Hic et Hec

Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de MirabeauProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 143K words
Chapters: 15

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Hic et Hec by comte de Honoré-Gabriel de Riqueti MirabeauAuthor: Mirabeau, Honoré-Gabriel de Riqueti, comte de, 1749-1791,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Oct 7, 2008

Editor's review

This work comes from the hand of the Comte de Mirabeau, a major figure of the French Revolution, and is titled Hic et Hec; it belongs to the more private and experimental strain of French literary writing. For Chinese readers its value lies not in a complete plot but in observing how an eighteenth-century French nobleman and man of letters wrapped the writing of emotion and desire in Latin-style wordplay. The book is released free by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook, and the main barrier to reading is language: the original is in French and carries old spellings and rhetorical habits. It suits as supplementary material for the history of French literature, late Enlightenment thought, and aristocratic writing, rather than as popular reading. It is best read within Mirabeau's historical context, with attention to the text's ironic tone and stylistic boundaries. Readers interested in the French original or eighteenth-century French documents will find an archival reading experience; those seeking only narrative will likely feel estranged.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Upper-level students studying eighteenth-century French literature and intellectual history
Readers interested in the writings of figures from the French Revolutionary era
Literature enthusiasts with French reading ability who want to engage with public-domain documents
Researchers needing supplementary primary texts from the late Enlightenment's margins

Not a good fit for

Readers without French who hope for a fluent Chinese story
General readers expecting a complete plot and modern narrative pacing
Beginners impatient with old spellings and classical rhetoric

Reading tips

First learn about Mirabeau's life and the background of eighteenth-century French aristocratic writing, then enter the text.
Read against the French original and annotated editions, noting old spellings and Latin borrowings.
Read the book as documentary writing, noting its rhetorical devices and period tone.
If reading proves difficult, begin with the introduction or relevant chapters of literary history to establish the text's position.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a Chinese translation or the French original?

According to the available information, the book's language is French, released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. The information does not indicate a Chinese translation, so readers need French reading ability or dictionaries and辅助 tools to read the original.

Is Hic et Hec suitable as an introductory French literature text?

Not very. It has old spellings, classical rhetoric, and a specific period context, making it a high threshold for beginners in French literature. It is better to start with Chinese translations of nineteenth- or twentieth-century French literature before turning to eighteenth-century documents of this kind.

Do I need to know who Mirabeau was to read this book?

Some familiarity is advisable. Mirabeau was a major figure of the French Revolution, and his writing carries the double background of aristocrat and political figure. Knowing this helps in understanding the text's tone, irony, and private writing, without focusing only on literal meaning.

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About the author

Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau Author · French · 1749–1791

Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau (1749–1791), was a French writer, orator and statesman, and a leader of the constitutional monarchists in the early years of the French Revolution. Born into a noble family at Le Bignon, he earned a scandalous reputation in his youth for his dissolute life. After being elected a deputy to the Estates-General in 1789 he rose rapidly, advocating a constitutional monarchy on the British model. He died in Paris in 1791, and his remains were later removed from the Panthéon. Six of his works are held here, mostly on erotic and libertine themes, such as Erotika Biblion and Le Rideau levé ou l'Education de Laure; their style is bold and explicit, echoing his early reputation, though public information on their circulation and influence is limited.