Le Rouge, Gustave
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1867-1938) French author, a significant figure in early twentieth-century French sf, much admired by the transgressive Modernist/Surrealist author Blaise Cendrars. None of his works were translated into English until 2008, perhaps because most of his output appeared in various French versions of the Pulp magazine, often in magazine-like volumes wholly dedicated to the title being published. His first novel, with his junior partner Gustave Guitton, La Conspiration des milliardaires ["The Billionaires' Conspiracy"] (1899-1900 3vols; cut vt L'Empereur des Dollars ["The Dollar Emperor"] 1914; trans Brian Stableford as The Dominion of the World 2012 4vols [for details see Checklist]), is a kind of noir Edisonade in which a Robot – the invention of a thinly disguised Thomas Alva Edison – is misused in an attempt to conquer the world; a railway tunnel Under the Sea between Europe and America is also featured in Invasion planning, plus a cadre of Telepaths. Other early singletons include L'Espionne du Grand Lama ["The Grand Lama's Spy"], a Lost World tale, and Le Reine des Éléphants ["The Queen of the Elephants"], about a species of evolved elephants (see Evolution).
Le Rouge is best known, however, for the Mars sequence – comprising Le Prisonnier de la Planête Mars (1908; rev vt Le Naufrag, de l'espace 1912) and La Guerre des vampires (1909; rev vt L'Astre dépouvante 1913), both edited and assembled as Vampires of Mars (omni trans Brian Stableford 2008; new trans David Beus and Brian Evenson as Prisoner of the Vampires of Mars 2015) – a Planetary Romance where the protagonist Darvel, after having been transported in his Psi-Powered Spaceship to Mars, discovers a rich ecology, winged Martians who suck blood, and a central controlling brain; the latter sends Darvel back to Earth in the charge of the Vampire Martians, and a War of the worlds ensues. Echoes of H G Wells's are clearly deliberate; introducing his translation of Henri Gayar's The Marvelous Adventures of Serge Myrandhal on Mars (1908), Stableford suggests that the first of La Rouge's sequence, along with Gayar's novel and The Fiery Wheel (1908) by Jean de La Hire, all of which appeared almost simultaneously, may have been written in a spirit of perhaps friendly competition.
Perhaps the most interesting of his later works is Le Mystérieux Docteur Cornelius ["The Mysterious Dr Cornelius"] (1912 and 1913 18vols; rev 1918 to 1920 9vols; trans Brian Stableford as The Dominion of the World 2012 4vols [for details see Checklist; we do not list the individual titles of each fascicle]), featuring Dr Cornelius Kramm, a Mad Scientist with some Antihero characteristics, as his life in New York seems driven and anarchic, and his criminal conspiracies against the world – in particular against an American industrial trust – become increasingly grotesque as he and his co-conspirators threaten to gain Secret-Master control of the world; in the end, however, a band of good Scientists and heroes seems to defeat Kramm and his cohorts. The tale was adapted for Television in six parts as Le Mystérieux Docteur Cornelius (1984). The size of Le Rouge's oeuvre (selected titles are listed below) and its inventiveness make it clear that he is a notable figure in the development of sf. [JC]
Gustave Henri Joseph Le Rouge
born Valognes, Manche, France: 22 July 1867
died Paris: 24 February 1938
works
series
Mars
- Le Prisonnier de la Planête Mars (Paris: Méricault, 1908) [Mars: pb/Henri Thiriet]
- Le Naufrag, de l'espace (Paris: Méricault, 1912) [rev vt of the above: Mars: pb/]
- La Guerre des vampires (Paris: Méricault, 1909) [Mars: pb/]
