Family Name: Mandeville
First Name: Bernard
Birth Date: Thu, Nov 13, 1670
Birth Place: Rotterdam
Death Date: Mon, Jan 19, 1733
Death Place: Hackney
Main places of activity:
Place From To
Rotterdam 1677 1683
Place From To
Leyden 1684 1691
Place From To
London 1691 1731
Personal info:
Education

Bernard Mandeville attended the Erasmian School in Rotterdam until October 1685 and then matriculated at the University of Leiden with the intention of studying medicine. For unknown reasons, he was registered as a student of philosophy in 1686, and three years later presented a dissertation "On the Souls of Brutes". He remained at Leiden despite an interruption of nearly two years in 1690 and 1691. He apparently came back to present a doctoral dissertation in medicine on the subject of digestion. He apparently left for a tour of Europe and arrived in England "to learn the language".
Career

Very little is known of Mandeville's life in England. He rapidly settled in London where he practised medicine without a licence. He was, for this reason, summoned by the Royal College of Physicians but was nonetheless able to keep his practice. He probably benefited from the protection of the Earl of Macclesfield, then Lord Chancellor to King George I.
Financial Situation

Apparently, Mandeville drew his income from his medical practice. He may also have received some money from his benefactor Lord Macclesfield.
Translations Other Works

secondary bibliography references

B. Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees, ed. by F.B. Kaye, 2 vols., Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1924, introduction, pp.xvii-cxlvi.

A. C. Jansen, "Bernard Mandeville, some recent genealogical discoveries", Notes & Queries, n°56, 2 (2009), pp. 231-235.

F. McKee, An Anatomy of Power: the early works of Bernard Mandeville, PhD Thesis, University of Glasgow, 1991.

Sir G. Clark, A History of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 4 vols., Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1966, t. II, p. 450.

Translations

  • Fables choisies, mises en vers par M. de la Fontaine

  • Translation Title: Some fables after the easie and familiar method of Monsieur de La Fontaine
  • Original Author: Jean de La Fontaine
  • Original title: Fables choisies, mises en vers par M. de la Fontaine
  • Publ. Year From: 1668 to:
  • lang: French
  • Note:

    It is impossible to know which precise edition of the Fables was used by Mandeville. We cite this one for it contains all the fables selected by the translator.
  • Translation: Some fables after the easie and familiar method of Monsieur de La Fontaine
  • Publisher: Unknown
  • N° Editions: 1
  • Pub. Place: London
  • Pub. Date: 1702
  • Lang: English

  • Fables choisies, mises en vers par M. de la Fontaine

  • Translation Title: Æsop Dress'd, or a Collection of Fables writ in Familiar Verse
  • Original Author: Jean de La Fontaine
  • Original title: Fables choisies, mises en vers par M. de la Fontaine
  • Publ. Year From: 1668 to:
  • lang: French
  • Translation: Æsop Dress'd, or a Collection of Fables writ in Familiar Verse
  • Publisher: Robert Wellington
  • N° Editions: 2
  • Pub. Place: London
  • Pub. Date: 1703
  • Lang: English
  • Note:

    Another edition appears in the ESTC, with the probable date of 1727. It was published in London but bears no other indications.

    This translation is a slightly enlarged version of the first one. Mandeville has added ten new fables to his original selection, which also contained two fables of his own invention.

  • Riverius Reformatus, sive Praxi medica, methodo riverianæ non absimili conscripta. Accesserunt tractatus de Morbis mulierum, de affectibus articulorum, de peste et de febribus

  • Translation Title: Riverius reformatus: or the modern Riverius; containing the modern practice of physick, set down in a method very near the same with that of Riverius, but accommodated to the most received principles amongst the most modern philosophers, as well as physicians ... unto the whole are added, a treatise of venereal diseases, and the secrets of that famous Lazarus Riverius. Never publish'd before
  • Original Author: Lazare Rivière; François de La Calmette
  • Original title: Riverius Reformatus, sive Praxi medica, methodo riverianæ non absimili conscripta. Accesserunt tractatus de Morbis mulierum, de affectibus articulorum, de peste et de febribus
  • Publ. Year From: 1687 to:
  • lang: Latin
  • Title: Riverius Reformatus, sive Praxi medica, methodo riverianæ non absimili conscripta. Accesserunt tractatus de Morbis mulierum, de affectibus articulorum, de peste et de febribus [auctore F. de La Calmette]
  • Publisher: J. Certe
  • Pub. Place: Lyon
  • Pub. Year: 1689
  • Lang: Latin
  • Note:

    Mandeville's translation bears the mention of "the third edition in Latin" as the source. According to the BNF catalogue, this edition is the third.

  • Translation: Riverius reformatus: or the modern Riverius; containing the modern practice of physick, set down in a method very near the same with that of Riverius, but accommodated to the most received principles amongst the most modern philosophers, as well as physicians ... unto the whole are added, a treatise of venereal diseases, and the secrets of that famous Lazarus Riverius. Never publish'd before
  • Publisher: R. Wellington
  • N° Editions: 2
  • Pub. Place: London
  • Pub. Date: 1705
  • Lang: English
  • Note:

    The title page bears "translated from the third edition in Latin, by a Doctor of Physick". The other edition of 1713 is enlarged with an essay by Mead. The only information confirming Mandeville as the translator is to be found in a list of "books newly printed for Robert Wellington" at the end of The Works of Mr Nathaniel Lee (London, Wellington, 1713). The advert concerning Riverius indicates "translated from the third edition in Latin, by Dr. Mandeville".

calamaio

By:

  • Sylvie Kleiman-Lafon