Financial Aspects of Relationship Between the Writer and His Editor Through the Correspondence of Ivan Turgenev and Pierre-Jules Hetzel

Abstract

Pierre-Jules Hetzel (1814–1886), editor to Jules Verne, Victor Hugo, Georges Sand, Stendhal and other prominent French writers, was interested in publishing translations of foreign authors in addition to distributing books from his own publishing company on the international market. In 1861, Hetzel published Ivan Turgenev’s Nobel Nest in France, and by 1868 he became the Russian writer’s main French publisher. From the beginning of their acquaintance, Turgenev and Hetzel corresponded regularly regarding the publishing of Turgenev’s works translated into French and the adaptation of his texts for the French reader. Recent studies of their correspondence preserved at the National Library of France and archives of the publishing house Hachette, which was acquired from Hetzel heirs in 1914, as well as documents from the National Archives, shed light on the stages of collaboration between the author and publisher. The fragments of unpublished correspondence and documents presented in the article clearly illustrate that Turgenev’s French editions had a small print run and were not significantly profitable. From 1861–1886, ten of Turgenev’s books were published by Hetzel’s publishing house, but even circulation of the most successful novel did not exceed ten thousand copies. At the same time, Turgenev did not participate in the process, giving the publisher freedom to act and being constantly in search of translators. The agreement between Turgenev and Hetzel remained the same throughout the entire period of their collaboration.