Death of stepfather.

1868 15 Aug. Salary increases to 1,800 francs p.a.

1870 30 July Mobilized in the 6th Battalion of the Garde Mobile during the Franco-Prussian War. Dysentery prevents him from seeing action.

1870 15 Aug. Salary increases to 2,100 francs p.a.

1871 Feb. The Government and its staff relocate to Versailles.

1871 Summer Huysmans rents rooms in Paris.

1872 First draft of his war memoirs which will become Sac au dos.

1873 1 Feb. Salary increases to 2,400 francs p.a.

1874 10 Oct. Le Drageoir à épices (tr. Dish of Spices, 1927), a collection of prose-poems, is published at the author’s own expense.

1876 4 May His mother dies, leaving Huysmans responsible for his two half-sisters and the management of the bookbindery. He transfers to a post at the Sûreté Générale in Paris.

1876 12 Sept. Marthe, histoire d’une fille (tr. Marthe, 1927 (US) and 1958 (UK)), a short novel dealing with the life of a prostitute in a licensed brothel, is published in Brussels.

1877 Early Enters into contact with Zola, Flaubert and Edmond de Goncourt.

1877 Aug. L’Artiste serializes Sac au dos.

1878 1 Jan. Salary increases to 2,700 francs p.a.

1879 26 Feb. Les Soeurs Vatard (tr. The Vatard Sisters, 1983), a study of the lives of women working as bookbinders, is published. The work is dedicated to Zola.

1879 17 May Le Voltaire, on Zola’s recommendation, publishes Huysmans’ first article on the Salon, the main artistic event in the Parisian calendar.

1880 1 Jan. Salary increases to 3,000 francs p.a.

1880 April Sac au dos (tr. Knapsack, 1907) appears in Les Soirées de Medan, a collection of war stories, together with tales by Zola and Maupassant.

1881 Feb. En Ménage (tr. Living Together, 1969), a pessimistic study of everyday life, is published.

1881 22 May Croquis Parisiens (tr. Parisian Sketches, 1962) is published.

1882 1 Jan. Salary increases to 3,300 francs p.a.

1882 26 Jan. A Vau-l’Eau (tr. Downstream, 1927 (US) and 1952 (UK)), the study of the wretched existence of a minor fonctionnaire (civil servant), is published in Brussels.

1883 May L’Art Moderne, a collection of critical essays championing progressive artists (Odilon Redon, Gustave Moreau, the Impressionists), is published.

1884 1 Jan Salary increases to 3,600 francs p.a.

1884 May A Rebours (tr. Against the Grain, 1922; Against Nature, 1959) is published to enormous acclaim.

Friendship commences with Léon Bloy.

1886 Jan. Only a loan from the poet François Coppée prevents Huysmans from becoming bankrupt due to losses incurred by the bookbindery.

1887 1 Jan. Salary increases to 4,500 francs p.a.

1887 16 April Salary increases to 4,800 francs p.a.

1887 26 April En Rade (tr. Becalmed!, 1992 (UK) and A Haven, 1998 (US)) is published but fails to find favour with the public.

1887 31 Oct. Letter to Zola first mentioning Là-Bas.

1888 Spring The Universal Review commissions a novella from Huysmans but subsequently declines La Retraite de M. Bougran (M.