Bibliography.—Pantschatantrum, ed. Kosegarten (Bonn, 1848);Hitopadesa, ed. Max Müller (1864); Silvestre de Sacy,Calilah et Dimna, ou Fables de Bidpai, en Arabe, précédées d’un mémoire sur l’origine de ce livre(Paris, 1816), translated by the Rev. Wyndham Knatchbull (Oxford, 1819); Comparetti,Ricerche intorno al Libro di Sindebād(Milan, 1869); Max Müller, “Migration of Fables,”Chips from a German Workshop, vol. iv. (1875); Keller,Untersuchungen über die Geschichte der griechischen Fabel(Leipzig, 1862);Babrius, ed. W.G. Rutherford, with excursus on Greek fables (1883); L. Hervieux,Les Fabuiistes latins(1884); Jakob Grimm,Reinhart Fuchs(Berlin, 1834); A.C.M. Robert,Fables inédites des XIIe, XIIIe, et XIVesiècles, &c. (Paris, 1825); Taine,Essai sur les fables de La Fontaine(1853); Saint-Marc Girardin,La Fontaine et les fabulistes(Paris, 1867).
Bibliography.—Pantschatantrum, ed. Kosegarten (Bonn, 1848);Hitopadesa, ed. Max Müller (1864); Silvestre de Sacy,Calilah et Dimna, ou Fables de Bidpai, en Arabe, précédées d’un mémoire sur l’origine de ce livre(Paris, 1816), translated by the Rev. Wyndham Knatchbull (Oxford, 1819); Comparetti,Ricerche intorno al Libro di Sindebād(Milan, 1869); Max Müller, “Migration of Fables,”Chips from a German Workshop, vol. iv. (1875); Keller,Untersuchungen über die Geschichte der griechischen Fabel(Leipzig, 1862);Babrius, ed. W.G. Rutherford, with excursus on Greek fables (1883); L. Hervieux,Les Fabuiistes latins(1884); Jakob Grimm,Reinhart Fuchs(Berlin, 1834); A.C.M. Robert,Fables inédites des XIIe, XIIIe, et XIVesiècles, &c. (Paris, 1825); Taine,Essai sur les fables de La Fontaine(1853); Saint-Marc Girardin,La Fontaine et les fabulistes(Paris, 1867).
(F. S.)
1M. Minas professed to have discovered under the same circumstances another collection of ninety-four fables by Babrius. This second part was accepted by Sir G.C. Lewis, but J. Conington conclusively proved it spurious, and probably a forgery. SeeBabrius.
1M. Minas professed to have discovered under the same circumstances another collection of ninety-four fables by Babrius. This second part was accepted by Sir G.C. Lewis, but J. Conington conclusively proved it spurious, and probably a forgery. SeeBabrius.
FABLIAU.The entertaining tales in eight-syllable rhymed verse which form a marked section of French medieval literature are calledfabliaux, the word being derived by Littré fromfablel, a diminutive offable. It is a mistake to suppose, as is frequently done, that every legend of the middle ages is a fabliau. In a poem of the 12th century a clear distinction is drawn between songs of chivalry, war or love, andfabliaux, which are recitals of laughter. A fabliau always related an event; it was usually brief, containing not more than 400 lines; it was neither sentimental, religious nor supernatural, but comic and gay. MM. de Montaiglon and Raynaud, who have closely investigated this class of literature, consider that about 150 fabliaux have come down to us more or less intact; a vast number have doubtless disappeared. It appears from a phrase in the writings of the trouvère, Henri d’Andeli, that the fabliau was not thought worthy of being copied out on parchment. The wonder, then, is that so many of these ephemeral compositions have been preserved. Arguments brought forward by M. Joseph Bédier, however, tend to show that we need not regret the disappearance of the majority of the fabliaux, as those which were copied into MSS. were those which were felt to be of the greatest intrinsic value. As early as the 8th century fabliaux must have existed, since the faithful are forbidden to take pleasure in thesefabulas inanesby thePaenitentialeof Egbert. But it appears that all the early examples are lost.
In the opinion of the best scholars, the earliest surviving fabliau is that ofRicheut, which dates from 1159. This is a rough and powerful study of the coarse life of the day, with little plot, but engaged with a realistic picture of manners.Such poems, but of a more strictly narrative nature, continued to be produced, mainly in the north and north-east of France, until the middle of the 14th century. Much speculation has been expended on the probable sources of the tales which the trouvères told. The Aryan theory, which saw in them the direct influence of India upon Europe, has now been generally abandoned. It does not seem probable that any ancient or exotic influences were brought to bear upon the French jongleurs, who simply invented or adapted stories of that universal kind which springs unsown from every untilled field of human society. More remarkable than the narratives themselves is the spirit in which they are told. This is full of the national humour and the national irony, the trueesprit gaulois. A very large section of these popular poems deals satirically with the pretensions of the clergy. Such are the famousPrêtre aux mûres, thePrêtre qui dit la PassionandLes Perdrix. Some of these are innocently merry; others are singularly depraved and obscene. Another class of fabliaux is that which comprises jests against the professions; in this, the most prominent example isLe Vilain Mire, a satire on doctors, which curiously predicts theMédecin malgré luiof Molière. There are also tales whose purpose is rather voluptuous than witty, and whose aim is to excuse libertinage and render marriage ridiculous. Among these are prominentCourt MantelandLe Dit de Berenger. Yet another class repeated, with a strain of irony or oddity, such familiar classical stories as those of Narcissus, and Pyramus and Thisbe. It is rarely that any elevation of tone raises these poems above a familiar and even playful level, but there are some that are almost idealistic. Among these the story of a sort of Sisyphus errant,Le Chevalier de Barizel, offers an ethical interest which lifts it in certain respects above all other surviving fabliaux. An instance of the pathetic fabliau isHousse Partie, a kind of primitive version of the story of King Lear.
