Édouard Frère was a French bookseller, archivist

Archivist

An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...

, biographer, and historian specialized in the Normandy area.

Life

The son and grand-son of booksellers, Frère's father, Jacques-Christophe operated a significant and almost a century-old library on the port of Rouen

Rouen

Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

. Despite having received an education that gave him access to all the liberal professions, Frère's family background gave him an strong taste for books to which he remained faithful until his death. He succeeded his father in 1827 at the family library, and was, from 1827 to 1842, one of those applied and learned booksellers who was of assistance both to letters and its servants. He carried on the traditions of Rouen's most renowned publishers by publishing major works, all related to Normandy, without having misgivings about the considerable sacrifices to his wealth. He repeatedly called on Eustache Hyacinthe Langlois's refined and delicate hand to provide artwork for these books, for he liked his style and loved to encourage his talent.

Once he felt his own erudition was up to par, he thought his turn to engage in writing had come as well. Being passionate about Normandy's traditions and local history as he was, he knew about those subjects as much as could the publisher who, for many years, had successfully brought out the most notable publications about all things Norman. In 1842, Frère sold his library to Lebrument, and he definitely entered scholarship, bringing out very erudite articles on various elements of Norman history, focusing notably on booksellers and old books in a row.

After he published these successful local studies, Frère engaged in his opus magnum, the monumental Manuel du Bibliographe normand. It was the outcome of a vast research and information gathered from several Norman scholars, which took him five years to complete. This book answered perfectly the expectations promised by its title. Frère owes the better part of his literary and bibliographical notoriety to this work, which ended in every scholar's hands.

Frère was appointed in 1846, recording secretary at the Chamber of Commerce in Rouen. There, he was instrumental to the maritime and industrial trade of his region. Members of the Chamber of Commerce appreciated his extensive training, consistent application, discernment and spirit of wisdom, and they like liked to put his knowledge and experience into service. The depth of his knowledge and the seriousness of his work in 1869 led him to fill in Louis Bouilhet

Louis Bouilhet

Louis Hyacinthe Bouilhet was a French poet and dramatist.He was born at Cany, Seine Inférieure. He was a schoolfellow of Gustave Flaubert, to whom he dedicated his first work, Miloenis , a narrative poem in five cantos, dealing with Roman manners under the emperor Commodus...

's post as director of the municipal library of Rouen, left vacant by his death. During the few years that Frère spent there, he worked as hard he always did throughout his life.

After he was admitted at the Académie des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Rouen

Académie des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Rouen

The Académie des Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts de Rouen is a learned society created by letters patent of Louis XV on 17 June 1744.The Academy of Rouen got its early start with a few friends with a common appreciation for botany who were in the habit of gathering in a small garden of the...

 in 1845, Frère became one of the most frequent and most arduous, augmenting, each year, its précis or its archives with meritorious works universally recognized as thought-provoking. His research on the early days of printing in Normandy, his note on printing and bookselling in Rouen in the 15th and 16th centuries, his considerations on the origins of typography, a complete history of printing in Normandy, the Catalogue raisonné des manuscrits normands de la Bibliothèque de Rouen, etc. all go to show the range of Frère's fondness for all book related subjects. This attention was not undivided though, as he ventured, on occasion, into the literary field, publishing the Fragments littéraires de Jeanne Grey

Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...

, a note on French and English minstrels, on Scandinavian literature

Scandinavian literature

Scandinavia literature or Nordic literature is the literature in the languages of the Nordic countries of Northern Europe. The Nordic countries include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway , Sweden and associated autonomous territories .The majority of these nations and regions use North Germanic...

, a page on the history of the Palinods. This last publication marked his last year as president of the Academy of Rouen, a position he has held since 1867.

In 1869, the Rouen government entrusted him with the preservation of its rich and extensive municipal library. Frère, at once started completing its catalog and review, by increasing the number of notes.

Frère never knew a moment's respite, in his life of seventy-six years, because death caught him when he had just finished printing the Catalogue des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque municipale de Rouen, relatifs à la Normandie.

Frère had been a member of the Société libre d'émulation de la Seine-Inférieure, since 1828. He also belonged to the Society of Antiquaries of Normandy and the Society of Norman Bibliophiles.

