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Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles

Born

in Hesdin, Artois, France

April 01, 1697

Died

December 23, 1763

Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Fran%C3%A7...

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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 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 ...more

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Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles’s books

Average rating: 3.28 · 18,950 ratings · 1,393 reviews · 1,121 distinct works • Similar authors

	Manon Lescaut 3.29 avg rating — 18,115 ratings — published 1731 — 1082 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	Опасные связи. Манон Леско by Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Шодерло дьо Лакло 4.10 avg rating — 128 ratings — published 1733 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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 2.76 avg rating — 188 ratings — published 1740 — 31 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	BiblioLycée - Manon Lescaut, Abbé Prévost (BAC 1res générale et Technologiques) - BAC 2026 (French Edition) 2.61 avg rating — 174 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	История кавалера де Грие и Манон Леско by Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles, Аббат Прево, А. Михайлова (переводчик) 3.62 avg rating — 58 ratings — published 1731	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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 Lesca 2.91 avg rating — 11 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	Manon Lesko 3.75 avg rating — 8 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	История Манон Леско и кавалера де Грие by Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles, Дмитрий Аверкиев 4.17 avg rating — 6 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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
	The Life and Entertaining Adventures of Mr. Cleveland, Natural Son of Oliver Cromwell, Written by Himself [Or Rather, Tr. from Le Philosophe Anglois of A.F. Prévost D'exiles]. 2.88 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 1731 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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 Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles, M. Hof (Editor), Tatjana Daan (Translator) 2.86 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2008	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. 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 Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles (?)

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

tags: fatherhood, fathers, french-literature

197 likes

“It has never been matter of wonder to me that human resolutions are liable to change; one passion gives them birth, another may destroy them.”
― Antoine François Prévost, Manon Lescaut

tags: passions, resolutions

19 likes

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

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

8 likes

See all Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles's quotes »

Polls

July 2024 Old School Classics Poll

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, 1908, 197 pages

51 votes, 28.3%

The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy, 1886, 317 pages

40 votes, 22.2%

A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde, 1893, 96 pages

33 votes, 18.3%

The Princess of Cleves by Madame de La Fayette, 1648, 192 pages

26 votes, 14.4%

Klondike Tales by Jack London, 1901, 304 pages

15 votes, 8.3%

The Black Sheep by Honoré de Balzac, 1842, 339 pages

8 votes, 4.4%

Manon Lescaut by Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles, 1731, 192 pages

7 votes, 3.9%

180 total votes

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