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{{Short description|French Catholic priest and author}}
'''Jean Terrasson''' (1670 – 15 September 1750), often referred to as the '''Abbé Terrasson''', was a French priest, author and member of the [[Académie française]].
'''Jean Terrasson''' (31 January 1670 – 15 September 1750), often referred to as the '''Abbé Terrasson''', was a French [[Catholic priest]], author and member of the [[Académie française]]. The erudite [[Antoine Terrasson]] was his nephew.


==Life==
== Life ==
Jean Terrasson, born in [[Lyon]], was elected a member of the Académie française in 1707.<ref name="Sédillot1869">{{cite book|last=Sédillot|first=Louis-Amélie|title=Les professeurs de mathématiques et de physique générale au Collège de France|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=1fISAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA140|accessdate=16 September 2012|year=1869|publisher=Imprimerie des sciences mathématiques et physiques|page=140}}</ref> His 1715 ''Dissertation on Homer's Iliad'' took the side of the 'moderns' in the [[quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns]].<ref name="DeJean1997">{{cite book|last=DeJean|first=Joan|title=Ancients against Moderns: Culture Wars and the Making of a Fin de Siècle|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=GodL3pGZSjEC&pg=PA100|accessdate=16 September 2012|year=1997|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-14138-1|page=100}}</ref><ref name="Norman2011">{{cite book|last=Norman|first=Larry F.|title=The Shock of the Ancient: Literature and History in Early Modern France|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OGsytByf9rYC&pg=PA264|accessdate=16 September 2012|year=2011|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-59148-3|page=116}}</ref> In 1721 he became Professor of Greek at the [[College de France]].<ref name="Sédillot1869"/>
Jean Terrasson, born in [[Lyon]], was elected a member of the Académie française in 1707.<ref name="Sédillot1869">{{cite book|last=Sédillot|first=Louis-Amélie|title=Les professeurs de mathématiques et de physique générale au Collège de France|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_7abnAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=16 September 2012|year=1869|publisher=Imprimerie des sciences mathématiques et physiques|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_7abnAAAAMAAJ/page/n143 140]}}</ref> His 1715 ''Dissertation on Homer's Iliad'' took the side of the 'moderns' in the [[quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns]].<ref name="DeJean1997">{{cite book|last=DeJean|first=Joan|title=Ancients against Moderns: Culture Wars and the Making of a Fin de Siècle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GodL3pGZSjEC&pg=PA100|accessdate=16 September 2012|year=1997|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-14138-1|page=100}}</ref><ref name="Norman2011">{{cite book|last=Norman|first=Larry F.|title=The Shock of the Ancient: Literature and History in Early Modern France|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OGsytByf9rYC&pg=PA264|accessdate=16 September 2012|year=2011|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-59148-3|page=116}}</ref> In 1721 he became Professor of Greek at the [[College de France]].<ref name="Sédillot1869"/>


His best-known work is probably the [[fantasy novel]] ''[[Sethos|Life of Sethos, Taken from Private Memoirs of the Ancient Egyptians]]'' (1731). This fiction elided [[Freemasonry|Masonic]] with [[ancient Egyptian]] ritual, and served as an inspiration for [[Mozart]] and [[Emanuel Schikaneder|Schikaneder]]'s ''[[Magic Flute]]''.
His best-known work is probably the [[fantasy novel]] ''[[Life of Sethos, Taken from Private Memoirs of the Ancient Egyptians]]'' (1731). This fiction elided [[Freemasonry|Masonic]] and [[ancient Egyptian]] ritual, and served as an inspiration for [[Mozart]] and [[Emanuel Schikaneder|Schikaneder]]'s ''[[Magic Flute]]''.


==Works==
== Works ==
* ''Dissertation critique sur l'Iliade de Homère'', 1715.
*1715: ''Dissertation critique sur l'Iliade de Homère''.
** Translated into [[English language|English]] by Francis Brerewood as ''A critical dissertation upon Homer's Iliad'', 1716
**1716: Translated into English by Francis Brerewood as ''A critical dissertation upon Homer's Iliad''.
** Preface translated into [[English language|English]] by Francis Brerewood as ''A discourse of ancient and modern learning, 1716
**1716: Preface translated into English by Francis Brerewood as ''A discourse of ancient and modern learning'', 1716
* ''Lettres sur le nouveau systême des finances'', 1720
*1720: ''Lettres sur le nouveau systême des finances''.
* ''Sethos: histoire ou vie, tirée des monumens anecdotes de l'ancienne Egypte, traduite d'un manuscrit grec'', 1731. Translated into [[English language|English]] by [[Thomas Lediard]] as ''[[Sethos#The Terrasson novel|The life of Sethos: Taken from private memoirs of the ancient Egyptians]]'', 1732.
*1731: ''Sethos: histoire ou vie, tirée des monumens anecdotes de l'ancienne Egypte, traduite d'un manuscrit grec''. Translated into English by [[Thomas Lediard]] as ''The life of Sethos: Taken from private memoirs of the ancient Egyptians''
* ''La philosophie applicable à tous les objets de l'esprit et de la raison ouvrage en réflexions détachées'', 1754
*1754: ''La philosophie applicable à tous les objets de l'esprit et de la raison ouvrage en réflexions détachées''.


