Lara Thierry

Henry Durand-Davray was born in Gennevilliers and was raised by a mother who came from the region of Cévennes and an Alsatian father (Escuret 2005). He was educated at the Sorbonne University, though he attended few of his classes, as he would often spend time abroad. He would later settle in London in 1940 and spend the rest of his life there. He usually spent his time between London and Paris for most of his career, working for the Mercure de France. However, he frequently travelled to England because of his work and his passion for English culture and literature. In terms of personal life, he was married and was the brother in-law of painter Georges Dola.

As a young man, Durand-Davray spent a lot of time travelling and moved in literary and artistic circles in London and Paris, meeting various famous writers of the time. Overall, he would spend more years in England than France and would meet people from Wells’ literary circle but play a role in introducing writers to each other and creating literary networks. Among others, he was familiar with writers and artists such as George Meredith, Arthur Symons, Ernest Dowson, Stuart Merrill and Toulouse-Lautrec, among others and played an important part in forms of cross-cultural networking common at the time (Pym 2007). He worked as translator and literary critic at the Mercure de France but also published translations in the periodical L’Ermitage. He played a key role in making English literary works more accessible to a French audience. As a worker at the Mercure de France, he interacted with writers and journalists such as female writer and journalist Rachilde, who played an important role in his interactions with Oscar Wilde (Dierkes-Thrun 2018). His work was related to translation and popularisation of British and American texts to a broader audience as well as to the creative aspect of translation, which led him to modify certain literary forms, which were received in negative or positive terms by other critics (Gouanvic 1999; Escuret 2005).

He is best-known for translating H.G Wells’ work and, as a result, often corresponded with him. Though Annie Escuret suggests their relationship could at times be tense (2005, p. 33), he was also admirative of the writer’s work and translated most of his publications. He translated the work of many well-known writers of the time, such as Joseph Conrad, Kipling, Yeats and Edmund Gosse. Durand-Davray mostly translated prose but also translated poetical texts to prose (or to non-rhyming verse in the case of Yeats). He also translated Wilde’s “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” into prose. As a critic at the Mercure de France, furthermore, he published from 1896 to September 1944 a monthly report on the latest publications in Britain in “Lettres anglaises” (Van Puymbroeck 2015). Henry Durand-Davray joined the Mercure de France in 1898 at the age of 25 and soon became the editor of a series for foreign authors (Escuret 2005). As a result of his work as translator and cultural mediator, Durand-Davray also played a role in supporting certain forms of literary cosmopolitanism (as opposed to defensive attitudes around national literatures; Wilfert-Portal 2012) and encouraging importation of English-speaking cultures and literatures to France and vice versa.

His passion for English literature and knowledge would lead him to become a cultural mediator between the two countries. He co-founded the Anglo-French Society in 1917, which was meant to promote intercultural exchanges but also the “Entente Cordiale” and which had an important connection to the First World War. As a result, he was nicknamed ‘Channel Tunnel’ by his friends. Moreover, he co-founded with Englishman James Lewis May the short-lived journal the Anglo-French Review (1919-1920) (as an adjunct to the Anglo-French Society), which was meant to share information about literary and intercultural exchanges as well as about the war (Van Puymbroek 2012). It facilitated and stimulated international cooperation and debate, involving English and French publications. Many known writers of the time were able to participate thanks to Davray’s literary connections and networking. The periodical was also meant to have a political function, bringing the two nations together in collaboration.

He was a war correspondent during the First World War, investigating the British war front on behalf of the Petit Parisien in 1915 and later published a book on his experiences. He was the official delegate of the French government and thus had an important socio-political role. He met Wells and asked him about his opinions on the war, which he would later publish in a book entitled Chez les Anglais pendant la Grande Guerre in 1916. He was not only a war correspondent but also later worked as a journalist/correspondent in North Africa for the Daily Telegraph (Davray 1926). He defended the forms of colonialism which were taking place in Algeria and Tunisia, writing a laudatory article about France’s role in North Africa in the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts in 1926. Yet, he was also critical of what he saw as a narrow-minded form of patriotism in the arts, criticising in 1902 in the Mercure de France an article from lawyer Henry Bordeaux that suggested foreign literatures were “invading” France. He was also quite critical of what he saw as Kipling’s jingoism (Van Pumbroeck 2015), noting in 1899: “How can we separate Kipling’s message from the frightening rise of imperialism?” (cited p.186).

