Larbaud, Valery

Larbaud, Valery (välārē` lärbō`), 1881–1957, French novelist, poet, critic, and translator. A wealthy and cosmopolitan scholar and poet, Larbaud learned six languages and produced notable French translations of Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and the works of such writers as Conrad, Hardy, and Joyce. He was particularly noted for his creation of the fictional character Archibaldo Olson Barnabooth, a wealthy young South American who travels through Europe searching for fulfillment. Larbaud's Poèmes par un riche amateur (1908) was attributed to Barnabooth as was his Journal d'A. O. Barnabooth (1913), in reality a novel splendid in its evocation of Europe. Larbaud's other works include the novel Fermina Marquez (1911); Enfantines (1918), short stories; Amants, heureux amants (1924), three short novels; and such critical works as Ce Vice impuni la lecture (1925).