Theodore Botrel Emile Souvestre Translator Winifred (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Good. First Edition. Family-owned bookshop in Steubenville, Ohio: BookMarx Bookstore. Books shipped within 24 hours. No marks noted in text. Hinge is cracked at 20/21 but all pages are secure. No dust jacket as issued. Portrait of Botrel as frontispiece which is covered by the intact glassine sheet. Spine is sunned and th ehead and tail of the spine are lightly frayed. . . . . . Jean-Baptiste-Theodore-Marie Botrel (14 September 1868 - 28 July 1925) was a French singer-songwriter, poet and playwright. He is best known for his popular songs about his native Brittany, of which the most famous is La Paimpolaise. During World War I he became France's official Bard of the Armies. Botrel was an enthusiastic supporter of the French cause in World War I. Turned down for service in the French army because of his age, he attempted to enlist with Belgian forces, but was again rejected. He decided to work for the war effort by writing and performing patriotic songs. He had already published a collection of military songs before the war in 1912 as Coups de Clairon. A British writer noted It is a noble work, and one cannot think of another poet, here or in France, so abundantly equipped for its performance. Botrel has no counterpart in Britain, so it were vain to seek comparisons. After his rejection for military service Botrel started a monthly publication entitled Les chants du Bivouac containing songs for the soldiers. In 1915 he was appointed as official Chansonnier des Armees, or Bard of the Armies. According to the New York Times he was authorised by the Minister of War to enter all military depots, camps and hospitals for the purpose of reciting and singing his patriotic poems. He travelled throughout the front line performing to the troops. The patriotic songs were also published as poems for a children's book promoting the war effort, Les Livres Rose pour la Jeunesse. Botrel's most famous wartime songs were Rosalie (the nickname of the French bayonet) and Ma P'tite Mimi (about a machine-gun). The latter was revived by Pierre Desproges in the 1980s. -- Wikipedia.