Coming at such a juncture, a collection of lays and ballads from the distant shores of the Adriatic, with an exhaustive apparatus of notes, biographies, etc., were meat and drink to the apostles of the new literary gospel. And so seriously was this supposed contribution to the science of folklore taken, that critics at once set to work to make their comments, and German scholars were not slow in detecting in the French prose translation distinct traces of the original Illyrian metres.
Acerca de Prósper Merimée
Well-versed in European languages and an archaeologist by profession, Prosper Mérimée (1803-70) wrote stories and novellas which displayed his concern for historical accuracy and his fascination for foreign places.