==Commentary on Terrasson==
== Commentary on Terrasson ==
Antoin E. Murphy writes in ''The Genesis of Macroeconomics'' (2008):
Antoin E. Murphy writes in ''The Genesis of Macroeconomics'' (2008):{{page needed|date=July 2016}}
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
Given the fortune that Terrasson was making in the [[Mississippi Company]], was it not natural to find him defending its operations in the pamphlets that he wrote. ...Furthermore, given Terrasson and [[Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune|Turgot's]] clerical connections—they were both ''abbés'' at this time...— ...Turgot was in no doubt about attributing them to Terrasson. [[Paul Harsin]] did not accept this... 'There is no doubt... with respect to [[John Law (economist)|Law's]] paternity of [the letters]'. The abbé Terrasson has also been credited with being the author of...''Mémoire pour servir à justifier la Campagnie des Indes contre la censure de casuistes qui la condamnent'' (1720), which is also about Law's system. ...I agree with Harsin that Law either wrote or directed the writing of the letters. ...he may have used Terrasson as an intermediary for pushing his own ideas into the public arena.
Given the fortune that Terrasson was making in the [[Mississippi Company]], was it not natural to find him defending its operations in the pamphlets that he wrote. ...Furthermore, given Terrasson and [[Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune|Turgot's]] clerical connections—they were both ''abbés'' at this time...— ...Turgot was in no doubt about attributing them to Terrasson. [[Paul Harsin]] did not accept this... 'There is no doubt... with respect to [[John Law (economist)|Law's]] paternity of [the letters]'. The abbé Terrasson has also been credited with being the author of...''Mémoire pour servir à justifier la Campagnie des Indes contre la censure de casuistes qui la condamnent'' (1720), which is also about Law's system. ...I agree with Harsin that Law either wrote or directed the writing of the letters. ...he may have used Terrasson as an intermediary for pushing his own ideas into the public arena.
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


==References==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==External links==
== External links ==
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Terrasson|dname=Jean Terrasson}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Terrasson|dname=Jean Terrasson}}


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{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Terrasson, Jean
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = French priest and author.
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1670
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Lyon
| DATE OF DEATH = 15 September 1750
| PLACE OF DEATH = Paris
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terrasson, Jean}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terrasson, Jean}}
[[Category:1670 births]]
[[Category:1670 births]]
[[Category:Clergy from Lyon]]
[[Category:1750 deaths]]
[[Category:1750 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century French writers]]
[[Category:18th-century French male writers]]
[[Category:18th-century French novelists]]
[[Category:18th-century French novelists]]
[[Category:Members of the Académie française]]
[[Category:Members of the Académie Française]]
[[Category:French male writers]]
[[Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Male novelists]]
[[Category:Writers from Lyon]]
[[Category:18th-century French Roman Catholic priests]]

Latest revision as of 09:29, 27 January 2024

Jean Terrasson (31 January 1670 – 15 September 1750), often referred to as the Abbé Terrasson, was a French Catholic priest, author and member of the Académie française. The erudite Antoine Terrasson was his nephew.

Life

[edit]

Jean Terrasson, born in Lyon, was elected a member of the Académie française in 1707.[1] His 1715 Dissertation on Homer's Iliad took the side of the 'moderns' in the quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns.[2][3] In 1721 he became Professor of Greek at the College de France.[1]

His best-known work is probably the fantasy novel Life of Sethos, Taken from Private Memoirs of the Ancient Egyptians (1731). This fiction elided Masonic and ancient Egyptian ritual, and served as an inspiration for Mozart and Schikaneder's Magic Flute.

Works

[edit]
  • 1715: Dissertation critique sur l'Iliade de Homère.
    • 1716: Translated into English by Francis Brerewood as A critical dissertation upon Homer's Iliad.
    • 1716: Preface translated into English by Francis Brerewood as A discourse of ancient and modern learning, 1716
  • 1720: Lettres sur le nouveau systême des finances.
  • 1731: Sethos: histoire ou vie, tirée des monumens anecdotes de l'ancienne Egypte, traduite d'un manuscrit grec. Translated into English by Thomas Lediard as The life of Sethos: Taken from private memoirs of the ancient Egyptians
  • 1754: La philosophie applicable à tous les objets de l'esprit et de la raison ouvrage en réflexions détachées.

Commentary on Terrasson

[edit]

Antoin E. Murphy writes in The Genesis of Macroeconomics (2008):[page needed]

Given the fortune that Terrasson was making in the Mississippi Company, was it not natural to find him defending its operations in the pamphlets that he wrote. ...Furthermore, given Terrasson and Turgot's clerical connections—they were both abbés at this time...— ...Turgot was in no doubt about attributing them to Terrasson. Paul Harsin did not accept this... 'There is no doubt... with respect to Law's paternity of [the letters]'. The abbé Terrasson has also been credited with being the author of...Mémoire pour servir à justifier la Campagnie des Indes contre la censure de casuistes qui la condamnent (1720), which is also about Law's system. ...I agree with Harsin that Law either wrote or directed the writing of the letters. ...he may have used Terrasson as an intermediary for pushing his own ideas into the public arena.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Sédillot, Louis-Amélie (1869). Les professeurs de mathématiques et de physique générale au Collège de France. Imprimerie des sciences mathématiques et physiques. p. 140. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  2. ^ DeJean, Joan (1997). Ancients against Moderns: Culture Wars and the Making of a Fin de Siècle. University of Chicago Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-226-14138-1. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  3. ^ Norman, Larry F. (2011). The Shock of the Ancient: Literature and History in Early Modern France. University of Chicago Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-226-59148-3. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
[edit]
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