Jean Pierre Claris de, was born in 1755 at the Château of Florian, near Sauve, in Languedoc. His uncle, who had married a niece of Voltaire, introduced him on one occasion to that philosopher in his retreat at Ferney, and the young Florian remained with the dictator of French literature till his fifteen year. In 1768 he attached himself to the Duc de Penthièvre, who first of all gave him a commission in a dragoon regiment, and afterwards made him one of his own gentlemen in ordinary. In 1783 Florian produced his first work Galatée, a professed imitation of the Galatea of Cervantes, which was followed two years later by his Numa Pompilius, an equally undisguised imitation of the Telemaque of Fénelon. In 1788 appeared Estelle, a pastoral romance, bearing a strong general resemblance to the Galatée, but esteemed superior to that, and indeed to most of the author's other works. In 1791 appeared his romance of Gonzalce de Cordoue, which, as well as the prefatory history of the Moors, was warmly commended. But Florian's chef-d'œuvre is his collection of fables, the best beyond a doubt that has appeared in France since the days of La Fontaine. On the breaking out of the French Revolution, Florian retired to Sceaux, where, however, he was soon discovered and dragged to prison by the Parisian sans-culottes. During his confinement he wrote Guillaume Tell, the weakest production of his mind. His imprisonment was not of long duration, but it injured his health so materially that he only survived his release by a few months. Florian died September 13, 1794, having just reached his fortieth year. After his death appeared his translation or rather his trashy abridgment of Don Quixote, which has been much censured for its want of humour. The best collective edition of Florian's works is that of 1812, in 16 vols. 18mo.