Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Baschet, Armand
BASCHET, Armand, a French writer, born at Blois in 1829. He first became known by some striking artistic and literary criticisms in different periodicals, and afterwards published "Honoré de Balzac," with historical notes by M. Champfleury (1851), and "Les Origines de Werther" (1855). He was then sent on a mission to examine the archives of Venice, and his reputation as an author rests mainly on the many interesting publications resulting from his researches among the old Italian manuscripts. These works include "Les Archives de la Sérénissime République de Venise: Souvenirs d'une Mission," 1858; "La Diplomatie Vénitienne: les Princes de l'Europe au XVIe siècle, d'après les rapports des Ambassadeurs Vénitiens," 1862; "Les Archives de Vénise: Histoire de la Chancellerie secrète," 1870; "Le Roi chez la Reine, ou Histoire secrète du mariage de Louis XIII. et d'Anne d'Autriche, d'après le journal de la santé du Roi, les dépêches du Nonce, &c.," 1864, 2nd ed. 1866. From other sources M. Baschet has obtained the materials for "Journal du Concile de Trente, rédigé par un Secrétaire Vénitien," 1870; "Le Duc de Saint-Simon, son cabinet et l'historique de ses manuscrits," 1874; "Histoire du Dépôt des Archives des Affaires Étrangères," 1875; and "Les Comédiens Italiens à la Cour de France," 1882, a charming volume, full of new and piquant details concerning the French sovereigns, the Duke of Mantua, and others. He published, in conjunction with M. Feuillet de Conches, "Les Femmes blondes selon les peintres de l'école de Venise," 1858; and he translated from the German of Alfred von Reumont "La Jeunesse de Catherine de Médicis," 1866. M. Baschet was decorated with the cross of the Legion of Honour in 1863.