
Visages
A Gaston Calmette Directeur du Figaro
FRANÇOIS COPPÉE
JULES LEMAITRE
ANATOLE FRANCE
LÉON BOURGEOIS
PAUL DESCHANEL
A. NAQUET
PAUL DÉROULÈDE
M. BRUNETIÈRE
A delicate stroll through the cafés, salons and street corners of late‑19th‑century Paris, this collection offers intimate sketches of the city’s most vivid personalities. The author presents each figure not as a definitive portrait but as a fleeting impression, letting the reader glimpse the quirks, ambitions and quiet melancholy that animate their lives. By framing the subjects in the soft glow of a lamp, the essays capture the subtle play of light and shadow that defines both the individuals and the era they inhabit.
Beyond mere description, the work reflects on how these characters embody the broader currents of their time—artistic fervor, political tension, and the restless search for meaning. Readers will feel as if they are sharing a quiet conversation with a keen observer, whose thoughtful eye turns everyday encounters into a tapestry of human experience. The result is a resonant portrait of Paris itself, alive in the faces of those who walked its boulevards.
Language
fr
Duration
~3 hours (210K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Clarity, Nicole Pasteur and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
Release date
Dec 2, 2015
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1861–1918
A sharp-eyed French journalist and critic of the Belle Époque, best remembered for lively sketches of people and city life. His writing moves between social observation and literary portraiture, with a tone that can be witty, irreverent, and keenly observant.
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