Ludovic Halévy

La familia Cardinal. Las crónicas de esta familia captaron inmediatamente la atención de los artistas de la época, así Degas, que durante años mantuvo una gran amistad con Halévy y que compartia con él el gusto por la ópera y el ballet, creó una serie de monotipos para la primera edición de La familia Cardinal, Estos fueron rechazados por el autor, siendo incluidos posteriormente en una edición de 1938. En esta primera edición en castellano hemos incorporardo asimismo dos ilustraciones de Jean Louis Forain, un artista que retrató con insistente mordacidad el ambiente de las petits rats de la Ópera de París. La primera colección de cuentos Madame et Monsieur Cardinal, alcanzó las dieciocho ediciones en menos de dos años, un bestseller de la época.

Commentator: Brander Matthews / Tr.: Edith V. B. Matthews

Con un depurado estilo teatral e ironía, el autor retrata una familia con ínfulas: un auténtico estudio psicológico de la clase media-baja parisina durante la 3ª República.

The great estate of Longueval, consisting of the castle and its dependencies, two splendid farms and a forest, is advertised for sale by auction. The Abbé Constantin, a generous, genial, self-sacrificing priest, who has been thirty years the cure of the little village, is disconsolate at the thought that all his associations must be broken up. His distress is increased when he learns that the whole property has been bought by an American millionaire. He is about to sit down to his frugal dinner in company with his godson Lieutenant Jean Renaud, the orphaned son of the good village doctor, when his vicarage is invaded by two ladies who have just arrived by train from Paris. On their arrival the plot hinges; simple as it is, it has a great charm, and the style is delightful. It sparkles with light and graceful epigrams. First published in 1882, it has had more than one hundred and fifty editions and still enjoys uninterrupted popularity both in France and in English-speaking countries.