John Peter Bernard (french: Jean-Pierre Bernard) (died 1750) was an Anglo-French biographer, elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

for his work on the ''

General Dictionary, Historical and Critical The ''General Dictionary, Historical and Critical'' was a biographical dictionary published from 1734 to 1741 in London in 10 volumes. It derived from the '' Dictionnaire historique et critique'' of Pierre Bayle, already translated into English in ...

''.

Life

He was the son of James (Jacques) Bernard, 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 ...

minister known as a man of letters. He received his education at the

University of Leyden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

, where he took degrees in arts and philosophy. In 1733 he was settled in London, and earning a livelihood by preaching, giving lessons in literature and mathematics, and compiling for the booksellers. Bernard was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society in January 1738. He died in the parish of

St. Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, on 6 April 1760.

Works

Bernard is remembered for having made major contributions to the ''General Dictionary, Historical and Critical'', 10 vols. London, 1734–41. His article contributions were marked with "P." at the end, comprising 63 articles on subjects not in Pierre Bayle's '' Dictionnaire Historique et Critique'', on which the ''Dictionary'' was based. These names are listed by Osborn, and include Bayle himself, and Louis XIV. The other contributors with assigned signatures were Thomas Birch and John Lockman.James Marshall Osborn, ''Thomas Birch and the "General Dictionary" (1734-41)'', Modern Philology Vol. 36, No. 1 (Aug., 1938), pp. 25-46 at p. 32–3, and p. 40. Published by: The University of Chicago Press. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/434476

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, John Peter Year of birth missing 1750 deaths English people of French descent English biographers Fellows of the Royal Society English male non-fiction writers