Alexis Paulin Paris (25 March 180013 February 1881) was a French scholar and author.

Life

Paris was born at

Avenay Avenay () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France. Geography Avenay is located some 12 km south-west of Caen just east of Évrecy. Access to the commune is by the D36 road from Sainte-Honori ...

(

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

). He studied classics in Reims and law in Paris. He published in 1824 an ''Apologie pour l'école romantique'' (''In Defense of the Romantic school'') and took an active part in Parisian journalism. His appointment, in 1828, to the department of manuscripts in the Bibliothèque royale left him leisure to pursue his studies in

medieval French literature In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

. His numerous editions of early French poems continued the work begun by Dominique Meon in raising general interest in the ''

chanson de geste The , from 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poetry, epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th centuries, shortly ...

''. Admitted to the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in 1837, Paris was shortly afterwards appointed on the commission entrusted with the continuation of the ''

Histoire littéraire de la France ''Histoire littéraire de la France'' is an enormous history of French literature initiated in 1733 by Dom Rivet and the Benedictines of St. Maur. It was abandoned in 1763 after the publication of volume XII. In 1814, members of the Académie d ...

''. In 1853, a chair of

medieval literature Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...

was founded at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

, and Paris became the first occupant. He retired in 1872 with the title of honorary professor and was promoted to officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in the next year.

Works

His works include: *''Li Romans de Berte aus grans piés, précédé d’une dissertation sur les romans des douze pairs'' (1832) *''Li Romans du

Garin le Loherain The 12th-century ''chanson de geste'' of ''Garin le Loherain'' ('Garin the Lotharingian'), together with the slightly later ''Girbert de Metz'', form the core and initial parts of the so-called ''Lorraine cycle'', which was expanded in the 13th ...

, publié pour la première fois et précédé de l'examen du système de M. Fauriel sur les romans carlovingiens'' (1833-1835) *''Le Romancero français, histoire de quelques anciens trouvères et choix de leurs chansons'' (1833) *''Les Manuscrits français de la Bibliothèque du roi'' (7 vols., 1836-1848) *an edition of the ''

Grandes chroniques de France The ''Grandes Chroniques de France'' is a vernacular royal compilation of the history of the Kingdom of France, most manuscripts of which are luxury copies that are heavily illuminated. Copies were produced between the thirteenth and fifteenth ...

'' (1836-1840) *''La

Chanson d'Antioche A (, ; , ) is generally any lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of French pop music which ...

'' (1848) *''Les Aventures de maître Renart et d'Ysengrin'' (1861) *''Les Romans de la table ronde'' (1868-1877). His son

Gaston Paris Bruno Paulin Gaston Paris (; 9 August 1839 – 5 March 1903) was a French literary historian, philologist, and scholar specialized in Romance studies and medieval French literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901, ...

contributed a biographical notice to vol. xxix of the ''Histoire littéraire''.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paris, Alexis Paulin 1800 births 1881 deaths Academic staff of the Collège de France Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Officers of the Legion of Honour French male writers