Barbier

Barbier, (1) ANTOINE ALEXANDRE, a French bibliographer, born at Coulommiers, January 11, 1765. Bred to the church, he subsequently left his curacy, married, and in 1794 removed to Paris, where he was appointed to collect and place in the public libraries the books of the suppressed monasteries. In 1798 he became librarian to the Directory, and as private librarian to Napoleon (1807), founded the libraries of Fontainebleau, Compiègne, St Cloud, and the Louvre. He held the same appointment under the Bourbons until 1822, and died in Paris, December 5, 1825. His most important work is his Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Anonymes et Pseudonymes (Paris, 1806-9; 3d ed. 4 vols. 1872-79).—(2) HENRI AUGUSTE, a French satirist, born at Paris, April 28, 1805. Abandoning the bar for a literary career, he made a first venture with an historical novel, but the Revolution of July 1830 led him to make his first essay in the field of satirical poetry. His satires of this period are collected in a volume entitled Tambes (1831), which has been so popular that a 31st edition appeared in 1882. His subjects include office-seeking and the greed and ambition of public men, the corruption of public morals, and the mania for committing suicide. But his later works show an astonishing falling off, and are all distinctly inferior to his earlier efforts. The list includes Il Pianto and Lazare, republished together (1837) under the title Satires et Poèmes; Pot-de-Vin (1840), Rimes Héroïques (1843), a metrical translation of Shakespeare's Julius Cæsar (1848), Silves, Poésies Diverses (1864), Satires (1865), a volume of romances, Trois Passions (1867), and his posthumous Souvenirs (1883) and Poésies (1884); but in none can the brilliant author of Iambes be recognised. He was elected a member of the French Academy in 1869, and died February 14, 1882.—(3) PAUL JULES, born at Paris, March 8, 1825, has written dramas, comedies, and vaudevilles, and many libretti for operas.