Americans don't know what they're missing when it comes to the memoirs of the Duc de Saint-Simon. Who? You may well ask the motorcycling duo of the brand-new publishing enterprise 1500Books, Eileen Bertelli and Gavin Caruthers, who aim to unleash this fall a lively and long-out-of-print translation of this busybody chronicler of the Sun King's court. Teeming with debauchery, intrigue and passion, Saint-Simon's portraits of the pawns and scoundrels in Louis XIV's court are as good as fiction, and made favorite bedtime reading for the likes of Stendhal, Proust and Jackie O.
In the spirit of resurrecting lost classics that also make terrific reading, the married couple and former New Yorkers Bertelli and Caruthers—with “50 years of publishing experience between us,” notes Caruthers, she at Kensington, Penguin and Barron's, and he at S&S Audio—are betting on the growing interest in historical narrative. Look at the perennial popularity of John Adams's memoir, and the novels of Antonia Frasier. Last fall 1500Books launched with The Private Life of Marie Antoinette, written by the queen's lady-in-waiting Madame Campan.
Neither Caruthers nor Bertelli is an academic, but both are keen readers of fiction, especially “something to sink your teeth into,” notes Caruthers. “Maybe because I'm a boy I need a lot of plot, history and adventure,” he adds, while Bertelli lends the woman's perspective. Saint-Simon's memoirs, which Caruthers read four years ago, had it all, scandal and incomparable scheming. When he found out that the late Lucy Norton's 1967 abridged three-volume translation was not available in the U.S., he bought the rights from U.K. publisher Prion. There is a “treasure trove of historical memoirs” out there, says Caruthers.
The 1500Books team—named for the 1500cc power of their motorcycles, which they ride around Warwick, N.Y.—doesn't just publish French memoirs. They're eager to discover any historical narrative that offers “a sense of the era, a chance to go out to dinner with someone who lived then,” says Caruthers. Other titles include A Year of a Whaler by Walter Noble Burns, and a history of the Pinkerton organization.
The Memoirs of Duc de Saint-Simon will start at 5,000 copies—aggressive but not inappropriate, says buyer Spencer Gale at NBN, which distributes 1500Books. Gale is impressed by Bertelli and Caruthers' ”experience, passion and realistic business model,” Gale says of his decision to take on 1500Books.
Gale sees the titles as “neglected classics” rather than esoteric. “Readers are looking for original source material, not dumbed-down work.”
