Prosper Mérimée, Colomba

Corry Cropper (Brigham Young University)

Ed. by Tim Unwin, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.05: French Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth-Century , 1800-1900.
Vol. editors: Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Nigel Harkness (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield), Jennifer Yee (University of Oxford)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1840

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novella
Story Collection

Resources

Prosper Mérimée’s story of Corsican vendetta, Colomba, first published on 1 July 1840 in the Revue des Deux Mondes and republished in book form in June 1841 by Magen, was undoubtedly his most popular, best received work. Critics almost unanimously praised Colomba, with Sainte-Beuve calling it Mérimée’s “most beautiful, most perfect” novel. His inspiration for the novel stemmed from an 1839 trip to Corsica, completed as part of his official duties as France’s General Inspector of Historical Monuments. During the trip he read historical accounts of vendettas, was told of them by his hosts, and even met a sixty-five year old woman named Colomba Bartoli, a woman obsessed with …

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1758 words

Citation: Cropper, Corry. "Colomba". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 March 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9394, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Save this article