Editing Gaston Paris (section)

==Biography==
Gaston Paris was born under the [[July Monarchy]] at [[Avenay-Val-d'Or|Avenay]] ([[Marne (department)|Marne]]), the son of [[Paulin Paris]], an important French scholar of [[medieval French literature]]. In his childhood, Gaston learned to appreciate [[Old French language|Old French]] romances as poems and stories, and this early impulse for the study of [[Romance (heroic literature)|Romance literature]] was placed on a solid basis by courses of study at the [[University of Bonn]] (1856), in the [[German Confederation]], and at the [[École Nationale des Chartes]], at the time under the rule of the [[Second French Empire]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Paris taught French grammar in a private school,<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Gaston-Bruno-Paulin Paris}}</ref> later succeeding [[Alexis Paulin Paris|his father]] as professor of [[medieval French literature]] at the [[Collège de France]] in 1872; in 1876 he was admitted to the [[Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres]], and in 1896 to the [[Académie Française]]; in 1895 he was appointed director of the [[Collège de France]]. He won a reputation as a renowned [[Romance studies|scholar of Romance literature]] throughout Europe. In Bonn he had learnt the [[Scientific history|scientific methods of exact research]], but besides being an accurate philologist he was a [[literary critic]] of great acumen and breadth of view, and brought a singularly clear mind to bear on his favourite study of medieval French literature. His ''[[Vie de saint Alexis]]'' (1872) broke new ground and provided a model for future editors of medieval texts. It included the original text and the variations of it dating from the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries. He contributed largely to the ''[[Histoire littéraire de la France]]'', and with [[Paul Meyer (philologist)|Paul Meyer]] published ''Romania'', an [[academic journal]] devoted to the study of Romance literature.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In 1877 Gaston Paris was invited to [[Sweden]] for the 400th anniversary of the [[Upsala University]], where he was made an honorary doctor. Before returning home he also visited Kristiania ([[Oslo]]) to take part in a celebration of the [[Norway|Norwegian]] philosopher [[Marcus Jacob Monrad]]. At the [[University of Oslo]] Gaston Paris also held a lecture about the two folktale collectors, [[Asbjørnsen and Moe]], which he believed to be, besides the [[Brothers Grimm]], the best re-tellers of the genre.

He received the German Order [[Pour le Mérite]] (civil class) in August 1902.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Court Circular|date=19 August 1902 |page=8 |issue=36850}}</ref> Paris died in [[Cannes]] in 1903.