Claude Antoine Jean Georges Napoléon Coste (27 June 1805 – 14 January 1883) was a French classical guitarist and composer born in Amondans, near Besançon. Taught guitar first by his mother, he moved to Paris in 1829 to study with Fernando Sor and quickly established himself as the leading French guitar virtuoso of his generation. Unable to find a publisher for much of his output, he self-published many works. He was known for his fondness for the seven-string guitar, and after Sor’s death he edited and expanded Sor’s guitar method. A shoulder injury in 1863 slowed but did not end his performing career, which continued until 1881.

Coste is regarded as one of the finest guitarist-composers of the French Romantic school, and one of the first to transcribe 17th-century guitar music into modern notation, helping preserve earlier repertoire for later players.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napol%C3%A9on_Coste