In the 1880's, France “discovered” Russian literature. In this period appeared a large number of translations from Russian writers, and numerous articles about Russian authors were published in various magazines and reviews. In the mid-1880's, two books came out whose purpose was to familiarize the French reader with the masters of Russian literature. Ernest Dupuy's Les Grands Maîtres de la Littérature Russe du 19me siecle was published in 1885. Dupuy gives no more than a resumé of biographical facts concerning Gogol, Turgenev and Tolstoi, with a brief summary of some of their novels. Although the book is titled “The Great Masters of Russian Literature in the 19th Century,” Dostoyevski is not even mentioned. Dupuy's book was nevertheless reprinted several times.