Gustave Le Bon was a French polymath who studied anthropology, psychology, sociology, and medicine. Owing to his interest in anthropology and prehistoric archaeology, he dedicated one of his many books to Arab culture and art: his comprehensive work La Civilisation des Arabes, consisting of six volumes illustrated with numerous plates, was published in Paris in 1884 by Firmin-Didot. As early as in 1881, Le Bon travelled to a colloquium in Algiers, and subsequently to Morocco and southern Spain. Between April and July 1882, he undertook a journey to prepare his book, travelling to Egypt, Palestine (Jerusalem, Jericho), Syria, and Turkey. He returned to France with a large number of photographs (Volait, 2007, pp. 101–111; Volait, 2009, pp. 80–89).

As reported by a contemporary, Marthe Bibesco, a room in Le Bon’s house at Rue Vignon 29 in Paris was filled with numerous objects he had brought back from his travels. These included mosque lamps, copper plates, carpets, faïence, weapons, and tiger skins (Bibesco, 1932, p. 259). Rouvier (1986, p. 32) also lists ‘vitraux arabes’, but according to Bibesco these were ‘vitraux gothiques’.

Bibesco, M. (15 mars 1932). Le docteur Faust de la rue Vignon. Les Annales politiques et littéraires, 2402, 259–260.

Marpeau, B. (2000). Gustave Le Bon: parcours d’un intellectuel 1841–1931. Paris : CNRS éditions.

Rouvier, C. (1986). Les idées politiques de Gustave le Bon. Paris : PUF.

Volait, M. (2009). Fous du Caire: excentriques, architectes & amateurs d’art en é**gypte 1863–1914. Forcalquier: L’Archange Minotaure.

Volait, M. (2007). De l’anthropologie physique à “l’ethnographie artistique”: Gustave Le Bon et sa Civilisation des Arabes (1884). Histoire de l’art, 60, **101–111. Retrieved June, 26, 2024, from www.persee.fr/doc/hista_0992-2059_2007_num_60_1_3182