Antoine Alexandre Barbier (11 January 1765 – 5 December 1825) was a French

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

and

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

. He was born in Coulommiers (

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

). He took priest's orders, from which, however, he was finally released by the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

in 1801. In 1794 he became a member of the temporary commission of the arts, and was charged with the duty of distributing among the various libraries of

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 ...

the books that had been confiscated during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. In the execution of this task he discovered the letters of Huet,

bishop of Avranches The Roman Catholic Diocese of Coutances (–Avranches) ( Latin: ''Dioecesis Constantiensis (–Abrincensis)''; French: ''Diocèse de Coutances (–Avranches)'') is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Its mother church is the Ca ...

, and the manuscripts of the works of Fénelon. He became librarian successively to the French Directory, to the Conseil d'Etat, and in 1807 to

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, from whom he carried out a number of commissions.A. Dobi. 1974. “For the Emperor-Bibliophile, Only the Very Best.” ''Wilson Library Bulletin'' 49 (November): 229–33. He produced a standard work in his ''Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes'' (4 vols., 1806—1809). Only the first part of his ''Examen critique des dictionnaires historiques'' (1820) was published. He had a share in the foundation of the libraries of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, of Fontainebleau, of

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 ...

and

Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest tow ...

; under

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

he became administrator of the king's private libraries, but in 1822 he was deprived of all his offices. Barbier died in

, aged 60.

References

External links

Jean Chrétien Ferdinand Hoefer Jean Chrétien Ferdinand Hoefer (German: ''Ferdinand Höfer'', 21 April 1811, Döschnitz – 4 May 1878) was a German-French physician and lexicographer. He is now known for his many works on the history of science. Selected works *''Élément ...

Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours
Vol. 4 (BAA-BEA). 1859.
Antoine Alexandre Barbier
on data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbier, Antoine Alexandre 1765 births 1825 deaths People from Coulommiers Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French bibliographers French librarians French male non-fiction writers French encyclopedists École Normale Supérieure alumni