Repertory of the Comedie Humaine-1 [24]
Birotteau was appointed Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1818. To celebrate his nomination in the Order, he gave a grand ball* which, on account of the very radical changes necessitated in his apartments, and coupled with some bad speculations, brought about his total ruin; he filed a petition in bankruptcy the year following. By stubborn effort and the most rigid economy, Birotteau was able to indemnify his creditors completely, three years later (1822). But he died soon after the formal court reinstating. He numbered among his patrons in 1818 the following: the Duc and Duchesse de Lenoncourt, the Princesse de Blamont-Chauvry, the Marquise d'Espard, the two Vandenesses, Marsay, Ronquerolles, and the Marquis d'Aiglemont. [Cesar Birotteau. A Bachelor's Establishment.] Cesar Birotteau was likewise on friendly terms with the Guillaumes, clothing dealers in the rue Saint-Denis. [At the Sign of the Cat and Racket.]
* The 17th of December was really Thursday and not Sunday, as erroneously given.
BIROTTEAU (Madame), born Constance-Barbe-Josephine Pillerault in 1782. Married Cesar Birotteau in May, 1800. Previous to her marriage she was head "saleslady" at the "Little Sailor"* novelty shop, corner of Quai Anjou and rue des Deux Ponts, Paris. Her surviving relative and guardian was her uncle, Claude-Joseph Pillerault. [Cesar Birotteau.]
* This shop still exists at the same place, No. 43 Quai d'Anjou and 40 rue des Deux-Ponts, being run by M. L. Bellevaut.
BIROTTEAU (Cesarine). (See Popinot, Madame Anselme.)
BIXIOU,* Parisian grocer, in rue Saint-Honore, before the Revolution in the eighteenth century. He had a clerk called Descoings, who married his widow. The grocer Bixiou was the grandfather of Jean- Jacques Bixiou, the celebrated cartoonist. [A Bachelor's Establishment.]
* Pronounced "Bissiou."
BIXIOU, son of the preceding and father of Jean-Jacques Bixiou. He was a colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment; killed at the battle of Dresden, on the 26th or 27th of August, 1813. [A Bachelor's Establishment.]
BIXIOU (Jean-Jacques), famous artist; son of Colonel Bixiou who was killed at Dresden; grandson of Mme. Descoings, whose first husband was the grocer Bixiou. Born in 1797, he pursued a course of study at the Lyceum, to which he had obtained a scholarship. He had for friends Philippe and Joseph Bridau, and Master Desroches. Later he entered the painter Gros's studio. Then in 1819, through the influence of the Ducs de Maufrigneuse and de Rhetore, whom he met at some dancer's, he obtained a position with the Minister of Finance. He remained with this administration until December, 1824, when he resigned. In this same year he was one of the best men for Philippe Bridau, who married Flore Brazier, known as La Rabouilleuse, the widow of J.-J. Rouget. After this woman's death, in 1828, he was led, disguised as a priest, to the residence of the Soulanges, where he told the comte about the scandal connected with her death, knowingly caused by her husband; he told, also, about the bad habits and vulgarities of Philippe Bridau, and thus caused the breaking off of the marriage of this weather- beaten soldier with Mlle. Amelie de Soulanges. A talented cartoonist, distinguished practical joker, and recognized as one of the kings of /bon mot/, he led a free and easy life. He was on speaking terms with all the artists and all the lorettes of his day. Among others he knew the painter, Hippolyte Schinner. He turned a pretty penny, during the trial of De Fualdes and de Castaing, by illustrating in a fantastic way the account of this trial. [A Bachelor's Establishment. The Government Clerks. The Purse.] He designed some vignettes for the writing of Canalis. [Modeste Mignon.] With Blondet, Lousteau and Nathan he was a habitue of the house of Esther Gobseck, rue Saint- Georges, in 1829, 1830. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.] In a private room of a well-known restaurant, in 1836, he wittily related to Finot, Blondet and Couture the source of Nucingen's fortune. [The Firm of Nucingen.] In January, 1837, his friend
* The 17th of December was really Thursday and not Sunday, as erroneously given.
BIROTTEAU (Madame), born Constance-Barbe-Josephine Pillerault in 1782. Married Cesar Birotteau in May, 1800. Previous to her marriage she was head "saleslady" at the "Little Sailor"* novelty shop, corner of Quai Anjou and rue des Deux Ponts, Paris. Her surviving relative and guardian was her uncle, Claude-Joseph Pillerault. [Cesar Birotteau.]
* This shop still exists at the same place, No. 43 Quai d'Anjou and 40 rue des Deux-Ponts, being run by M. L. Bellevaut.
BIROTTEAU (Cesarine). (See Popinot, Madame Anselme.)
BIXIOU,* Parisian grocer, in rue Saint-Honore, before the Revolution in the eighteenth century. He had a clerk called Descoings, who married his widow. The grocer Bixiou was the grandfather of Jean- Jacques Bixiou, the celebrated cartoonist. [A Bachelor's Establishment.]
* Pronounced "Bissiou."
BIXIOU, son of the preceding and father of Jean-Jacques Bixiou. He was a colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment; killed at the battle of Dresden, on the 26th or 27th of August, 1813. [A Bachelor's Establishment.]
BIXIOU (Jean-Jacques), famous artist; son of Colonel Bixiou who was killed at Dresden; grandson of Mme. Descoings, whose first husband was the grocer Bixiou. Born in 1797, he pursued a course of study at the Lyceum, to which he had obtained a scholarship. He had for friends Philippe and Joseph Bridau, and Master Desroches. Later he entered the painter Gros's studio. Then in 1819, through the influence of the Ducs de Maufrigneuse and de Rhetore, whom he met at some dancer's, he obtained a position with the Minister of Finance. He remained with this administration until December, 1824, when he resigned. In this same year he was one of the best men for Philippe Bridau, who married Flore Brazier, known as La Rabouilleuse, the widow of J.-J. Rouget. After this woman's death, in 1828, he was led, disguised as a priest, to the residence of the Soulanges, where he told the comte about the scandal connected with her death, knowingly caused by her husband; he told, also, about the bad habits and vulgarities of Philippe Bridau, and thus caused the breaking off of the marriage of this weather- beaten soldier with Mlle. Amelie de Soulanges. A talented cartoonist, distinguished practical joker, and recognized as one of the kings of /bon mot/, he led a free and easy life. He was on speaking terms with all the artists and all the lorettes of his day. Among others he knew the painter, Hippolyte Schinner. He turned a pretty penny, during the trial of De Fualdes and de Castaing, by illustrating in a fantastic way the account of this trial. [A Bachelor's Establishment. The Government Clerks. The Purse.] He designed some vignettes for the writing of Canalis. [Modeste Mignon.] With Blondet, Lousteau and Nathan he was a habitue of the house of Esther Gobseck, rue Saint- Georges, in 1829, 1830. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.] In a private room of a well-known restaurant, in 1836, he wittily related to Finot, Blondet and Couture the source of Nucingen's fortune. [The Firm of Nucingen.] In January, 1837, his friend