How did Louis Bouilhet and Maxime du Camp respond to Gustave Flaubert’s early version of The Temptation of Saint Anthony?

In September 1849, before embarking on a trip to the Middle East, Gustave Flaubert read his manuscript of the first version of The Temptation of Saint Anthony to his friends, the poet Louis Bouilhet and Maxime du Camp, to solicit their honest feedback.1

The two men responded with harsh criticism, condemning the work mercilessly and advising Flaubert to "throw it all into the fire, and let’s never mention it again". Bouilhet further suggested that Flaubert needed to restrain his tendency toward excessive lyricism, recommending that he instead focus on writing a "down-to-earth" novel based on a realistic subject, such as the story of the country doctor Eugène Delamare. This pivotal critique encouraged Flaubert to shift his focus toward the more grounded, objective style that would eventually define his masterpiece, Madame Bovary.1