Guillaume Le Breton (sometimes also called Gabriel) was a French dramatist of the sixteenth century. Little is known of his life, although the title of his play ''Adonis'' mentions he was from the

Nièvre Nièvre () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, central-east France. Named after the river Nièvre, it had a population of 204,452 in 2019.François d'Amboise, he associated himself with the king's ''Procureur général'', Gilles Bourdin, as well as other dramatists of the period, such as

Odet de Turnèbe Odet de Turnèbe (23 October 1552 – 20 July 1581) was a French people, French dramatist. Biography Odet de Turnèbe was born in Paris to Greek scholar Adrien Turnèbe. He received a solid education and was known, from an early age, for his inte ...

and

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. According to François d'Amboise, Le Breton wrote several tragedies — ''Tullie'', ''Charité'', ''Didon'' and ''Dorothée'' — which are today lost. His only extant theatrical work is a mythological play entitled ''Adonis'', which was probably produced in 1569 before Charles IX, then again eight years later at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and finally in 1579 at the Collège de Boncourt. Le Breton was also responsible for a translation of the travels of Cortés.

Works

Original editions: * ''Hernán Cortés, Voyages et conquestes du capitaine Ferdinand Courtois, es Indes occidentales, histoire traduite de la langue espagnole par Guillaume le Breton'', Paris, A. L'Angelier, 1588, in-12, 416 ff. * ''L'Adonis, tragédie de Guillaume Le Breton Nivernois'', Paris, Abel L'Angelier, in ''Diverses tragedies de plusieurs autheurs de ce temps,'' 1597, in-12 Modern editions: * ''Théâtre français de la Renaissance, la tragédie à l’époque d’Henri III'', deuxième série, vol. 1 (1574-1579), Florence-Paris, Olschki-PUF, 1999. Edited by Mario Bensi.

References

*''This article is based on the equivalent article from the

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia (french: Wikipédia en français) is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has article ...

, consulted on October 31, 2007.'' * M. Grandmotet, « Étude sur la tragédie d’Adonis de G. Le Breton », ''Bulletin de la Société Nivernaise'', t. I, 1854, p. 211-230 * J.-C. Ternaux, « Ovide, Ronsard et Le Breton : à propos d’Adonis », ''Revue des Amis de Ronsard'', XVI, Société des Amis de Ronsard du Japon, 2003, pp. 63–85. {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Breton, Guillaume 16th-century French dramatists and playwrights