Creation
The legend of Belles Lettres all started during the Great War, when the linguist Joseph Vendryes (1875–1960), who was fighting against the Germans, wished to read a critical edition of Homer. Unfortunately at this time there were no critical French editions, only German.
At the end of the war they created the Association Guillaume Budé- - named after the French humanist of the 16th century. The association gave a goal to spread the great classics from the Greek and Latin culture, and decided to publish "a comprehensive collection of Greek and Latin authors, texts and translations in French. "
But the Association Guillaume Budé- did not afford its ambitions. To edit these classics, a publishing company was founded, the company Oxford University Press for the development of classical culture, now publishing company Oxford University Press. Capital was assembled from "friends of French manufacturers of Classics," a total of 300 shareholders. Its first president was the Hellenist Paul Mazon (1874–1955), translator of Homer. The headquarters of the editions was in Paris at 157 Boulevard Saint-Germain.
Read more about this topic: Les Belles Lettres, History
Famous quotes containing the word creation:
“A fact is the end or last issue of spirit. The visible creation is the terminus or the circumference of the invisible world.”
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