GAUTIER, LON

born Aug. 8, 1832, Le Havre, France died Aug. 25, 1897, Paris in full mile-thodore-lon Gautier literary historian who revived an interest in early French literature with his translation and critical discussion of the Chanson de Roland (1872) and with his research on the chansons de geste. In Paris in 1859, Gautier became keeper of the imperial archives and of the archives of the dpartement of Haute-Marne. In 1871 he became professor of paleography at the cole des Chartres, the school in which he had been educated (185255). He was elected a member of the Acadmie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1887 and became chief of the historical section of the national archives in 1893. His works include Les popes franaises, 3 vol. (188688; The French Epics, 2nd ed., 5 vol., 187897, with a bibliography of chansons de geste).