Monselet, born in Nantes in 1825, wrote verse, novels, columns and articles for the newspapers of the Second Empire, where his signature alone was a recommendation. Yet it is the table that made him last: after Brillat-Savarin, few writers had treated cooking as a true subject of literature. His stone keeps only one word, “littérateur”, a man of letters, which could designate anyone.
The story
Five trades, and Charles Monselet's stone keeps only one: “littérateur.” It is the vaguest term in the vocabulary of the time, and it erases precisely what made his name.
Born in Nantes on 30 April 1825, Charles Pierre Monselet was a poet, a journalist, a novelist and a columnist in the Parisian press of the Second Empire, where his signature was worth a recommendation. A chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, he embodied the epicureanism of his age: that of a middle class which ate well, read a great deal and wrote about both.
It is through gastronomy that he has lasted. After Brillat-Savarin, he was one of the few writers to treat the table as a literary subject in its own right.
He died in 1888, at sixty-three, and lies in Division 66, a few steps from Seurat and Jules Vallès. The stone keeps the word that could have served anyone, and lets fall the one that would have served only him.
The grave
An inscription that sums up five trades in one word: “Charles MONSELET, littérateur, chevalier de la légion d'honneur, 1825-1888.” — man of letters, Knight of the Legion of Honour. The term is the vaguest in the vocabulary of the day, and it erases what made his name: gastronomy, of which he was, after Brillat-Savarin, one of the few writers to treat it as a literary subject in its own right.
On site, do not miss
A single word of profession on the stone — “littérateur”, man of letters — for a man who was poet, journalist, novelist, columnist and gastronome.
Visitors' questions
Where is Charles Monselet's grave?
In Division 66 of Père-Lachaise, the Division of Seurat, of Jules Vallès and of the singer Marietta Alboni. The inscription runs to one title and two dates: “Charles MONSELET, littérateur”. He died in 1888, at sixty-three.
Jules VallèsWhy was he called an epicurean?
Because he made the table a literary subject, in the line of Brillat-Savarin. He was the epicureanism of the Second Empire in person: that of a middle class which ate well, read a great deal, and wrote about both.
Brillat-SavarinWhat were his trades?
Five at least: poet, journalist, novelist, columnist and gastronome. His stone keeps only one, and it is the vaguest: “littérateur”, a man of letters. He was a knight of the Legion of Honour.
Eugène SpullerWhere did he come from?
From Nantes, where he was born on 30 April 1825. He would spend his whole career in the Paris press of the Second Empire, where his byline as a columnist was a recommendation in itself.
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