Antoine Gustave Droz (June 9, 1832 – October 22, 1895), author, Frenchman of letters and son of thesculptorJules-Antoine Droz [fr] (1807–1872), was born in Paris.[1]
He was educated as an artist, and began toexhibit his work in Paris at theSalon of 1857. A series ofsketch stories dealing gaily with the intimacies of family life, published in the magazineLa Vie Parisienne and issued in book form asMonsieur, Madame et Bébé (1866), won for the author an immediate and great success. The publicationEntre Nous (1867) was similar, and was followed by somepsychological novels:Le Cahier Bleu de Mlle Cibot (1868);Autour d'une Source (1869);Un Paquet de Lettres (1870);Babolain (1872);Les Étangs (1875);Une Femme Gênante (1875); andL'Enfant (1885). HisTristesses et Sourires (1884) is a delicateanalysis of the niceties of family intercourse and its difficulties. Droz's first book was translated into English with the titlePapa, Mamma and Baby (1887).[1]
"Gustave Droz saw love within marriage as the key to human happiness..." "He urged women to follow their hearts and marry a man nearly their own age."
A husband who is stately and a little bald is all right, but a young husband who loves you and drinks out of your glass without ceremony is better. Let him, if he ruffles your dress a little and places a kiss on your neck as he passes. Let him, if he undresses you after the ball, laughing like a fool. You have fine spiritual qualities, it is true, but your little body is not bad either and when one loves, one loves completely. Behind these follies lies happiness
— Droz
Quoted in T. Zeldin,France 1848–1945, vol. 1 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973), p. 295.[2]
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Droz, Antoine Gustave".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 596.Gustave Dore wrote "Monsieur-Madame & Bebe, with illustrations by Edmond Morin, first published 1878 by Victor Havard, Paris.
