Pierre Gustave Brunet (1805-1896) compiled bibliographies. I know nothing else about him. His output was remarkable, though, as were the subjects he chose: Pope Joan, Biblical apocrypha, theological curiosities, imaginary libraries, fictional publishers, literary frauds, scatological texts, facetious literature, and lost books, among others.
His best remembered work is probably his 1880 compendium, Les Fous Littéraires (Insane Writers), written under the pseudonym Philomneste Junior. He was, by his own admission, inspired by Charles Nodier, whom he quotes in the preface: “I dare to assert that if there is still a curious book to be written in the world of bibliography, it is the bibliography of the insane, and if there is a piquant, curious, and instructive library to be assembled, it is that of their work… By an eccentric book, I mean a book written outside all of the known rules of composition and style, and whose purpose is impossible or very difficult to determine, if, by chance, the author had any purpose in writing it.” Later writers have taken up the theme, among them Raymond Queneau and André Blavier, but Brunet was among the first.
The book is full of delights; here’s the first entry:
ACHÉ, (D), or DACHET
Historic Tableau of the Evils of Substitution, Voraux-Gireux (near Liège), 1809, 5 vol. in 8vo.
This work has become impossible to find following its seizure by the imperial police; of the 400 copies printed, three were sent to various officials, and two left by courtesy to the author; all of the rest were destroyed.
Born in Namur in 1748, d’Aché embraced the monastic life at the age of twenty; his mind broke down; he convinced himself that he was the Duke of Bourgogne, the elder son of the Dauphin, father of Louis XVI, and in consequence the legitimate successor of Louis XV; his younger brother was nothing but a usurper; he tells his entire story in a fashion as prolix as it is confused, and adds the story of his marriage to his niece, the daughter of Louis XVI.
D’Achet sought baptism as well as the throne of France; he requested it from everyone he met.
Quérard said a few words about this individual in his Literary Impostures Unveiled, t. II, 834, ed. G. Brunet and P. Jannet. He is also discussed in the Essay of M. Delepierre, p. 123-128.
(Posted by Doug Skinner; all translations mine)