AustLit

'The author describes Fauchery's beginnings in Paris, his interest in architecture and painting before discovering his vocation as a writer, and his friendship with such authors and celebrities as Banville, Nerval, Baudelaire, Nadar and Murger. (The latter is reputed to have used him as the model for Marcel the painter in his Vie de Bohème.) In 1852 the Gold Rush attracts Fauchery to Victoria where he spends almost four years. The article analyses both his fascination with, and his alienation from, Melbourne, as well as the differences in his impressions of the city before and after his working period in Ballarat, illustrating the rapid changes that took place in Melbourne in the early and mid-'fifties. The article concludes with the narrative of Fauchery's initially promising but in the long run unsuccessful commercial venture in Melbourne as the owner of the Café et estaminet français.' (Editor's abstract)