Un autor olvidado de relatos históricos: Paul Lacroix "Le bibliophile Jacob"

Abstract

Trabajo que trata de rescatar del olvido aun humanista francés del XIX, persona de gran influencia en su época, más conocido por su pseudónimo (“leBibliophileJacob”) que por su nombre (Paul Lacroix), cuya figura tendría una gran influencia en la atmósfera cultural de la capital parisina, desde su posición de conservadorde la importante “Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal” hasta su labor deescritor-periodista, pasando por su afición a la narración histórica, en una época en la que toda Europa sentía la influencia del creador de la novela histórica Walter Scott. Preceden a la figura de Lacroix dos breves apartados sobre el relato histórico y su desarrollo en Francia.

The aim of this paper is to attempt to rescuea 19thcentury French humanist from oblivion. He was a writer of great influence in his time, better known by his pseudonym (“le Bibliophile Jacob”) than by his real name (Paul Lacroix); his figure was a great influence in the cultural atmosphere of the French capital, from his position as curator of the important “Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal” and because of his work as writer-journalist, not to mention his fondness for historical fiction, at a time when the whole Europe wasunder the influence of the creator of the historical novel, Walter Scott. In the present paper the focus on the figure of Lacroix is introduced by two brief sections about historical fiction and its development in France.