MOREL, William, a learned printer, was born in the year 1505, at Tillcul, a town of the county of Mortain, in Normandy. Though the son of poor parents, he nevertheless found means to procure education; made rapid progress in the study of the ancient languages; and having gone to Paris, gave lessons in Greek to some young persons, and then became corrector of the press to Jean Loys, better known under the name of Tilletan. In 1544, he publish ed a commentary on Cicero’s treatise De Finibus, which he dedicated to Spifame, chancellor of the university; in 1548, he assisted Bogard in an edition of Quintilian’s Institutions, to which he added notes; the following year he was admitted into the corporation of printers at Paris, and established, near the college of Reims, a printing-house, whence issued several editions of Greek works, esteemed for their correctness; and, in 1552, he was associated with Turnebus as printer of Greek to the king, and appointed his successor in the direction of the royal printing establishment. After this he published several good editions, enriched with notes and various readings derived from the best manuscripts; but he was ill recompensed for his zeal, and died on the 19th of February 1564, leaving his family in absolute want. Besides the commentaries on Cicero’s treatise, already mentioned, he published, 1. Notes on the works of Dionysius the Areopagite, Cyprian, Demosthenes, &c. an explanation of the most difficult passages in the oratorical works of Cicero, and a supplement to the Chronicle of Carion; 2. Latin translations of the Opinions of the Fathers on the respect due to Images, the Epistles of Ignatius, and other works; 3. De Graecorum Verborum Anomaliis Commentarius, Paris, 1549, and Lyons, 1560, in 8vo; 4. Commentarius Verborum Latinorum cum Graecis, Gallicisque conjunctorum, Paris, 1558, in 8vo, reprinted under the title of Thesaurus Vocum Omnium Latinarum, ordine alpkabeticodigestarum ; 5. Tabula Compendiosa de Origine, Successione, &c. Veterum Philosophorum, Paris, 1578, in 4to. (a.) Morel, Frederick, the elder i was descended of a family of distinction in Champagne, where he was born in the year 1523. He went to Paris to study the ancient languages, in which he made remarkable progress. In 1552, he undertook to revise the manuscript of Toussain’s Greek Lexico, the first edition of which was published the same year; and in 1559, he established a printing-houseTn the Rue Saint-Jean de Beauvais. His erudition was already so considerable, that the most distinguished writers eagerly intrusted him with the publication of their works. In 1571, he was appointed first printer in ordinary to the king. This title, however, he but rarely assumed, and only at the end of books which had issued from his own press. In 1581, he obtained the reversion of the office for his son, and died on the 17th of July 1583. Besides some small pieces in Greek and Latin inserted by Mattaire in the Life of this printer, he wrote, 1. Three Treatises of St Chrysostom, translated in French, 1557, in 16to; 2. Discours du Vray Amour de Dieu, 1557; 3. De la guerre continuelle, et perpetue! combat des Chrétiens contre leurs plus grands et principaux ennemis, 1564, in 8vo; 4. Douze Manières d’Abus, extracted from the works of St Cyprian. (a.) Morel, Frederick, the younger, one of the most learned Hellenists of his age, was born at Paris in 1558, and, after completing his classical studies, sent to Bourges to attend the prelections of the celebrated Cujas. Having compared with the text the version which Amyot had just published of part of the works of Plutarch, he found that the translator had not always rendered faithfully the sense of the original, and ventured to intimate this to himself. Amyot, far from taking amiss the boldness of the youth, received his communication kindly, and ever afterwards took a deep interest in his success. Young Morel succeeded his father as printer to the king in the year 1581, but it was not until 1583 that his name appeared in the imprint of the works which issued from this press. The editions he published were remarkable for their beauty and correctness; and he commonly enriched them with interesting prefaces and notes. Having married the daughter of Leger Duchesne, professor of eloquence in the Royal College, he obtained, through the influence of Amyot, the chair of his [7:15:499]father-in-law, which the advanced age of the latter obliged him to resign in the year 1585. But the duties of this office did not abridge his typographical labours; for he suffered not a year to elapse without publishing some new editions of Greek authors, with learned commentaries or translations, the merit of which is still recognised. In 1600, he took into partnership with him his brother, Claude Morel, to whom he committed the direction of the printing establishment; and applied with more ardour than ever to the collation of manuscripts, and the verbal criticism of the ancient authors. Nor did the zeal which he evinced for the advancement of letters remain without recompense. Henry IV. augmented his salary as professor, and made him several grants to facilitate the impression of works, the sale of which was not likely to be proportional to their utility. In 1617, Morel renounced the exercise of his art, at least no work of a posterior date with his name affixed to it has yet been discovered; in 1619, he published a new edition of the Plutarch of Amyot, with numerous corrections, and a curious advertisement which Mattaire has inserted in his Vitae Typographorum Parisiensium (p. 135); and he died on the 27th of June 1630, being at the time of his decease deacon of the royal printers and professors. Besides the numerous editions which he published with prefaces, advertisements, and corrections, he was the author of, 1. Notes on Strabo, Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, the Sylvae of Statius, Dion-Chrysostom, Oecumenius, &c.; 2. Translations into Greek verse of several Hymns and Epigrams selected from Martial; 3. Various translations into Latin prose and verse; 4. Alexander Severus, Tragoedia togatα, 1600, in 8vo. (a.)