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Book/Printed Material The Characters of Theophrastus. Les caractères de Théophraste

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About this Item

Title

  • The Characters of Theophrastus.

Other Title

  • Les caractères de Théophraste

Summary

  • Jean de La Bruyère (1645--96) was a French essayist and moralist whose Les caractères de Théophraste, traduits du grec, avec les caractères ou les moeurs de ce siècle (The characters of Theophrastus, translated from the Greek, with the characters or the morals of this century) is a masterpiece of French literature. Employed as a tutor in the royal household of Louis XIV, La Bruyère observed first hand the vanity and pretensions of the aristocratic society around him. His work consists of a translation of the treatise by the Greek writer Theophrastus (circa 372--288 BC), and a series of character sketches and topical essays relating to contemporary France written in the style of Theophrastus. La Bruyère published the first edition of his book in 1688, which was followed by no fewer than nine successive editions by the time of his death in 1696. He not only expanded and revised the text from one edition to the next; he also amended it during printing, further enriching it with ever more variety. The copy presented here is one of three rare copies of the first printed drafts, and thus reflects the very basic starting point from which the work evolved. La Bruyère's book inspired a wave of imitators, causing the influential monthly Le Journal de Trévoux to remark in 1701: "The entire country of letters has been invaded by characters."

Names

  • La Bruyère, Jean de, 1645-1696 Contributor.
  • Theophrastus Author.

Created / Published

  • Paris : Étienne Michallet, 1688.

Headings

  • -  France
  • -  France--Île-de-France--Paris
  • -  372 to 1688
  • -  Characters and characteristics
  • -  Typology (Psychology)

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource at: National Library of France.
  • -  Content in French.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021666759

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

La Bruyère, Jean De, Contributor, and Theophrastus Author. The Characters of Theophrastus. Paris: Étienne Michallet, 1688. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666759/.

APA citation style:

La Bruyère, J. D. & Theophrastus Author. (1688) The Characters of Theophrastus. Paris: Étienne Michallet. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666759/.

MLA citation style:

La Bruyère, Jean De, Contributor, and Theophrastus Author. The Characters of Theophrastus. Paris: Étienne Michallet, 1688. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021666759/>.