He was born
Joseph Xavier Boniface in Paris in 1798. In 1823, he produced a volume of poetry in the manner of the
Romanticists, entitled
Poèmes, odes, épîtres. In 1836, appeared
Picciola, a novel about the Count de Charney, a political prisoner in
Piedmont, whose reason was saved by his cultivation of a tiny flower growing between the paving stones of his prison yard. This story is a masterpiece of the sentimental kind, and was translated into many European languages. The novel earned him renown and came to be regarded as a classic of French literature. He produced many other novels, none of striking individuality with the exception of
Seul (
1857), which purported to be the authentic record of
Alexander Selkirk on his desert island. Saintine was a prolific dramatist, and collaborated in more than 200 pieces with
Eugène Scribe and others, usually under the name of Xavier. He co-wrote the story which was to form the basis for
Bellini's
opera I puritani. He died in Paris in 1865. == Selected works ==