Background
Antoine Alexandre Barbier was born on the 11th of January 1765 at Coulommiers, Seine-et-Marne, France.
Antoine Alexandre Barbier was born on the 11th of January 1765 at Coulommiers, Seine-et-Marne, France.
Barbier took priest's orders, from which, however, he was finally released by the pope in 1801. In 1794 he became a member of the temporary commission of the arts, and was charged with the duty of distributing among the various libraries of Paris the books that had been confiscated during the Revolution. In the execution of this task he discovered the letters of Huet, bishop of Avranches, and the manuscripts of the works of Fenelon. He became librarian successively to the Directory, to the Conseil d'Etat, and in 1807 to Napoleon, from whom he carried out a number of commissions. He produced a standard work in his Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes (4 vols. , 1806-1809; 3rd edition 1872-1879). Only the first part of his Examen critique des dictionnaires kistoriques (1820) was published. He had a share in the foundation of the libraries of the Louvre, of Fontainebleau, of Compiegne and Saint-Cloud; under Louis XVIII he became administrator of the king's private libraries, but in 1822 he was deprived of all his offices. Barbier died in Paris on the 5th of December 1825.
Barbier compiled a standard reference directory of anonymous writings and helped in preserving scholarly books and manuscripts during and after the French Revolution. His Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes (1806–09; “Dictionary of Anonymous and Pseudonymous Works”) is still a standard library reference. He helped to found the libraries of the Louvre museum, and under Louis XVIII he was administrator of the king’s private libraries.
(Catalogue des livres qui doivent composer la bibliotheque...)
(Excerpt from Nouvelle Bibliothèque d'un Homme de Goût, En...)
(Excerpt from Nouvelle Bibliothèque d'un Homme de Goût, En...)
(Excerpt from Nouvelle Bibliothèque d'un Homme de Goût, En...)
Barbier was a member of the temporary commission of the arts and a member of the council for the preservation of works in the arts and sciences.
