Rameau, Jean
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym of French author Laurent Labaigt (1858-1942), who first became well-known with the contes cruels assembled in Fantasmagories, histoires rapides ["Phantasmagorias: Rapid Tales"] (coll 1887), which contains some of the best examples of his very large output (reportedly 5,000 short stories in all); though condensed into a kind of surreal pointillism, sf motifs – the use of electricity as a universal Power Source, and portraits of the Paris of the future – can be detected. Along with L'Arrivée aux étoiles: essai vers l'au-delà ["Arrival in the Stars: Essay on the Beyond"] (1922), eleven tales from Fantasmagories were assembled as Arrival in the Stars and Other Stories (omni trans Brian Stableford 2017). The title novel, which consciously reflects the aftermath of World War One (in which Labaigt's son died), espouses a scientific basis for life after death (see Reincarnation). [JC]
Laurent Labaigt
born Gaas, New-Aquitaine, France: 19 February 1858
died Cauneille, New-Aquitaine, France: 21 February 1942
works (highly selected)
- Fantasmagories, histoires rapides ["Phantasmagorias: Quick Tales"] (Paris: P Ollendorff, 1887) [coll: binding unknown/]
- L'Arrivée aux étoiles: essai vers l'au-delà ["Arrival in the Stars: Essay on the Beyond"] (Paris: Plon-Nourrit, 1922) [binding unknown/]
- Arrival in the Stars and Other Stories (Encino, California: Hollywood Comics/Black Coat Press, 2017) [omni trans by Brian Stableford of the above plus eleven tales from Fantasmagories above: pb/Jean-Felix Lyon]
links
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