Deceased French symbolist writer from Nîmes whose visible œuvre and secret heroic project of recomposing Don Quixote word-for-word are the subject of the essay.

Unnamed male literary acquaintance and admirer of Menard who writes this corrective memorial essay in 1939.

Woman who published a catalog of Menard's works deemed deceitful and incomplete by the narrator; target of the opening correction.

Aristocratic woman at whose weekly gatherings the narrator met Menard; endorses the narrator's text and is preparing her own tribute.

Woman of Monaco high society, now of Pittsburgh, who endorses the narrator's account in an open letter in the magazine Luxe.

International philanthropist and husband of the countess de Bagnoregio; mentioned only in passing.

Historical author of Don Quixote; functions as Menard's precursor and implicit mirror against whom Menard's project is defined.

Lithographer whose exhibit Menard catalogued; also preparing a tribute portrait of Menard.