Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Bescherelle, Louis Nicolas
BESCHERELLE, Louis Nicolas, was born at Paris, June 10, 1802, studied at the Bourbon College, and became librarian of the Louvre in 1828. He devoted his attention to a critical study of the French language. He published three very able works, in which he showed that general usage and the authority of standard writers were at variance with the arbitrary rules laid down by modern theorists. The titles of these works are, "Le Participe Passé ramené à sa véritable Origine" (1820); "Revue Grammaticale, ou Réfutation des principales Erreurs des Grammairiens" (1829); and "Refutation Complète de la Grammaire de MM. Nöel et Chapsal" (1838). M. Bescherelle is also the author of a number of grammars and dictionaries for use in schools. The best known of these are:—"Grammaire Nationale" (2 vols., 1834–38, 5th edit. 1852); "Dictionnaire Usuel de tous les Verbes Français" (2 vols., 1842–43); "Dictionnaire National, ou Grand Dictionnaire Critique de la Langue Française" (2 vols., 1843–46); "Grand Dictionnaire de Géographie Universelle" (4 vols., 1856–58, new edit. 1865, compiled in collaboration with M. Devars); "Petit Dictionnaire National" (1857); and "Grammaire pour Tous" (1865).