Champavert


Champavert: Immoral Tales is a short story collection by the French writer Pétrus Borel, published in February 1833 by Eugène Renduel. It consists of seven stories set in Havana, Jamaica, Lyon, Madrid and Paris, each concerning the dismembering of human bodies, calculated cruelty and sexual violence against women.
Champavert was a common surname in Borel's home city of Lyon and the subtitle is an ironic nod to the "moral tales" of Jean-François Marmontel, which were popular at the time.
The book was published in an English translation by Tom Moran in 1959 as Champavert: Seven Bitter Tales. A new translation by Brian Stableford was published in 2013 as Champavert: Immoral Tales.

Contents

  • "A Biographical Sketch of Champavert"
  • "Monsieur de l'Argentière, the Prosecutor"
  • "Jaquez Barraou, the Carpenter"
  • "Don Andrea Vesalius, the Anatomist"
  • "Three-fingered Jack, the Obi"
  • "Dinah, the Beautiful Jewess"
  • "Passereau, the Student"
  • "Champavert, the Lycanthrope"