Born in Paris, Jean Baptiste Marie Augustin Challamel (1818-1894) was a historian who wrote extensively about various aspects of the social history of France. He wrote a great deal, and his works were well-received. Some of his titles included France and the French Through the Centuries (1882), The Legends of Place Maubert (1877), and The Ghosts of the Place de Grève (1879). Deeply a bibliophile, he was a bookseller as well as a library curator. He also was involved with the Société des gens de lettres de France, a group of authors who banded together to defend their interests. This edition is dedicated to Cecile Ravauger, able and energetic scholar and researcher of French social movement.