Jacob Spon

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Jacob Spon
archaeologist
Known forPioneer in the exploration of the monuments of Greece and a scholar of international reputation in the developing "Republic of Letters"

Jacob Spon (or Jacques; in English dictionaries given as James; 1647 – 25 December 1685) was a French doctor and

archaeologist. He was a pioneer in the exploration of the monuments of Greece, and a scholar of international reputation in the developing "Republic of Letters
".

Biography

Jacob Spon was born in 1647 in

François d'Aix de la Chaise, confessor to the King, and François Charpentier. He met Jean Mabillon
when Mabillon passed through Lyon in 1682.

1683 edition of Recherches curieuses d'antiquité

Spon traveled to

Chateaubriand
, who employed it on his trip to the East.

Spon brought back many valuable treasures, coins, inscriptions and manuscripts.

archaeologia
" to describe the study of antiquities in which he was engaged.

In 1681 Spon published a brief (95pp.) treatise on fevers, which, being well-received, he expanded to 264 pp. to include the latest remedies, including "Quinquina" from "Perou," which he considers especially effective, but which, he says, the "Ameriquains" did not recognize: "le quinquina n'etoit pas connu pour la guerison des fievres par les Ameriquains meme...". "Observations sur les Fievres et les Febrifuges" was published by Thomas Amaulry at Lyon in 1684 and posthumously in 1687. Spon points out that he is an expert on fevers because Lyon includes a swampy area (the Dombes) that produces "mauvais air" responsible for fevers—probably actually malaria. As Spon's book illustrates, in the 17th century a whole range of diseases were classified as different "fevers." In its time, "Observations sur les Fievres" was a learned, technical manual for a physician who wanted to be current.

The

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, October 1685, was indirectly the cause of Spon's death. Rather than abjure his Calvinist faith, he preferred to leave for Zürich, an illegal move. His money and baggage were stolen from him, and in fragile health, he died of tuberculosis
in the canton hospital at Vevey, Christmas Day 1685, at the age of 38.

Works

  • Histoire de la ville et de l'Estat de Genève, Lyon, 1620, ibid., Amaulry, 1680, 1682, Utrecht : Halma, 1685
  • The history of the city and state of Geneva, London : White, 1687
  • Historie van de Stad en Staat van Geneve, Amsterdam : Oossaan, 1688
  • Histoire de Genève rectifiée et augmentée, Genève : Fabri et Barrillot, 1730
  • De l'origine des estrenes, [Lyon], 1673, Paris : Didot et de Bure, 1781
  • Recherche des antiquités et curiosités de la ville de Lyon, Lyon, 1673
  • Relation de l'état présent de la ville d'Athènes, Lyon, 1674
  • Réponse à la critique publiée par M. de Guillet sur le Voyage de Grèce, Lyon, 1679
  • Ignotorum atque obscurorum quorundam deorum arae, Lugduni : Faeton, 1676
  • Voyage d'Italie, de Dalmatie, de Grèce et du Levant, Lyon : Cellier, 1678, Amsterdam : Boom, 1679
  • Viaggi per la Dalmazia, Grecia, e Levante, Bologna : Monti, 1688
  • Italiänische, Dalmatische, Griechische und Orientalische Reise-Beschreibung, Nürnberg : Hofmann, 1690, 1713
  • Lettres sur l'antiquité de la véritable religion, Lausanne : [Gentil ?], 1681
  • Lettres curieuses touchant la religion, Cologne, 1682
  • Recherches curieuses d'antiquité, Lyon : Amaulry, 1683
  • Miscellanea eruditae antiquitatis, Lugduni : [l'auteur], 1685
  • Observations sur les fievres et les febrifuges, Lyon : Amaulry, 1684, 1687
  • Novi tractatus de potu caphé, de Chinensium thé et de chocolata, Genavæ : Cramer et Perachon, 1699

References

  1. ^ a b  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Spon, Jacques". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 714–715.
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