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The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh
“The Paris Sketch Book” is a look at France shortly after the time of Napoleon. The author William Makepeace Thackeray is famous for his dry wit and for his other classic books “Vanity Fair” and “Barry Lyndon”. He is also credited with inventing a new word ‘snob’ in his novel “The Book of Snobs, by One of Themselves”
396 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
8 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
William Makepeace Thackeray
5,175 books1,310 followersWilliam Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist, satirist, and journalist, best known for his keen social commentary and his novel Vanity Fair (1847–1848). His works often explored themes of ambition, hypocrisy, and the moral failings of British society, making him one of the most significant literary figures of the Victorian era.
Born in Calcutta, British India, he was sent to England for his education after his father’s death. He attended Charterhouse School, where he developed a distaste for the rigid school system, and later enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge. However, he left without earning a degree, instead traveling in Europe and pursuing artistic ambitions.
After losing much of his inheritance due to bad investments, Thackeray turned to writing for a living. He contributed satirical sketches, essays, and stories to periodicals such as Fraser’s Magazine and Punch, gradually building a reputation for his sharp wit and keen observational skills. His breakthrough came with Vanity Fair, a panoramic satire of English society that introduced the enduring character of Becky Sharp, a resourceful and amoral social climber.
Thackeray’s later novels, including Pendennis (1848–1850), The History of Henry Esmond (1852), and The Newcomes (1853–1855), continued to explore the lives of the English upper and middle classes, often focusing on the contrast between personal virtue and social ambition. His historical novel Henry Esmond was particularly praised for its detailed 18th-century setting and complex characterization.
In addition to his fiction, Thackeray was a noted public speaker and essayist, delivering lectures on the English humorists of the 18th century and on The Four Georges, a critical look at the British monarchy.
Despite his literary success, he lived with personal struggles, including the mental illness of his wife, Isabella, which deeply affected him. He remained devoted to his two daughters and was known for his kindness and generosity among his friends and colleagues.
His works remain widely read, appreciated for their incisive humor, rich characterizations, and unflinching critique of social pretensions.
Born in Calcutta, British India, he was sent to England for his education after his father’s death. He attended Charterhouse School, where he developed a distaste for the rigid school system, and later enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge. However, he left without earning a degree, instead traveling in Europe and pursuing artistic ambitions.
After losing much of his inheritance due to bad investments, Thackeray turned to writing for a living. He contributed satirical sketches, essays, and stories to periodicals such as Fraser’s Magazine and Punch, gradually building a reputation for his sharp wit and keen observational skills. His breakthrough came with Vanity Fair, a panoramic satire of English society that introduced the enduring character of Becky Sharp, a resourceful and amoral social climber.
Thackeray’s later novels, including Pendennis (1848–1850), The History of Henry Esmond (1852), and The Newcomes (1853–1855), continued to explore the lives of the English upper and middle classes, often focusing on the contrast between personal virtue and social ambition. His historical novel Henry Esmond was particularly praised for its detailed 18th-century setting and complex characterization.
In addition to his fiction, Thackeray was a noted public speaker and essayist, delivering lectures on the English humorists of the 18th century and on The Four Georges, a critical look at the British monarchy.
Despite his literary success, he lived with personal struggles, including the mental illness of his wife, Isabella, which deeply affected him. He remained devoted to his two daughters and was known for his kindness and generosity among his friends and colleagues.
His works remain widely read, appreciated for their incisive humor, rich characterizations, and unflinching critique of social pretensions.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 8, 2025
The Paris Sketch Book captures Thackeray’s early-career fascination with France — and it’s a wonderfully chaotic blend of satire, curiosity, historical digression, and comedic storytelling. Walking through Paris with Thackeray feels like following a clever, slightly snarky friend who refuses to let you be bored for even a minute.
He chronicles street life, theatres, cafés, political gossip, the art world, and the quirks of Parisians with the mix of admiration and teasing that only a true Anglophone tourist can manage. His sketches of the Revolutionary period are sharp and darkly comic, while his observations of everyday life are full of affectionate wit.
What’s delightful is how flexible the tone is: one moment, he’s joking about fashion; the next, he’s reflecting on history with surprising melancholy.
This is Thackeray before the giant novels, already honing the keen eye that would later dissect Victorian society.
Energetic, playful, and insightful — a lively portrait of Paris before the age of postcards.
He chronicles street life, theatres, cafés, political gossip, the art world, and the quirks of Parisians with the mix of admiration and teasing that only a true Anglophone tourist can manage. His sketches of the Revolutionary period are sharp and darkly comic, while his observations of everyday life are full of affectionate wit.
What’s delightful is how flexible the tone is: one moment, he’s joking about fashion; the next, he’s reflecting on history with surprising melancholy.
This is Thackeray before the giant novels, already honing the keen eye that would later dissect Victorian society.
Energetic, playful, and insightful — a lively portrait of Paris before the age of postcards.