In composing these pieces, of very varied character, the jongleurs have practised an art which was in many respects rudimentary, but sincere and simple. The student of language finds the rich vocabulary of the fabliaux much more attractive to him than the conventionality of the serious religious and amatory poems of the same age. The object of the writers was the immediate amusement of their audience; by reference to familiar things, they hoped to arouse a quick and genuine merriment. Hence their incorrectness and their negligence are balanced by a delightful ease and absence of pedantry, and in the fabliaux we get closer than elsewhere to the living diction of medieval France. It is true that if we extend too severe a judgment to these pieces, we may find ourselves obliged to condemn them altogether. An instructed French critic, vexed with their faults, has gone so far as to say that “the subjects of these tales are degrading, their inspiration nothing better than flat and cruel derision, their distinguishing features rascality, vulgarity and platitude of style.” From one point of view, this condemnation of the fabliau is hardly too severe. But such scholars as Gaston Paris and Paul Meyer have not failed to emphasize other sides to the question. They have praised, in the general laxity of style and garrulity of the middle ages, the terseness of the jongleurs; in the period of false ornament, their fidelity to nature; in a time of general vagueness, the sharp and picturesque outlines of their art. One feature of the fabliaux, however, cannot be praised and yet must not be overlooked. In no other section of the world’s literature is the scorn and hatred of women so prominent. It is difficult to account for the anti-feminine rage which pervades the fabliaux, and takes hideous shapes in such examples asLe Valet aux deux femmes,Le Pêcheur de Pont-sur-SeineandChicheface et Bigorne. Probably this was a violent reaction against the extravagant cult of woman as expressed in the contemporarylaisas well as in the legends of saints. The exaggeration was not greater in the one case than in the other, and it is probable that the exaltation was made endurable to those who listened to the trouvères by the corresponding degradation. We must remember, too, that those who listened were not nobles or clerks, they were the common people. The fabliaux werefabellae ignobilium, little stories told to amuse persons of low degree, who were irritated by the moral pretensions of their superiors.
The names of about twenty of the authors of fabliaux have been preserved, although in most cases nothing is known of their personal history. The most famous poet of this class of writing is the man whose name, or more probably pseudonym, was Rutebeuf. He wroteFrère DenyseandLe Sacristain, while to him is attributed theDit d’Aristote, in the course of which Aristotle gives good advice to Alexander. Fabliaux, however, form but a small part of the work of Rutebeuf, who was a satirical poet of wide accomplishment and varied energy. Most of the jongleurs who wrote these merry and indecent tales in octosyllabic verse were persons of less distinction. Henri d’Andeli was an ecclesiastic, attached, it is supposed, to the cathedral of Rouen. Jean de Condé, who flourished in the court of Hainaut from 1310 to 1340, and who is the latest of the genuine writers of fabliaux, lived in comfort and security, but most of the professional jongleurs seem to have spent their years in a Bohemian existence, wandering among the clergy and the merchant class, alternately begging for money and food and reciting their mocking verses.
The principal authorities for the fabliaux are MM. Anatole de Montaiglon and Gaston Raynaud, who published the text, in 6 vols., between 1872 and 1890. This edition corrected and supplemented the very valuable labours of Méon (1808-1823) and Jubinal (1839-1842). The works of Henri d’Andeli were edited by M.A. Héron in 1880, and those of Rutebeuf were made the subject of an exhaustive monograph by M. Léon Clédat in 1891. See also the editions of separate fabliaux by Gaston Paris, Paul Meyer, Ebeling, August Schéler and other modern scholars. M. Joseph Bedier’sLes Fabliaux(1895) is a useful summary of critical opinion on the entire subject.
The principal authorities for the fabliaux are MM. Anatole de Montaiglon and Gaston Raynaud, who published the text, in 6 vols., between 1872 and 1890. This edition corrected and supplemented the very valuable labours of Méon (1808-1823) and Jubinal (1839-1842). The works of Henri d’Andeli were edited by M.A. Héron in 1880, and those of Rutebeuf were made the subject of an exhaustive monograph by M. Léon Clédat in 1891. See also the editions of separate fabliaux by Gaston Paris, Paul Meyer, Ebeling, August Schéler and other modern scholars. M. Joseph Bedier’sLes Fabliaux(1895) is a useful summary of critical opinion on the entire subject.
(E. G.)
FABRE, FERDINAND(1830-1898), French novelist, was born at Bédarieux, in Hérault, a very picturesque district of the south of France, which he made completely his own in literature. He was the son of a local architect, who failed in business, and Ferdinand was brought up by his uncle, the Abbé Fulcran Fabre, at Camplong among the mulberry woods. Of his childhood and early youth he has given a charming account inMa Vocation(1889). He was destined to the priesthood, and was sent for that purpose to the seminary of St Pons de Thomières, where, in 1848, he had, as he believed, an ecstatic vision of Christ, who warned him “It is not the will of God that thou shouldst be a priest.” He had now to look about for a profession, and, after attempting medicine at Montpellier, was articled as a lawyer’s clerk in Paris. In 1853 he published a volume of verses,Feuilles de lierre, broke down in health, and crept back, humble and apparently without ambition, to his old home at Bédarieux. After some eight or nine years of country life he reappeared in Paris, with the MS. of his earliest novel,Les Courbezon(1862), in which he treated the subject which was to recur in almost all his books, the daily business of country priests in the Cevennes. This story enjoyed an immediate success with the literary class of readers; George Sand praised it, Sainte-Beuve hailed in its author “the strongest of the disciples of Balzac,” and it was crowned by the French Academy. From this time forth Fabre settled down to the production of novels, of which at the time of his death he had published about twenty. Among these the most important wereLe Chevrier(1868), unique among his works as written in an experimental mixture of Cevenol patois and French of the 16th century;L’Abbé Tigrane, candidat à la papauté(1873), by common consent the best of all Fabre’s novels, a very powerful picture of unscrupulous priestly ambition;Mon Oncle Célestin(1881), a study of the entirely single and tender-hearted country abbé; andLucifer(1884), a marvellous gallery of serious clerical portraits. In 1883 Fabre was appointed curator of the Mazarin Library, with rooms in the Institute, where, on 11th February 1898, he died after a brief attack of pneumonia. Ferdinand Fabre occupies in French literature a position somewhat analogous to that of Mr Thomas Hardy amongst English writers of fiction. He deals almost exclusively with the population of the mountain villages of Hérault, and particularly with its priests. He loved most of all to treat of the celibate virtues, the strictly ecclesiastical passions, the enduring tension of the young soul drawn between the spiritualvocation and the physical demands of nature. Although never a priest, he preserved a comprehension of and a sympathy with the clerical character, and he always indignantly denied that he was hostile to the Church, although he stood just outside her borders. Fabre possessed a limited and a monotonous talent, but within his own field he was as original as he was wholesome and charming.