Works

Manuel du bibliographe normand ; ou, Dictionnaire bibliographique et historique contenant : l'indication des ouvrages relatifs à la Normandie, depuis l'origine de l'imprimerie jusqu'à nos jours ; des notes biographiques, critiques et littéraires sur les écrivains normands, sur les auteurs de publications se rattachant à la Normandie, et sur diverses notabilités de cette province ; des recherches sur l'histoire de l'imprimerie en Normandie, Rouen, A. Le Brument, 1858–1860 ; reprint New York, Franklin 1964 ; Paris, Librairie Guénéguaud, 1964 ; Genève, Slatkine Reprints, 1971. Catalogue des livres rares et curieux, la plupart concernant la Normandie, Rouen, Métérie, 1874. Catalogue des manuscrits relatifs à la Normandie, précédé d'une notice sur la formation de la Bibliothèque et ses accroissements successifs, Rouen, Boissel, 1874. Considérations sur les origines typographiques, Rouen, Péron, 1850. De l'imprimerie et de la librairie à Rouen, dans les XV^e et XVI^e siècles, et de Martin Morin, célèbre imprimeur rouennais, Rouen, Le Brument, 1843. Des livres de liturgie des églises d'Angleterre (Salisbury

Salisbury

Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...

, York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

, Hereford

Hereford

Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...

), imprimés à Rouen dans les XV^e et XVI^e siècles : étude suivie du catalogue de ces impressions, de M.CCCC.XCII à M.D.LVII, avec des notes bibliographiques, Rouen, Le Brument, 1867. Discours de l'entrée de Louis XIV en sa ville de Rouen, capitale de la province et du duché de Normandie, et séjour qu'il y fit en février 1650 : accompagné de la Reine régente et des principaux personnages de la cour, Rouen, Boissel, 1863.

• Exhibition of a choice collection of water-colour and crayon drawings by the late Edouard Frère at the Old Bond Street Galleries, London, T. Agnew & Sons, 1888. Funérailles de Georges d'Amboise
  Georges d'Amboise
  Georges d'Amboise was a French Roman Catholic cardinal and minister of state. He belonged to the house of Amboise, a noble family possessed of considerable influence: of his nine brothers, four were bishops. His father, Pierre d'Amboise, seigneur de Chaumont, was chamberlain to Charles VII and...
  
  , archevêque de Rouen, cardinal, légat du pape, ministre de Louis XII, et gouverneur de la Normandie : célébrées à Lyon et à Rouen du 25 mai au 20 juin 1510, Rouen, Henry Boissel, 1864. Guide de l'étranger dans Rouen. Extrait de l'itinéraire de Th. Licquet, Rouen, Le Brument, 1851. La féodalité, or, Les droits du seigneur : événements mystérieux, lugubres, scandaleux, exactions, despotisme, libertinage de la noblesse et du clergé, suivis de la marche et de la décadence de la féodalité, depuis le moyen âge jusqu'à nos jours, Paris, Chez l'éditeur, 1800. Les Ruines de la coutume de Normandie : ou petit dictionnaire du droit normand restant en vigueur pour les droits acquis, Rouen, Lebrument ; Paris, Durand, 1856. Les Veillées littéraires illustrées : choix de romans, nouvelles, poésies, pièces de théâtre, Paris, Bry Ainé, 1849. Notice sur la vie et les travaux de Marc-Isambert Brunel, Rouen, Alfred Péron, 1850. Recherches sur les premiers temps de l'imprimerie en Normandie, Rouen, Édouard Frère, 1829. Rouen : son histoire, ses monuments et ses environs : guide nécessaire aux voyageurs pour bien connaître cette capitale de la Normandie et les localités voisines les plus intéressantes, Rouen, Lebrument, 1861. Rouen au dix-septième siècle, Rouen, Le Brument, 1861, 1655. Rouen ; son histoire, ses monuments et ses environs. Guide nécessaire aux voyageurs pour bien connaître cette capitale de la Normandie ; suivi de notices sur Dieppe et Arques
  Arques-la-Bataille
  Arques-la-Bataille is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:Arques is situated near the confluence of the rivers Eaulne, Varenne and Béthune, with the forest of Arques to the north-east...
  
  , Rouen, Le Brument, 1857. Une séance de l'Académie des Palinods en 1640, Rouen, Le Brument, 1867. Voyage historique et pittoresque de Paris à Rouen, sur la Seine
  Seine
  The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
  
  , en bateau à vapeur, Rouen, Édouard Frère, 1839.