Author: LA GOUALANA.
Title: La Goualana, ou Collection Inmcoplette des Oeuvres Prototypes D'un Habitant de la ville de Cena [Caen], departemant du Salvocad [Calvados]; Par une Societe d'Oisifs. Premiere et Derniere Edition.
Description: [Caen] De l'Imrpimerie de Carnaval Aine, [c 1830] Small 12mo (in 6s), 155 x 103 mms., pp. vii [viii blank] [9] - 22 [23 and 24 blank], mid 19th century half calf, marbled boards, brown morocco label; previous bookseller's ticket on front past-down end-paper, blind stamp of "Le Viaconte G l'Onor" [sic] on recto of front free end-paper. The French bookseller's catalogue description pasted to the front paste-down end-paper tell us that this facetious pamphlet derives from the name of La Gouelle, the maitre d'hotel in Caen, who died in 1828, and whose contemporaries said of him, "meritait entierement la reputation de naive et pretentieuse recherche d'elocution qu'on lui prete dans cet opuscule." I think we've all encountered maitre d's like that, not only in France, but England, the United States, Germany, etc; and a phenomenon not necessarily found in the chief waiter in a hotel. A note in pencil on the recto of the front free end-paper attribute the work to a lawyer in Caen. The only copy that I could find is in the Universite Caen Normandie.

Keywords: humour French literature


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