In the 1930s Duke University Libraries purchased the private working library of Gustave Lanson, the former director of l’Ecole Normale Supérieure and a famous historian of French literature. Gustave Lanson (born Orléans in 1857), published his Histoire de la littérature française in 1894, and the collective project Manuel bibliographique de la littérature française in 1909-1912. Over the course of thirty years, he became so influential in literary circles that his colleagues, along with writers, poets, and playwrights felt obligated to dedicate their most recent work to Lanson, the “Master.”
The inscriptions and dedications are contained in the printed works as well as in a collection of 1600 pamphlets/pre-prints that came to Duke Libraries as part of the purchase of the Lanson library.