It's taken from pages 3 and 4 of Le Petit Journal of 4th April 1915. Nearly. The title of the dreadful serial is "The man with the emerald eyes" (l'homme aux yeux d'emeraude) and the author is Jules de Gastyne. We are reading the Second Part, section III continued (le danger) and section IV (la domaine mysterieuse). Section IV is to be continued tomorrow. This is not the novel about Jacques Coeur, the alchemical silversmith to Charles VII, nor L’enfant aux yeux d’émeraude by Jacques Saussey, nor is it yet Le garcon aux yeux d'emeraude character in Inazuma Eleven.
Jules de Gastyne was the pen name of Jules Sillas Benoît or Benoist. Wikipedia lists other pseudonyms as John Brabeck, Jack Bradley, Jack Bradlay, Duke Grant, Phil Harris, Mike Hood, John Searbeck, Pierre d’Ornoy, Julien Brignac, Julien Liris, Philippe d’Ornay. Wikipedia France describes him thus: born Sanxay (Vienne) on 12 June 1847, died Paris 14 June 1920, was a French journalist and writer, author of paperback novels and vaudevilles. Wikipedia lists numerous works by Gastyne but not this one. He was the father of Marco and Guy de Gastyne.
The adverts, on page 4, are in the correct place and the correct order; the second from top is for a midwife who charges moderate prices. Above that is an advertisement for wine; M. Beauchamp buys empty barrels.
But as for the articles - the only one in the right place in its entirety is the story of La Touraine and the investigations into Swoboda. The Chambord story should be immediately to its left, and the Taube story below it. Of the Chambord story there is no sign, and the Taube story is in the previous day's edition, as is the full text of the Greece story. Another two storylines are inked in - Franz-Josef refuse toute concession - about Austrian reparations to Italy, and "L'Accord de l'Italie avec la Serbie et la Russie" - again from the previous day.
We are dealing with a newspaper that underwent major revisions between print runs, and there were several imprints per day. Le Petit Journal used web offset printing (says Wikipedia, so it must be true). The editorial team was able to lift out and replace big chunks of text from one impression to another. The strapline of page 3 is "DERNIERE HEURE" - Stop Press - "special telegraphic service of Le Petit Journal". This is the one section of the paper above all most likely to undergo massive overhaul for a new impression. As well as the journaux-collection copy this paper also can be found on Gallica, the document retrieval engine of La Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Their copies are both described as the Paris edition, implying that at least one provincial edition existed.
Wikipedia France describes Le Petit Journal thus:
Le Petit Journal was a Parisian daily newspaper, with a republican and conservative stance. It was established in 1863. The founder of the paper was Moïse Polydore Millaud.In the 1890s, and up to the First World War, at the height of its popularity, the newspaper had a circulation of a million, making it one of the four greatest French dailies, along with Le Petit Parisien, Le Matin, and Le Journal. By 1884 it also included a weekly illustrated supplement. It had its headquarters in Paris.
Le Petit Journal attracted numerous readers for the shift to printing “by the sheet” to web offset printing allowed it to be cheap ; it only cost 5 centimes instead of the 15 centimes for ordinary papers. It had a practical format (43 x 30 cm) was accessible to all (no subscription) and offered, beside national and international news, an entertaining content comprising gossip, slushy stories, horoscopes and histories.
Le Petit Journal declared itself to be apolitical – even if this wasn't always the case – and was exempt stamp duty. It was effectively an evening paper, sold by hawkers at factory and workplace exits. It was the epitome of a new form of journalism which developed, that of “la petite presse” - the small free press.
After 1900, the readership began to stagnate and then to dwindle: Le Petit Parisien, better managed and which avoided taking sides in the Dreyfuss affair, became the biggest French newspaper. Ernest Judet (1851-1943) positioned the paper in the anti-Dreyfuss party and linked it to the nationalist cause. In 1914, Le Petit Journal only printed 850,000 copies and its readership dropped to 400,000 in 1919. After the war, a good proportion of its readers, disconcerted or shocked by the involvement of the paper in the anti-Dreyfuss party, moved on to reading a competitor which crossed the barrier of 2 million copies and became the king of the « petite presse » - Le Petit Parisien.
Retreating to Clermont-Ferrand in June 1940, le Petit Journal scratched a living there, until 1944 when it disappeared completely. During this period it received a monthly subsidy from the Vichy government ; its board of directors was chaired by Colonel de La Rocque.
4 comments:
Fascinating as ever. The description of the paper in Wikipedia is especially interesting. So the owners of your house were died in the wool rightwingers if they were reading this rag.
PS Jacques Coeur was argentier to Charles VII btw. I must write a blog post about him one day -- he's a fabulous character.
I would come to the same conclusions as you Susan, about the political symoathies if our predecessors. I have corrected the price (5 cmes not 50) and the Charles,.
Susan...
" were died in the wool rightwingers if they were reading this rag."
Not necessarily... at 5 cents not 50...
a cheap way of getting the essentials of the news in days before radio was the norm...
and their political views may well have been expressed as to where the paper was "re-used"...
torn into small squares and hung on a nail, per example!!
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