Louis Moréri
| Louis Moréri | |
|---|---|
| Louis Moréri, frontispiece, etching by Gerard Edelinck after a drawing by De Troyes, 17th century
Louis Moréri, frontispiece, etching by Gerard Edelinck after a drawing by De Troyes, 17th century
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| Born | 25 March 1643 Bargemon, France |
| Died | 10 July 1680 (aged 37) Paris, France |
Louis Moréri (25 March 1643 – 10 July 1680) was a French priest and encyclopedist. Moreri was the author of Le Grand Dictionaire historique, ou le mélange curieux de l'histoire sacrée et profane (literally, The Great Historical Dictionary or Curious Anthology of Sacred and Secular History). At least 24 editions of the encyclopedia were published between 1674 and 1759 and the encyclopedia was translated into a number of languages, including English, German, Dutch and Spanish.
Life
Moréri was born in 1643 in Bargemon, a village in the French ancient province of Provence. His great-grandfather, Joseph Chatranet, a native of Dijon, had settled in Provence under King Charles IX of France and taken the name of the village of Moréri, which he acquired through marriage.[1]
Louis Moréri studied humanities in Draguignan and later rhetoric and philosophy at the Jesuit College of Aix-en-Provence. He then studied theology, obtaining his doctoral degree, and was ordained a priest in Lyon. During his stay in Lyon, he published several works, among them La pratique de la perfection chrétienne et religieuse (1667), a translation of the work of the Spanish Jesuit theologian, Alonso Rodriguez. It was probably in Lyon that he met Samuel Chappuzeau, who claimed to have first given him the idea of writing his encyclopedia.[2]
In 1675, shortly after publishing the first edition of his encyclopedia, Moréri accompanied his bishop to Paris, where he became acquainted with Simon Arnauld, Marquis de Pomponne, then the minister of foreign affairs. Three years later, he was hired to be a tutor for Pomponne's children. During this time, he worked on a second edition of his encyclopedia. In 1680, midway through the printing of the second edition, he died of tuberculosis.[3]
Legacy
Moréri's encyclopedia, Le Grand Dictionaire historique, ou le mélange curieux de l'histoire sacrée et profane (literally, The Great Historical Dictionary, or Curious Anthology of Sacred and Secular History, although it was translated differently into English at the time) was first published in Lyon in 1674. The encyclopedia focused almost exclusively on historical and biographical articles. Moréri dedicated it to Gaillard de Longjumeau, the Bishop of Apt, to whom he had been appointed chaplain. Moréri's one-volume edition of 1674 and posthumous two-volume edition of 1681 were revised and expanded by others after his death. At least twenty-four editions were published between 1674 (one volume) and 1759 (ten volumes). The encyclopedia was also translated and adapted into English, German, Dutch and Spanish.[4]
Moréri's Grand Dictionaire historique gave rise to a more famous encyclopedia, Pierre Bayle's The Historical and Critical Dictionary (1697). Bayle conceived his work as correcting and making up for deficiencies of Moréri's work.
See also
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Louis Moréri — An encyclopaedist, b. at Bargemont in the Diocese of Frejus, France, 25 March, 1643, d. at Paris, 10 July, 1680. His grandfather Joseph Chatranet, a native of Dijon, had settled in Provence under Charles IX and taken the name of the village of Moréri, the seigniory of which he had acquired through marriage. Young Moréri studied humanities at Draguignan, rhetoric at the Jesuit College of Aix and theology at Lyons. During his stay in this city, he published several works, among them "Pratique de la perfection chretienne et religieuse" (1667), a translation from the Spanish of Alphonso Rodriguez's work. After his ordination, he preached in Lyons for five years with great success. It was about that time that he formed the design of publishing a dictionary that that would contain all the interesting data of history and mythology. In 1673 he was as appointed chaplain to Gaillard de Longjumeau, Bishop of Apt, to whom he dedicated the first edition of his encyclopaedia. In 1675 he accompanied that prelate to Paris where he became acquainted with de Pomponne, who gave him employment in his offices. After the downfall of that minister in 1678, he returned to his studies, but overwork had undermined his constitution and he died of consumption in 1680.
Moréri was a man of great erudition but, lacked taste and judgment. His name is connected with a work that can hardly be considered as his own after all the changes which it has undergone. Bayle, who intended to make up the deficiencies of Moréri's dictionary, said of it: "I share the opinion of Horace on those who lead the way. The first compilers of dictionaries made many errors, but they deserve a glory of which their successors ought never to deprive them. Moréri has given himself a great deal of trouble, has been useful to everybody, and has sufficient information to many. "Moréri's encyclopaedia appeared for the first time in Lyons in 1671, under the title: "Le grand Dictionnaire historique, ou melange curieux de l'histoire sacrée et profane." It was defective in many respects and was greatly improved in later editions which appeared in Paris or Amsterdam. The best edition is the twentieth and last, published at Paris, in 1759.
References
- Back to citation Arnold Miller, "Louis Moréri's Grand Dictionnaire historique," in Notable Encyclopedias of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: Nine Predecessors of the Encyclopédie, ed. Frank A. Kafker (Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 1981), 17.
- Back to citation Chappuzeau worked in Lyon for a time. For his claim of priority, see J. Caullery, "Notes sur Samuel Chappuzeau," Bulletin de la Société de l'histoire du protestantisme français 58 (1909): 145.
- Back to citation Miller, "Louis Moréri's Grand Dictionnaire historique," 18.
- Back to citation Miller, "Louis Moréri's Grand Dictionnaire historique," 48-50.