About, Edmond
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1828-1885) French dramatist, journalist, author of several novels of sf interest, though the first of these, Le Cas de M. Guérin ["The Case of Mr Guérin"] (1860) – about a pregnant man – has not appeared in English. He is best-known for L'Homme à l'Oreille Cassée (1862 2vols; trans anon as The Man with the Broken Ear 1864; new trans Henry Holt 1867; new trans J E Maitland, vt Colonel Fougas' Mistake 1878 2vols); under a further vt, "A New Lease of Life", the tale was included in A New Lease of Life; and, Saving a Daughter's Dowry (coll trans 1880). The novel – which features a Napoleonic colonel in Suspended Animation from 1813 until his resuscitation in 1859 – is a mild Satire on French life and politics, though its main focus is upon the highly energetic Colonel Fougas and his confusion of a young contemporary woman with his beloved of 1813. About's third and final sf novel, which plays desultorily with something like plastic surgery, suggesting that to replace a missing nose with flesh from another's elbow was to flirt with Identity Transfer, was Le Nez d'un Notaire (1862; trans anon as The Nose of a Notary 1863; exp vt as coll with one story added, new trans Henry Holt as The Notary's Nose 1874; vt The Lawyer's Nose 1878); it was also incorporated into The Notary's Nose, and Other Stories (coll trans 1882). [JC]
see also: Money.
Edmond François Valentin About
born Dieuz, Lorraine, France: 14 February 1828
died Paris, France: 16 January 1885
works
- Le Cas de M. Guérin (Paris: Lèvy, 1860) [hb/]
- L'Homme à l'Oreille Cassée (Paris: Hac, 1862) [published in two volumes: hb/]
- The Man With the Broken Ear (xxxx 1864) [anon trans of the above: hb/]
- Colonel Fougas' Mistake (London: Remington, 1878) [vt of the above: published in two volumes: hb/]
- The Man With the Broken Ear (New York: Leypoldt and Holt, 1867) [new trans of original title by Henry Holt: in the publisher's Leisure Hour series: hb/]
- A New Lease of Life; And, Saving a Daughter's Dowry (London: Vizetelly and Co, 1880) [coll: new trans of the above, with "Saving a Daughter's Dowry" added: Popular French Novels: hb/]
- The Man With the Broken Ear (xxxx 1864) [anon trans of the above: hb/]
- Le Nez d'un Notaire (Paris: Lèvy, 1862) [hb/]
- The Nose of a Notary (Boston, Massachusetts: Loring, 1863) [trans of the above: hb/]
- The Notary's Nose (New York: Henry Holt and Co, 1874) [exp vt of the above: hb/]
- The Lawyer's Nose (London: Remington and Co, 1878) [trans by J E Maitland of the above: hb/]
- The Notary's Nose, and Other Stories (London: Vizetelly and Co, 1882) [coll: includes the above trans of Le Nez d'un Notaire plus added material: Popular French Novels: hb/]
- The Nose of a Notary (Boston, Massachusetts: Loring, 1863) [trans of the above: hb/]
about the author
- Everett F Bleiler. Science-Fiction: The Early Years: A Full Description of More Than 3,000 Science-Fiction Stories ... (Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 1990) [nonfiction: p2-3: hb/nonpictorial]
- George Locke. A Spectrum of Fantasy: Volume III: Acquisitions to a Collection of Fantastic Literature, 1994-2001: Together with Additional Notes ... (London: Privately Printed, 2002) [nonfiction: p9: hb/nonpictorial]
links
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