WHO WAS MADAME CALLEGARI? Was she one of these?
- The Transported Convict
- The Venetian Merchant’s Wife
- The Heroine of the Californian Goldrushes
- The Adventurer of the Mexican Jungles
- The Celebrity of European Literary Circles
- The Plantation Owner of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
No. Madame Callegari was not just one of these. In fact, she was all of these.
Early in 1855, a thirty-six-year-old French woman approached Alexandre Dumas in Paris, and asked him to edit, and publish, her account of ten years spent travelling in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, California and Mexico. Dumas agreed to her request, because her story was one of adventure and romance, and took this young lady, and her husband, to places seldom visited by young women. However, she insisted that, in publishing her story, her true identity should not be revealed. To achieve this they chose the pseudonym Madame Giovanni, and changed, or omitted, certain parts of the narrative which could have identified her. Since first publication, the true identity of Madame Giovanni was cause for speculation, and readers could not decide whether the story was true at all, or whether it was a mixture of fact and fiction. The Journal of Madame Callegari, researched over four years, and using archives from at least eight countries, reveals that Madame Marie Giovanni was in fact Madame Marie Callegari. Madame Callegari’s true adventures go far beyond those recorded by Alexandre Dumas in 1855. Yes, she visited all of the placed described by Dumas—Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, the Marquesas Islands, New Caledonia, Hawaii, California, and Mexico—but she also became involved in the Mexican civil war with President Santa Anna; she and her husband were granted a vast hacienda on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; they came under attack by rebel troops who destroyed their farm; she witnessed American corruption on the Isthmus and reported it to President Ulysses S Grant; she was witness to great battles during the American Civil War and witnessed the siege of New Orleans. Eventually, late in life she tried to have published a sequel to her 1855 journal, but negotiations failed and her goal was not achieved. Now, for the first time we can read the story of Madame Callegari — the true story behind Alexandre Dumas’s 1855 Journal of Madame Giovanni, in the Journal of Madame Callegari. (414 pages, maps and Illustrations)
REVIEWS:
‘The Governor of London’s Coldbath Fields House of Correction remembered his young French prisoner as ‘a treacherous, bad woman’. Though ‘by no means handsome’, she possessed a ‘very high talent, remarkable for eloquence and tears’. Three decades later the same woman, now with an Italian name, introduced herself by letter to the American president Ulysses S. Grant, saying she was returning to Europe as a ‘traveler who certainly will be believed’. When Alexandre Dumas published in Paris the journal of her earlier travels, he may or may not have ‘believed’ her, but as one of the most famous writers of his day, he had an eye for a good story and hers was a dramatic tale of adventure and romance across continents and overseas. Douglas Wilkie has followed the paper trail left behind by this shape-changing adventurer with a flair for language and a sense of herself as the heroine in her own romance. Having tracked the stylish swindler through the archives of eight countries, he weaves together a meticulously researched account of an unexpected and utterly fascinating woman.’
Emeritus Professor Lucy Frost, The University of Tasmania
“After four years of meticulous research during which he was able to trace her movements around the world, Wilkie was able to reveal that Madame Marie Giovanni was certainly Madame Marie Callegari, a real woman who had visited most of the places described in Dumas’ book.
Douglas Wilkie has chosen to tell this fascinating story in the first voice, that of Madame Callegari herself, so we find her writing posthumously, telling why she chose to publish under a pseudonym and introducing us to her former self, the young woman known as Louisa La Grange … intriguing and well-told, from the wretchedness of prison and transportation followed by a pardon in Australia and then marriage to fellow-convict, the Venetian merchant Pietro Callegari, to their remarkable travels and sojourns in parts of the world rarely visited by a nineteenth century woman. … The original Dumas journal is written in the first person but here we find the voice enhanced with detailed facts and insights, drawn from Wilkie’s meticulous research. This remarkable attention to detail successfully draws the reader deeper into Madame Giovanni’s story, thus dissipating any initial unease; the end-notes are crucial as evidence of Madame Callegari’s claims. Wilkie writes ‘The Journal of Madame Callegari is what I believe Madame Callegari would have told us if she had the opportunity.’ He is to be congratulated on his achievement.”
Elaine Lewis, Author Left Bank Waltz, (Vintage 2006); Co-editor The French Australian Review.
“… a fascinating story from start to finish: not only the very notion that the true identity of Madame Callegari has remained hidden until now, but also the incredible story of Madame Callegari’s life and travels. The journal is bookended by the equally interesting story of the author’s own four year journey to uncover the truth and his essay on The Voice of Madame Callegari. As one would expect, the author’s choice to write the journal in the first person adds greatly to the pace and personal nature of the story and draws the reader in from the very beginning. … Astute readers … will no doubt be delighted to now be able to read the full story of Madame Callegari and her incredible life. This complete account is meticulously researched and a valuable and important contribution to the literature in the area of French-Australian Studies, given the time that Madame Callegari spent here and in the surrounding region. Readers everywhere can be very grateful that Douglas Wilkie came across Madame Callegari’s true identity, that he has set the record straight, and that he has shared her fascinating story with us.”
Dr Kerry Mullan, Senior lecturer, Coordinator French Studies, RMIT University Melbourne
Review of The Journal of Madame Callegari by Mary McMichael Ritzlin in Terrae Incognitae, Vol 49, No 1, 2017
“This book is unusual in that Wilkie presents his new research using the first person, as if Callegari were commenting from beyond the grave on the original publication, her later work, and his own additions. This device allows Marie to point out discrepancies between editions and the factual record as due to either creative editing by Dumas, lapses of memory on her part, or allowing for natural gaps in the record due to careless record-keepers.
