ANNE-CLAUDE-PHILIPPE DE TUBIÈRES-GRIMOARD DE PESTELS DE LÉVIS, COMTE DE CAYLUS

French archaeologist, b. at Paris, in 1692; d. in 1765. He was the eldest son of Lieutenant-General de Caylus and was educated with the greatest care by his mother, a woman of much ability and literary distinction, whose "Souvenirs" are full of valuable information for the history of the time. When only seventeen years old he enlisted and took part in the campaigns of the French army in Spain and Germany. After the peace of Rastadt (1714), he left the army and devoted himself entirely to the study of the arts and sciences. He first travelled for a few years in Italy, Greece, the East, England and Germany, visiting old ruins and gathering inscriptions and antiquities. His desire to see everything himself and verify the information given by ancient historians was such that he sometimes risked his life. He went even so far, during his excursion to the ruins of Ephesus and Colophon, as to take as guides and bodyguards a troop of much-dreaded highwaymen who infested the country. After his return to Paris, he wrote his most important book, "Recueil d'antiquités égyptiennes, étrusques, grecques, romaines et gauloises" (Paris, 1752-67, seven vols., the last two volumes published after his death). He also worked, with Mariette, Barthélemy and Rive, at the collection of ancient paintings known as "Peintures antiques trouvees a Rome" (three vols. folio), which was published in 1783-87, long after Caylus' death. A member of the Academy of Painting in 1731, and of the Academy of Inscriptions in 1742, he wrote no fewer than fifty reports on various topics of erudition. Caylus was also a painter and an engraver of no little merit, and he is credited with finding a new process to inlay colors in marble. Many engravings were made at his own expense, such as those of the "Histoire de Saint Joseph ", after Rembrandt (Amsterdam, 1755). In his moments of leisure Caylus took pleasure in composing novels, humorous pieces, and fairy tales, which were published together under the title of "Oeuvres badines" (Paris, 1787). His "Oriental Tales" were translated into English (London, 1817).

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online