author
Gabriel Peignot
1767–1849
A French bibliographer, historian, and man of letters, he helped turn the study of books into a subject in its own right. His work ranges from literary curiosities to serious reference books, and it still offers a window into the reading culture of his time.
2 Audiobooks
Quelques recherches sur le tombeau de Virgile au mont Pausilipe (1840)
by Gabriel Peignot
Le livre des singularités
by Gabriel Peignot
About the author
Born in Arc-en-Barrois on May 15, 1767, Gabriel Peignot first trained as a lawyer, but he became best known for his life among books. He worked as a librarian and later held several educational and administrative posts, including roles in Vesoul and Dijon, building a reputation as one of the notable French bibliographers of the early 19th century.
He wrote widely on bibliography, literature, philology, history, and curious corners of learning. Among his best-known books are Dictionnaire raisonné de bibliologie and Dictionnaire des livres condamnés au feu, works that show both his scholarly range and his taste for unusual, revealing subjects.
Peignot died in Dijon on August 14, 1849. What makes him memorable is the breadth of his curiosity: he did not just list books, but treated them as part of cultural history, preserving how people wrote, read, censored, collected, and classified knowledge.