Anne Claude de Tubières-Grimoard de Pestels de Lévis, comte de Caylus, marquis d'Esternay, baron de Bransac (Anne Claude Philippe; 31 October 16925 September 1765), was a French antiquarian, proto-archaeologist and man of letters.

Born in Paris, he was the eldest son of Lieutenant-General Anne de Tubières, comte de Caylus. His mother, Marthe-Marguerite de Villette de Mursay, comtesse de Caylus (1673–1729), was the daughter of vice-admiral Philippe, Marquis de Villette-Mursay.

His younger brother was Charles de Tubières de Caylus, who became a naval officer and governor of Martinique.

He was a cousin of Madame de Maintenon, who brought Marthe-Marguerite up like her own daughter. Marthe-Marguerite wrote valuable Souvenirs of the court of Louis XIV; these were edited by Voltaire (1770), and by many later editors. He caused engravings to be made, at his own expense, of Bartoli's copies from ancient pictures. His publications Nouveaux sujets de peinture et de sculpture (1755) and Tableaux tirés de l'Iliade, de l'Odyssée, et de l'Enéide (1757)

The ', published in 1805, is of very doubtful authenticity. See also E. and J. de Goncourt, Portraits intimes du XVIIIième siècle; Charles Nisard's edition of the ' (1877); and a notice by O. Uzanne prefixed to a volume of his Facties (1879).

|File:Sphinx of Apries-N 515-IMG 0583-gradient.jpg|Sphinx of Pharaoh Apries of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, from the collection of Count Caylus, now at the Louvre.

|File:Caylus vase (9481653).jpg|The "Caylus vase" in the name of Xerxes I, was key in the decipherment of cuneiform. Now in the Cabinet des Médailles.

|File:Transcription of hieroglyphs on an Egyptian statue by Count Caylus, 1767.jpg|Transcription of hieroglyphs on an Egyptian statue by Count Caylus, 1767

Fairy tales

Folklorist Andrew Lang published some of Comte de Caylus's tales in his book The Green Fairy Book, as part of his collection of color fairy books. These are:

  • Rosanella (Rosanie)
  • Heart of Ice (Le prince Courtebotte et la princesse Zibeline)
  • Sylvain and Jocosa (Tourlou et Rirette)
  • The Yellow Bird (L'Oiseau Jaune) – inserted in the narrative of Sylvain and Jocosa
  • Fairy Gifts (Les dons)

The following tales were also published by Andrew Lang, but without the proper authorship:

  • Prince Narcissus and the Princess Potentilla (La Princesse Pimprenella et Le Prince Romarin)
  • Prince Featherhead and the Princess Celandine (Le Prince Muguet et la Princesse Zaza)
  • Prince Vivien and the Princess Placida (Nonchalante et Papillon)

British dramatist James Planché also translated the following of de Caylus's tales into English:

  • Princess Minute and King Floridor (La princesse Minutie et le roi Floridor)
  • The Impossible Enchantment (L'enchantement impossible)
  • Bleuette and Coquelicot (Bleuette et Coquelicot)

The tale Mignonette was also translated into English as Prince Chaffinch.

Works

  • Recueil d'antiquités égyptiennes, étrusques, grecques, romaines et gauloises : Tome cinquième (1762)

Notes

References

  • Three of his essays were anthologized in Charles Harrison, et al., 2001. Art In Theory 1648-1815: An Anthology of Changing Ideas (Blackwell): "On Drawings" (1732), "The Life of Antoine Watteau" (1748), and "On Composition" (1750).

Sources

  • Leonardo da Vinci: anatomical drawings from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Caylus's da Vinci collection (see index)
  • Contes orientaux / Oriental Tales at HathiTrust