Fournier, Edouard

Belonged to a family of locksmith artists who for centuries have earned well-deserved fame in their profession. One of the ancestors of Fournier is cast in bronze, the famous statue of Joan of Arc , adorning the city of Orleans ^[3] .

Having received a very thorough upbringing, Fournier published a number of articles on literary criticism in Orleans magazines in 1842, and in 1847, based on the development of archival documents, he published the monograph Souvenirs historiques et littéraires du Loiret (from the French - “Historical and Literary Memoirs of the Loire Department” "). In the same 1847 he wrote a number of sketches on folk music: “L'Opéra national, son passé et son avenir” (from the French - “National Opera, its past and future”), in 1849 supplemented this work with work written jointly with Leon Kreutzer: “L'art lyrique au théâtre” (from the French - “Lyrical art in the theater”). In 1851, he wrote the two-act comedy Christian et Marguerite for the Comedy Francaise Theater (from French - Christian and Margarita), which was a success. In 1853, he wrote the one-act comedy “Le roman du village” in poetry for the scene “ Odeon ” (from the French - “Country Romance”). This was followed by several opera librettos (1854-59), a comedy in verse Corneille à la butte Saint Roch (from the French - Cornell on the Hill of Saint-Roche, 1862); “La fille de Molière” (from French - “The daughter of Moliere ”, 1863); “Racine à Uzés” (from the French - “ Racine in Uzes ”, 1864) and “Paradis trouvé” (from the French - “Paradise Found”) and the drama “Gutenberg” (from the French - “Gutenberg”, 1868) ^{[ 3]} .

The most outstanding side of Fournier's talent, which actually brought him great fame, is his vast erudition, animated by great wit. A great connoisseur of antiquity, Fournier set out to correct many common misconceptions, and the very titles of his books show how diverse his research area is. Such are “Paris démoli, mosaïques de ruines” (from French - “Demolished Paris, ruin mosaics”, 1853), “L'esprit des autres” (from French - “Wit of others”, 1855); "L'esprit dans l'histoire, recherches et curiosités sur les mots historiques" (from the French - "Wit in history - research and curious data on historical expressions"); “Le vieux-neuf” (from the French - “Old and New”, 1859); "Enigmes des rues de Paris" (from Fr. - "Secrets of the Parisian streets", 1864) - giving a lot of interesting material ^[3] .

After an unsuccessful attempt to play a role in the liberation of Italy in the late 40s, Fournier forever abandoned political activity in favor of the literary. He also published "Histoire des hotelleries et des cabarets" (from the French - "The history of inns and taverns", 1850); “Un prétendant portugais au XVI siècle” (from French - “Portuguese challenger of the XVI century”, 1852); "Histoire de l'imprimerie et de la librairie" (from Fr. - "History of book publishing and bookselling", 1854); "Les lanternes - histoire de l'ancien éclairage de Paris" (from French - "Lanterns - the history of ancient street lighting in Paris", 1854); “Histoire du Pont Neuf” (from French - “History of the New Bridge ”, 1862); “Le jeu de pomme, son histoire et sa description” (from Fr. - “Jeu de pomme - history and description”, 1862); “Le roman de Molière” (from the French - “Roman Moliere ”, 1863); “L'art de la reliure en France aux derniers siècles” (from French - “History of French book binding of the last centuries”, 1864); “La comédie de Labruyère” (from the French - “Comedy of Labruyere ”, 1866) ^[3] .

In addition, Fournier published a number of monuments on the history of ancient French literature - such are Les variétés historiques et littéraires (from the French - “Historical and literary variations”), “Le roman bourgeois” (from the French - “Bourgeois novel”) Fuhrer ; “Les caquets de l'accouchée” (from the French - “Chatter of a woman in labor”), “Le livre commode” (from the French - “Convenient book”) of Abraham Du Pradel; “Lettres inédites de la marquise de Créqui” (from the French - “Unpublished letters of the Marquis de Kreki ”); "Théâtre français en XVI et ΧVII s." (From French - "French Theater in the XVI and XVII centuries", 1817 and 1874); "Théâtre français avant la Renaissance, 1450-1550" (from French - "French Theater before the Renaissance , 1450-1550" 1873), "Œuvres complètes de Régnard" (from French - "Complete works of Reniard ", 1875) and "Oeuvres complètes de Beaumarchais" (from Fr. - "Complete Works of Beaumarchais ", 1876). From 1853 to 1855, Fournier was the editor of the magazine Le Théâtre, and then collaborated in Patrie and headed the Revue des provinces ^[3] .

Since 1872 - librarian of the French Ministry of the Interior ^[2]