White— ^/m5 Bouhereau of La Rochelle. 131 



Agnew, that his father came over with him to England in 1686. Since 

 writing the above, I have ascertained, through the kindness of M. Meschinet 

 de Eichemond, Archiviste Honoraire de La Eochelle, that Bouhereau senior 

 died 23rd June, 1653, See Appendix, p. 152. 



The Bouhereaus were a prominent family among the Protestants of 

 La Eochelle. The name of Bouhereau's great-grandfather, Pierre, occurs in 

 the first list of anciens of the Consistory in 1561. They do not, however, 

 seem to have been very numerous — at least in the male line ; for not one of 

 the many cousins whose letters have come down to us bears the name. The 

 name itself was properly pronounced Boireau ; and it is so written on many 

 of the letter-addresses from intimate friends. Uneducated people write it 

 Boureau, Bourau, Bourot, Boueros. The form Boireau is actually printed 

 in the dedication by Tanneguy Le Pevre of Za Vie d'Aristippe, Paris, 1668. 

 In the shelf-catalogue, which may have been written in the lifetime of 

 Bouhereau, the following note is found below the entry of this book : — 



" Cui hie Liber inscribitur, Boireau, ejus nomen melius scribitur 

 Bouhereau^ ; quamquam eadem est pronunciatio. Ilium alias Tan. Paber 

 vocat Borellum, qui melius dicitur Boherellus ; Elias nempe, Eliae fil : Eliae 

 nep : Petri Pronep." The allusion is to the Ad Eliam Borellum Praefatio of 

 Le Pevre's Prima Scaligerana, 1669. The copy of this latter work which is 

 now in Marsh's Library (E 1. 5. 72) was a gift to Bouhereau from Isaac 

 Desbordes, printer and publisher at Saumur ; the former was a presentation 

 copy from the author. 



Bouhereau's mother was Blandine Eichard. She was a very devoted 

 parent; and, while her son was away from home, wrote to him every week, 

 never missed a post, and seized every extra opportunity to send a little note. 

 It is a pity that she spelt her language phonetically. This habit, and a 

 crowded though bold handwriting, make her letters difficult to decipher. As 

 was the custom then for widows, she always signs her maiden name, Blandine 

 Richard. She had two brothers — merchants, I fancy — who lived at St. Martin, 

 in the Island of Ee, opposite La Eochelle ; and Bouhereau corresponded with 

 four cousins of the same name, one of whom, Elie Eichard, was on terms of 

 special intimacy with him, and subsequently joined him in partnership in 

 the practice of medicine. The letters of this Elie Eichard, written while 

 studying medicine at Groningen, Amsterdam, Leyden, and Paris, give the 

 impression of a pleasant, straightforward, manly, and intelligent person. 

 His sister Marie married a M. Journeau in the spring of 1663. It may 



' The second syllable is also accented on the title-page, and at the foot of the Epistle dedicatory 

 of Bouhereau's Origen, and in his signature to his Statement, 1702 ; but in writing the name, 

 the accent was usually omitted, in accordance with the careless lashion of the time. 