See also J. Lemaître,Les Contemporains, vol. ii.; G. Pellissier,Études de littérature contemporaine(1898); E.W. Gosse,French Profiles(1905).
See also J. Lemaître,Les Contemporains, vol. ii.; G. Pellissier,Études de littérature contemporaine(1898); E.W. Gosse,French Profiles(1905).
(E. G.)
FABRE D’ÉGLANTINE, PHILIPPE FRANÇOIS NAZAIRE(1750-1794), French dramatist and revolutionist, was born at Carcassonne on the 28th of July 1750. His real name was simple Fabre, the “d’Églantine” being added in commemoration of his receiving the golden eglantine of Clémence Isaure from the academy of the floral games at Toulouse. After travelling through the provinces as an actor, he came to Paris, and produced an unsuccessful comedy entitledLes Gens de lettres, ou le provincial à Paris(1787). A tragedy,Augusta, produced at theThéâtre Français, was also a failure. One only of his plays,Philinte, ou la suite du Misanthrope(1790), still preserves its reputation. It professes to be a continuation of Molière’sMisanthrope, but the hero of the piece is of a different character from the nominal prototype—an impersonation, indeed, of pure and simple egotism. On its publication the play was introduced by a preface, in which the author mercilessly satirizes theOptimisteof his rival J.F. Collin d’Harleville, whoseChâteaux en Espagnehad gained the applause which Fabre’sPrésomptueux(1789) had failed to win. The character of Philinte had much political significance. Alceste received the highest praise, and evidently represents the citizen patriot, while Philinte is a dangerous aristocrat in disguise. Fabre was president and secretary of the club of the Cordeliers, and belonged also to the Jacobin club. He was chosen by Danton as his private secretary, and sat in the National Convention. He voted for the king’s death, supporting themaximumand the law of the suspected, and he was a bitter enemy of the Girondins. After the death of Marat he published aPortrait de l’Ami du Peuple. On the abolition of the Gregorian calendar he sat on the committee entrusted with the formation of the republican substitute, and to him was due a large part of the new nomenclature, with its poeticPrairial and Floréal, its prosaicPrimidiandDuodi. The report which he made on the subject, on the 24th of October, has some scientific value. On the 12th of January 1794 he was arrested by order of the committee of public safety on a charge of malversation and forgery in connexion with the affairs of the Compagnie des Indes. Documents still existing prove that the charge was altogether groundless. During his trial Fabre showed the greatest calmness and sang his own well-known song ofIl pleut, il pleut, bergère, rentre tes blancs moutons. He was guillotined on the 5th of April 1794. On his way to the scaffold he distributed his manuscript poems to the people.
A posthumous play,Les Précepteurs, steeped with the doctrines of Rousseau’sÉmile, was performed on the 17th of September 1794, and met with an enthusiastic reception. Among Fabre’s other plays are the gay and successfulConvalescent de qualité(1791), andL’Intrigue épistolaire(1791). In the latter play Fabre is supposed to have drawn a portrait of the painter Jean Baptiste Greuze.
The author’sŒuvres mêlées et posthumeswere published at Paris 1802, 2 vols. See Albert Maurin,Galerie hist. de la Révolution française, tome 11; Jules Janin,Hist. de la litt. dram.; Chénier,Tableau de la litt. française; F.A. Aulard in theNouvelle Revue(July 1885).
The author’sŒuvres mêlées et posthumeswere published at Paris 1802, 2 vols. See Albert Maurin,Galerie hist. de la Révolution française, tome 11; Jules Janin,Hist. de la litt. dram.; Chénier,Tableau de la litt. française; F.A. Aulard in theNouvelle Revue(July 1885).
FABRETTI, RAPHAEL(1618-1700), Italian antiquary, was born in 1618 at Urbino in Umbria. He studied law at Cagli and Urbino, where he took the degree of doctor at the age of eighteen. While in Rome he attracted the notice of Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali, who employed him successively as treasurer and auditor of the papal legation in Spain, where he remained thirteen years. Meanwhile, his favourite classical and antiquarian studies were not neglected; and on his return journey he made important observations of the relics and monuments of Spain, France and Italy. At Rome he was appointed judge of appellation of the Capitol, which post he left to be auditor of the legation at Urbino. After three years he returned to Rome, on the invitation of Cardinal Carpegna, vicar of Innocent XI., and devoted himself to antiquarian research, examining with minute care the monuments and inscriptions of the Campagna. He always rode a horse which his friends nicknamed “Marco Polo,” after the Venetian traveller. By Innocent XII. he was made keeper of the archives of the castle St Angelo, a charge which he retained till his death. He died at Rome on the 7th of January 1700. His collection of inscriptions and monuments was purchased by Cardinal Stoppani, and placed in the ducal palace at Urbino, where they may still be seen.
His workDe Aquis et Aquae-ductibus veteris Romae(1680), three dissertations on the topography of ancient Latium, is inserted in Graevius’sThesaurus, iv. (1677). His interpretation of certain passages in Livy and other classical authors involved him in a dispute with Gronovius, which bore a strong resemblance to that between Milton and Salmasius, Gronovius addressing Fabretti asFaber Rusticus, and the latter, in reply, speaking ofGrunnoviusand histitivilitia. In this controversy Fabretti used the pseudonym Iasitheus, which he afterwards took as his pastoral name in the Academy of the Arcadians. His other works,De Columna Trajani Syntagma(Rome, 1683), andInscriptionum Antiquarum Explicatio(Rome, 1699), throw much light on Roman antiquity. In the former is to be found his explication of a bas-relief, with inscriptions, now in the Capitol at Rome, representing the war and taking of Troy, known as the Iliac table. Letters and other shorter works of Fabretti are to be found in publications of the time, as theJournal des Savants.
See Crescimbeni,Le Vite degli Arcadi illustri; Fabroni,Vitae Italorum, vi. 174; Niceron, iv. 372; J. Lamius,Memorabilia Italorum eruditione praestantium(Florence, 1742-1748).
See Crescimbeni,Le Vite degli Arcadi illustri; Fabroni,Vitae Italorum, vi. 174; Niceron, iv. 372; J. Lamius,Memorabilia Italorum eruditione praestantium(Florence, 1742-1748).
