DARESTE DE LA CHAVANNE

dareste de la chavanne, antoine elisabeth cleophas (1820-1882), french historian, was born in paris on the 28th of october 1820, of an old lyons family. educated at the ecole des chartes, he became professor in the faculty of letters at grenoble in 1844, and in 1849 at lyons, where he remained nearly thirty years. he died on the 6th of august 1882. his works comprise: _histoire de l'administration en france depuis philippe-auguste_ (2 vols., 1848); _histoire des classes agricoles en france depuis saint louis jusqu'a louis xvi_ (2 vols., 1853 and 1858), now quite obsolete; and a _histoire de france_ (8 vols., 1865-1873), completed by a _histoire de la restauration_ (2 vols., 1880), a good summary of the work of veil-castel, and by a _histoire du gouvernement de juillet_, a dry enumeration of dates and facts. before the publication of lavisse's great work, dareste's general history of france was the best of its kind; it surpassed in accuracy the work of henri martin, especially in the ancient periods, just as martin's in its turn was an improvement upon that of sismondi.