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Auguste Le Prévost (3 June 1787 in Bernay, Eure – 14 July 1859 in La Vaupalière) was a French
geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...
,
philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...
,
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
and
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
. While studying classics and law, Le Prevost developed a passion for history and archeology. To further it, he learned, besides
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
, English,
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, German, Swedish,
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
and
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
. His encyclopedic knowledge, the critical and rigorous method he applied to his research, were clearly an innovation in his time. As an historian, Le Prevost pioneered, along with his friend Arcisse de Caumont, research on the Romanesque and Gothic architecture in Normandy and France. In 1824, he cofounded with de Caumont, Charles de Gerville and Father Gervais de La Rue, the Société des Antiquaires de Normandie, a veritable "school in motion of specialists of architecture". He was elected a member of the Académie des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Rouen in 1813, and chaired, on various occasions, the learned societies of Seine-Inférieure and
Eure Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres). History ...
in 1838. Le Prévost, who was fascinated by the History of Normandy, published the five volumes of the Norman chronicler
Orderic Vitalis Orderic Vitalis (; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England.Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 6 Working out of ...
' work. He showed his versatility by authoring, among many scientific papers, a ' in 1825. In 1830, he published two sets of detailed notes on the important discovery of "the treasure of Berthouville", a fabulous collection of Gallo-Roman silverware listed today among the most valuable pieces medal cabinet of the
Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...
. He is responsible for the restoration of the Parlement de Normandie in Rouen and conservation of Roman theater of Lillebonne. He began a political career with his election as general counselor in Bernay in 1831, then as deputy in 1834. He was consistently re-elected until the Orleans family fell from power after the
French Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (), also known as the February Revolution (), was a period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second Republic. It sparked t ...
. he did not oppose the republic, but said humorously, "The Republic and I greet one another, but we do not talk."Quoted by Gilles Rossignol, ''Eure. Le guide'', La Renaissance du livre, 2001. He then resumed scholarly activities he had never really abandoned, and earned the nickname of "Norman Pausanias". When he died in 1859, he had gone almost blind. He is featured in Jean de La Varende's most famous novel, '' Leather-Nose'' (1936), when the hero, Roger Tainchebraye, meets "a black man feverishly measuring, looking, counting, an active and tiny insect: it was Auguste Le Prevost, the archaeologist of Bernay, semi-founder of the science that would get such a upswing" walks through the ruins of the
Abbey of Saint-Evroul Ouche Abbey or the Abbey of Saint-Evroul (; ) is a former Rule of St. Benedict, Benedictine abbey in Normandy, located in the present commune of Saint-Evroult-Notre-Dame-du-Bois, Saint-Évroult-Notre-Dame-du-Bois, Orne, Normandy. It has been clas ...
. Nez-de-Cuir also mentions a mysterious crypt in the abbey with "miscellaneous valuables, rings and bits of sticks, which come from a discovery made around here"... The innumerable unpublished ''Notes historiques et archéologiques'' by Le Prevost were later published in several volumes between 1866 and 1869 by Louis Passy and Léopold Delisle. They have been widely used by generations of researchers, and are still authoritative. Le Prévost was appointed sub-prefect of Bernay in August 1814 before he was discharged in November 1815. A street of his native town of Bernay was named after him.


Notes


Summary Bibliography

* ', Crapelet, Paris, 1837 * ', Imprimerie Impériale, Paris, 1857 * ', Ancelle, Évreux, 1839 * ' (avec Paul Eugène Robin et le marquis de Blosseville), Hérissey, Évreux, 1879–1882 ; Slatkine Reprints, Genève, 1978 * ', Nicétas Périaux, Rouen, 1826 * Édition de : Orderic Vital, '' (...)'', 5 vol., J. Renouard, Paris, 1838–1855 ; Johnson Reprint, New York, 1965 * ', Pierre Périaux, Rouen, 1814 * ', Édouard Frère, Rouen, 1827 * ', T. Chalopin, Caen, 1830 * ', publiées par Léopold Delisle et Antoine Passy, 3 vol., A. Hérissey, Évreux, 1862–1869 * ', Ancelle fils, Évreux, 1830 * ', A. Hérissey, Évreux, 1849 * ', Ancelle, Évreux, 1832 * ', J. J. Ancelle, Évreux, 1838 * ', Édouard Frère, Rouen, 1829 * ', Nicétas Périaux, Rouen, 1830 * ', Brière, Rouen, 1829 * ', Académie de Rouen, Rouen, 1815 * ', 1844 * ', Rouen, Édouard Frère, 1829 * ', Pierre Périaux, Rouen, 1825 * ''The Conquest of England, from Wace's poem of the Roman de Rou'', .n. Londres, 1860 Numerous articles in the journals of various learned societies.


References

* Adolphe-André Porée, ''Auguste Le Prévost, archéologue et historien'', Bernay, Vve Lefèvre, 1881 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Prevost, Auguste 1787 births 1859 deaths People from Bernay, Eure French geologists 19th-century French botanists French philologists 19th-century French historians Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres French male non-fiction writers