De Goncourt, Edmond ___ 1822-1896 ___ French ___ writer

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
Edmond and his younger brother Jules were left sufficient funds by their widowed mother, who died in 1848, to ensure them a modest income. The legacy also meant that Edmond need not continue working as a clerk, a job that had been driving him to suicidal thoughts. Subsequently, the brothers became artists and went on a painting tour. Over time, however, they became art critics and historians, and, eventually, innovative novelists. They wrote together and for this reason are rarely referred to as individuals but as 'Les deux Goncourt'. Their monumental 'Journal des Goncourt' documented Parisian society for four decades, although because Jules died in 1870 (probably from syphilis) Edmond was the only author for more than half of the diary period. The brothers' style is said to have been influential in the development of naturalism and impressionism. In his will, Edmond left funds for the founding of the Goncourt Academy, which administers the famous Goncourt Prize for fiction.
A biography link
Wikipedia bio
The Diary Review - Journal des Goncourt

DIARY DATES, CONTENT DESCRIPTORS
1851-1896 ___ literary society people art culture love/sex

WEB TEXT LINKS
etext
a few pages
about

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT LINKS
 

SOME PUBLISHED TITLES
The Goncourt Journals 1851-1870
Pages From The Goncourt Journals
Edmond and Jules de Goncourt: With Letters and Leaves from their Journals
 

May 2005, September 2008, March 2013
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IMPORTANT NOTES AND CAUTIONS: 1) The first line of basic information may be incomplete in several ways: some historical figures have different names (titles, pen-names); their birth and death dates may be unknown or uncertain (g - guess, c - circa); similarly, their occupations may be unknown, or they may have had other jobs; and, for early diarists, I've used 'British' a bit too freely. 2) The biographical summary may not be accurate. It was compiled quickly from various sources, mostly on the internet, and the facts were not checked anywhere near as rigorously as they would have been if they'd been intended for publication in a printed form. 3) The journal dates and descriptors (which are in no particular order) must be treated with caution: since I have not examined the diaries myself, the descriptors are only guesses based on bibliographies, anthologies and internet biographies. 4) For the biography and etext links, I have ignored any sites with charges, and I have avoided, wherever possible, those with pop-ups or too much advertising. I have limited myself to providing three etext links where there is some variety between them. 5) For the original manuscript links, I have limited myself to providing a maximum of two (although, for a few diarists, their original diaries are held in more than two places). 6) I have provided the titles - chosen randomly - for up to three printed editions of the diaries.