Expilli, John Joseph

, a French writer, and canontreasurer of the chapter of St. Marine at Tarascon, was born at St, llemy in Provence, of an obscure family, in | 1719. He was educated for the church, but his course of studies was general, and he early manifested a taste for voyages and works of geography, and expended all he was worth in gratifying this inclination, by travelling over part of Europe and the coasts of Africa to verify the relative situations of places, and correct the errors of former geographers. On his return, he employed himself in arranging and methodizing the observations and information he had collected on the climate, manners, population, and 1 political interests of the different countries he had visited. These labours appeared so meritorious, that he was elected a member of the academies of Madrid, Stockholm, and Berlin. He died about the commencement of the French revolution, after having passed his life in successful study, and established an excellent character for benevolence. He published, as the result of his travels, 1. “Cosrnographie,” 1749, folio. 2. “Delia casa Milano,” 1753, 4to. 3. “Polychorographie,” Avignon, 1755, 8vo, an abridged account of astronomy, chronology, history, geography, hydrography, &c. but too short to be useful, and altogether the worst of Expilli’s works. 4. “Topographic de TUnivers,” 1758, 2 vols. 8vo. 5. “Description de l‘Angleterre, de l’Ecosse, et de Irelande,” 1759, 12mo, executed with great truth and impartiality, and illustrated with many judicious reflections; the narrative is entertaining, but the author’s inattention to his authorities has betrayed him into some blunders, although they do not affect the general merit of the performance. 6. “De la population de la France,” 1765, folio, one of the best statistical accounts of the produce of French industry and cultivation, and very superior' to all that had preceded. 7. “Dictionnaire geographique des Gaules et de la France,” 1762 1770, 6 vols. folio. This work was left incomplete, but as far as it goes, appears to have given general satisfaction. 8. “Manuel geographe,” 1782, a small volume for the use of schools, and well written. ¹