René Le Bossu

Life

He was born in Paris, studied at Nanterre, and in 1649 became one of the regular canons of the Abbey of St Genevieve. He wrote Parallèle des principes de la physique d'Aristote et de celle de René Descartes (1674) and Traité du poème épique (1675). The latter book on epic poetry was highly praised by Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux. Its leading doctrine was that the subject should be chosen before the characters, and that the action should be arranged without reference to the personages who are to figure in the scene.