In 1854, Hippolyte de Villemessant was the publisher of Le Figaro which he had resurrected from its ashes and turned into a respected institution. He had wide-ranging experience in the press, from women’s periodicals to small literary and satirical journals. He updated both the newspaper’s spirit and its substance, arranging it like a “department store,” and stocking it with the best writers of his time. Villemessant, who was a “legitimist” (Royalist), was close friends with the intransigent Republican (anti-Royalist) Nadar: they shared a penchant for innovation, their minds ever alert to the possibilities of a perpetually evolving world. In his Memoirs, the owner of Le Figaro included a long description of his friend. In November, 1858, Nadar sold the stone plate for the Pantheon to Villemessant for a new print run (including several changes) meant to be used as gifts for subscribers to the newspaper.