Jacques Lelong

Jacques Lelong
Born	19 April 1665
Died	13 August 1721 (aged 56)
Occupation	bibliographer
Notable work	Bibliotheca Sacra (1709) Bibliothèque historique de la France (1719)

Jacques Lelong (occasionally Jacobus Longus; 19 April 1665 – 13 August 1721) was a French bibliographer born in Paris. He joined the Knights of Malta at the age of ten, but later joined the Oratorians.

He was a priest of the Oratory, and was librarian to the establishment of the Order in Paris, where he spent his life in seclusion. He first published a Bibliotheca Sacra (1709), an index of all the editions of the Bible, then a Bibliothèque historique de la France (1719), a volume of considerable size, containing 17,487 items to which Lelong sometimes appends useful notes.

His work is far from complete. He vainly hoped that his friend and successor Father Desmolets would continue it; but it was resumed by Charles-Marie Fevret de Fontette, a councillor of the parlement of Dijon, who spent fifteen years of his life and a great deal of money in rewriting the Bibliothèque historique. The first two volumes (1768 and 1769) contained as many as 29,143 items. Fevret de Fontette died on 16 February 1772, leaving the third volume almost finished. It appeared in 1772, thanks to Barbaud de La Bruyère, who later brought out the 4th and 5th volumes (1775 and 1778). In this new edition the Bibliothèque historique is a work of reference of the highest order; it is still of great value.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Jacques Lelong, French bibliographer, b. at Paris, 19 April, 1665; d. there, 13 Aug., 1721. As a boy of ten, he entered the Order of the Knights of St. John of Malta, and after a very brief and unhappy sojourn in Malta, made his studies at Paris. He left the Order of the Knights and entered the Oratory in 1686. He then taught at the college of Juilly in the Diocese of Meaux, where he was ordained priest in 1689, and was later librarian at the seminary of Notre-Dame des Vertus in Aubervilliers near Paris. He was transferred in 1699 to the Oratory of St-Honore at Paris, and remained there as librarian till his death twenty-two years later. The title of the first work which brought him fame indicates its contents fairly completely: "Bibliotheca Sacra in binos Syllabos distincta quæ (I) omnes sive Textus sacri sive Versionum ejusdem quavis lingua expressarum Editiones, necnon praestantiores MSS Codices cum notis historicis et criticis, (II) omnia eorum opera quovis idiomate conscripta, qui hucusque in s. Scripturam quidpiam ediderunt et grammaticas et Lexica linguarum præsertim orientalium, quæ ad illustrandas Sacras paginas aliquid adjumenti conferre possunt, continet" (2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1709; Vigouroux, contradicting other authorities, says 1702; 2nd ed., 1709); edited by Boerner with additions chiefly of German works (Antwerp, 1709), folio edition by the author (Paris, 1719); edited after the author's death with many additions and corrections by Lelong and by his confrere, Desmolets, who prefixed the life from which we draw our facts (2 vols. fol. Paris, 1723). The last and best edition is by Andrew Gottlieb Masch (6 vols., 4to, Halle, 1775-83). The work is still valuable as a bibliography of the printed Bible in its various editions, and of the early modern literature concerning them. Lelong also wrote a "Discours historique sur les principales editions des Bibles polyglottes" (Paris, 1713). His other work, which shows his variety of tastes and has proved very useful to students of French history, is entitled "Bibliothèque historique de la France, contenant le catalogue des ouvrages imprimés et manuscrits qui traitent de l'histoire ce royaume, ou qui y ont rapport, avec des notes critiques et historiques" (Paris, 1719).

Desmolets' notice seems to be the only source. See also Ingold, Essai de bibliographie oratorienne (Paris, 1880-2), 82.

External links

• Jacques Lelong on data.bnf.fr