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Abbé Prévost

Author profile

born

in Hesdin , France

April 01, 1697

died

November 23, 1763

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction, Religion & Spirituality

About this author

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Antoine François Prévost (Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles) (April 1, 1697 – December 23, 1763), usually known simply as the Abbé Prévost, was a French author and novelist.

He was born at Hesdin, Artois, and first appears with the full name of Prévost d'Exiles, in a letter to the booksellers of Amsterdam in 1731. His father, Lievin Prévost, was a lawyer, and several members of the family had embraced the ecclesiastical estate. Prévost was educated at the Jesuit school of Hesdin, and in 1713 became a novice of the order in Paris, pursuing his studies at the same time at the college in La Flèche.

At the end of 1716 he left the Jesuits to join the army, but soon tired of military life, and returned to Paris in 1719, apparently with the idea of...more Antoine François Prévost (Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles) (April 1, 1697 – December 23, 1763), usually known simply as the Abbé Prévost, was a French author and novelist.

He was born at Hesdin, Artois, and first appears with the full name of Prévost d'Exiles, in a letter to the booksellers of Amsterdam in 1731. His father, Lievin Prévost, was a lawyer, and several members of the family had embraced the ecclesiastical estate. Prévost was educated at the Jesuit school of Hesdin, and in 1713 became a novice of the order in Paris, pursuing his studies at the same time at the college in La Flèche.

At the end of 1716 he left the Jesuits to join the army, but soon tired of military life, and returned to Paris in 1719, apparently with the idea of resuming his novitiate. He is said to have travelled in the Netherlands about this time; in any case he returned to the army, this time with a commission. Some biographers have assumed that he suffered some of the misfortunes assigned to his hero Des Grieux. Whatever the truth, he joined the learned community of the Benedictines of St Maur, with whom he found refuge, he himself says, after the unlucky termination of a love affair. He took his vows at Jumièges in 1721 after a year's novitiate, and in 1726 took priest's orders at St Germer de Flaix. He spent seven years in various houses of the order, teaching, preaching and studying. In 1728 he was at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, where he was engaged on the Gallia Christiana, the learned work undertaken by the monks in continuation of the works of Denys de Sainte-Marthe, who had been a member of their order. His restless spirit made him seek from the Pope a transfer to the easier rule of Cluny; but he left the abbey without leave (1728), and, learning that his superiors had obtained a lettre de cachet against him, fled to England.

In London he acquired a wide knowledge of English history and literature, as can be seen in his writings. Before leaving the Benedictines Prévost had begun perhaps his most famous novel, Mémoires et aventures d’un homme de qualité qui s’est retiré du monde, the first four volumes of which were published in Paris in 1728, and two years later at Amsterdam. In 1729 he left England for the Netherlands, where he began to publish (Utrecht, 1731) a novel, the material of which, at least, had been gathered in London Le Philosophe anglais, ou Histoire de Monsieur Cleveland, fils naturel de Cromwell, écrite par lui-même, et traduite de l'anglais (Paris 1731-1739, 8 vols., but most of the existing sets are partly Paris and partly Utrecht). A spurious fifth volume (Utrecht, 1734) contained attacks on the Jesuits, and an English translation of the whole appeared in 1734.

Meanwhile, during his residence at the Hague, he engaged on a translation of De Thou's Historia, and, relying on the popularity of his first book, published at Amsterdam a Suite in three volumes, forming volumes v, vi, and vii of the original Mémoires et aventures d’un homme de qualité. The seventh volume contained the famous Manon Lescaut, separately published in Paris in 1731 as Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut. The book was eagerly read, chiefly in pirated copies, being forbidden in France. In 1733 he left the Hague for London in company with a lady whose character, according to Prévost's enemies, was doubtful. In London he edited a weekly gazette on the model of Joseph Addison's Spectator, Le Pour et contre, which he continued to produce, with short intervals, until 1740.

In the autumn of 1734 Prévost was reconciled with the Benedictines, and, returning to France, was received in the Benedictine monastery of La Croix-Saint-Leufroy in the diocese of Évreux to pass through a new, though brief, novitiate. In 1735 he was dispensed from residence in a monastery by becoming almoner to the Prince de Conti, and in 1754 obtained the priory of St Georges de Gesnes. He continued to prod(less)

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Abbé Prévost's Books

Average rating: 3.52 · 2,117 ratings · 72 reviews · 13 distinct works · Similar authors

	Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost, Jean Sgard (Introduction), Leonard Tancock (Translation) 3.52 of 5 stars 3.52 avg rating — 2,121 ratings — published 1731 — 100 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Манон Леско / Опасни връзки by Abbé Prévost, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Пенка Пройкова (Translator) 4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1733	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sacrificial Lovers Manon Lescaut & Leone Leoni by Abbé Prévost, George Sand 4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2002	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Histoire D'une Grecque Moderne 2.33 of 5 stars 2.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1984 — 5 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Memoires van een Turkse dame by Abbé Prévost, M. Hof (Editor), T. Daan (Translator) 3.0 of 5 stars 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2008	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Le Philosophe Anglois, Ou Histoire de Monsieur Cleveland, Fils Naturel de Cromwell: Enrichie de Figures En Taille-Douce, Volume 4 by Abbé Prévost (Creator), Antoine Fran Ois Pr Vost D'Exiles 5.0 of 5 stars 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2011	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	histoire du chevalier des grieux et de manon lescaut 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	ABBE Prevost Manon Lescaut. Oxford World's Classics 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2004	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Le doyen de Killerine: Histoire morale, composée sur les mémoires d'une illustre famille d'Irlande, et orneé de tout ce qui peut rendre une lecture utile et agréable. 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2010 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Histoire g 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Abbé Prévost

“The heart of a father is the masterpiece of nature.”
― Abbé Prévost, Manon Lescaut

tags: fatherhood, fathers, french-literature

25 people liked it

“Lying gets all the recompenses, then, while despair and loneliness are the rewards of constancy and fidelity.”
― Abbé Prévost

2 people liked it

“One must count ones riches by the means one has to satisfy his desires.”
― Abbé Prévost

tags: desire, manon-lescaut, needs, prevost-abbe

2 people liked it

See all Abbé Prévost's quotes »

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