Brief Lives, Vol. 1

Chapter 156: Jean Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683).

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Biographies History - Early Modern (c. 1450-1750)

About This Book

A collection of concise biographical sketches compiled from the author's manuscript notes, offering anecdotal portraits of a wide range of literary, scientific, political, and social figures across several generations. Entries blend remembered quotations, learned citation, personal recollection, and occasional gossip, producing uneven but vivid character sketches. Material is presented alphabetically and supplemented by antiquarian notes, a short theatrical piece, and facsimiles of manuscript drawings and plans. An introduction outlines editorial principles and reproduces the manuscript spellings and citations where appropriate, preserving the informality and immediacy of the original notes.

Jean Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683).

[669]Monsieur ... Colbert was a merchant and an excellent accomptant, i.e. for Debtor and Creditor. He is of Scotish extraction and that obscure enough, his grandfather being a Scotish bag-piper to the Scotch regiment.

Cardinal Mezarin found that his stables were very chardgeable to him, and was imposed upon in accompts. He hearing of this merchant Colbert to be a great master in this art, sends for him and desires him to make inspection into his accounts and putt him into a better method to avoyd being abused. Which he did, and that so well that he imployed him in ordering the accounts of all his estate and found him so usefull that he also made use of him to methodize and settle the accompts of the king. This was his rise.—From Dr. John Pell.