Marie-Jean-Léon, Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys

Hervey de Saint Denys made an intense study of Chinese, and in 1851 D'Hervey published his Recherches sur l'agriculture et l'horticulture des Chinois (Transl: Research on the agriculture and horticulture of the Chinese), in which he dealt with the plants and animals that potentially might be able to be acclimatized to and introduced in Western countries.[1] He translated as well Chinese texts as some Chinese stories, not of classical interest, but valuable for the light they throw on Chinese culture and customs. He was a man of letters too. E.g. he translated some Spanish-language works,[2] and wrote a history of the Spanish drama.[3] D'Hervey also created a literary translation theory, paraphrased by Joshua A. Fogel, the author of a book review on De l'un au multiple: Traductions du chinois vers les langues européenes, as "empowering the translator to use his own creative talents to embellish wherever necessary—not a completely free hand, but some leeway to avoid the pitfall of becoming too leaden."[4]

By adoption by his uncle Amédée Louis Vincent Juchereau (1782-1858) he became Marquis de Saint-Denys.

At the Paris Exhibition of 1867, Hervey de Saint Denys acted as commissioner for the Chinese exhibits.[5] and is decorated by the Legion of Honour.[6]
On June the 11th 1868 the Marquis married the 19-year-old Austrian orphan Louise de Ward.[7]

In 1874 he succeeded Stanislas Julien in the chair of Chinese at the Collège de France, while in 1878 he was elected a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et de Belles-Lettres. D'Hervey died in his hotel at Paris on 2 November 1892.[8][9][10]

More recently Hervey de Saint Denys has begun to be known for his introspective studies on dreams.[11] D'Hervey was also one of the earliest oneirologists (specialists in the study of dreams), and is nowadays regarded as "The Father" of modern lucid dreaming. In 1867 there appeared as an anonymous publication a book entitled Les rêves et les moyens de les diriger; observations pratiques (Translation: Dreams and the Ways to Direct Them: Practical Observations). In a footnote on page 1 from the 1878-edition of Alfred Maury's work Le sommeil et les rêves D'Hervey de Saint-Denys was identified as the writer of it.[12] Writers like e.g. Havelock Ellis (1911),[13] Johann Stärcke (1912),[14] A. Breton (1955)[15] a.o. refer to the fact that the original anonymous publication was hard to lay hands on as copies were scarce, because shortly after the publication publisher Amyot went broke. Sigmund Freud (Die Traumdeutung.Wien; Deuticke.1900) e.g. states: "Maury, le sommeil et les rêves,Paris,1878, p.19,polemisiert lebhaft gegen d'Hervey,dessen Schrift ich mir trotz aller Bemühung nicht verschaffen konnte"(Transl.:Maury, Sleep and Dreams, Paris,1878, p. 19, argues strenuously against d'Hervey, whose book I could not lay hands on in spite of all my efforts).

D'Hervey started recording his dreams on a daily basis from the age of 13. (At page 4 of his work Les Rêves et les Moyens de Les Diriger the author stated that he was in his fourteenth year when he started his dreamwork). In this book, the author proposed a theoretical framework, techniques to control dreams, and he described dreams in which the "dreamer is perfectly aware he is dreaming". Recently the question has been raised who has coined for the very first time the term 'lucid dreaming'. Generally it is contributed to Frederik van Eeden, but some scientists question if this was inspired by the use of the term by Saint-Denys.[16] Denys describes his own lucid dreams with sentences like 'I was aware of my situation'. It is erroneous to state that Denys's book deals mainly with lucid dreams. It does not. Generally it is focused on the development of dreams, not specific on lucid dreams. It is only in recent years that Saint-Denys was rediscovered for his oneirology work. In an article from Den Blanken & Meijer, the authors wondered about the fact that there were so little biographical data available on such an erudite person as Saint-Denys was, and presented some.[17][18][19]

In 1964 Editor Tchou reprinted Les Rêves Et Les Moyens de Les Diriger,[20] but the 1867-Appendix, entitled 'Un rêve apres avoir pris du hatchich' (Transl.: A dream after I took hashish) had, due to its contents, been left out, without indication. In 1982 an abbreviated English edition appeared, which was based on the Tchou-edition, and consequently it did not contain the Appendix either, nor did it refer to it. The Den Blanken & Meijer-article revealed this fact, and the authors presented for the first time an English translation of this Appendix. Others were stimulated by above,and in 1992 the French Dream Society 'Oniros' held in Paris a commemoration on Saint-Denys. Leading dream specialists Carolus den Blanken, Celia Green, Paul Tholey (1937-1998) and Oniros president-elect Roger Ripert paid their respect.[21] In 1995 society Oniros published an integral French version of Denys' book on dreams, and Italian, Dutch and Japanese translations appeared.[22][23][24] Recently several French editions of Les Rêves has been published. It is not always evident if these (E)books are integral versions or based on the 1964-Tchou edition. In 2016 an integral English version (inclusive the original frontpage, backcover and frontispice) appeared as a free of charge E-book with the title:'Dreams and the Ways to Direct Them: Practical Observations', edited by Drs. Carolus den Blanken & Drs. Eli Meijer. In this translation, the designer of the front cover of the 1867-original is revealed, namely Henri Alfred Darjou (1832-1875), French painter and draughtsman.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Léon d'Hervey de Saint-Denys.

• genealogy on geneanet pierfit (after log in)
• Hervey de Saint-Denys (1849). Insurrection de Naples en 1647. Amyot. Paris. Text on line
• Hervey de Saint-Denys (1856). Histoire de la révolution dans les Deux-Siciles depuis 1793.
• Hervey de Saint-Denys (1875). Examen des faits mensongers contenus dans un libelle publié sous le faux nom de Léon Bertin avec le jugement du tribunal correctionel de Versailles.
• Hervey de Saint-Denys (1878-1889). Collection of 6 autograph letters signed to unknown recipients. Chateau du Breau, (Seine-et-Marne), and 9 Av. Bosquet, 24 June 1878- 9 June 1889. In French. The letters are written to colleagues and friends and mainly concern sinological matters.
• Truchelut & Valkman (1884). Marie Jean Léon d'Hervey de Saint-Denys. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département Société de Géographie, SG PORTRAIT-1182. 1 photogr. + notice et letters. Text on line
• Pino, Angel and Rabut,Isabelle (1999). "Le marquis d'Hervey-Saint-Denys et les traductions littéraires: À propos d'un texte traduit par lui et retraduit par d'autres." (Archive), English title: "The marquis D’Hervey-Saint-Denys and literary translations", In: Alleton, Vivianne and Michael Lackner (editors). De l'un au multiple: traductions du chinois vers les langues européennes Translations from Chinese into European Languages. Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme, Paris, p. 114-142. ISBN 9782735107681. English abstract available
• Léon d’Hervey de Saint-Denys (1822-O1878-1892). Entre science et rêve, un patrimoine révélé. Journée du Patrimoine, 16 septembre 2012.Text on line
• Jacqueline Carroy (2013). La force et la couleur des rêves selon Hervey de Saint-Denys. Rives Méditerranéennes, 44, p. 53-68. Référence électronique (2013). Rives Méditerranéennes 44. Text on line

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hervey de Saint Denys, Marie Jean Léon, Marquis d'". Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 404.