Barthélemy Aneau

Barthélemy Aneau (c.1510–1561) was a French poet and humanist. He is known for his novel Alector, ou le coq, and his work on emblems.

Portrait of Barthélemy Aneau (1545)

He was born in Bourges but later moved to Lyon where he became regent, then principal of the Collège de la Trinité.[1]

He wrote both French and Latin poetry. His works include:

• Emblemes, a French verse translation of the emblem book of Andre Alciato (Lyon, 1549);[2]
• Quintil Horatian (Lyons, 1551), anonymous attack on Joachim du Bellay;
• a series of Latin poems in his own emblem book, Picta poesis (1552), called Imagination poétique in his own French translation, in which Classical stories are given a practical and moral reinterpretation;[3]
• Alector ou le coq, a fantasy story (Lyon, 1560).

He was killed in 1561, during riots in Lyon, in or near the College. He was suspected of Protestantism.[4]

References

1. Alexander Chalmers, ed. (1812). The General Biographical Dictionary: Containing an Historical and Critical Account of the Lives and Writings of the Most Eminent Persons in Every Nation. 2. J. Nichols. pp. 231–232.
2. French Emblems at Glasgow
3. French Emblems at Glasgow
4. Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Great Britain) (1843). The Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volume 2, Issue 2. Oxford University. pp. 696–697.

External links

• B.Aneau, Gordon Collection, U.Va. Library
• B.Aneau's Picta poesis, Glasgow University
• B.Aneau's Imagination poétique, Glasgow University