Dutens

LOUIS DUTENS (1730 - 1812)

Diplomat and man of letters, Dutens came to England as a Huguenot refugee and was chaplain to the English embassy in Turin (1758-62) and charge d'affaires until 1766. In that year he was presented to the rich sinecure living of Elsdon, where his dress, manners and foreign accent disconcerted his parishioners. Fortunately, as the DNB puts it, 'he never ventured on any professional duties as a clergyman'. Dutens became the Duke of Northumberland's constant companion, travelling a great deal and eventually being made historiographer-royal.

Dutens undertook the first comprehensive edition of Leibniz's works (1768) and his Memoires d'un Voyageur qui se Repose appeared in three volumes in 1805. Dutens also wrote many works on literary and philosophical subjects, which first appeared in French.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
LOUIS DUTENS (1730 - 1812) Diplomat and man of letters, Dutens came to England as a Huguenot refugee and was chaplain to the English embassy in Turin (1758-62) and charge d'affaires until 1766. In that year he was presented to the rich sinecure living of Elsdon, where his dress, manners and foreign accent disconcerted his parishioners. Fortunately, as the DNB puts it, 'he never ventured on any professional duties as a clergyman'. Dutens became the Duke of Northumberland's constant companion, travelling a great deal and eventually being made historiographer-royal. Dutens undertook the first comprehensive edition of Leibniz's works (1768) and his Memoires d'un Voyageur qui se Repose appeared in three volumes in 1805. Dutens also wrote many works on literary and philosophical subjects, which first appeared in French.
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