Vie de Boheme [Bohemians of the Latin Quarter] (The Folio Society)

302 pp. Translated from the original French into English by Norman Cameron, with an introduction by Michael Sadleir, and illustrated with lithographs from drawings by Dodie Masterman. "Henri Murger (March 27, 1822- Paris, January 28, 1861) was a French novelist and poet, born at Paris. He is chiefly distinguished as the author of Scenes de la Vie de Boheme, from his own experiences as a desperately poor writer living in a Parisian attic, member of a loose club of friends who called themselves "the water drinkers" (never money for wine). In his writing he combines instinct with pathos and humour, sadness his predominant tone. The book is the basis for the operas La Boheme (Puccini) and La Boheme (Leoncavallo), and, at greater removes, the zarzuela Bohemios (Amadeu Vives), the operetta Das Veilchen vom Montmartre (Kalman) and the Broadway musical Rent."