FABRIANI, SEVERINO(1792-1849), Italian author and teacher, was born at Spilamberto, Italy, on the 7th of January 1792. Entering the Church, he took up educational work, but in consequence of complete loss of voice he resolved to devote himself to teaching deaf mutes, and founded a small school specially for them. This school the duke of Modena made into an institute, and by a special authority from the pope a teaching staff of nuns was appointed. Fabriani’s method of instruction is summed up in hisLogical Letters on Italian Grammar(1847). He died on the 27th of April 1849.
FABRIANO,a town of the Marches, Italy, in the province of Ancona, from which it is 44 m. S.W. by rail, 1066 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) town 9586, commune 22,996. It has been noted since the 13th century for its paper mills, which still produce the best paper in Italy. A school of painting arose here, one of the early masters of which is Allegretto Nuzi (1308-1385); and several of the churches contain works by him and other local masters. His pupil, Gentile da Fabriano (1370-1428), was a painter of considerably greater skill and wider knowledge; but there are no important works of his at Fabriano. The sacristy of S. Agostino also contains some good frescoes by Ottaviano Nelli of Gubbio. The municipal picture gallery contains a collection of pictures, and among them are some primitive frescoes, attributable to the 12th century, which still retain traces of Byzantine influence. The Archivio Comunale contains documents on watermarked paper of local manufacture going back to the 13th century. The Ponte dell’ Acra, a bridge of the 15th century, is noticeable for the ingenuity and strength of its construction. The hospital of S. Maria Buon Gesu is a fine work of 1456, attributed to Rossellino.
See A. Zonghi,Antiche Carte Fabrianesi.
See A. Zonghi,Antiche Carte Fabrianesi.
(T. As.)
FABRICIUS, GAIUS LUSCINUS(i.e.“the one-eyed”), Roman general, was the first member of the Fabrician gens who settled in Rome. He migrated to Rome from Aletrium (Livy ix. 43), one of the Hernican towns which was allowed to retain its independence as a reward for not having revolted. In 285 he was one of the ambassadors sent to the Tarentines to dissuade them from making war on the Romans. In 282 (when consul) he defeated the Bruttians and Lucanians, who had besiegedThurii (Livy,Epit.12). After the defeat of the Romans by Pyrrhus at Heraclea (280), Fabricius was sent to treat for the ransom and exchange of the prisoners. All attempts to bribe him were unsuccessful, and Pyrrhus is said to have been so impressed that he released the prisoners without ransom (Plutarch,Pyrrhus, 18). The story that Pyrrhus attempted to frighten Fabricius by the sight of an elephant is probably a fiction. In 278 Fabricius was elected consul for the second time, and was successful in negotiating terms of peace with Pyrrhus, who sailed away to Sicily. Fabricius afterwards gained a series of victories over the Samnites, the Lucanians and the Bruttians, and on his return to Rome received the honour of a triumph. Notwithstanding the offices he had filled he died poor, and provision had to be made for his daughter out of the funds of the state (Val. Max. iv. 4, 10). Fabricius was regarded by the Romans of later times as a model of ancient simplicity and incorruptible integrity.
FABRICIUS, GEORG(1516-1571), German poet, historian and archaeologist, was born at Chemnitz in upper Saxony on the 23rd of April 1516, and educated at Leipzig. Travelling in Italy with one of his pupils, he made an exhaustive study of the antiquities of Rome. He published the results in hisRoma(1550), in which the correspondence between every discoverable relic of the old city and the references to them in ancient literature was traced in detail. In 1546 he was appointed rector of the college of Meissen, where he died on the 17th of July 1571. In his sacred poems he affected to avoid every word with the slightest savour of paganism; and he blamed the poets for their allusions to pagan divinities.
Principal works: editions of Terence (1548) and Virgil (1551);Poëmatum sacrorum libri xxv.(1560);Poëtarum veterum ecclesiasticorum opera Christiana(1562);De Re Poëtica libri septem(1565);Rerum Misnicarum libri septem(1569); (posthumous)Originum illustrissimae stirpis Saxonicae libri septem(1597);Rerum Germaniae magnae et Saxoniae universae memorabilium mirabiliumque volumina duo(1609). A life of Georg Fabricius was published in 1839 by D.C.W. Baumgarten-Crusius, who in 1845 also issued an edition of Fabricius’sEpistolae ad W. Meurerum et alios aequales, with a short sketchDe Vita Ge. Fabricii et de gente Fabriciorum; see also F. Wachter in Ersch and Gruber’sAllgemeine Encyclopädie.
Principal works: editions of Terence (1548) and Virgil (1551);Poëmatum sacrorum libri xxv.(1560);Poëtarum veterum ecclesiasticorum opera Christiana(1562);De Re Poëtica libri septem(1565);Rerum Misnicarum libri septem(1569); (posthumous)Originum illustrissimae stirpis Saxonicae libri septem(1597);Rerum Germaniae magnae et Saxoniae universae memorabilium mirabiliumque volumina duo(1609). A life of Georg Fabricius was published in 1839 by D.C.W. Baumgarten-Crusius, who in 1845 also issued an edition of Fabricius’sEpistolae ad W. Meurerum et alios aequales, with a short sketchDe Vita Ge. Fabricii et de gente Fabriciorum; see also F. Wachter in Ersch and Gruber’sAllgemeine Encyclopädie.
FABRICIUS, HIERONYMUS[Fabrizio, Geronimo] (1537-1619), Italian anatomist and embryologist, was surnamed Acquapendente from the episcopal city of that name, where he was born in 1537. At Padua, after a course of philosophy, he studied medicine under G. Fallopius, whose successor as teacher of anatomy and surgery he became in 1562. From the senators of Venice he received numerous honours, and an anatomical theatre was built by them for his accommodation. He died at Venice on the 21st of May 1619. His works includeDe visione, voce et auditu(1600),De formato foetu(1600),De venarum ostiolis(1603),De formatione ovi et pulli(1621). His collected works were published at Leipzig in 1687 asOpera omnia Anatomica et Physiologica, but the Leiden edition, published by Albinus in 1738, is preferred as containing a life of the author and the prefaces of his treatises. (SeeAnatomy;Embryology.)