In terms of relationships with writers, Davray appeared to be relatively close to Oscar Wilde. He privately sent Wilde a review in 1898, which touched Oscar Wilde and facilitated their professional relationship. Davray, believing that the French language and use of prose lent itself to poetic expression, seemed to convince Wilde that he may translate the poem into prose. While critic Joseph Renaud criticised him for his shortcomings as translator (Gouanvic 1999), Durand-Davray defended himself and stated that he had tried to adapt the text as faithfully as he could. He was not only Wilde’s professional translator, however, but also developed a friendship with the writer. After Wilde came out of prison, he personally sought him out and corresponded with him. He gifted him books and was among the small number of people attending his funeral (Dierkes-Thrun 2018). In May 1898, he introduced him to Alfred Jarry and sought to have him interact with writers from French artistic circles. The Mercure de France sent a wreath to Wilde and Davray wrote a eulogy and career review which singled out Wilde’s importance to English theatre and versatile spirit. Davray eventually published a book about his reminiscences of Oscar Wilde in 1928, which was entitled La tragédie finale.

He often corresponded and negotiated with writers in terms of literary translation, and his literary interests were varied, unrestricted to English society and literature. Henry Durand-Davray appeared to be quite interested in Irish and Scottish society and culture. He indeed wrote a review of Fiona McLeod (or William Sharp)’s work in an article entitled “La renaissance celtique” in L’Ermitage in 1898 and was passionate about the cultural importance of Yeats’ poetry. He published a laudatory review of his poetry in August 1896 in the periodical L’Ermitage. He associated Yeats with culture and legend, as Yeats’ poetry was linked to a revaluation of Irish identity. Though Yeats’ poetry does not only address national identity, his identification with Irishness is suggested in his correspondence with Davray:” I am an Irish poet looking to my own people for my ultimate best audience and trying to express the things that interest them” (1896, cited in Hutton 2018). Davray’s relevance to the translation of Yeats’ work has indeed been assessed as highly significant by scholars, some of whom argued Davray played an important role in extending Yeats’ influence in France (Watson 1960). On the other hand, it would seem like writers like Joseph Conrad drew his interest but that he eventually abandoned the translation of their work. He indeed only translated two of his books, although Conrad had signed a contract to allow him to translate the entirety of his works (Wittman 2022). As a cultural mediator, Davray thus played a key role in extending the influence and literary capital of writers beyond the national sphere (Casanova 2002) and encouraging dialogue across borders.

Like many translators of his day, Henry D. Davray was not solely interested in in relations with England but also with North America. He wrote a book on Canadian literature and showed clear interest in Walt Whitman’s work and personality, seeing him as an important public figure. Additionally, he translated various of his poems from Leaves of Grass in L’Ermitage. It is apparent then that his interest for the English language and literature was not solely limited to England, but encompassed a broader interest in other forms of literatures written in English and that this was suggestive of a form of literary cosmopolitanism.

As a literary patron and a liaison officer of French and English letters, he was awarded the Legion of Honour and the CBE Silver Medal of the Royal Society of Arts. He was also awarded the Langlois Price by the French Academy in 1913 for his translation of Edmund Gosse’s novel Father and Son.

Davray thus had an important literary and socio-political role in the literary and historical changes of his time. He helped arrange literary networks, contributed to transnational dialogues and socio-political dialogues over cosmopolitanism and nationalism and showed interest in a wide variety of cultural movements. His translations of H.G Wells still remain influential to this day, considering the various reprints of his work by French publishing houses. Moreover, he frequently collaborated with other translators, such as Madeleine Vernon and Bronislaw Kozakiewicz, whose collaboration and creative work could be studied in further depth.