Wilkie addresses the pros and cons of using the first person narrative, … and shares many other scholarly opinions on the subject. He argues his book conforms to what “Marie Callegari would have told us if she had the opportunity” (p. 335) and he has convinced this reader, for one.“
The full review is available in Terrae Incognitae through Taylor & Francis with DOI 10.1080/00822884.2017.1295692
The Journal of Madame Callegari, The True Story Behind Alexandre Dumas’s 1855 Journal de madame Giovanni, Douglas Wilkie, Historia Incognita, 2015, pp.410. ISBN 9781320395878
Review in History News, Issue No.322, Feb-Mar 2016 (Newsletter of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria), p.10.
“[Using]… soundly based historical method and not fictional imaginings … [the author] … takes the reader on a fascinating trail of historical detection …”
“The author convincingly shows that Madame Giovanni, the author of Alexandre Dumas’s publication of her journal, was not a fictional character but Madame Callegari whose travels took her away from Paris in 1843 to 1853. Convicted in London, sent to Van Diemen’s Land, she briefly visited Melbourne in 1848 and 1849. the journal is mostly about Van Diemen’s Land, and then the South Pacific, California and Mexico where her ‘adventures’ took her after serving her sentence. Wilkie has reconstructed Callegari’s life and rewritten her journal in the first person in what he shows to be soundly based historical method and not fictional imaginings. The journal first translated in 1944 is not well-known and the author has not only revealed its content but also takes the reader on a fascinating trail of historical detection.”
The Journal of Madame Callegari is also reviewed by the Société des Amis d’Alexandre Dumas
“Ouvrage présenté comme « La véritable histoire derrière le livre d’Alexandre Dumas : Journal de voyage d’une parisienne – Marie Giovanni ».
Douglas Wilkie, professeur à Melbourne University, fait paraître son livre The Journal of Madame Callegari présenté comme « La véritable histoire derrière le livre d’Alexandre Dumas : Journal de voyage d’une parisienne – Marie Giovanni« .
Alexandre Dumas a publié en effet en 1855 un journal de voyage dont une première version lui aurait été confiée par une dame se dissimulant sous le nom de Marie Giovanni.
Cette dame est souvent identifiée à Gabrielle-Anne Cisterne de Courtiras, épouse du Poilloüe de Saint-Mars, dite la comtesse Dash. Est-ce là la vérité ?
Douglas Wilkie a mené l’enquête et nous révèle la personnalité de Madame Callegari qui se cache derrière le nom de Giovanni…”
- CONTENTS
Who was Madame Callegari? 1
The Journal of Madame Callegari 5
To My Readers 7
Prologue: The Departure 9
Isle de France 11
Part One : The Merchant of Venice 17
Awaiting Exportation 19
Pietro Callegari & John De Castaños 27
A Ship of Desperate Mutineers 35
Van Diemen’s Land 37
Barlatier Demas 39
The Governor & the Forty Thieves 42
Part Two : A Treacherous, Bad Woman 45
Louise Mirabello 47
Coldbath Fields House of Correction 54
Viscountess La Grange 59
You Have Abandoned Me 63
Louise Mirabello Becomes Louisa La Grange 71
Faithful Wives & Good Servants 76
A Ship of Hysterical Women 80
A Ship of Troublesome Characters 83
Hobart 86
A Gracious & Kind Governor 88
Part Three : Madame Callegari 99
Madame Callegari 101
Polyglot Academy 102
Mauritius 107
Mount Wellington 111
Curious Madrigals 118
Le berger et le l’ingot d’or 124
Freedom, Bellini & Governor’s Balls 129
Part Four : South Pacific Adventures 139
Sailing Ships 141
Part Five : California— Un fichu pays 157
San Francisco 159
Twist’s Flat 166
Honolulu 178
Part Six : Mexico 185
Acapulco 187
President Santa Anna 194
Mexico City 199
Part Seven : Madame Giovanni 205
Paris 207
New York 214
Tehuantepec 220
War 228
An Outrage at La Puerta 232
United States of America 243
President Ulysses S Grant 246
Part Eight : A Quiet & Simple Life 257
San Antonio 259
The Heart of a Woman 268
The Women of Mexico 273
Postscript Postmortem 283
The End of My Journey 285
Maps & Illustrations 291
Annotations and Sources 307
The Voice of Marie Callegari 309
Acknowledgements 336
Annotations and Sources 339
Journal Articles
Douglas Wilkie, ‘Femina Incognita: Alexandre Dumas’s Madame Giovanni‘, Terrae Incognitae, The Journal of the Society for the History of Discoveries, Volume 48, 2016 – Issue 1
Purchase the Book
Purchase The Journal of Madame Callegari (ISBN: 9781320468312) from Blurb; or from Amazon (USA); Amazon (UK); The Book Depository; Fishpond (NZ); AbeBooks; Wheelers; Readings Books; or Search Google for ISBN: 9781320395878)
Madame Callegari in Libraries
Baillieu Library, (University of Melbourne).
Preview the book:
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Salut, Je vous remercie d’avoir partager avec nous votre informations. J’ai appris différentes idées en vous consultant, merci beaucoup « » . A bientôt et merci à vous tous !
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