FABRICIUS, JOHANN ALBERT(1668-1736), German classical scholar and bibliographer, was born at Leipzig on the 11th of November 1668. His father, Werner Fabricius, director of music in the church of St Paul at Leipzig, was the author of several works, the most important beingDeliciae Harmonicae(1656). The son received his early education from his father, who on his death-bed recommended him to the care of the theologian Valentin Alberti. He studied under J.G. Herrichen, and afterwards at Quedlinburg under Samuel Schmid. It was in Schmid’s library, as he afterwards said, that he found the two books, F. Barth’sAdversariaand D.G. Morhof’sPolyhistor Literarius, which suggested to him the idea of hisBibliothecae, the works on which his great reputation was founded. Having returned to Leipzig in 1686, he published anonymously (two years later) his first work,Scriptorum recentiorum decas, an attack on ten writers of the day. HisDecas Decadum, sive plagiariorum et pseudonymorum centuria(1689) is the only one ot his works to which be signs the name Faber. He then applied himself to the study of medicine, which, however, he relinquished for that of theology; and having gone to Hamburg in 1693, he proposed to travel abroad, when the unexpected tidings that the expense of his education had absorbed his whole patrimony, and even left him in debt to his trustee, forced him to abandon his project. He therefore remained at Hamburg in the capacity of librarian to J.F. Mayer. In 1696 he accompanied his patron to Sweden; and on his return to Hamburg, not long afterwards, he became a candidate for the chair of logic and philosophy. The suffrages being equally divided between Fabricius and Sebastian Edzardus, one of his opponents, the appointment was decided by lot in favour of Edzardus; but in 1699 Fabricius succeeded Vincent Placcius in the chair of rhetoric and ethics, a post which he held till his death, refusing invitations to Greifswald, Kiel, Giessen and Wittenberg. He died at Hamburg on the 30th of April 1736.
Fabricius is credited with 128 books, but very many of them were only books which he had edited. One of the most famed and laborious of these is theBibliotheca Latina(1697, republished in an improved and amended form by J.A. Ernesti, 1773). The divisions of the compilation are—the writers to the age of Tiberius; thence to that of the Antonines; and thirdly, to the decay of the language; a fourth gives fragments from old authors, and chapters on early Christian literature. A supplementary work wasBibliotheca Latina mediae et infimae Aetatis(1734-1736; supplementary volume by C. Schöttgen, 1746; ed. Mansi, 1754). Hischef-d’œuvre, however, is theBibliotheca Graeca(1705-1728, revised and continued by G.C. Harles, 1790-1812), a work which has justly been denominatedmaximus antiquae eruditionis thesaurus. Its divisions are marked off by Homer, Plato, Christ, Constantine, and the capture of Constantinople in 1453, while a sixth section is devoted to canon law, jurisprudence and medicine. Of his remaining works we may mention:—Bibliotheca Antiquaria, an account of the writers whose works illustrated Hebrew, Greek, Roman and Christian antiquities (1713);Centifolium Lutheranum, a Lutheran bibliography (1728);Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica(1718). HisCodex Apocryphus(1703) is still considered indispensable as an authority on apocryphal Christian literature.The details of the life of Fabricius are to be found inDe Vita et Scriptis J.A. Fabricii Commentarius, by his son-in-law, H.S. Reimarus, the well-known editor of Dio Cassius, published at Hamburg, 1737; see also C.F. Bähr in Ersch and Gruber’sAllgemeine Encyclopädie, and J.E. Sandys,Hist. Class. Schol.iii. (1908).
Fabricius is credited with 128 books, but very many of them were only books which he had edited. One of the most famed and laborious of these is theBibliotheca Latina(1697, republished in an improved and amended form by J.A. Ernesti, 1773). The divisions of the compilation are—the writers to the age of Tiberius; thence to that of the Antonines; and thirdly, to the decay of the language; a fourth gives fragments from old authors, and chapters on early Christian literature. A supplementary work wasBibliotheca Latina mediae et infimae Aetatis(1734-1736; supplementary volume by C. Schöttgen, 1746; ed. Mansi, 1754). Hischef-d’œuvre, however, is theBibliotheca Graeca(1705-1728, revised and continued by G.C. Harles, 1790-1812), a work which has justly been denominatedmaximus antiquae eruditionis thesaurus. Its divisions are marked off by Homer, Plato, Christ, Constantine, and the capture of Constantinople in 1453, while a sixth section is devoted to canon law, jurisprudence and medicine. Of his remaining works we may mention:—Bibliotheca Antiquaria, an account of the writers whose works illustrated Hebrew, Greek, Roman and Christian antiquities (1713);Centifolium Lutheranum, a Lutheran bibliography (1728);Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica(1718). HisCodex Apocryphus(1703) is still considered indispensable as an authority on apocryphal Christian literature.
The details of the life of Fabricius are to be found inDe Vita et Scriptis J.A. Fabricii Commentarius, by his son-in-law, H.S. Reimarus, the well-known editor of Dio Cassius, published at Hamburg, 1737; see also C.F. Bähr in Ersch and Gruber’sAllgemeine Encyclopädie, and J.E. Sandys,Hist. Class. Schol.iii. (1908).
FABRICIUS, JOHANN CHRISTIAN(1745-1808), Danish entomologist and economist, was born at Tondern in Schleswig on the 7th of January 1745. After studying at Altona and Copenhagen, he was sent to Upsala, where he attended the lectures of Linnaeus. He devoted his attention professionally to political economy, and, after lecturing on that subject in 1769, was appointed in 1775 professor of natural history, economy and finance at Kiel, in which capacity he wrote various works, chiefly referring to Denmark, and of no special interest. He also published a few other works on general and natural history, botany and travel (includingReise nach Norwegen, 1779), and, although his professional stipend was small, he extended his personal researches into every town in northern and central Europe where a natural history museum was to be found. It is as an entomologist that his memory survives, and for many years his great scientific reputation rested upon the system of classification which he founded upon the structure of the mouth-organs instead of the wings. He had a keen eye for specific differences, and possessed the art of terse and accurate description. He died on the 3rd of March 1808.
A complete list of his entomological publications (31) will be found in Hagen’sBibliotheca Entomologiae; the following are the chief:—Systema Entomologiae(1775);Genera Insectorum(1776);Philosophia Entomologica(1778);Species insectorum(1781);Mantissa Insectorum(1787);Entomologia Systematica(1792-1794), with a supplement (1798);Systema Eleutheratorum(1801),Rhyngotorum(1803),Piezatorum(1804), andAntliatorum(1805). Full particulars of his life will be found, with a portrait, in theTransactions of the Entomological Society of London(1845), 4, pp. i-xvi, where his autobiography is translated from the Danish.
