LACROIX

lacroix, paul (1806-1884), french author and journalist, was born in paris on the 27th of april 1806, the son of a novelist. he is best known under his pseudonym of p. l. jacob, _bibliophile_, or "bibliophile jacob," suggested by the constant interest he took in public libraries and books generally. lacroix was an extremely prolific and varied writer. over twenty historical romances alone came from his pen, and he also wrote a variety of serious historical works, including a history of napoleon iii., and the life and times of the tsar nicholas i. of russia. he was the joint author with ferdinand sere of a five-volume work, _le moyen age et la renaissance_ (1847), a standard work on the manners, customs and dress of those times, the chief merit of which lies in the great number of illustrations it contains. he also wrote many monographs on phases of the history of culture. over the signature pierre dufour was published an exhaustive _histoire de la prostitution_ (1851-1852), which has always been attributed to lacroix. his works on bibliography were also extremely numerous. in 1885 he was appointed librarian of the arsenal library, paris. he died in paris on the 16th of october 1884. lacroma (serbo-croatian _lokrum_), a small island in the adriatic sea, forming part of the austrian kingdom of dalmatia, and lying less than half a mile south of ragusa. though barely 11⁄4 m. in length, lacroma is remarkable for the beauty of its subtropical vegetation. it was a favourite resort of the archduke maximilian, afterwards emperor of mexico (1832-1867), who restored the chateau and park; and of the austrian crown prince rudolph (1857-1889). it contains an 11th-century benedictine monastery; and the remains of a church, said by a very doubtful local tradition to have been founded by richard i. of england (1157-1199), form part of the imperial chateau. see _lacroma_, an illustrated descriptive work by the crown princess stephanie (afterwards countess lonyay) (vienna, 1892).