Prosper Marchand
Prosper Marchand (11 March 1678 – 14 June 1756) was an 18th-century French bibliographer, who moved to the Dutch Republic in December 1709. He became a famous annotator and publisher of philosophical, religious and historical works, skilled in systematic table of contents and bibliographic indexes. Biography. The son of a king's musician, a native of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, studied in Versailles. He studied with much success and was then placed by a bookseller to learn the trade. Fascinated from childhood by books, he acquired in a short time all the necessary knowledge and was admitted in  1698 in the guild of booksellers. He established his shop only by the end of 1701, in association with Gabriel II Martin. He opened rue Saint-Jacques, under the banner "Phénix", a store that soon became the meeting place for bibliophiles of the capital. Eager of literary anecdotes, he would forward them to Jacques Bernard, who then wrote in Holland the "Nouvelles de la république des lettres", and he formed at the same time for his personal use, collections which were very useful to him. Marchand became anti-clerical and went to Holland in winter 1709 to more freely profess  the reformed religion he had embraced. He settled in Amsterdam and continued for two years the bookselling business; but, disgusted with the lack of good faith of most of his colleagues, he gave up entirely to indulge only in studying. Together with Bernard Picart he took refuge in The Hague for matters of religion and moved to Amsterdam in the year after. He abandoned the profession of bookseller around 1713. From 1713 to 1723, he was proofreader at Fritsch and Böhm in Rotterdam, then editor at the "Journal littéraire", founded by Willem Jacob 's Gravesande and Justus van Effen. He  moved back to the Hague in 1723, but between 1726 and 1735 he lived in London; he corresponded with Voltaire and Jean-Baptiste de Boyer. The lack of cash is chronic. He was booksellers catalogs editor, a review editor and author of the "Dictionnaire historique ou Mémoires critiques et littéraires" (1758-1759). Marchand was involved in the publication of "Dictionnaire Historique et Critique" by Pierre Bayle. Following in Bayle's footsteps, Marchand constantly invites his readers to make comments, additions and corrections. The editions he successively published of various books became rare made him advantageously known, and he found himself  looked after by all scholars of Europe who shared his tastes. The habit of a frugal life had fortified his naturally robust health, and he rarely left his office, but he was receiving all those who came to benefit his knowledge and communicated with them with pleasure. He succeeded, amid these peaceful occupations, at an advanced age, and died June 14, 1756. He bequeathed in his will, the fruit of his savings to the company of the poor of The Hague, and his rich library to the Leiden University. At the end of his life, he was attached to Daniel  Monnier, a librarian in The Hague He sold his prints by Jacob van der Schley to Willem Bentinck van Rhoon. Publications. Marchand took part in the ingenious satire of the "Chef d'œuvre d'un inconnu" and was one of the main writers of the "Journal littéraire" (The Hague), one of the best periodical books in Holland. He also left: He also published many helpful books he had enriched with prefaces, letters, notes and instructive remarks, but obvious shortcomings. We owe him an edition with notes of the "Lettres choisies", by Pierre Bayle, Rotterdam, 1714, 3 vol. in-12°, which has not  been surpassed by that of Desmaiseaux and he gave the most beautiful and most esteemed edition of the "Dictionnaire" of this famous critic. We still owe him editions of the following works: the "Cymbalum mundi", by Bonaventure Des Périers, Amsterdam, 1711, in-12; it iw preceded by a "Lettre critique" which includes the history, analysis and advocacy of this book; the "Voyages" by Jean Chardin, Amsterdam, 1735, 4 vol. in-4° ; - "l'Histoire des révolutions de Hongrie", by abbot Domokos Antal Ignácz Brenner, The Hague, 1739, 2 vol. in-4°, or 6 vol. in-12° ; the "Œuvres" by Brantôme (with Leduchat), ibid ., 1740, 15 vol. in-12° ; - the "Œuvres" by François Villon, ibid., 1742, in-8° ; - the "Lettres" of comte d'Estrades, London (The Hague), 1743, 9 vol. in-12° ; - the "Mémoires" of comte de Guiche, ibid., 1744, in-12° ; - "Direction pour la conscience d'un roi", by Fénelon, ibid., 1747, in-8° and in-12° ; -the "Nouvelle histoire de Fénelon", ibid., 1747, in-12°. (See the article Salignac in the "Dictionnaire" by Marchand.)