Prosper Mérimée, Colomba

Corry Cropper (Brigham Young University)

Ed. by Tim Unwin, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.05: French Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth-Century , 1800-1900.
Vol. editors: David Elwyn Evans (University of St Andrews), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Elisabeth Gerwin (University of Lethbridge), Nigel Harkness (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield), Jennifer Yee (University of Oxford)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1840

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novella
Story Collection

Resources

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Prosper Mérimée’s story of Corsican vendetta,

Colomba

, first published on 1 July 1840 in the

Revue des Deux Mondes

and republished in book form in June 1841 by Magen, was undoubtedly his most popular, best received work. Critics almost unanimously praised

Colomba

, with Sainte-Beuve calling it Mérimée’s “most beautiful, most perfect” novel. His inspiration for the novel stemmed from an 1839 trip to Corsica, completed as part of his official duties as France’s General Inspector of Historical Monuments. During the trip he read historical accounts of vendettas, was told of them by his hosts, and even met a sixty-five year old woman named Colomba Bartoli, a woman obsessed with exacting revenge on those responsible for the death of her son.

The novel opens in Marseille (the

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1758 words

Citation: Cropper, Corry. "Colomba". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 March 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9394, accessed 23 April 2024.]

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