Sylvestre Bonnard, a member of the Institute, is a historian and philologist, gifted with great erudition. He lives among books and launches himself into the research, in Sicily and Paris, of the precious manuscript of the French version of the Golden Legend, which he finally obtains. By chance he meets a young girl named Jeanne, the granddaughter of a woman he once loved.

Author Biography

Anatole France (1844 - 1924) was a French poet, journalist and novelist. He was a successful novelist, with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Academie francaise and won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his brilliant literary achievements, characterized as they are by a nobility of style, a profound human sympathy, grace and a true Gallic temperament." France is also widely believed to be the model for narrator Marcel's literary idol Bergotte in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (1850 - 1904), known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo, was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. In the United States, Hearn is also known for his writings about the city of New Orleans based on his ten-year stay in that city. Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (1850 - 1904), known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo, was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. In the United States, Hearn is also known for his writings about the city of New Orleans based on his ten-year stay in that city.