Antoine Gilbert Griffet de Labaume (21 November 1756, Moulins – 18 March 1805) was an 18th-century French writer, playwright and translator. He died in Paris aged 48.

Biography

A writer gifted of the most extensive knowledge and with a talent of great ease, Labaume had a good education and learned, in addition, the English, German and Italian languages. He obtained a modest employment at the Interior Ministry, and made several translations, whose flow increased a little fortune which was quite modest. When this job was taken from him, he lost his fortune. Some other sorrows added to this unfortunate event. The first work he translated was the novel ''Épanchemens de l'imagination et de l'amitié'' by Langhorne, followed by ''Daniel'' by Friedrich Karl von Moser, translated from German, 1787, in-18°; ''Réflexions sur l'abolition de la traite et de l'esclavage des nègres'', translated from English, 1788, in-8°; ''

Common Sense ''Common Sense'' is a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine collected various moral and political arg ...

'' by

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

, translated from English 1790, in-12°; ''Marianne et Charlotte'' by Tunger, translated from German, 1794, 3 volumes in-18+; ''Léopoldine, ou les Enfans perdus et retrouvés'' by Fr. Schulz, also translated from German ; ''Tableaux du Déluge'', after

Johann Jakob Bodmer Johann Jakob Bodmer (19 July 16982 January 1783) was a Swiss author, academic, critic and poet. Life Born at Greifensee, near Zürich, and first studying theology and then trying a commercial career, he finally found his vocation in letters. In 1 ...

, 1797, in-18°; the second volume of ''Histoire des Suisses'' by Müller translated from German, 1797, 8 vol. in-8°; ''les Abdérites'' by Christoph Martin Wieland, translated from German 1802, 3 volumes in-8°; lAperçu statistique des États d'Allemagne'' by Hoek, translated from German, in-f°; ''le Voyage en Afrique'' by Friedrich Hornemann, translated from English, 1803, two parts, in-8°; the translation of ''Recherches asiatiques'', 1805, 2 vol.; ''Anna Bella, ou les Dunes de Barham'' by Henry Mackenzie, translated from English 1810, 4 vol. in- 12°. He also translated various poems from English, among others several pieces from poet

Thomas Chatterton Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 – 24 August 1770) was an English poet whose precocious talents ended in suicide at age 17. He was an influence on Romantic artists of the period such as Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge. Altho ...

; ''Quelques vers'', 1785, in-16°, 1802. He collaborated with several newspapers, including the ''

Mercure de France The was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was published ...

'', the ''Décade philosophique'', the ''Magasin encyclopédique'' : the tome III 7e ann., t. Ier, (p. 203) of the last of these collections provides a notice on ''les Femmes auteurs de la Grande-Bretagne''. In addition, he left two comedies and some light poetry: ''Galatée'', in one act and in verse and ''Agathis'' in prose and in verse ; ''la Messe de Gnide'', by G. Nobody, Geneva, 1797, small 92 pages in-18°, licentious work agreeably versified ; ''la Vie de Daniel Defoe'', author of ''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

'' (beginning the

Panckoucke The Panckoucke family was a French family engaged in publishing and printing. * Amélie Panckoucke (1750-1830), writer and salonnière, sister of Charles-Joseph ; * André Joseph Panckoucke (1703-1753), founder of the Panckoucke bookstore in Li ...

edition, 1799, 3 vol. in-8°).

References

Sources

Antoine-Vincent Arnault, ''Biographie nouvelle des contemporains''
vol. 2, Paris, Ledentu, (p. 212–3).
Georges Touchard-Lafosse, ''La Loire historique, pittoresque et biographique''
Paris, Adolphe Delahays, 1858, (p. 374).

Biography

References

Sources

External links