P. L. Jacob

P. L. Jacob was the pen name, in its fuller form the Bibliophile Jacob, of Paul Lacroix (1806–1884), a French writer of enormous output. He began with historical novels and tales in the Romantic vogue for the past, then turned to the history of manners, costume and the arts, editing old texts and compiling bibliographies. From 1855 he was curator of the Arsenal library in Paris. His richly illustrated volumes on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, among them The Arts of the Middle Ages and Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages, were translated into English and widely read.