Édouard Charton

Who was Édouard Charton?

Édouard Charton was an eminent French literary figure who was the founder and, for fifty-five years, editor-in-chief of the publication Magasin pittoresque, in addition to serving for thirty years as director of publication for Hachette.

A native of Sens in the Bourgogne région, Édouard Charton trained as a lawyer, receiving his degree at the age of 20. His first great dedication to a cause came two years later when, during 1829–31, using his oratorical skills, he became a traveling propagator for the social philosophy of Saint-Simonism, which ultimately resulted for him in great disappointment.

From his mid-forties onward, he spent many years in politics, serving in the National Assembly as Deputy and Senator, expressing his convictions which formed a continuation and refinement of the previous century's Age of Enlightenment: faith in progress and the emancipation of people through education; respect for human dignity, constant fight for the dissemination of knowledge and political action in favor of liberal and republican ideas.