles histoires d'amour (1898) Les Fleurs amoureuses (1899) Arlette, roman (1900) Guide Armand Silvestre, de Paris et de ses environs et de l'Exposition de 1900 (1900) La Chemise à travers les âges, album (1900) Images de femmes (1901) Orfa, roman (1901) Les Sept Péchés capitaux. La luxure (1901); see on Gallica Les Dessous de la femme à travers les âges, album (1902) Contes incongrus (1902) Bibliothèque des Aventures gauloises (1902)

Theatre and librettos 1876: Dimitri, opera in 5 acts and 7 tableaux, with Henri de Bornier, music by Victorin de Joncières, Paris, théâtre National-Lyrique, 1 May 1879: Monsieur ? three-act comédie-bouffe, with Paul Burani, Athénée-Comique, 24 October 1879: Myrrha, saynète romaine, Paris, Cercle des arts libéraux, 20 December 1880: La Tempête, poème symphonique in 3 parts, after Shakespeare, with Pierre Berton, music by Alphonse Duvernoy, Théâtre du Châtelet, 18 November 1882: Coquelicot, three-act opéra comique, after the Cogniard brothers, music by Louis Varney, Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, 2 March 1882: Galante aventure, three-act opéra comique, with Louis Davyl, music by Ernest Guiraud, Opéra-Comique, 23 March 1883: Henry VIII, opera in 4 acts and 6 tableaux, with Léonce Détroyat, music by Camille Saint-Saëns, Opéra, 5 March 1884: Pedro de Zalamea, four-act opera, with Léonce Détroyat, music by Benjamin Godard, Anvers, théâtre Royal, 31 January 1886: Les Templiers, opera in 5 acts and 7 tableaux, with Jules Adenis and Lionel Bonnemère, music by Henry Litolff, Bruxelles, théâtre de la Monnaie, 25 January 1886: Le Mari d'un jour, three-act opéra comique, with Adolphe d'Ennery, music by Arthur Coquard, Opéra-Comique, 4 February 1887: La Tesi, four-act drama, with Georges Maillard, Bruxelles, Théâtre Molière, 29 October; directed by Paul Alhaiza (source: journal le globe illustré) 1888: Jocelyn, four-act opera, after the poem by Lamartine, with Victor Capoul, music by Benjamin Godard, Bruxelles, Théâtre de la Monnaie, February 1888: Chassé-croisé d'amour, one-act opéra-bouffe, with Édouard Cavailhon, music by Villebichot 1888: La Femme bookmaker, one-act opérette, with Édouard Cavailhon; music by Germain Laurens 1889: Sapho, February 1890: Le Pilote, opera in 3 acts and 4 tableaux, with A. Gandrey, music by J. Urich, Monte-Carlo, Casino, 29 March 1893: c, drama in 1 act and in verse, Comédie-Française, 6 March 1893: Les Drames sacrés, poème dramatique in 1 prologue and 10 tableaux, in verse, religious pictures after 14th- and 15th-century Italian painters, with music by Gounod with Eugène Morand, Théâtre du Vaudeville, 15 March 1894: Izeyl, drame en 4 actes, avec Eugène Morand, musique de Gabriel Pierné, Paris, Théâtre de la Renaissance, 24 January 1894: La Fée du rocher, ballet-pantomime en 2 actes et 6 tableaux, avec Francis Thomé et Jules Chéret, 1894 1895: Salomé, pantomime lyrique, with Meltzer, music by Gabriel Pierné, Théâtre de l'Athénée, 4 March 1897: Tristan de Léonois, drama in 3 acts and 7 tableaux, including 1 prologue, in verse, Comédie-Française, 28 October 1897: Chemin de croix, twelve religious poems after Armand Silvestre, set in music by Alexandre Georges 1899: Messaline, drame lyrique in 4 acts and 5 tableaux, with Eugène Morand, music by Isidore de Lara 1901: Charlotte Corday, drame musical in 3 acts, Opéra Populaire, February 1901: Grisélidis, conte lyrique in 3 acts and 1 prologue, with Eugène Morand, after the le mystery presented at the Comédie-Française, music by Jules Massenet, Opéra-Comique, 13 November 1908: Le Chevalier d'Éon, four-act opéra comique, with Henri Cain, music by Rodolphe Berger, Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin, 10 April Le Chevalier aux fleurs, ballet-pantomime in 12 tableaux, music by André Messager and Raoul Pugno (s. d.)

An account of his varied and somewhat incongruous production is hardly complete without mention of his art criticism. Le Nu au Salon (1888–1892), in five volumes, with numerous illustrations, was followed by other volumes of the same type. He died at Toulouse, February 19, 1901.