Henri Desbordes (died circa 1722) was a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

printer who was exiled from his business in France and set up as a publisher in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

in the 17th century. Among his works was ''

Nouvelles de la république des lettres ''Nouvelles de la république des lettres'' (''News from the Republic of Letters'') was a periodical devoted to reviews of current publications, edited and in large part written by Pierre Bayle. It began publication in 1684, and is the first known ...

''.

Career

Henri Desbordes was one of the most successful refugee booksellers in

Saumur Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur statio ...

serving the theology students of his neighboring

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

academy as well as ministers. In 1682 suspicion arose of him of having printed the anti-catholic '' Preservatif contre le changement de religion'' (A Preservation against the Change of Religion), which was written by

Pierre Jurieu Pierre Jurieu (24 December 1637 – 11 January 1713) was a French Protestant leader. Life He was born at Mer, in Orléanais, where his father was a Protestant pastor. He studied at the Academy of Saumur and the Academy of Sedan under his gra ...

, and the authorities sent him to prison. Desbordes moved to

after his release where in July 1682 he became a member of Amsterdam's Walloon church. Apart from religious coercion, according to sources, he may have resettled in Amsterdam because he wished to open a shop abroad as at that time he possessed enough funds to do so. The shop he subsequently opened was situated in the commercial

Kalverstraat The Kalverstraat (, ) is a busy shopping street of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. The street runs roughly North-South for about 750 meters, from Dam Square to Muntplein square. The Kalverstraat is the most expensive shopping stree ...

. Among others, ''

'' was one of the journals he published there. Beside printing more than 100 publications and selling books, Desbordes was also involved in conducting auctions.

Personal life

Jaques Desbordes was the nephew of Henri Desbordes. Jaques was also noted for being a

publisher who took refuge in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the late 17th century.

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading