Abstract
Charlotte Louise Eleonore Adelaide d'Osmond, comtesse de Boigne, is the author of memoirs, first published in 1907 under the title: Recits d'une tante. Memoires de la comtesse de Boigne, nee d'Osmond, publies d'apres le manuscrit original. (Paris: Plon-Nourrit, 4 volumes). The memoirs offer a lively account of the years between 1781 and 1848, and are a valuable source of reference to historians and biographers.
Two novels written by Adele de Boigne were published posthumously: Une Passion dans le grand monde (Paris: Levy, 1866), an epistolary novel, and La Marechale d'Aubemer, nouvelle du dix-huitieme siecle (Paris: Levy, 1867)
Although she was as well known for her salon as her contemporaries and friends Madame Recamier and Madame de Duras, few scholars of this period are familiar with her life and writing. The introduction to the dissertation therefore presents a brief biography of the comtesse de Boigne, describing her role in Parisian society. The publication history of her writings as well as critical reaction to them are then described.
The first chapter traces the changing political role of Adele de Boigne's salon through three consecutive governments. The place that the salon occupies in her writing, and its effect on the shaping of her narrative are a major focus.
The concept of family and marriage as represented in the novels and the memoirs are examined in the second chapter. Adele's admiration for her father and her reverence for the d'Osmond name are contrasted with the virulent attacks found in the memoirs against her husband and benefactor, the general-comte Benoi t de Boigne.
The value and limitations of Adele de Boigne's memoirs as historical text are examined in the third chapter. Her close relationship with Etienne-Denis Pasquier and the latter's influence on Adele's political observations are examined. The advantages of her position and historical perspective are discussed, as well as the problematic of recording the past. A description of the important role of writing in the life of the comtesse de Boigne provides a conclusion to this dissertation.