Family Name: Bertrand
First Name: Jean
Birth Date: 1706
Birth Place: Orbe
Death Date: Fri, Dec 26, 1777
Death Place: Orbe
Main places of activity:
Place From To
Switzerland 1726 1737
Place From To
Holland 1737 1740
Place From To
Switzerland 1740 1775
Personal info:
Education

After studying in Lausanne and Geneva, Bertrand was sent to Holland to attend several schools and meet Dutch scientists.

Career

After several years in Holland, he returned to Switzerland and became a Protestant minister, first in Grandson and later in Orbe. He dedicated the final years of his life to the improvement of agriculture; he also became a member and the secretary of the Société Économique de Berne.
Financial Situation

Nothing is known about his financial situation while in Holland. After his return, his position as Protestant minister no doubt brought him a sufficient income. Later, the Société Économique de Berne may have provided some sort of financial support.
Translations Other Works

translations activities

According to Jeanneret, Bertrand published the majority of his translations while in Holland. In the absence of any precise biographical records, Jeanneret may have deduced this information from the places of publication (always Amsterdam or The Hague) that seem to correspond to the period which Bertrand spent in several unnamed Dutch schools.

Barbier erroneously names him as the translator of Doddridge's Sermons, which were in fact translated by his brother Élie. Quérard mentions him as the translator of William Derham's Astro-Theology (London, W. Innys, 1715), but this is not confirmed by other sources.

He is cited as one of the numerous translators of Philip Miller's The Gardeners and Florists Dictionary (Philip Miller was the Head-Gardener of the Chelsea Botanical Garden) London, C. Rivington, 1724. The part attributed to Bertrand is entitled Traité du plantage et de la culture des principales plantes potagères, recuilli du dictionnaire anglois de Mr. Ph. Miller, par les soins de la société économique de Berne, traduit de l'Allemand et augmenté par un membre de ladite société (Yverdon, 1768).

secondary bibliography references

A. A. Barbier, Examen critique et complément des dictionaires historiques, Paris, Baudoin, 1820.

J. M. Quérard, La France littéraire, Paris, F. Didot, 1827-1839.

F. A. Jeanneret, Biographie Neuchateloise, Lode, E. Courvoisier, 1863.

J. and L. G. Michaud, Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne, Paris, Desplaces, 1858.

https://lumieres.unil.ch/fiches/bio/17/


Translations

  • Fifteen Sermons on Several Sujects

  • Translation Title: Sermons sur diverses matières importantes
  • Original Author: John Tillotson
  • Original title: Fifteen Sermons on Several Sujects
  • Publ. Year From: 1701 to:
  • lang: English
  • Translation: Sermons sur diverses matières importantes
  • Publisher: Pierre Humbert
  • N° Editions: 3
  • Pub. Place: Amsterdam
  • Pub. Date: 1728
  • Lang: French
  • Note:

    Bertrand is the author of the translations constituting the seventh volume of an edition mostly composed by Barbeyrac.

  • Leonidas, a Poem

  • Translation Title: Léonidas
  • Original Author: Richard Glover
  • Original title: Leonidas, a Poem
  • Publ. Year From: 1736 to:
  • lang: English
  • Translation: Léonidas
  • Publisher: J-M. Husson
  • Pub. Place: The Hague
  • Pub. Date: 1738
  • Lang: French

  • Friendship in Death, in Twenty Letters from the Dead to the Living

  • Translation Title: L'Amitié après la mort
  • Original Author: Elizabeth Singer Rowe
  • Original title: Friendship in Death, in Twenty Letters from the Dead to the Living
  • Publ. Year From: 1728 to:
  • lang: English
  • Translation: L'Amitié après la mort
  • Publisher: aux dépens de la Compagnie
  • N° Editions: 2
  • Pub. Place: Amsterdam
  • Pub. Date: 1739
  • Lang: French
  • Note:

    The BNF Catalogue indicates another edition, dated 1753.

  • The Fable of the Bees, or Knaves Turned Honest

  • Translation Title: La Fable des abeilles ou les fripons devenus honnêtes gens
  • Original Author: Bernard Mandeville
  • Original title: The Fable of the Bees, or Knaves Turned Honest
  • Publ. Year From: 1713 to:
  • lang: English
  • Title: The Fable of the Bees, or Knaves turned honest
  • Publisher: J. Tonson
  • Pub. Place: London
  • Pub. Year: 1728
  • Lang: English
  • Translation: La Fable des abeilles ou les fripons devenus honnêtes gens
  • Publisher: aux dépens de la Compagnie
  • Pub. Place: Amsterdam
  • Pub. Date: 1739
  • Lang: French
  • Note:

    Another edition dated "Londres, 1750" is apparently a forgery. See BNF catalogue.

  • Philosophical Experiments, containing useful and necessary instructions for such as undertake long voyages at sea

  • Translation Title: Instructions pour les mariniers, contenant la manière de rendre l'eau de mer potable
  • Original Author: Stephen Hales
  • Original title: Philosophical Experiments, containing useful and necessary instructions for such as undertake long voyages at sea
  • Publ. Year From: 1738 to:
  • lang: English
  • Translation: Instructions pour les mariniers, contenant la manière de rendre l'eau de mer potable
  • Publisher: P. Paupie
  • Pub. Place: The Hague
  • Pub. Date: 1739
  • Lang: French

  • Caput Bonae Spei Hodiernum

  • Translation Title: Description du Cap de Bonne Espérance
  • Original Author: Peter Kolb
  • Original title: Caput Bonae Spei Hodiernum
  • Publ. Year From: 1718 to:
  • lang: Latin
  • Title: The Present State of the Cape of Good Hope... Done into English by Mr. Medley
  • Publisher: W. Innys
  • Pub. Place: London
  • Pub. Year: 1730
  • Lang: English
  • Note:

    There is no reason to think that Bertrand has translated it directly from the Latin original or even from the German translation, even though the BNF catalog says so. It is far more consistent to consider that his translation was either done from the English version or from the Dutch edition.

  • Translation: Description du Cap de Bonne Espérance
  • Publisher: J. Catuffe
  • Pub. Place: Amsterdam
  • Pub. Date: 1740
  • Lang: French
  • Note:

    The translator's name does not appear but all the biographical sources point to Jean Bertrand.

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By:

  • Sylvie Kleiman-Lafon