Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe

Lore & Background

He later added a fourth part to the work, though not due to economic stability. He originally intended publication at least fifty years after his death, but financial need forced him to sell the rights to the work, which he described as being 'to mortgage [his] tomb'—a metaphor for publishing before death, not a literal mortgage.

Reader's Guide

Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe is a foundational work of French Romanticism, notable for its poetic prose and its influence on the young Romantics, including Victor Hugo, who wrote: 'I will be Chateaubriand or nothing.' The memoir shares characteristics with earlier French memoirs, such as those of Saint-Simon, but also draws on the Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau by including details of private life and personal aspirations. The work's melancholy tone helped establish Chateaubriand as the idol of young French Romantics. Its publication history reflects Chateaubriand's financial struggles, as he was forced to publish during his lifetime despite a desire for a fifty-year posthumous delay.

Did You Know?

• The work was originally intended to be titled Memories of My Life.
• A young Victor Hugo wrote: 'I will be Chateaubriand or nothing.'