1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Saint-Victor, Paul Bins, Comte de

SAINT-VICTOR, PAUL BINS, Comte de (1827–1881), known as Paul de Saint-Victor, French author, was born in Paris on the 11th of July 1827. His father Jacques B. M. Bins, comte de Saint-Victor (1772–1858), is remembered by his poem L’Espérance, and by an excellent verse translation of Anacreon. Saint-Victor, who ceased to use the title of count as being out of keeping with his democratic principles, began as a dramatic critic on the Pays in 1851, and in 1885 he succeeded Théophile Gautier on the Presse. In 1866 he migrated to the Liberté, and in 1869 joined the staff of the Moniteur universal. In 1870, during the last days of the second empire, he was made inspector general of fine arts. Almost all Saint-Victor’s work consists of articles, the best known being the collection entitled Hommes et dieux (1867). His death interrupted the publication of Les Deux Masques, in which the author intended to survey the whole dramatic literature of ancient and modern times. Saint-Victor’s critical faculty was considerable, though rather one-sided. He owed a good deal to Théophile Gautier, but he carried ornateness to a pitch far beyond Gautier’s. Saint-Victor died in Paris on the 9th of July 1881.

See also Deljant, Paul de Saint-Victor (1887).