July 10, 2021
A completely under-rated work. The anthology is posed as a sketchbook about Paris and about the French, all supposedly created by a Mr Titmarsh. In it, Mr T not only captured the scenes of life in France, but also injected a fair amount of commentary from an English perspective. In one story (the case of Peytel), Mr. T clearly stated (or perhaps exaggerated) the difference between the legal systems of the two countries. The story is written as a letter ridiculing the French’s handling of the case of Peytel. The story goes like this:
Peytel killed his man servant Louis allegedly because Louis tried to steal a large sum of money from his master and in the process shot Madam Peytel, who eventually died. The prosecutor had different ideas. He thought Peytel killed his own wife in order to take over her asset because he made her sign a will giving him all her money upon her death. But the prosecutor wrote up the case and published it 6 days before the trial, “so that an unimpassioned, unprejudiced jury has ample time to study it, and to form its opinions accordingly, and to go into court with a happy, just prepossessing against the prisoner”. Easily convicted, Peytel was guillotined about a year after the death of his wife.
Now, Peytel’s story is admittedly not water proof. Indeed why would he press his wife to sign a will? But on the other hand, beheading someone on a whole of circumstantial evidence is quite bizarre. Mr. T is quite happy he does not live in France.
Now, whether the French legal system was really as bad as Mr. T made it out to be is debatable, but what I liked is that Thackeray captures the superiority of a typical Englishman (Mr. T) pretty nicely in these stories. In a sense, you get another sketch book too: that of the French lives seen through the English lens.
Peytel killed his man servant Louis allegedly because Louis tried to steal a large sum of money from his master and in the process shot Madam Peytel, who eventually died. The prosecutor had different ideas. He thought Peytel killed his own wife in order to take over her asset because he made her sign a will giving him all her money upon her death. But the prosecutor wrote up the case and published it 6 days before the trial, “so that an unimpassioned, unprejudiced jury has ample time to study it, and to form its opinions accordingly, and to go into court with a happy, just prepossessing against the prisoner”. Easily convicted, Peytel was guillotined about a year after the death of his wife.
Now, Peytel’s story is admittedly not water proof. Indeed why would he press his wife to sign a will? But on the other hand, beheading someone on a whole of circumstantial evidence is quite bizarre. Mr. T is quite happy he does not live in France.
Now, whether the French legal system was really as bad as Mr. T made it out to be is debatable, but what I liked is that Thackeray captures the superiority of a typical Englishman (Mr. T) pretty nicely in these stories. In a sense, you get another sketch book too: that of the French lives seen through the English lens.
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April 12, 2023The Devil's Wager -- a short, humorous story by Thackeray, in which he satirizes Gothic romances. It is very good.
May 3, 2016
The Paris Sketch Book is a collection of witty pieces written for various journals that shows Thackeray’s insight into both English and French character. His ability to perceive each culture with the eyes of both gives his artistic renderings a depth and stereophonic reverberation that a wholly outside observer, or even a wholly inside observer, would lack. The emphasis, as the title suggests, is on the French character, but to better delineate the French character by contrast, several strokes of the English character are shown. At times, the contrast shades into similarity. I do not mean to suggest by this overall observation that the pieces follow a set formula. One is a straightforward artistic criticism of paintings, another a recounting of a legal case, another a history of caricatures and lithography in France.
His wit is sharp, and at times skewering. Most memorable is his description of the work of iconic Georges Sand. His re-telling of the plot of Spiridion is akin to the simple boy’s cry of, “The Emperor has no clothes!” Even more cruelly (but how funny!), he makes the case that Louis XIV’s royal bearing was only clothes, with the man merely a hanger for the illusion they create. But who is more the fool—the foppish king, or those who see divinity in his accoutrements? It helps, when reading the Sketch Book, to have at least a rudimentary grasp of the history of France from Louis XIV through Napoleon III.
His wit is sharp, and at times skewering. Most memorable is his description of the work of iconic Georges Sand. His re-telling of the plot of Spiridion is akin to the simple boy’s cry of, “The Emperor has no clothes!” Even more cruelly (but how funny!), he makes the case that Louis XIV’s royal bearing was only clothes, with the man merely a hanger for the illusion they create. But who is more the fool—the foppish king, or those who see divinity in his accoutrements? It helps, when reading the Sketch Book, to have at least a rudimentary grasp of the history of France from Louis XIV through Napoleon III.
to-come-back-to
July 23, 2011A difficult one. I really enjoy about the first third and then what first started as witty turns tiresome and typical English whining about their neighbours across the channel. The short stories are definitely the best bit; the tirades masquerading as essays I could really do without. Ultimately I had to put it aside. Shame as I really enjoyed Vanity Fair and was hoping for some of the same here.
May 14, 2022
"I adore you, and all that sort of thing." Choice line fr
"Vanity Fair." This edition of "Paris" has satiric
drawings by aka Titmarsh. I had no idea WMT wanted to be
an artist. Sketches of G Sand, Versailles and other
fripperies are modest. There could be more tea in the pot.
"Vanity Fair." This edition of "Paris" has satiric
drawings by aka Titmarsh. I had no idea WMT wanted to be
an artist. Sketches of G Sand, Versailles and other
fripperies are modest. There could be more tea in the pot.
November 25, 2013
An odd mix of anecdotes and stories, most of which aren't true. Silly stuff. Very little to do with Paris.
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September 22, 2018Read 'The Devil's Wager' for a class
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews