Arthur Halbert

Arthur Halbert, identified in library and text archives as Arthur Halbert (d’Angers), was a French chansonnier, poet, and writer active between the late 18th and 19th centuries. Surviving catalog and text records connect him especially with popular song and with the playful, social literary culture of his time.

He is best remembered for Le nouveau dictionnaire complet du jargon de l’argot, a work devoted to argot, or slang associated with thieves and the urban underworld. That book has helped keep his name in circulation, and it suggests a writer interested not only in entertainment but also in the colorful language of everyday life.

Available sources also describe him as a goguettier—a participant in the informal singing societies known as goguettes—which fits well with the tone of his known work. Clear biographical details about his life appear to be limited in the sources I could confirm, so his legacy is best approached through the songs, verse, and language collections that still survive.