The Life

Abstract

Up to now, there have been no detailed biographies of Gueudeville for the simple reason that almost nothing is known about him. It is not known for certain, for example, when he was born or when he died, and there is very little information about the intervening period. The standard biographical works, which often copy from each other and thus compound the inaccuracies, contain brief notices embodying the usual mixture of fact and fiction. Archival research, the discovery of his first publication, hitherto unknown, a study of his writings and those of his contemporaries, have enabled me to add something to the knowledge of Gueudeville’s life and personality. There is obviously a lot more to be discovered but, for the present, we must be content with the following.