A complete list of his entomological publications (31) will be found in Hagen’sBibliotheca Entomologiae; the following are the chief:—Systema Entomologiae(1775);Genera Insectorum(1776);Philosophia Entomologica(1778);Species insectorum(1781);Mantissa Insectorum(1787);Entomologia Systematica(1792-1794), with a supplement (1798);Systema Eleutheratorum(1801),Rhyngotorum(1803),Piezatorum(1804), andAntliatorum(1805). Full particulars of his life will be found, with a portrait, in theTransactions of the Entomological Society of London(1845), 4, pp. i-xvi, where his autobiography is translated from the Danish.
FABRIZI, NICOLA(1804-1885), Italian patriot, was born at Modena on the 4th of April 1804. He took part in the Modena insurrection of 1831, and attempted to succour Ancona, but was arrested at sea and taken to Toulon, whence he proceeded to Marseilles. Afterwards he organized with Mazzini the ill-fated Savoy expedition. Taking refuge in Spain, he fought against the Carlists, and was decorated for valour on the battlefield (18th July 1837). At the end of the Carlist War he established acentre of conspiracy at Malta, endeavoured to dissuade Mazzini from the Bandiera enterprise, but aided Crispi in organizing the Sicilian revolution of 1848. With a company of volunteers he distinguished himself in the defence of Venice, afterwards proceeding to Rome, where he took part in the defence of San Pancrazio. Upon the fall of Rome he returned to Malta, accumulating arms and stores; which he conveyed to Sicily; after having, in 1859, worked with Crispi to prepare the Sicilian revolution of 1860. While Garibaldi was sailing from Genoa towards Marsala Fabrizi landed at Pizzolo, and, after severe fighting, joined Garibaldi at Palermo. Under the Garibaldian Dictatorship he was appointed governor of Messina and minister of war. Returning to Malta after the Neapolitan plebiscite, which he had vainly endeavoured to postpone, he was recalled to aid Cialdini in suppressing brigandage. While on his way to Sicily in 1862, to induce Garibaldi to give up the Aspromonte enterprise, he was arrested at Naples by Lamarmora. During the war of 1866 he became Garibaldi’s chief of staff, and in 1867 fought at Mentana. In parliament he endeavoured to promote agreement between the chiefs of the Left, and from 1878 onwards worked to secure the return of Crispi to power, but died on the 31st of March 1885, two years before the realization of his object. His whole life was characterized by ardent patriotism and unimpeachable integrity.
(H. W. S.)
FABROT, CHARLES ANNIBAL(1580-1659), French jurisconsult, was born at Aix in Provence on the 15th of September 1580. At an early age he made great progress in the ancient languages and in the civil and the canon law; and in 1602 he received the degree of doctor of law, and was made avocat to the parlement of Aix. In 1609 he obtained a professorship in the university of his native town. He is best known by his translation of theBasilica, which may be said to have formed the code of the Eastern empire till its destruction. This work was published at Paris in 1647 in 7 vols. fol., and obtained for its author a considerable pension from the chancellor, Pierre Seguier, to whom it was dedicated. Fabrot likewise rendered great service to the science of jurisprudence by his edition of Cujas, which comprised several treatises of that great jurist previously unpublished. He also edited the works of several Byzantine historians, and was besides the author of various antiquarian and legal treatises. He died at Paris on the 16th of January 1659.
FABYAN, ROBERT(d. 1513), English chronicler, belonged to an Essex family, members of which had been connected with trade in London. He was a member of the Drapers company, alderman of Farringdon Without, and served as sheriff in 1493-1494. In 1496 he was one of those appointed to make representations to the king on the new impositions on English cloth in Flanders. Next year he was one of the aldermen employed in keeping watch at the time of the Cornish rebellion. He resigned his aldermanry in 1502, on the pretext of poverty, apparently in order to avoid the expense of mayoralty. He had, however, acquired considerable wealth with his wife Elizabeth Pake, by whom he had a numerous family. He spent his latter years on his estate of Halstedys at Theydon Garnon in Essex. He died on the 28th of February 1513 (Inquisitiones post mortem for London, p. 29, edited by G.S. Fry, 1896); his will, dated the 11th of July 1511, was proved on the 12th of July 1513. Fabyan’s Chronicle was first published by Richard Pynson in 1516 asThe new chronicles of England and of France. In this edition it ends with the reign of Richard III., and this probably represents the work as Fabyan left it, though with the omission of an autobiographical note and some religious verses, which form theEnvoiof his history. The note and verses are first found in the second edition, printed by John Rastell in 1533 with continuations down to 1509. A third edition appeared in 1542, and a fourth in 1559 with additions to that year. The only modern edition is that of Sir Henry Ellis, 1811.
In the note above mentioned Fabyan himself says: “and here I make an ende of the vii. parte and hole werke, the vii. day of November in the yere of our Lord Jesu Christes Incarnacion M. vc. and iiij.” This seems conclusive that in 1504 he did not contemplate any extension of his chronicles beyond 1485. The continuations printed by Rastell are certainly not Fabyan’s work. But Stow in hisCollections(ap.Survey of London, ii. 305-306, ed. C.L. Kingsford) states that Fabyan wrote “a Chronicle of London, England and of France, beginning at the creation and endynge in the third year of Henry VIII., which both I have in written hand.” In hisSurvey of London(i. 191, 209, ii. 55, 116) Stow several times quotes Fabyan as his authority for statements which are not to be found in the printed continuations of Rastell. Some further evidence may be found in other notes of Stow’s (ap.Survey of London, ii. 280, 283, 365-366), and in the citation by Hakluyt of an unprinted work of Fabyan as the authority for his note of Cabot’s voyages. That Fabyan had continued his Chronicle to 1511 may be accepted as certain, but no trace of the manuscript can now be found.
