Safeguarding the Nation's Past: Chamfort's Brief Career at the Bibliothèque Nationale

Although Chamfort (1740-1794) is remembered primarily as an aphorist, his talents encompassed careers as a journalist, playwright, and, briefly, as a director of the Bibliothèque Nationale after the Revolution of 1789. While initially supporting the Revolution, he later turned against its excesses and helped to safeguard the books and other treasures housed in the national library. His efforts to preserve the nation's heritage, and the difficulties involved, are the topic of this article.