George Joseph Gustave Masson
George Joseph Gustave Masson, was an English-born educational writer with a French father and an English mother.
Life
He was born in London on 9 March 1819.His father had served under Napoleon I, and survived the retreat from Moscow ; his mother was of English origin.
Gustave was educated at Tours, was exempted from military service as eldest son of a widow, and was awarded the diploma of 'Bachelier ès Lettres' by the University of France on 8 August 1837.
After some ten years of literary struggle in Paris, he came to England as tutor to the two sons of Captain Trotter of the Woodlands, Harrow, and was in 1855 appointed by Dr. Charles Vaughan, headmaster of Harrow School, French master there.
He proved himself a good organiser, and took a prominent part in the life of the school. He was from 1869 Vaughan librarian and published a catalogue.
Masson was an author and translator on a large scale, writing many books on French literature and history, and editing with much success numerous French classics for English students.
He was at the same time a frequent contributor to the Athenæum, and supplied the notes on French literature to the Saturday Review from soon after its foundation until 1880.
He gave up his Harrow mastership in the autumn of 1888, and died a few weeks later on 29 August at Ewhurst, Surrey, while on a visit to Sir Henry Doulton ; he was buried in Harrow churchyard.
Family
By his wife, whose maiden name was Janet Clarke, and whom he married in 1843, he left two sons and two daughters.Works
Trade editions
- A Chronological and Historical Atlas of the Middle Ages, London: Partridge and Oakey, 1849
- Introduction to the History of French Literature, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1860La Lyre française, London: Macmillan & Co., 1867, 1928 - poetry anthologyA Compendious Dictionary of the French Language, London: Macmillan & Co., 1874Outlines of French Literature, London: Dulau & Co.; London: Hachette & Co., 1877Early Chroniclers of Europe: France, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1879 Francis I. and the Sixteenth Century, London: Sampson Low, Marston ; Boston: Estes & Lauriat, 1881 The Huguenots: A Sketch of their History from the Beginning of the Reformation to the Death of Louis XIV, London: Cassell, Petter, Galpin, 1881 Richelieu, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, c. 1884 Mazarin, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1886 - based on Cheruel's Histoire de la France pendant la minorité de Louis XIV French Literature, London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1888 Outlines of the History of France, From the Earliest Times to the Outbreak of the Revolution, Boston: Estes and Lauriat, 1886Mediaeval France from the Reign of Hugues Capet to the Beginning of the 16th Century , London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1888
Translations from the French
- Paul Janet, The Materialism of the Present Day: A Critique of Dr. Büchner's System, London: Williams and Norgate, 1865
- Elme Marie Caro, George Sand, London: Routledge, 1888
- Albert Sorel, Montesquieu, London: Routledge, 1888
- Léon Say, Turgot, London: Routledge, 1888
- Jules Simon, Victor Cousin, London: George Routledge and Sons, 1888
- George Sand, Francis the Waif , London: George Routledge and Sons, 1889 - limited edition of 1000 copies
Translations into the French
- Samuel White Baker, Découverte de l'Albert N' yanza : nouvelles explorations des sources du Nil, Paris: Librairie de L. Hachette et Cie., 1868
Language manuals
The Public School Elementary French Grammar, Toronto : J. Campbell, 1878. Joint authors: Auguste Brachet and P. H. E. Brette.School editions of French literary classics
- Madame de Sévigné, A Selection from the Letters of Madame de Sévigné and Her , Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1868
- Jean-François Regnard et al., A Selection of Plays by Regnard, Brueys and Palaprat, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1875
- Madame de Staël, Dix années d'exil, Cambridge: University Press, 1876
- Victor Hugo, Hernani : drame en cinq actes. With explanatory notes, London: Dulau, c. 1876
- Edmond About, Edmond About, London: Hachette & cie., 1882
- Pierre Corneille, Cinna : ou, La clémence d'Auguste, tragédie, 1639. Edited with notes, glossary, etc., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1886
- Xavier de Maistre, Voyage autour de ma chambre, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1887