JOHN R. EFFINGER, PH.D. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF FRENCH, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN INTER- MODERN LANGUAGE SERIES GINN AND COMPANY BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO LONDON 1679.550.425 HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY PAUL H. KELSEY COPYRIGHT. 1895, By GINN & COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 923.12 The Athenæum Press INTRODUCTION. CHARLES-AUGUSTIN SAINTE-BEUVE was born at Boulognesur-Mer, December 23, 1804. His father, François de Sainte-Beuve,1 was controller of taxes for the arrondissement of Boulogne. His mother, whose maiden name was Augustine Coilliot, was of English descent. The father died some three months before the birth of his son, and Madame de SainteBeuve was left in somewhat straitened circumstances, but still the boy was given good instruction in the school of M. Blériot at Boulogne until his fourteenth year, when he was sent to Paris at his own request. There he studied successively at the Collège Charlemagne and at the Collège Bourbon. showed great ability during these student days, and in his last year took a first prize in Latin verse. Although his natural inclination was toward a literary career, for the next three years, from 1824 to 1827, he studied medicine, and incidentally the natural sciences and mathematics. This scientific study was probably undertaken at the wish of his mother, who could not appreciate a literary career, and derived little pleasure from her son's success until he became a member of the Academy. During his medical studies his mind had been working in 1 The father and several of his ancestors had been designated as de SainteBeuve, although they did not claim nobility. Sainte-Beuve never used the particle, however. |