Jean Le Clerc (1657–1736)

Jean Le Clerc is regarded as one of the major paradigmatic representatives of the golden age of the république des lettres. The theologian and philosopher published numerous critical works and was renowned for his intensive activity as a journalist. Born in Geneva on 19/29 March 1657, he was the second son of Étienne Le Clerc (1599–1676), a professor at the Académie in Geneva, and his second wife, Suzanne Gallatin. Le Clerc was educated at the Collège de Calvin and the Académie, where he studied under Louis Tronchin and Jean-Robert Chouet, before taking up a position as tutor to the son of the Grenoble magistrate Sarrasin de la Pierre.

Following his ordination in Geneva in 1680, Le Clerc moved to France when he accompanied his pupil, Gabriël de la Pierre, to the Huguenot Académie de Saumur. Here he engaged in theological debates over grace and predestination, his first book being published in 1681.The following year the young theologian visited London, where he remained for six months in an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a position and where his appointment as curate to the French church at the Savoy ended in disagreement with senior members of the congregation. In 1683, against the background of increasing political instability in England, Le Clerc moved to Amsterdam and, with the help of Philippus van Limborch (1633–1712), a prominent Arminian, obtained a post at the Remonstrant seminary as professor of philosophy, Hebrew, and the humanities. Under Limborch’s influence, Le Clerc moved increasingly towards Remonstrant theology.

It was in Amsterdam that Le Clerc was introduced to the English philosopher John Locke. Although Le Clerc made an attempt to return to Geneva, the theological atmosphere there proved uncongenial and with the support of English friends such as Locke and Joseph Addison he continued to seek a position in England. But, despite complaining of the expense of living in Amsterdam, his lack of an English appointment caused him to remain in the city, where he published prodigiously on a wide range of topics while translating and editing also theological, historical, and philosophical works. A number of Le Clerc’s publications carry dedications to English friends, including Robert Boyle and John Locke (Logica [1692]); in 1705 he published his Eloge, a work that was to become the foundation upon which Locke’s biographers worked. Le Clerc’s scholarly journals — for which he is best known and in which he reviewed a significant proportion of English publications —  included Bibliothèque Universelle et Historique (1686–93), the Bibliothèque Choisie (1703–13), and the Bibliothèque Ancienne et Moderne (1714–27). It was primarily through the journals that Le Clerc was able to disseminate the work of England’s leading scholars and scientists.

Le Clerc sought consistently to interpret passages in the Bible as he would any other text and advocated they should be placed in context with due consideration given to historical meaning. As early as 1703, publication of his French translation of the New Testament had resulted in an accusation of the propagation of Socinianism and from 1712 when, on the death in post of his friend and mentor, Philipp van Limborch, Le Clerc succeeded to the chair of ecclesiastical history at the seminary, he continued to become embroiled in theological controversy.

Le Clerc had married Maria Leti, the daughter of the historian Gregorio Leti (1630–1701) in 1691. From 1728 until her own death in 1734, Maria nursed her husband through his series of strokes; thereafter, Le Clerc was cared for by a second cousin. He died on 28 December 1735 (Julian) / 8 January 1736 (Gregorian) in Amsterdam.