First Illustrated Austen Novel
Published by Arthus Bertrand, Paris. 2 vols. Gilson C12
Illustrated by Charles-Abraham Chasselat
It seems ironic that the first illustrated edition of any novel by Jane Austen, that most English of authors, was published in France, but here it is. The first editions of the canonic six great novels of Jane Austen were published in London between 1811 and 1817 without any illustrations. Following Austen’s death in July 1817 and the posthumous publication of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion by John Murray in December 1817, there were no further editions of Austen’s novels published in Britain for 15 years. However in 1821, four years after the author’s death, a French translation of Persuasion was published by Arthus Bertrand in Paris in two volumes, under the title “La Famille Elliot” which translates to “The Elliot Family” in English. Each volume has a frontispiece illustration by Charles-Abraham Chasselat (1782-1843), a well-known painter of historical subjects, who also illustrated books by Voltaire, Racine and Moliere. The engraver of these frontispieces is given as “Delvaux”, which was Auguste Delvaux, (1786-1836), who was one of a pair of brothers, both of whom were fine engravers. Figure 1 shows the title page from volume 1 and the two frontispieces from La Famille Elliot.
Figure 1. Title page of Vol. 1 (left), frontispieces of Vol. 1 (centre) and Vol. 2 (right).
The title page headings read as follows (in French followed by English):
La Famille Elliot ou L’Ancienne Inclination. —– The Elliot Family or The Old Inclination
Traduction Libre de L’Anglais ———- Free Translation from English
D’Un Roman Posthume de Miss Jane Austen ——-From a posthumous novel by Jane Austen
Par Mme de Montolieu —— By Madame (Isabelle) de Montolieu.
This 1821 edition of a translation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion is not only the first Austen novel to have any illustrations; it is also the first time that the name “Jane Austen” is printed on the title page of any of her novels.
The translator, Madame de Montolieu had been born Jeanne-Isabelle-Pauline Polier de Botten in Lausanne in the French speaking part of Switzerland in 1751. After her first husband, Benjamin de Crousaz, has died in 1775, the year of Jane Austen’s birth, she remarried Baron Louis de Montolieu in 1786. After the baron died in 1800, she lived on for more than 30 years as a widow, publishing under the names Madame de Montolieu, Isabelle de Montolieu or La Baronne Isabelle de Montolieu, until her death in 1832. Her other translation of an Austen novel was Raison et Sensibilité, which was also published by Arthus Bertrand in Paris in 1815. This four volume edition was not illustrated, but a second edition in three volumes was published in 1828 with three frontispieces by the same illustrator as La Famille Elliot.
Legends for the two Frontispieces
The frontispiece to Volume One of La Famille Elliot has a text caption below the image which identifies the incident depicted. It reads: “Tout à coup elle s’en trouva debarrasseé, quelqu’ un l’avait enlevé de force.” This can be translated as: “Suddenly she found herself free of him; someone had taken him by force.” This refers to an incident where Anne Elliot is consoling her nephew Charles Musgrove, who is ill, but while she is trying to do this, Charles’ younger brother Walter Musgrove is climbing all over Anne’s back to get some attention, and is making a nuisance of himself. Captain Wentworth removes Walter Musgrove from Anne Elliot’s back. (Persuasion, Vol 1, Chapter IX p80.) This incident demonstrates the protective care that Wentworth feels that he should offer the young woman who he admires.
The frontispiece to Volume Two of La Famille Elliot also has a text caption below the image which identifies the incident depicted. It reads: “Il s’approcha de la table, montre la lettre à Alice, et sortit sans dire un mot!” This is easily translated to “He walked over to the table, showed Alice the letter, and left without saying a word!” This is the incident towards the end of the story, where Captain Wentworth presents a letter to Anne Elliot to explain his feelings (Persuasion, Vol 2, Chapter XI, p. 236).
You will note that the text refers to Anne Elliot as “Alice”. For some reason, the only name that Mme. de Montolieu alters in the book is Anne Elliot, who she renames Alice Elliot. Ironically, the translator has chanced upon the correct title for the book, as we learn from Jane Austen’s letters, published more than 50 years after the death of Mme. de Montolieu, that her working name for Persuasion was “The Elliot Family.” The name Persuasion was almost certainly coined by Jane Austen’s brother Henry Austen, who arranged the posthumous publication of the text by John Murray in 1817.
La Famille Elliot was reissued by Arthus Bertrand in 1828 in a complete edition of the works of Mme. de Montolieu. The text and illustrations were retained from the 1821 edition.
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