Charles-Victor Prévot, vicomte d'Arlincourt

Charles-Victor Prévot, vicomte d'Arlincourt (26 September 1788 — 22 January 1856) was a French novelist, born at the Château de Mérantais, Magny-les-Hameaux, Yvelines.

In the 1820s, the popularity of this author, upon whom was bestowed the epithet "the prince of the romantics", rivalled that of Victor Hugo.

His father Louis-Adrien Prévost d'Arlincourt was guillotined on 8 May 1794, along with Antoine Lavoisier and 26 other farmers-general. At the beginning of the First Empire, his mother pleaded his cause before Napoleon, who decided to name him écuyer ("squire") to Madame Mère. At the age of 29, he married the daughter of a senator, and composed a tragedy, Charlemagne, which was declined by the Théâtre-Français. In 1811 Napoleon appointed him as a master (auditeur) at the Council of State, then as an intendant in the Spanish army. He participated in the Spanish campaign and was present at the capture of Tarragona.

After the fall of Napoleon, he succeeded in ingratiating himself with Louis XVIII, who named him Master of Requests. He bought a chateau and adopted the title of viscount. In 1818, he orchestrated a huge publicity campaign for the publication of his epic poem, Charlemagne, ou la Caroléide, and presented himself before the Academy, where his candidature obtained exactly one vote. Undiscouraged, he began work on a novel which he believed would bring him as great a reputation as Chateaubriand's.

Le Solitaire appeared in 1821 and achieved an "extraordinary, even colossal, celebrity." In the space of several months, the book was reprinted a dozen times; it was translated into ten languages; there were no fewer than seven operas based on its story, and twice as many dramatic adaptations; and it was the subject of innumerable songs, parodies, paintings and lithographs. The success of his next three novels, Le Renégat in 1822, Ipsiboé in 1823, and L'Étrangère in 1825, was almost as great.

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