Salon of 1846 --Preface to mesmeric revelation -- Pierre Dupont -- "As man advances through life..." -- Respectable drama and novel -- Pagan school -- Exposition universelle, 1855 -- Since it is a question of realism -- Edgar Poe, his life and works -- New notes on Edgar Poe -- Madame Bovary -- Théophile Gautier -- Salon of 1859 -- Philosophic art -- Richard Wagner and Tannhäuser in Paris -- Reflections on some of my contemporaries: Victor Hugo ; Auguste Barbier ; Pétrus Borel ; Théodore de Banville ; Pierre Dupont ; Leconte de Lisle -- Les Misérables -- Painter of modern life -- Appendix -- Norman stories and idle tales -- How a genius pays his debts -- Prometheus unbound -- Advice to young men of letters -- Stories by Champfleury -- Jules Janin and The twelfth-night cake -- Duality of life -- Marceline Desbordes-Valmore -- Théophile Gautier -- Hégésippe Moreau -- Gustave le Vavasseur -- Ridiculous martyrs.