CHASLES, PHILARETE (1798-1873), French critic and man of letters, was born at Mainvilliers (Eure et Loir). His father, P. J. M. Chasles (1754-1826), was a member of the Con vention, and brought up his son according to the principles of Rousseau's Emile. Philarete, after a regime of outdoor life, followed by some years of classical study, was apprenticed to a printer. He contributed to the Revue des deux onondes, until he had a violent quarrel, terminating in a lawsuit, with Francois Buloz, who won his case. He became librarian of the Bibliotheque Mazarine, and from 1841 was professor of comparative literature at the College de France. During his active life he produced some 5o volumes of literary history and criticism and of social history.
Among his best critical works is Dix-huitiemR Siecle en Angleterre ... (1846), one of a series of 20 vols. of Etudes de litterature comparee (1846-75) , which he called later Trente ans de critique. An account of his strenuous boyhood is given in his Maison de mon pere. His Memoires (1876-77) did not fulfil the expectations based on his brilliant talk.