, historiographer of buildings of the academy della Crusca, and of that of the
, historiographer of
buildings of the academy della Crusca, and of that of the
Arcades at Rome, was born at Dijon, in 1707, of poor
parents, but he went early to Paris, where his talents
procured him friends and patrons. He then came to London,
and met with the same advantage. In 1746 Maupertuis
offered him, on the part of the king of Prussia, a place
suitable to a man of letters, at the court of Berlin; but
he preferred mediocrity at home to flattering hopes held
out to him from abroad. He died in 1781. His tragedy
of “Abensaïde,
” the subject of which is very interesting,
was well received at first, notwithstanding the harshness of
the versification but it did not support this success when
revived on the stage in 1743. What most brought the
abbé Le Blanc into repute was the collection of his letters
on the English, 1758, 3 vols. 12mo, in which are many
judicious reflections; but he is heavy, formal, fruitful in
vulgar notions, and trivial in his erudition, and the praises
he bestows on the great men, or the literati, to whom he
addresses his letters, are deficient in ease and delicacy.
The letters of abbé Le Blanc cannot bear a comparison with
the “London
” of Grosley, who is a far more agreeable
writer, if not a more accurate observer.