author
Eugène Asse
1830–1901
A lively man of letters, journalist, and librarian, he devoted much of his work to French literary history. His books and editions are especially remembered for their curiosity about the 18th century and the world of books.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Paris on March 25, 1830, and dying there on February 1, 1901, Eugène Asse was a French man of letters, journalist, and librarian. Library records and reference sources identify him as an author whose work ranged across criticism, editing, and literary scholarship.
He is particularly associated with literary history and with carefully edited texts, including works connected to the French 18th century. His bibliography shows a lasting interest in writers, correspondence, memoirs, and bibliophily, which gives his writing a strong sense of conversation with earlier eras.
For listeners today, Asse is best approached as a guide to the literary past: a writer who combined research with readable prose, and who helped keep older French voices in circulation for new audiences.