From the late 1930s to the mid-1960s, French publisher Arthème Fayard put out 78 French Saint
books, only 37 of which were direct translations (or adaptations) of Leslie Charteris' novels. Not counting two
"collaborations" with Fleming Lee, it means that a staggering 39 Saint novels were written directly in French, for the French market.
Old titles were kept in print, often reissued under new covers, while new ones were released, virtually on a quarterly
basis during the 1950s and 1960s. These books were inexpensive and entertaining, and proved extremely popular with
the French public. They sported distinctive, attractive color covers, and were easily found on the newstands, in
railway stations, etc.
The purpose of this site is to present a history of the publication of these French Saint works. In the absence of exhaustive published research, I had to rely for information
mostly on the set of books available to me, as well as information provided by Ian Dickerson, Burl Barer, Jean-Luc
Buard, Francis Valery, and Daniel Bodenheimer. I welcome any further corrections and additions submitted by the
readers.
The history of the French Saint
books is little known. Most, if not all, French readers assume that there is no difference between the French pastiches,
written by Madeleine Michel-Tyl, but credited to Leslie Charteris, and the originals. Even a series of reprints
by the Livre de Poche publishing
house smoothly proceeded to reissue originals and pastiches side by side, as if they were all the work of Leslie
Charteris.
I know of no other case in which a foreign publisher was allowed to generate -- and market so successfully ! --
such a large number of pastiches -- a number greater, in fact, than that of the originals. Certainly, from both
a quantitative and qualitative standpoint, the contributions of Edmond and Madeleine Michel-Tyl to the Saint canon deserves much recognition.
Thanks to Ian Dickerson for Research Assist, Burl Barer and Jean-Luc Buard for additional information. Thanks to
Jacques Baudou, Dan Bodenheimer, Marcel Bernadac, Jean-Pierre Bourgeron, Rinus Daane, Ian Dickerson, Rémi
Dienis, Olivier Jaspart, Hillebrand Komrij, Charles Moreau, Gerard Nijmeijer, Patrick Verdant and Terry Morris
for additional cover scans. Also thanks to Jacques Baudou and Dominique from the Bibliothèque des Littératures
Policieres.
LAST
UPDATE: 5 JUNE 2012: MORE BERNAD COVERS!
