Michel de Pure, abbott, (

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, 1620 –

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, March 1680) was chaplain and adviser to King

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

(named as such in 1647). Author, translator, he notably wrote a manual on dancing as well as books criticizing the development of préciosité. He was also appointed

historiographer Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians hav ...

of France in 1653. His name, more than the character, remains attached to the mockery which Nicolas Boileau covered him with. However, in his day, he was recognized for his scholarship. If Michel de Pure was best known for his valuable book on dance and

ballets de cour ''Ballet de cour'' ("court ballet") is the name given to ballets performed in the 16th and 17th centuries at courts. The court ballet was a gathering of noblemen and women, as the cast and audience were largely supplied by the ruling class. The fe ...

of his time, ''Idée des spectacles anciens et nouveaux'' (Paris, Michel Brunet, 1668), we now know, thanks to the research work of Lise Leibacher-Ouvrard and Daniel Maher, that he also was one of the first authors of science fiction novels, ''Épigone, histoire du siècle futur'' (1659), recognized as "the first true uchrony".

Works

Translations

*1663: ''

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilia ...

'' *1665: ''L'Histoire des Indes'' by

Giovanni Pietro Maffei Giovanni Pietro Maffei (1533–1603), also anglicized as John Peter Maffei, was an Italian Jesuit and author. He wrote a life of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, and also wrote about the activities of the Society in the Orie ...

* ''Vie de

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

'' * ''Vie de

Paolo Giovio Paolo Giovio (also spelled ''Paulo Jovio''; Latin: ''Paulus Jovius''; 19 April 1483 – 11 December 1552) was an Italian physician, historian, biographer, and prelate. Early life Little is known about Giovio's youth. He was a native of Com ...

Own works

*1658: ''Le Roman de la précieuse, ou les Mystères de la ruelle'', Paris : G. de Luyne,
1st, 2nd3e
an
4th parts
at Gallica). *1663: , auctore M. D. P. (M. de Pure), Paris : A. Vitré. *1668: , Paris : M. Brunet. Reprint Geneva: Minkoff, 1972. *1673: ''La Vie du mareschal de Gassion'', Paris : G. de Luyne, 4 vol. He also composed some theatre plays: *1658: ''Ostorius'', tragedy
text online
at Gallica). *1659: ''La Déroute des précieuses'', mascarade

Bibliography

* Lise Leibacher-Ouvrard, Daniel Maher,
Épigone, histoire du siècle futur (1659) Par Michel de Pure
', Presses de l’Université Laval, 2005 (réédition de l’œuvre de Michel de Pure, accompagnée d’une étude universitaire)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pure 17th-century French male writers 17th-century French dramatists and playwrights Historiographers Historical dance 17th-century writers in Latin Clergy from Lyon 1620 births 1680 deaths Writers from Lyon