Limping Along

The bottom line is I'm sick. I've been fighting with being sick for awhile, and even now it's fair to say, it could be worse, but it's not good. I've been inside all day today and was barely out yesterday. I'm very frustrated. I have a few things I really want to do before I leave and very little time to do them. So. I'm hoping that this fever will break. In the meantime. I have finally verified an address for Louise and Aristide Farrenc and I'm happy to say that's it's close to Rue des Martyrs.

The music shop in the above picture is a little later (as is the street scene), but Aristide's shop was probably something along those lines, if indeed, the information I found today is correct and Éditions Farrenc was not just a publishing house, but a music shop too.

I think it was a bit like the shop Mary Shelley's father, William Godwin kept in London. He published children's books. Aristide published music. The sketch shows women buying music because it was extremely popular for women to play piano and sing.

The address I identified is on Boulevard Poissonniere, south of Rue des Martyrs by about a half mile (about the walk I take from the Metro to the school, very douable). It was west of the Conservatoire de Musique by about the same distance, pretty much halfway between them. It was a busy, commercial street. I'm pretty sure the shop was No. 22, though I found one reference to No. 16.

I also learned that when Chopin first moved to Paris in 1831, he lived at No. 28 Boulevard Poissonnieres. That probably explains how it came to pass that Aristide became his first publisher in Paris. Apparently Chopin blew into town and performed and was a sensation. Just a few days later, Aristide had a signed contract.

Unfortunately Chopin was "slow" and had difficulty completing his scores. Aristide lost faith in his undertaking and the contract was abandoned. Still, Éditions Farrenc was one of the most successful publishing houses in Paris for about forty years. I also learned that Aristide was born in the South of France... in Marsaille, which is a port town on the Mediterranean just south of where I was. He and Louise married in 1821 and took off on a tour of the South of France, playing together. He was a flautist, second flute for the Théatre-Italien orchestra, which played for operas directed by the very respected Madame Catalani. He quit when she left and never really performed after that. Instead he promoted Louise.

The heart of Rue des Martyrs was its south end. That's where the paint store was, where there was a popular tavern, lots of activity. "Nouvelle Athnes," as the area became known, stretched west toward Rue de la Tour des Dames, a street where many smaller "hôtels" were built. A hôtel is a private home for a wealthy patron. The area at the time was quite rural, and the hôtels often included stables and were built around a courtyard. The rich moving into Nouvelle Athnes included actors, actresses and high class courtesans, writers, musicians and artists who, like Ary Scheffer, had the money.

One of the actresses who lived in on Rue de la Tour des Dames was Mademoiselle Mars who played the lead in Hugo's, Hernani. Another actress, a Mademoiselle Duchesnois, held popular salons. She purchased the concaved house pictured above in 1824. The famous tragedian, François-Joseph Talma, lived on the same street and Delacroix painted ("decorated") his house. He had a hall of mirrors which was obviously some sort of play on Versailles. Most of these buildings were designed and built by named architects during the 1820s. They weren't part of Baron Haussmann's later redevelopment, but rather an expansion of Paris into open land.

One of the things I'm still trying to ascertain is whether the Farrenc's lived in one of these hôtels, or above their shop. It's a question of wealth and I'm pretty sure they had the requisite wealth. Georges Sands, of course, lived in the area, in something that wasn't exactly a hôtel, but wasn't an apartment either. A group of small houses were built around a square and each was occupied by a different family or individual. Alexander Dumas, the author of The Three Musketeers lived there, and Chopin. They all shared common meals. I learned that I should actually be able to see the place on Saturday. Last time I tried, it was locked up tight. The photo is taken inside the gate in the square.

I just need to walk the area. Hopefully, I'll be well enough by Saturday to do it. I really want to see that one house, the one that curves. It's got me curious about Mademoiselle Duchesnois. Joséphine. She was the daughter of a horse merchant, how's that for a connection? She was famous for her portrayal of Phèdre, and had several children out of wedlock. She was born in 1777, which makes her about ten years older than Alexandrine. Maybe she's the one who finds Géricault when he falls from his horse. She's also someone who would likely be friends with Madame Lanormande, the fortune teller.... Joséphine Duchesnois is buried at Père Lachaise.