Nicolas-Luton Durival
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Nicolas-Luton Durival (13 November 1713, in
Commercy Commercy () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The 18th-century Lorraine historian Nicolas Luton Durival (1713–1795) was born in Commercy. History Commercy dates back to the 9th century, and at that time ...
– 21 December 1795, in Heillecourt) was an 18th-century
Lorrain Lorrain may refer to: * Claude Lorrain (1600–82), a 17th-century French artist of the baroque style * Lorrain language, a Romance dialect spoken in Lorraine region in France and Gaume region in Belgium See also * Lorain (disambiguation) * Lor ...
civil servant, historian and geographer who became French after 1766.


Biography

The elder son of Jean-Baptiste Luton Durival, Nicolas Durival spent his entire career in the Lorraine administration. Having a good education, he was placed in the offices of the Intendance of the
Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy. It was founded in 959 following t ...
, and applied himself fully to acquire the knowledge necessary to an administrator. Struck with the imperfection of the works that existed on the
topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...
of Lorraine, he formed the project to write one that would depart from the drought classifications and the prolixity of particular stories, contain accurate records on cities, towns and villages of this country. He published various essays to better understand if the project would be enjoyed and to request help from enlightened people ; he finally brought out, after twenty years of work and research, a ''Description de la Lorraine et du Barrois'' which was regarded, rightly, as a model of this kind of works. He was then clerk of
Stanislas Leszczynski Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...
's State Council, and finally lieutenant de police in Nancy. Durival was a member of the Académie de Nancy since 1760 and communicated to the company a lot of memories on objects of public utility. His police lieutenant position having been abolished in 1790, he was appointed city manager. Though he had occupied gainful employment for most of his life, he remained poor and was included in the number of scholars to which the Convention granted relief in 1795. Durival collaborated with the ''
Encyclopédie ''Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers'' (English: ''Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts''), better known as ''Encyclopédie'', was a general encyclopedia publis ...
'' by
Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominen ...
. He is the author of several books on the history, customs, agriculture, geography and customs of Lorraine.


Publications

*1753: ''Mémoire sur la Lorraine et le Barrois, suivi de la Table alphabétique...'', etc., Nancy, in-4°. The previous year, Durival had a small number of copies printed for distribution to friends. Henriquez inserted the complete alphabetical table in his ''Abrégé chronologique de l’Histoire de Lorraine'', of which it forms the second volume, without naming the author. *1748: ''Table alphabétique des villes, bourgs, villages et hameaux de la Lorraine et du Barrois'', Nancy, in- 8°. This table was reprinted the following year, with additions, and a third time in 1766. Abbot Expilly inserted it in his ''Dictionnaire géographique de la France'', with praises of the author. *1754: ''Coutume particulière à la Bresse, village de Lorraine'', Nancy, in-8° *1756: ''Principes sur le pacage, le vain pâturage et le parcours'', Nancy, in-8° ; Nancy, Impr. de Ve et C. Leseure, 1766, in-8°, 7 p. (reproduction of the article ''Pacage'' of the ''
Encyclopédie ''Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers'' (English: ''Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts''), better known as ''Encyclopédie'', was a general encyclopedia publis ...
'', with only a legal and customary explanation of the terms ''pacage'', ''vain pâturage'' and ''parcours'') *1763: ''Mémoire sur la clôture des héritages, le vain pâturage et le parcours, en Lorraine'', Nancy, Thomas père et fils, in-8°, 15 p. *1774: ''Introduction à la description de la Lorraine et du Barrois'', Nancy, in-8° *1778–1779/79–1783 ''Description de la Lorraine et du Barrois'', Nancy, 4 vol. in-4°. The fourth volume has become rarer than the three others, the remaining copies at the bookseller having been sold to a grocer during the Revolution. We can look at this work as the result of all studies by Durival: the facts are presented methodically, the style is nice, and the many indications of scrupulous accuracy. The introduction, which is the first volume, is a complete history of Lorraine from Reinier Le long cou, first beneficiary Duke of Lorraine (959), until the death of Stanislas. In his ''Bibliothèque physico-économique'', Sonnini inserted three memoirs by Durival : * ''Considérations sur les plantations de la Lorraine'', June 1809. * ''Théorie de Leopold 1er, duc de Lorraine, pour la construction et l’entretien des routes'', October 1809. * ''Comparaison des effets du régime actuel des chaussées avec ceux qui résultent des procédés de la théorie de Léopold 1er'', November 1809.


Sources

*
Joseph-François Michaud Joseph–François Michaud (19 June 1767 – 30 September 1839) was a French historian and publicist. Biography Michaud was born at either La Biolle or Albens in the Duchy of Savoy (then a part of the Holy Roman Empire and a possession of the Ki ...
,
Louis-Gabriel Michaud Louis-Gabriel Michaud (19 January 1773, Castle Richemont – 8 March 1858) was a French writer, historian, printer, and bookseller. He was notable as the compiler of ''Biographie Universelle'' (1811–). Life He became a lieutenant on 15 July ...
, '' Biographie universelle'', Paris, C. Desplaces, t. 12, 1855, p. 110. * Justin Favier, ''Notice sur Nicolas Durival'', Mémoires de la Société d’Archéologie lorraine, 1880, p. 5–36.
la Lorraine au xviiie siècle


External links


Nicolas Luton Durival
on data.bnf.fr
Nicolas-Luton Durival
Consortium of European Research Libraries The Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL) is a consortium of research libraries, primarily in Europe, that facilitates access to historians with an interest in the history of the book by providing online resources. The organisation also ...

Frank A. Kafker: ''Notices sur les auteurs des dix-sept volumes de « discours » de l'Encyclopédie.'' Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie Year (1989) Volume 7, Issue 7, (p. 139)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durival, Nicolas Luton 18th-century French historians Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772) 1713 births People from Commercy 1795 deaths