Page:Repertory of the Comedie Humaine.djvu/454



SALMON, formerly expert in the museum at Paris. In 1826, while on a visit at Tours, whither he had gone to see his mother-in-law, he was engaged to assess a "Virgin" by Valentin and a "Christ" by Lebrun, paintings which Abbe Francois Birotteau had inherited from Abbe Chapeloud, having left them in an apartment recently occupied by himself at Mademoiselle Sophie Gamard's. (The Vicar of Tours)

SALOMON (Joseph), of Tours, or near Tours, uncle and guardian to Pauline Salomon de Villenoix, a very rich Jewess. He was deeply attached to his niece and wished a brilliant match for her. Louis Lambert, who was engaged to Pauline, said: "This terrible Salomon freezes me; this man is not of our heaven." (Louis Lambert)

SAMANON, a squint-eyed speculator, followed the various professions of a money-handler during the reigns of Louis XVIII., Charles X., and Louis Philippe. In 1821, Lucien de Rubempre, still a novice, visited Samanon's establishment in the Faubourg Poissonniere, where he was then engaged in the numerous trades of dealing in old books and old clothes, of brokerage, and of discount. There he found a certain great man of unknown identity, a Bohemian and cynic, who had come to borrow his own clothes that he had left in pawn. (A Distinguished Provincial at Paris) Nearly three years later, Samanon was the man of straw of the Gobseck-Bidault (Gigonnet) combination, who were persecuting Chardin des Lupeaulx for the payment of debts due them. (The Government Clerks) After 1830, the usurer joined with the Cerizets and the Claparons when they tried to circumvent Maxime de Trailles. (A Man of Business) The same Samanon, about 1844, had bills to the value of ten thousand francs against Baron Hulot d'Ervy, who was seeking refuge under the name of Father Vyder. (Cousin Betty)

SAN-ESTEBAN (Marquise de), a foreign and aristocratic sounding assumed name, under which Jacqueline Collin disguised herself when she visited the Conciergerie, in May,