Gautier Theophile

The French physician, Jacques Joseph Moreau, remains the most-cited connection between cannabis and the art community. Moreau first used hashish while traveling through the Middle East in the 1830s. He assumed that cannabis-induced sensations might model the hallucinations and delusions common in psychotic individuals. He had hoped that this research might help the treatment of the mentally ill. The outspoken hedonist and popular novelist, Theophile Gautier assisted Moreau in this research. He not only participated himself, but he also recruited other members of Frances artistic community. This group of hedonists and experimenters met monthly in an old mansion in Paris which was known at the time as the Club Des Hachichins (Hashish Club). For historical reviews on cannabis, see Abel and Mechoulam. ... 

A contemporary drawing of Theophile Gautier, founder of "Le Club des Haschischins. ... 

Nerval had met Theophile Gautier while they were both students in Paris and the two remained friends for the rest of their lives. It was through Gautier that he became a member of the Club des Hachichins. 

A comparable approach to translation may be found in another periodical which made wide use of foreign material, the Revue de Paris. In the first issue of a new series (October 1851) of the Revue de Paris, Theophile Gautier stated the aims of the Revue as complete freedom and diversity of approach, a diversity reflected by the opening up of the Revue to foreign literature. The method of translation of this foreign literature was announced as faithful, and the aim of translation seen as a means to introduce foreign works to a new readership and to broaden its knowledge ... 

The play on his name carries on, but less seriously, as a letter to Theophile Gautier, in 1863, signed Baldelario, shows (CII,p. 314). 

Theophile Gautier, tres emu par une representation de Tannhauser, avait cependant, dans le Moniteur, traduit ses impressions avec cette certitude plastique qui donne un charme irresistible a tous ses ecrits.35... 

Charles Baudelaire, Les paradis artificiels. Precede de La Pipe d opium, Le Hachich, Le Club des Hachichins par Theophile Gautier (i860). An enlarged version of De Quincey s book was published in 1856. 

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