Pierre-Jules Hetzel

Pierre -Jules Hetzel (* January 15, 1814 in Chartres, Eure- et- Loir, † March 17, 1886 in Monte Carlo ) was a French author and publisher. In particular he is known for the lavishly illustrated editions of Jules Verne's novels, today achieve the very high prices with collectors. Hetzel was also the largest publisher of Victor Hugo and other French writers.

Career

After abandoning his law studies in Strasbourg Hetzel founded in 1837 a publisher. He was the editor of the works of Honoré de Balzac, whose Comédie humaine appeared in 1841 and also published writings of Victor Hugo and Emile Zola. In 1843 he founded the magazine Nouveau des enfants ( " New Kids "). Hetzel was known as a Republican, and in 1848 head of the cabinet of the then Foreign Minister Alphonse de Lamartine. After the coup that ended the Second French Republic, he went into exile in Belgium where he continued his political and literary activities against the Second Empire. This he did by the clandestine publication of Victor Hugo's Les Châtiments pamphlet.

After the fall of Napoleon III. and the decline of the French Second Empire Hetzel returned back to France and published works of Proudhon and Baudelaire. Also an important edition of the stories by Charles Perrault, illustrated by Gustave Doré, arose during this period. He founded the Bibliothèque illustrée des Familles, which was renamed in 1864 in Magasin d'éducation et de récréation. His goal was that scientists, writers and illustrators should work together in order to publish visual publications for the whole family.

Collaboration with Jules Verne

Hetzel's fame came from the he edited editions of Les Voyages Extraordinaires ( " Incredible journeys" ) of Jules Verne. The stories were originally published as a serial stories appearing in every 2 weeks chapters. Only when all the chapters of a story had appeared, it was offered in book form. Mostly it was at the end of the case, so that the books could be used as Christmas gifts for older children. There were three versions of each: a low cost without illustrations, a small-sized edition with a few and a third, large with many illustrations. The books of the latter editions are highly sought after today for book collectors.

The general assumption Hetzel discovered the writer Jules Verne, but experts disagree on whether it was Hetzel, Verne helped to success, or whether rather the literary success Vernes the publisher Hetzel to break through. Each of the two benefited from each other and their relationship went far beyond the obvious between writer and publisher.

1863 Hetzel rejected from Verne's manuscript for Paris in the 20th century because he believed that it would draw a vision of the future, which would be negative and incredible for contemporary audiences. Later researchers note, however, that Verne's predictions amazingly accurate arrived. Verne locked the design and later wrote no more dystopian stories. Paris in the 20th century was published in France in 1994.

Hetzel wrote under the pseudonym PJ Steel and youth books. After his death, the publishing company was run by his son and from 1914 by Hachette Livre.