Les Origines et la Jeunesse de Lamartine 1790-1812

A meticulous biographical study reconstructs the poet's family origins, domestic milieu, schooling and formative experiences from childhood through early adulthood. Drawing on unpublished family papers, a mother's diary, contemporary letters and local archives, it seeks to dispel romanticized legends and to trace the personal and social influences that shaped his sensibility and first literary efforts, with special attention to the genesis of his early poems. The work is organized into chapters on genealogy, household life, education, solitary years, first affections and early travels, ending with a chronological account of development up to about twenty-one.