2i ] METHOD OF INVESTIGATION 2I 



At the outset of the study the term men of letters had to 

 be clearly defined. All definitions of the term must be more 

 or less arbitrary. It was found, however, that Professor 

 Alfred Odin, who had made a similar study of French lit- 

 erary people, had framed a reasonably adequate definition 

 of the expression. 1 The fact that his definition seemed to 

 have proved satisfactory for the purposes of his investiga- 

 tion was also a strong argument for employing the same 

 definition in the present study. Moreover, adoption of 

 Odin's definition would make possible a fair and accurate 

 comparison of his conclusions with those to be obtained in 

 this study. For these reasons, it was decided to adopt 

 Odin's definition. It is as follows : 



By men of letters we mean authors whose writings are of 

 general interest, and all those, relatively few in number, who, 

 without having written themselves, have none the less con- 

 tributed directly and in an appreciable degree to the develop- 

 ment of literature. 2 



Odin classified all literati under twelve heads, as follows : 



1. pat. (patrons). This group includes patrons, founders 

 and directors of schools, theatres, societies and literary salons, 

 bibliophiles; in a word, all those who, without entering one 

 of the three following groups, have helped in the development 

 of literature by other methods than writing. 



2. lib. (librarians). Librarians, printers, calligraphers and 

 all those who have aided in similar fashion in the dissemination 

 of literary works. 



3. act. (actors). Dramatic artists of all kinds, including 



1 A. Odin, Genese des Grands Hommes, Gens de Lettres Franqais 

 Modernes (Paris, 1895). The present study is in many ways modeled 

 after that of Odin, and generous acknowledgment must be made of 

 extensive use of his method of procedure. 



8 Ibid., p. 310. 



