Le Génie latin

Anatole France was already famous, celebrated for the novels for which he remains known, when Le Génie latin, a collection of his earlier prefaces written for the Lemerre editions, was published. It answered a long-standing request from the publisher of the passage Choiseul, who had become his friend: “It was only in 1913, after lengthy discussions, that he agreed to satisfy Lemerre’s long-standing request and authorize the collection of his notices in a single volume” (J. Suffel, Anatole France). The collection surprised readers more accustomed to the style of France’s mature work, but his hand remained clearly recognizable, and “the light irony that creeps and insinuates itself even into the picturesque grace of his style gives these ‘lives’ of writers or famous figures, as he tells them, a piquant turn that is not the least of their charms” (V. Giraud, Anatole France).