- L'Astre dépouvante (Paris: Méricault, 1913) [rev vt of the above: Mars: pb/]
- Vampires of Mars (Encino, California: Hollywood Comics/Black Coat Press, 2008) [omni: trans by Brian Stableford of the above two: pb/Mike Hoffman]
- Prisoner of the Vampires of Mars (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2015) [omni: new trans by David Beus and Brian Evenson of the above two: pb/]
individual titles (selected)
- La Conspiration des milliardaires ["The Billionaires' Conspiracy"] (Paris: Guyot, 1899 and 1900) with Gustave Guitton [published in three volumes: pb/]
- L'Empereur des Dollars ["The Dollar Emperor"] (Paris: Roger & Chernovitz, 1914) with Gustave Guitton [cut vt of the above: pb/]
- The Dominion of the World: The Plutocratic Plot (Encino, California: Hollywood Comics/Black Coat Press, 2012) [trans by Brian Stableford of the first part of the above: pb/Gilles Francescano]
- The Dominion of the World: The Transatlantic Threat (Encino, California: Hollywood Comics/Black Coat Press, 2012) [trans by Brian Stableford of the second part of the above: pb/Gilles Francescano]
- The Dominion of the World: The Psychic Spies (Encino, California: Hollywood Comics/Black Coat Press, 2012) [trans by Brian Stableford of the third part of the above: pb/Gilles Francescano]
- The Dominion of the World: The Victims Victorious (Encino, California: Hollywood Comics/Black Coat Press, 2012) [trans by Brian Stableford of the fourth part of the above: pb/Gilles Francescano]
- La Princesse des aires ["The Princess of the Skies"] (Paris: Guyot, 1902) with Gustave Guitton [published in two volumes: pb/]
- Le Dompleurs de Nuages ["The Tamers of the Clouds"] (Paris: Roger & Chernovitz, 1913) with Gustave Guitton [cut vt of the above: pb/]
- Le Sous-marin "Jules Verne" ["The Submarine Jules Verne"] (Paris: Guyot, 1902) with Gustave Guitton [published in two volumes: pb/]
- La Captive des Flots ["The Prisoner of the Sea"] (Paris: Roger & Chernovitz, 1913) with Gustave Guitton [cut vt of the above: pb/]
- Le Voleur des visages ["The Thief of Faces"] (Paris: Méricault, 1904) [pb/]
- L'Espionne du Grand Lama ["The Grand Lama's Spy"] (Paris: Méricault, 1905) [published in two volumes: pb/]
- Les Écumeurs de la pampa (Paris: Méricault, 1905) [pb/]
- Le Reine des Éléphants ["The Queen of the Elephants"] (Paris: Méricault, 1906) [pb/]
- Le Mystérieux Docteur Cornelius (Paris: Maison de Livres Moderne, 1912) [published in eighteen magazine-like fascicles, each separately titled, Maison de Livres Moderne: pb/]
- Le Mystérieux Docteur Cornelius (Paris: Tallandier, 1918 to 1920) [rev of the above: published in nine volumes: pb/]
- The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius: The Sculptor of Human Flesh (Encino, California: Hollywood Comics/Black Coat Press, 2014) [trans by Brian Stableford of the first part of the above: pb/Vincent Laik]
- The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius: The Island of Hanged Men (Encino, California: Hollywood Comics/Black Coat Press, 2014) [trans by Brian Stableford of the second part of the above: pb/Vincent Laik]
- The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius: The Rochester Bridge Catastrophe (Encino, California: Hollywood Comics/Black Coat Press, 2014) [trans by Brian Stableford of the third part of the above: pb/Vincent Laik]
- La Vengeance du docteur Mohr ["Dr Mohr's Vengeance"] (Paris: Nilsson, 1914) [pb/]
- La Rue Hanté ["The Haunted Street"] (Paris: Nilsson, 1914) [pb/]
- Mystéria (Paris: La Renaissance du Livre, 1921) [pb/]
- Les Aventures de Todd Marvel, détective milliardaire ["The Adventures of Todd Marvel, Billionaire Detective"] (Paris: La Renaissance du Livre, 1923) [pb/]
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