Editing Prosper Mérimée (section)

==Novellas, travels in Spain and government posts (1829–1834)==
In 1829, Mérimée found a new literary genre that perfectly suited his talents; the ''nouvelle'' or [[novella]], essentially a long short story or short novel. Between 1829 and 1834, he wrote thirteen stories, following three basic principles; a brief story told in prose; a sparse and economical style of writing, with no unneeded lyricism; and a unity of action, all leading to the ending, which was often abrupt and brutal.{{Sfn|Darcos|1998|pages=82=83}} In a short period Mérimée wrote two of his most famous novellas, ''[[Mateo Falcone]]'', about a tragic vendetta in Corsica, and ''[[Tamango]]'', a drama on a slave-trading ship, which were published in the ''Revue de Paris'', and had considerable success.<ref>Notes on ''Colomba'' by Jean Balsamo (1995)</ref>

He also began a series of long trips which provided material for much of his future writing. In June 1830 he traveled to Spain, which he explored at a leisurely pace, spending many hours in the [[Museo del Prado|Prado Museum]] in Madrid, attending bullfights, and studying Moorish architecture in [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] and [[Seville]]. He was in Spain in July 1830, when the government of [[Charles X of France]] was overthrown and replaced by the rule of [[Louis Philippe I]]. Fascinated by Spain, he decided not to return to France immediately, but to continue his journey. In October 1830 he met [[Cipriano de Palafox, 8th Count of Montijo|Cipriano Portocarrero]], a liberal Spanish aristocrat and the future Count of Montijo, who shared many of his literary and historical interests and political views. He visited the Count and met his wife, the [[María Manuela Kirkpatrick|Countess of Montijo]], and their young daughter, Eugénie, then four years old, who in 1853 was to become the [[Eugénie de Montijo|Empress Eugénie]], the wife of Emperor Napoleon III.{{sfn|Mortier|1962|p=3717}}

He returned to Paris in January 1831, and began publishing vivid accounts of his trip to Spain in the ''Revue de Paris'' under the title ''Lettres d'Espagne''. These included the first mention of ''[[Carmen (novella)|Carmen]]'', a story told to him by the Countess of Montijo. He also sought a position in the new administration of King Louis Philippe. Many of his friends had already found jobs in the new government; Stendhal was named French consul to [[Imperial Free City of Trieste|Trieste]], and the writers [[François-René de Chateaubriand|Chateaubriand]] and [[Alphonse de Lamartine|Lamartine]] both received honorary government posts. Mérimée, twenty-seven years old, briefly served as the chief of the secretariat of the Ministry of the Navy, and then, as the new government was organized, was moved from post to post; for a short time he was director of fine arts, then was moved to the Interior Ministry, where, he wrote ironically, "I conducted, with great glory, the telegraph lines, the administration of the corps of firemen, the municipal guards, etc."{{Sfn|Darcos|1998|page=110}} He turned out to be an efficient administrator, and was put in charge of organizing the response to the epidemic of [[cholera]] which struck Paris between 29 March and 1 October 1832, killing eighteen thousand Parisians.<ref>Fierro, Alfred, ''Histoire et Dictionnaire de Paris'' (1996), page 617</ref> At the peak of the epidemic, he spent much of his time at the Hotel-Dieu, the main hospital of Paris.{{Sfn|Darcos|1998|page=115}} In November 1832 he was moved again to the State Council, where he became Chief of Accounts. He was not there for long; in December 1832 Prime Minister [[Adolphe Thiers]] sent him to London on an extended diplomatic mission to report on the British elections. He became a member of the most prominent London club, the [[Athenaeum Club, London|Athenaeum]], and consulted with the venerable French ambassador to England, [[Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord|Prince Talleyrand]].{{Sfn|Darcos|1998|page=119}}