_The Goncourts were the sons of a cavalry officer, commander of a
squadron in the Imperial army._ EDMOND _was born at Nancy, on the 26th
of May, 1822, and his brother_ JULES _in Paris, on the 17th of December,
1830. They were the grandsons of the deputy of the National Assembly of
1789, Huot de Goncourt. A very close friendship united the brothers from
their earliest youth, but it appears to have been in the younger that
the irresistible tendency to literature first displayed itself. They
were originally drawn almost exclusively to the study of the history of
art. They devoted themselves particularly to the close of the eighteenth
century, and in their earliest important volumes, "La Révolution dans
les Moeurs" (1854), "Histoire de la Société Française pendant la
Révolution" (1854), and "Pendant le Directoire" (1855), they invented a
new thing, the evolution of the history of an age from the objects and
articles of its social existence. They were encouraged to continue these
studies further, more definitely concentrating their observations around
individuals, and some very curious monographs--made up, as some one
said, of the detritus of history--were the result, "Une Voiture de
Masques," 1856; "Les Actrices (Armande)," 1856; "Sophie Arnauld," 1857.
The most ingenious efforts of the brothers in this direction were,
however, concentrated upon "Portraits Intimes du XVIIIe Siècle,"
1857-'58, and upon the "Histoire de Marie Antoinette," 1858.
Towards 1860 the Goncourts closed their exclusively historical work, and
transferred their minute observation and excessively meticulous
treatment of small aspects of life to realistic romance. Their first
novel, "Les Hommes de Lettres," 1860 (now known as "Charles Demailly"),
showed some lack of ease in using the new medium, but it was followed by
"Soeur Philomène," 1861, one of the most finished of their fictions, and
this by "Renée Mauperin," 1864; "Germinie Lacerteux," 1864; "Manette
Salomon," 1867; and "Madame Gervaisais," 1869. Meanwhile, numerous
studies of the art of the bibelot appeared under the name of the two
Goncourts, and in particular their great work on "L'Art du XVIIIe
Siècle," which began to be published in 1859, although not completed
until 1882. All this while, moreover, they were secretly composing their
splenetic "Journal." On the 20th of June, 1870, the fair companionship
was broken by the death of Jules de Goncourt, and for some years Edmond
did no more than complete and publish certain artistic works which had
been left unfinished. Of these, the most remarkable were, a monograph on
the life and work of Gavarni, 1873; a compilation called "L'Amour au
XVIIIe Siècle," 1875; studies of the Du Barry, the Pompadour, and the
Duchess of Châteauroux, 1878-'79 (these three afterward united in one
volume as "Les Maîtresses de Louis XV"); and notes of a tour in Italy,
1894.
Edmond de Goncourt, however, after several years of silence, returned
alone to the composition of prose romance. He published in 1877 "La
Fille Élisa," an ultra-realistic tragedy of low life. In 1878, in the
very curious story of two mountebanks, "Les Frères Zemganno," he
betrayed the secret of his own perennial sorrow. Two more novels, "La
Faustin," 1882, and "Chérie," the pathetic portrait of a spoiled child,
close the series of his works in fiction. He returned to a close
examination of the history of art, and published_ catalogues raisonnés
_of the entire work of Watteau (1875) and of Prud'hon (1876). His latest
interests were centred around the classical Japanese designers, and he
published elaborate monographs on Outamaro (1891) and Hokousaï (1896).
In 1885 he collected the Letters of his brother Jules, and issued from
1887 to 1896, in nine volumes, as much as has hitherto been published of
the celebrated "Journal des Goncourts."
Edmond de Goncourt died while on a visit to Alphonse Daudet, at
Champrosay, the country-house of the latter, on the 16th of July, 1896.
He left his considerable fortune, which included valuable collections of
bibelots, mainly for the purpose of endowing an Academy of Prose
Literature, in opposition to the French Academy. In spite of extreme
hostility from the members of his family, and innumerable legal
difficulties, this "Académie des Goncourts" was formed, on what seems to
be a secure basis, in 1901, and M. Joris Karl Huysmans was elected its
first president._