![Alfred Maury](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Alfred_Maury.JPEG)
Louis Ferdinand Alfred Maury (March 23, 1817 – February 11, 1892),
was a French scholar and physician, important because his ideas about the interpretation of dreams and the effect of external stimuli on dreams pre-dated those of
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
. He is mentioned by Freud in ''
The Interpretation of Dreams
''The Interpretation of Dreams'' (german: Die Traumdeutung) is an 1899 book by Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, in which the author introduces his theory of the unconscious with respect to dream interpretation, and discusses what w ...
'', and by
Sebastian Faulks
Sebastian Charles Faulks (born 20 April 1953) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France – ''The Girl at the Lion d'Or'', '' Birdsong'' and '' Charlotte Gray''. He has also pub ...
in ''
Human Traces''. He coined the term
hypnagogic hallucination
Hypnagogia is the experience of the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep: the ''hypnagogic'' state of consciousness, during the onset of sleep. Its opposite state is described as the transitional state from sleep into wakefulness. Mental ...
and reported a dream that famously inspired
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...
's painting ''
''. Alfred Maury was contemporary with
Hervey de Saint Denys and the two dream researchers were in disagreement with each other (Blanken & Meijer, 1988).
He was born at
Meaux
Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...
. In 1836, having completed his education, he entered the
Bibliothèque Nationale
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...
, and afterwards the Bibliothèque de l'Institut (1844), where he devoted himself to the study of
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
, ancient and modern languages, medicine and law.
[
Gifted with a great capacity for work, a remarkable memory and an unbiased and critical mind, he produced a number of learned pamphlets and also books on the varied subjects. He rendered great service to the ]Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...
, of which he had been elected a member in 1857. Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
employed him in research work connected with the Histoire de César, and he was rewarded, proportionately to his active, if modest, part in this work, with the positions of librarian of the Tuileries
The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from ...
(1860), professor at the Collège de France
The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...
(1862) and director-general of the Imperial Archives (1868). It was not, however, to the imperial favor that he owed these high positions. He used his influence for the advancement of science and higher education, and with Victor Duruy
Jean Victor Duruy (10 September 1811 – 25 November 1894) was a French historian and statesman.
Life
Duruy was born in Paris, the son of a factory worker, and at first intended for his father's trade. Having passed brilliantly through the Éc ...
was one of the founders of the École des Hautes Etudes. He died in Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
four years after his retirement from the last post.[
]
Bibliography
His works are numerous: ''Les Fées au Moyen âge'' and ''Histoire des légendes pieuses au Moyen âge''; two books filled with ingenious ideas, which were published in 1843, and reprinted after the death of the author, with numerous additions under the title ''Croyances et légendes du Moyen âge'' (1896); ''Histoire des grands forts de la Gaule et de l'ancienne France'' (1850, a 3rd ed. revised, appeared in 1867 under the title ''Les Forts de la Gaule et de l'ancienne France''); ''La Terre et l'homme'', a general historical sketch of geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...
, geography and ethnology, being the introduction to the ''Histoire universelle'', by Victor Duruy (1854); ''Histoire des religions de la Grèce antique'', (3 vols., 1857–1859); ''La Magie et l'astrologie dans l'antiquité et dans le Moyen âge'' (1863); ''Histoire de l'ancienne Académie des sciences'' (1864); ''Histoire de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres'' (1865); a learned paper on the reports of French archaeology, written on the occasion of the Exposition Universelle (1867)
The International Exposition of 1867 (french: Exposition universelle 'art et d'industriede 1867), was the second world's fair to be held in Paris, from 1 April to 3 November 1867. A number of nations were represented at the fair. Following a dec ...
; a number of articles in the ''Encyclopédie moderne'' (1846–1851), in Michaud's ''Géographie universelle'' (1858 and seq.), in the ''Journal des savants'' in the ''Revue des deux mondes'' (1873, 1877, 1879–1880, &c). A detailed bibliography of his works has been placed by Auguste Longnon
Auguste Honoré Longnon (18 October 1844, in Paris – 12 July 1911, in Paris) was a French historian and archivist. He is remembered for his research in the field of historical geography and for his edition of the 15th century poet, Francois ...
at the beginning of the volume ''Les Croyances et légendes du Moyen âge''.[
]
References
*
Further reading
* A. Maury,
Le sommeil et les rêves
' (Sleep and Dreams), Paris : Didier, 1865.
* C.M. den Blanken & E.J.G. Meijer.
' Lucidity Letter, December, 1988, Vol.7, No.2,p. 67-78. Revised Edition:Lucidity,1991,Vol.10 No.1&2, p. 311-322.
External links
*
''Dreams in French literature''
Alfred Maury and the politics of the Unconscious in nineteenth-century France
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maury, Louis Ferdnand Alfred
1817 births
1892 deaths
People from Meaux
French scholars
Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
19th-century French writers
French male writers
19th-century French male writers