Jusqu'à ce que la preuve irrécusable paraisse: l'Amérique, Washington, et Chateaubriand

Chateaubriand traveled in America for several months in 1791. Starting with Joseph Bédier in 1899, critics, indulgent or hostile, have sought to prove or disprove that he visited the places that, in the Voyage en Amérique and the Mémoires d'outre-tombe, he claimed to have seen. Searching has thus far turned up no documentary evidence proving that he made his way to Louisiana or even Niagara Falls. As for his assertion that he met and dined with George Washington, this should probably be dismissed once for all. Arguments involving Washington's health, movements, and changing political outlook make it unlikely that he received the young French traveler. (In French) (HRJr.)