Antoine de Léris (

Mont-Louis Mont-Louis (; or ''el Vilar d'Ovansa'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France. Geography Mont-Louis is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the ar ...

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; , ; ) was a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and French Cerdagne, part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the region of ' ...

, 28 February 1723 — 1795) was a French journalist and drama critic of the 18th century and a historian of the French theatre, author of the ''Dictionnaire portatif historique et littéraire des théâtres, contenant l'origine des differens théâtres de Paris'', ("Portable historical and literary dictionary of theatres, containing the origins of the various theatres of Paris"), published without the author's name on the

title page The title page of a book, thesis or other written work is the page at or near the front which displays its title (publishing), title, subtitle, author, publisher, and edition, often artistically decorated. (A half title, by contrast, displays onl ...

by Jombert in Paris in 1754.The corrected and augmented second edition, 1763, is a standard work of theatre history, a "library" of information. "Léris is accounted by many commentators very nearly the equal of

François François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * Voltaire, Fran ...

and Claude Parfaict when it comes to painstaking accuracy and responsible commentary," William Brooks observes. Antoine de Léris supported himself as a

man of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the world of culture, either ...

with a

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is a position with a salary or otherwise generating income that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, ...

purchased at the ''

Chambre des comptes Under the French monarchy, the Courts of Accounts (in French ''Chambres des comptes'', ) were sovereign courts specialising in financial affairs. The Court of Accounts in Paris was the oldest and the forerunner of today's French Court of Audi ...

'', as ''premier huissier'' ("first usher"). Collaborating with abbé Marc-Antoine Laugier and Antoine Jacques Labbet, abbé de Morambert, he edited the first French review of music, ''Sentiment d'un harmonophile sur différents ouvrages de musique'' ("Views of a lover of harmony on different works of music") "Amsterdam", i.e. Paris:Jombert, 1756. Léris has been credited as the anonymous author of ''La géographie rendu aisée, ou traitée méthodique pour apprendre la géographie'' ("Geography rendered easy, or methodical treaty for learning geography"), Paris, 1753. He also took part in ''Après-soupers de la campagne ou, Recueil d'Histoires courrantes et amusantes'' ("Country after-dinner evenings, or collection of current and amusing tales"), 1759 and 1764. Friedrich Melchior Grimm didn't think much of the second collection: "The author claims that the public received his work with indulgence. If perfect oblivion may so be called, the author is right to be grateful".''L'auteur prétend que le public reçut alors son ouvrage avec indulgence. Si le parfait oubli peut s'appeler ainsi, l'auteur a raison d'être reconnaissant'' (Grimm, ''Correspondance littéraire, philosophique et critique'' February 1763).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leris, Antoine de 1723 births 1795 deaths People from Pyrénées-Orientales French theatre critics French music critics French male non-fiction writers