It is only the seventh part of Fabyan’s Chronicle, from the Norman Conquest onwards, that possesses any historical value. For his French history he followed chiefly theCompendium super Francorum gestisof Robert Gaguin, printed at Paris in 1497. For English history his best source was the oldChronicles of London, from which he borrowed also the arrangement of his work in civic form. From 1440 to 1485 he follows, as a rule with great fidelity, the original of the London Chronicle in Cotton MS. Vitellius A. XVI. (printed inChronicles of London, 1905, pp. 153-264).
Fabyan’s own merits are little more than those of an industrious compiler, who strung together the accounts of his different authorities without any critical capacity. He says expressly that his work was “gaderyd without understandynge,” and speaks of himself as “of cunnynge full destitute.” Nevertheless he deserves the praise which he has received as an early worker, and for having made public information which through Hall and Holinshed has become the common property of later historians, and has only recently been otherwise accessible. Bale alleges that the first edition was burnt by order of Cardinal Wolsey because it reflected on the wealth of the clergy; this probably refers to his version of the Lollards Bill of 1410, which Fabyan extracted from one of the London Chronicles.
See further Ellis’Introduction; W. Busch,England under the Tudors(trans. A.M. Todd, 1895), i. 405-410; and C.L. Kingsford,Chronicles of London, pp. xxvi-xxxii (1905).
See further Ellis’Introduction; W. Busch,England under the Tudors(trans. A.M. Todd, 1895), i. 405-410; and C.L. Kingsford,Chronicles of London, pp. xxvi-xxxii (1905).
(C. L. K.)
FAÇADE,a French architectural term signifying the external face of a building, but more generally applied to the principal front.
FACCIOLATI, JACOPO(1682-1769), Italian philologist, was born at Torriglia, in the province of Padua, in 1682. He owed his admission to the seminary of Padua to Cardinal Barberigo, who had formed a high opinion of the boy’s talents. As professor of logic, and regent of the schools, Facciolati was the ornament of the Paduan university during a period of forty-five years. He published improved editions of several philological works, such as theThesaurus Ciceronianusof Nizolius, and the polyglot vocabulary known under the name of Calepino. The latter work, in which he was assisted by his pupil Egidio Forcellini, he completed in four years—1715 to 1719. It was written in seven languages, and suggested to the editor the idea of hisopus magnum, theTolius Latinitatis Lexicon, which was ultimately published at Cardinal Priole’s expense, 4 vols. fol., Padua, 1771 (revised ed. by de Vit, 1858-1887). In the compilation of this work the chief burden seems to have been borne by Facciolati’s pupil Forcellini, to whom, however, the lexicographer allows a very scanty measure of justice. Perhaps the best testimony to the learning and industry of the compiler is the well-known observation that the whole body of Latinity, if it were to perish, might be restored from this lexicon. Facciolati’s mastery of Latin style, as displayed in his epistles, has been very much admired for its purity and grace. In or about 1739 Facciolati undertook the continuation of Papadopoli’s history of the university of Padua, carrying it on to his own day. Facciolati was known over all Europe as one of the most enlightened and zealous teachers of the time; and among the many flattering invitations which he received, but always declined, was one from the king of Portugal, to accept the directorship of a college atLisbon for the young nobility. He died in 1769. His history of the university was published in 1757, under the nameFasti Gymnasii Patavini. In 1808 a volume containing nine of his Epistles, never before published, was issued at Padua.
See J.E. Sandys,Hist. Class. Schol.ii. (1908).
See J.E. Sandys,Hist. Class. Schol.ii. (1908).
FACE(from Lat.facies, derived either fromfacere, to make, or from a rootfa-, meaning “appear”; cf. Gr.φαίνειν), a word whose various meanings of surface, front, expression of countenance, look or appearance, are adaptations of the application of the word to the external part of the front portion of the head, usually taken to extend from the top of the forehead to the point of the chin, and from ear to ear (seeAnatomy:Superficial and Artistic; andPhysiognomy).
FACTION(through the French, from Lat.factio, a company of persons combined for action,facere, to do; from the other French derivativefaçoncomes “fashion”), a term, used especially with an opprobrious meaning, for a body of partisans who put their party aims and interests above those of the state or public, and employ unscrupulous or questionable means; it is thus a common term of reciprocal abuse between parties. In the history of the Roman and Later Roman empires the factions (factiones) of the circus and hippodrome, at Rome and Constantinople, played a prominent part in politics. Thefactioneswere properly the four companies into which the charioteers were divided, and distinguished by the colours they wore. Originally at Rome there were only two, white (albata) and red (russata), when each race was open to two chariots only; on the increase to four, the green (prasina) and blue (veneta) were added. At Constantinople the last two absorbed the red and white factions.
For a brilliant description of the factions at Constantinople under Justinian, and the part they played in the celebrated Nika riot in January 532, see Gibbon’sDecline and Fall, ch. xl.; and J.B. Bury’sAppendix10 in vol. iv. of his edition (1898), for a discussion of the relationship between thefactionesand the demes of Constantinople.
For a brilliant description of the factions at Constantinople under Justinian, and the part they played in the celebrated Nika riot in January 532, see Gibbon’sDecline and Fall, ch. xl.; and J.B. Bury’sAppendix10 in vol. iv. of his edition (1898), for a discussion of the relationship between thefactionesand the demes of Constantinople.
FACTOR(from Lat.facere, to make or do), strictly “one who makes”; thus in ordinary parlance, anything which goes to the composition of anything else is termed one of its “factors,” and in mathematics the term is used of those quantities which, when multiplied together, produce a given product. In a special sense, however—and that to which this article is devoted—“factor” is the name given to a mercantile agent (of the class known as “general agents”) employed to buy or sell goods for a commission. When employed to sell, the possession of the goods is entrusted to him by his principal, and when employed to buy it is his duty to obtain possession of the goods and to consign them to his principal. In this he differs from a broker (q.v.), who has not such possession, and it is this distinguishing characteristic which gave rise in England to the series of statutes known as the Factors Acts. By these acts, consolidated and extended by the act of 1889, third parties buying or taking pledges from factors are protected as if the factor were in reality owner; but these enactments have in no way affected the contractual relations between the factor and his employer, and it will be convenient to define them before discussing the position of third parties as affected by the act.
