Jean Schlumberger regarded himself primarily as a novelist and, indeed, both his experimental and traditional fiction constitute significant contributions to the genre. He is, however, perhaps best known today for his role as critic and administrator for the influential Nouvelle Revue Française, his participation in the founding of the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier, and his lifelong friendship with André Gide.

Born into a wealthy Protestant family in Guebwiller, Alsace, on 26 May 1877, the son of Paul and Marguerite deWitt Schlumberger, Schlumberger was the great-grandson of the historian François Guizot on his mother's side. At fifteen Schlumberger left his native province, then a part of Imperial Germany, in order not to incur military service obligation in Germany. In Paris he studied the humanities at the Lycée Condorcet and later the history of religion at the Sorbonne. Before turning to literature, Schlumberger...