Talk:Henri Murger

Comments: 2005-2006
Why the uncalled for accents? Bart van Herk

They were in the original. I do not speak French. Should they be omitted? natethewriter

This is not a good article. It is extremely long-winded and has obviously been taken from elsewhere. Some kind of summary might help.

Agreed. This is an introduction from an early English translation. I wanted to put something temporary up. A real article is in the works -ntw

This is not a proper Wikipedia article, but...
I have just stumbled across this "article". Obviously it is not written in keeping with Wikipedia standards, in fact is not "encyclopaedic" in our present sense. However, it is certainly good reading, very interesting not to mention enjoyable, and yes, informative too. So, I expect it will eventually be replaced by something more "wiki-like", but I would like to make a special plea that some use be found for the material presently here, whether as part of Wikipedia or elsewhere on the internet (unless it is already accommodated elsewhere, which would be excellent). When that is sorted out, then there absolutely most definitely should be a link in the Wikipedia article to it. My thanks to the person who OCRed this and placed it here, even if only temporarily. --A R King (talk) 20:27, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

I would like to comment: No, it is not good reading. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.195.3.100 (talk) 23:04, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

CORRECT ADDRESS OF CAFE MOMUS: The article contains a quote from Schanne that asserts the address was 15 rue des Prêtres-St-Germain-l'Auxerrois, whereas the correct address is claimed to be in fact No 19 by the current (2008) occupant of that address, namely Le Relais du Louvre hotel. The Google street view of that address seems to back their claim when it is compared to the 1819 sketch by Thomas Boys, wherein a distinct step back in the building alignment can be seen between Nos 19 and 21 both addresses now occupied by separate hotels. Also the breadth of the street level frontage at No 19 as seen via Google street view is quite consistent with usage as a cafe, whereas No 15 has a very narrow frontage. (Allowance could be made for possible renumbering of addresses since Murger's day, and it would be interesting to find a map of lot numbers for the street in Murger's day for comparison purposes.) I believe there is sufficient historical interest in the address for there to be a plaque on the building identifying it, once the facts have been properly verified. 21 October 2008

Needs Work
This article needs to be reworked. The extensive quoted passage from Nuttall is valuable information but it doesn't belong here. It should be restored to its original form (before edits) and placed somewhere else, perhaps on a Wikisource page, and then linked from here. The article here should be a more modest biography of Murger. The current first paragraph is fine as a start, and perhaps it could be expanded using some of the information in the Nuttall article.

We also need to address the question of how to spell his name. Murger used a variety of spellings in the course of his career, probably as an affectation of exoticness. His most famous work (the Boheme stories) was published under the name "Henry Murger" spelled with a "y" not an "i", and that's how his name appears in most other reputable sources. Wikipedia is going against the grain by insisting on the French spelling. I think it would make more sense to title the main article "Henry Murger" with perhaps a note about the spelling. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Iglew (talk • contribs) 23:45, 22 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Clarification: English language catalogs generally call him "Henry Murger" since that's the name he published under. French catalogs tend to call him "Henri Murger", his given name (actually Louis-Henri Murger), but then note that he published under the pseudonym "Henry Murger". I'm not sure what that means for Wikipedia. I still incline toward "Henry", but I'm open to persuasion. Iglew (talk) 00:34, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Removing vast swathes of quoted text
I'm going to remove the vast swathes of verbatim material from the 1907 Nuttall Encyclopedia article and the introductory essay to Henry Murger, The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter (New York: Société des Beaux-Arts, 1888) until it can be properly edited for style, tone, clarity and relevance, and checked for accuracy). The removed material can be found at:

Talk:Henri Murger/Draft Material

Note also that all the sections specifically relating to Scènes de la Vie de Bohème should be edited and incorporated into that article, not this one. They are: If there is agreement amongst other editors to restore the material "as is" to the article until it can be properly edited, please feel free do so. Voceditenore (talk) 11:38, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * The Character of Rodolphe
 * The Character of Schaunard
 * The Character of Marcel
 * The Character of Colline
 * The Character of Barbemuche
 * Minor characters
 * Mimi
 * Musette
 * Phemie
 * Setting in the novel
 * Cafe Momus
 * Incidents from the Novel
 * Update After removing the old text to the location above, I've expanded the article somewhat and added references. Obviously, there's still much room for improvement. Voceditenore (talk) 14:13, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Biography
I thought Jouy was a tenant in the building and it was Jouy who got him the clerk job. Not sure if I can track down my source for that, though. Iglew (talk) 19:37, 24 November 2008 (UTC)