I. Factor and Principal
A factor is appointed or dismissed in the same way as any other agent. He may be employed for a single transaction or to transact all his principal’s business of a certain class during a limited period or till such time as his authority may be determined. A factor’s duty is to sell or buy as directed; to carry out with care, skill and good faith any instructions he may receive; to receive or make payment; to keep accounts, and to hand over to his principal the balance standing to his principal’s credit, without any deduction save for commission and expenses. All express instructions he must carry out to the full, provided they do not involve fraud or illegality. On any point not covered by his express instructions he must follow the usual practice of his particular business, if not inconsistent with his instructions or his position as factor. Many usages of businesses in which factors are employed have been proved in court, and may now be regarded as legally established. For instance, he may, unless otherwise directed, sell in his own name, give warranties as to goods sold by him, sell by sample (in most businesses), give such credit as is usual in his business, receive payment in cash or as customary; and give receipts in full discharge, sell by indorsement of bills of lading; and insure the goods. It is his duty to clear the goods at the customs, take charge of them and keep them safely, give such notices to his principal and others as may be required, and if necessary take legal proceedings for the protection of the goods. On the other hand, he has not authority to delegate his employment, or to barter; and as between himself and his principal he has no right to pledge the goods, although as between the principal and the pledgee, an unauthorized pledge made by the factor may by virtue of the Factors Act 1889 be binding upon the principal. It is, moreover, inconsistent with his employment as agent that he should buy or sell on his own account from or to his principal. A factor has no right to follow any usage which is inconsistent with the ordinary duties and authority of a factor unless his principal has expressly or impliedly given his consent.
On the due performance of his duties the factor is entitled to his commission, which is usually a percentage on the value of the goods sold or bought by him on account of his principal, regulated in amount by, the usages of each business. Sometimes the factor makes himself personally responsible for the solvency of the persons with whom he deals, in order that his principal may avoid the risk entailed by the usual trade credit. In such a case the factor is said to be employed ondel credereterms, and is entitled to a higher rate of commission, usually 2½% extra. Such an arrangement is not a contract of guarantee within the Statute of Frauds, and therefore need not be in writing. Besides his remuneration, the factor is entitled to be reimbursed by his principal for any expenses, and to be indemnified against any liabilities which he may have properly incurred in the execution of his principal’s instructions. For the purpose of enforcing his rights a factor has, without legal proceedings, two remedies. Firstly, by virtue of his generallien(q.v.) he may hold any of his principal’s goods which come to his hands as security for the payment to him of any commission, out-of-pocket expenses, or even general balance of account in his favour. Although he cannot sell the goods, he may refuse to give them up until he is paid. Secondly, where he has consigned goods to his principal but not been paid, he may “stop in transit” subject to the same rules of law as an ordinary vendor; that is to say, he must exercise his right before the transit ends; and his right may be defeated by his principal transferring the document of title to the goods to some third person, who takes it in good faith and for valuable consideration (Factors Act 1889, section 10). If the factor does not carry out his principal’s instructions, or carries them out so negligently or unskilfully that his principal gets no benefit thereby, the factor loses his commission and his right to reimbursement and indemnity. If by such failure or negligence the principal suffers any loss, the latter may recover it as damages. So too if the factor fails to render proper accounts his principal may by proper legal proceedings obtain an account and payment of what is found due; and threatened breaches of duty may be summarily stopped by an injunction. Criminal acts by the factor in relation to his principal’s goods are dealt with by section 78 of the Larceny Act 1860.
II. Principal and Third Party
(a)At Common Law.—The actual authority of a factor is defined by the same limits as his duty, the nature of which has been just described;i.e.firstly, by his principal’s express instructions; secondly, by the rules of law and usages of trade, in view of which those instructions were expressed. But his power to bind his principal as regards third parties is often wider than his actual authority; for it would not be reasonable that third parties should be prejudiced by secret instructions, given in derogation of the authority ordinarily conferred by the custom of trade; and, as regards them, the factor is said to have “apparent” or “ostensible” authority, or to beheld outas havingauthority to do what is customary, even though he may in fact have been expressly forbidden so to do by his principal. But this rule is subject to the proviso that if the third party have notice of the factor’s actual instructions, the “apparent” authority will not be greater than the actual. “The general principle of law,” said Lord Blackburn in the case ofColev.North-Western Bank, 1875, L.R. 10, C.P. 363, “is that when the true owner has clothed any one with apparent authority to act as his agent, he is bound to those who deal with the agent on the assumption that he really is an agent with that authority, to the same extent as if the apparent authority were real.” Under such circumstances the principal is for reasons of common fairness precluded, or, in legal phraseology,estopped, from denying his agent’s authority. On the same principle of estoppel, but not by reason of any trade usages, a course of dealing which has been followed between a factor and a third party with the assent of the principal will give the factor apparent authority to continue dealing on the same terms even after the principal’s assent has been withdrawn; provided that the third party has no notice of the withdrawal.
Such apparent authority binds the principal both as to acts done in excess of the actual authority and also when the actual authority has entirely ceased. For instance, A. B. receives goods from C.D. with instructions not to sell below 1s. per ℔; A. B. sells at 10½d., the market price; the buyer is entitled to the goods at 10½d., because A. B. had apparent authority, although he exceeded his actual authority. On the same principle the buyer would get a good title by buying from A. B. goods entrusted to him by C. D., even though at the time of the sale C. D. had revoked A. B.’s authority and instructed him not to sell at all. In either case the factor is held out as having authority to sell, and the principal cannot afterwards turn round and say that his factor had no such authority. As in the course of his business the factor must necessarily make representations preliminary to the contracts into which he enters, so the principal will be bound by any such representations as may be within the factor’s actual or apparent authority to the same degree as by the factor’s contracts.
(b)Under the Factors Act 1889.—The main object of the Factors Acts, in so far as they relate to transactions carried out by factors, has been to add to the number of cases in which third parties honestly buying or lending money on the security of goods may get a good title from persons in whose possession the goods are with the consent, actual or apparent, of the real owners, thus calling in aid the principle of French law that “possession vaut titre” as against the doctrine of the English common law that “nemo dat quod non habet.” The chief change in the law relating specially to factors has been to put pledges by factors on the same footing as sales, so as to bind a principal to third parties by his factor’s pledge as by his factor’s sale. The Factors Act 1889 in part re-enacts and in part extends the provisions of the earlier acts of 1823, 1825, 1842 and 1877; and is, so far as it relates to sales by factors, in large measure merely declaratory of the law as it previously existed. Its most important provisions concerning factors are as follows:—