Marcel Schwob

French author (1867-1905), who was considered, in his time, a "writer's writer." He spent his life in libraries and archives. He read ancient texts, Latin works, medieval chronicles, pirate stories, the great philosophers, Shakespeare, Whitman, Poe, De Quincey, and he adored Francois Villon and Robert Louis Stevenson. His vast education served as the lever for his poetry. He invented adventures for others that he wished were his own. He was characterized as a "library adventurer." Writers like Jarry, Oscar Wilde, and Valery dedicated their books to him. He is placed alongside (but not far from) Borges, who admired him, while he is also associated with Chesterton.