All Topics  
Robert Darnton

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Robert Darnton
 
 
  Topics Robert Darnton Topic Home

Robert Darnton (born May 10, 1939) is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 cultural historian, recognized as a leading expert on eighteenth-century France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
.

Life
He graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 in 1960, attended Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship

The Rhodes Scholarship named after Cecil Rhodes is an international award for study at the University of Oxford and was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships....
, and earned a Ph.D. (D. Phil.) in history from Oxford in 1964, where he studied with Richard Cobb
Richard Cobb

Richard Cobb was a British historian. He became Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford, after an initially unconventional academic career in which he spent a dozen years working as an independent scholar in French archives....
, among others. He worked as reporter at The New York Times
The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"?named for its staid appearance and style?is regarded as a national newspaper of record....
 from 1964 to 1965. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1982, and was President of the American Historical Association
American Historical Association

The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and teachers of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials....
 in 1999.

He joined the Princeton University
Princeton University

Princeton University is a private university university located in Princeton, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and has the largest per-student Financial endowment in the world....
 faculty in 1968, and was Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of European History.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Robert Darnton'
Start a new discussion about 'Robert Darnton'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Robert Darnton (born May 10, 1939) is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 cultural historian, recognized as a leading expert on eighteenth-century France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
.

Life


He graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 in 1960, attended Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship

The Rhodes Scholarship named after Cecil Rhodes is an international award for study at the University of Oxford and was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships....
, and earned a Ph.D. (D. Phil.) in history from Oxford in 1964, where he studied with Richard Cobb
Richard Cobb

Richard Cobb was a British historian. He became Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford, after an initially unconventional academic career in which he spent a dozen years working as an independent scholar in French archives....
, among others. He worked as reporter at The New York Times
The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"?named for its staid appearance and style?is regarded as a national newspaper of record....
 from 1964 to 1965. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1982, and was President of the American Historical Association
American Historical Association

The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and teachers of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials....
 in 1999.

He joined the Princeton University
Princeton University

Princeton University is a private university university located in Princeton, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and has the largest per-student Financial endowment in the world....
 faculty in 1968, and was Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of European History. On July 1, 2007, he transferred to emeritus status at Princeton, and was appointed Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and director of the Harvard University Library
Harvard University Library

The Harvard University Library system comprises about 90 libraries, with more than 15 million volumes. It is the oldest library system in the United States and the largest academic library system in the world....
,

Darnton is a pioneer in the field of the history of the book
History of the book

The history of the book follows a suite of technology innovations for books. These improved the quality of text conservation, the access to information, portability, and the cost of production....
. He currently is writing about electronic publishing
Electronic publishing

Electronic publishing includes the digital publication of e-books and electronic articles, and the development of digital library and catalogues....
. He is founder of the , sponsored by Mellon Foundation.

Awards and honors


One of his books, The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France (New York: W.W. Norton, 1996), won the National Book Critics Circle Award
National Book Critics Circle Award

The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English language....
 for criticism in 1995.

In 1999 he was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur
Légion d'honneur

The L?gion d'honneur or Ordre national de la L?gion d'honneur is a France order established by Napoleon I of France, First Consul of the French First Republic, on May 19, 1802....
, an award given by the French government, in recognition of his work. In 2004 he was awarded the Gutenberg prize by the International Gutenberg Society.

In 2005 he received an award for distinguished achievement from the American Printing History Association. He was President of the American Historical Association
American Historical Association

The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and teachers of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials....
 from 1997-1998.

Family


His brother is the retired New York Times editor and author John Darnton
John Darnton

John Darnton is an United States journalist and author....
, and his father was the war correspondent Byron Darnton
Byron Darnton

Byron Darnton was an American reporter and war correspondent for the New York Times in the Pacific theater during World War II.He was killed in 1942 by a bomb dropped from an American B-25 Mitchell bomber, the tenth American war correspondent killed in action in the war....
.

Works


  • Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France (1968), Harvard University Press
    Harvard University Press

    Harvard University Press is a publishing house, a division of Harvard University, that is highly respected in academic publishing. It was established on January 13, 1913....
  • The Business of Enlightenment: A Publishing History of the Encyclopédie, 1775-1800 (1979), Harvard University Press
  • The Literary Underground of the Old Regime (1982), Harvard University Press
  • The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History (1984)
  • Revolution in Print: the Press in France 1775-1800 (1989) edited with Daniel Roche
    Daniel Roche

    Daniel Roche is a French social and cultural historian, whose chosen field is the Ancien R?gime in France. Roche holds an honorary chair at the Coll?ge de France....
  • The Kiss of Lamourette: Reflections in Cultural History (1989)
  • Edition et sédition. L'univers de la littérature clandestine au XVIIIe siècle (1991)
  • Berlin Journal, 1989-1990 (1991)
  • Gens de lettres, gens du livre (1992)
  • The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Prerevolutionary France (1995)
  • The Corpus of Clandestine Literature in France, 1769-1789 (1995)
  • George Washington's False Teeth: An Unconventional Guide to the Eighteenth Century (June 2004)


See also

  • History of the book
    History of the book

    The history of the book follows a suite of technology innovations for books. These improved the quality of text conservation, the access to information, portability, and the cost of production....


External links

  • from The New York Review of Books
    The New York Review of Books

    The New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs published in New York City....