Olivier Basselin

Olivier Basselin , born with Valley-of-Transfers towards 1400 and died towards 1450, was a popular Poète French, looked like the founder of the light comedy.

Biography

Origin

This Norman poet of the beginning of the 15th century was fuller of his trade. This kind of industry still occupied much arm at the 19th century in the city where was born Basselin and the precise tradition always the site from the mill-with-fuller that it had there and of which it lived. This factory, whose remainders still remain, preserved the name of Moulin Basselin ; it is under the slope of Cordeliers close to the bridge of Are worth.

Drinking song

Basselin which one familiarly called Bonhomme , like Jean of the Fountain, was a Normand good dye which liked the Vin, the Cidre and the pleasures of the table. This poet, workman like was since Adam Billaut, is the first which composed of the songs of table in one century when one knew yet only the Fabliaux and other parts whose love or devotion was the object.

Its drinking songs, typically French kind which will experience a considerable development, became famous under the name of “Be worth-of-Transfers” whose corruption gave birth at the end modern of “light comedy”. The true name of the inventor of Be worth-of-Transfers and the proof of its existence are found in the writings of the beginning of the 16th century, as well as the true title of its merry songs.

Existence

It employed its leisures with rimer naive songs. As opposed to what claimed certain biographers, it was not illiterate, having travelled and knowing the Latin . It had to suffer from the war of 1450 between Charles VII and the English, its factory was ruined at the time of the seat of Vire. Later, its family, the indicator too devoted to the bacchic entertainments , made it put in supervision. It followed a lawsuit that Basselin evokes in its songs:

Bon cider removes the concern

Of a lawsuit which me storm

The poor fuller often deplores the fate reserved to the drinkers:

Hélas which a poor drunkard

makes It lies down and occit nobody

Or it says merry matter

It does not think in wear

And with anybody insult

Buveur of water can does not make better do?

Attaching only little price to its songs, it never made collection of it. In addition to airs with drinking and love songs, it created battle songs against the English.

One is unaware of the time of his death, which has occurred undoubtedly towards 1500. Various traditions suggest that Basselin was killed the weapons with the hand by the English towards the end of the occupation by those of the occupation of the Normandy, some time before the Bataille of Formigny.

Be worth-of-transfer

Bourgueville de Bras, born in 1504 and which lived Caen, known as in its Antiquités of Neustrie : “ It is of Transfers from where the songs are proceeded which one calls be worth-of-Transfers. ” Belleforest, in its universal Cosmography , Andre Duchesne, in his Antiquities of the towns of France and several other former authors, speaks about Olivier Basselin and of its be worth-of-Transfers. Gilles Ménage says that one must call these songs ( vaudevires , because they were firstly sung in Vau de Vire, name of a place close to the city to Transfers. ” In his Mixtures drawn from a large library , the scientist and judicious Paulmy quote an old song Norman, as being the first of all the light comedies, which it would be necessary, he adds, to pronounce vaudevires . Duchesne also says in proper terms: “ Of Transfers took their origin these old songs which one commonly calls light comedy for vau-of-Transfers, whose Olivier Basselin was author, as noticed it Belleforest. ” With these testimonys quite higher than those of a Chardavoine and some other authors who thought that light comedy came from voice of city, let us add that of Vauquelin of Fresnaye, born in the vicinity from Transfers in 1556; here some worms of the second song of poetic sound Art :

Anfrie auroit its name in memory left,

And the beautiful ones be worth-of-Transfers and thousand beautiful songs.

But wars, alas! put at end,

If the good knights of Olivier Basselin

in the future do not make any ouir some news.

…

Singing in our feasts, thus be worth-of-Transfers them,

Which feel good time, still make us laugh.

The orthography and the pronunciation of be worth-of-Transfer were lost, like so many others, during the times half-barbarians of, thanks to the obscure profession of Basselin, with its distance of the capital and the destruction of the first printed specimens of its poetic compositions.

The return to

After passhaving passed a long time from mouth in mouth, be worth-of-Transfers them were collected by a compatriot of Basselin, Jean Houx, lawyer and Norman poet, who alphabetically classified these songs and which made them print towards 1576. It published a collection of songs which it affirmed being the work of Olivier Basselin. It is very probable that Houx was itself the author of the songs allotted to Basselin, as of those which it recognized like his clean. The clergy completely made destroy the first edition of 1576. This first edition disappeared.

The collection of Houx reappeared a long time after its death; here the title of the new edition: the Livre of the new songs of Vau-of-Transfers, alphabetically, corrected and increased in addition to the preceding impression, Vire, Jean de Cesne, printer. This reprinting is without date, but it is certain that it appeared towards 1670. One knows nothing any more but two of them specimen; it are in-12.

It is necessary to believe that of Cesne, which then printed ascetic canticles and booklets for the missionaries of the borough of Flers, close to Transfers, jealous to obtain their good graces, made them the sacrifice of its edition of Be worth-of-Transfers, from which it escaped the proscription only one very small number of specimens, which was reduced more and more. It is not astonishing that the first edition of Basselin disappeared very whole: one was very close to the bloody year 1572 and the editor Houx, continued by fanaticism, was obliged to undertake the voyage of Rome to obtain the discharge that one refused to him in his country; he brought it back thus that the nickname of Romain , which he preserved until his death. In addition to be worth-of-Transfers, it is necessary to believe that the poet virois had been very expert with the sea and very skilful pilot before returning in his fatherland and to devote itself to it to versification.

It is him whom the Cross of Maine and Verdier indicates under the names of Olivier Bisselin and Olivier Bosselin and to which they allot the Tables of the variation, or esloignement that the sun of the line équinocliale makes, each one day four years, to take the height with astrolabe etc , Poitiers, Jehan de Marnef, 1559, in-4°, 7 printed sheets, which were put under press a long time after the death of the author and were joined together at the end of the Voyages of Jean Alphonse. It is not astonishing only the two bibliographers whom we have just quoted deteriorated the name of Basselin, which had been it in its own country and almost of alive sound. Several of its be worth-of-Transfers confirm this opinion that he had been man of sea head becoming fuller and poëte: they are 3rd, 26e, 55e and 54e.

The lapse of memory

Forgotten a long time, except in its birthplace, Basselin was reprinted in 1811, thanks to the care active and lit Augustin Asselin, scientist distinguished and man from much taste, which was then sub-prefect with Vire. The work, nouveau riche of notes, but unfortunately spoiled by an orthography more out of date than the style, were drawn only with 148 specimens, including 24 in-4°. He was not put on sale. This publication was a patriotic act of Mr. Asselin and some Virois. (cf the Mercure de France of the September 7th 1811).

Thereafter, a new edition of Be worth-of-Transfers, classified better, more complete than the preceding ones and, moreover, enriched by sixty old songs Normans, the majority new and of a choice of Be worth-of-Transfer of Houx appeared under this title: the Be worth-of-Transfers , Caen, Poisson and Paris, Raynal, 1821, 1 vol. in-8° 271 p. As the current text of Be worth-of-Transfers is that which had had to undergo some corrections when Houx made it print towards 1576, for this edition, it is the orthography of the end of the 16th century which is used, such that gives it the Trésor of the French language of Nicot. This edition is accompanied by essays, notes and alternatives: it is the known fourth of Be worth-of-Transfers of Olivier Basselin.

It was suggested that the name of Basselin can be without risk associated with some preserved songs with Paris with the National library with France and who were published in 1866 with Caen by Mr. Armand Gasté. V. Patard mentioned this question in the Truth in the question Olivier Basselin and Jean Houx in connection with Vau-of-Transfers (1897).

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