BOISSARD, JEAN JACQUES, a classical antiquary and Latin poet, born at Besançon in 1528. He studied at Louvain; but, disgusted by the severity of his master, he secretly left that seminary, and after traversing a great part of Germany reached Italy, where he remained several years, and was often reduced to great straits. His residence in Italy developed in his mind a taste for antiquities, and he soon formed a collection of the most curious monuments of Rome and its vicinity. He then visited the islands of the Archipelago, with the intention of travelling through Greece, but a severe illness obliged him to return to Rome. Here he resumed his favourite pursuits with great ardour; and
having completed his collection, returned to his native country. But not being permitted to profess publicly the Protestant religion, which he had embraced some time before, he withdrew to Metz, where he died, Oct. 30. 1602, aged seventy-four. His works are:—
1. Poesmata, Epigrammatum libri tres, Elegia libri tres, Epistolarum libri tres, Basle, 1574; 2. Eublemata, Latin and French, Metz, 1584; 3. Eublemata, Latin, Francfort, 1595; 4. Vita et Icones Salmacorum Turcicorum, &c., Francfort, 1596; 5. Theatrum Vitae Humanae, Metz, 1596; 6. Romanae Urbis Topographia et Antiquitates, quibus succincte et breviter describuntur omnia quae tunc publice primum privatis videntur antiqua descriptione digna, partes vi, Francfort, 1597, 1598, 1600, and 1602, folio, six tomes in three, with plates, and now very rare; 7. Icones et Vitae Virorum Illustrium, Francfort, 1592 to 1599; 8. Parnassus Biceps, Francfort, 1601; 9. De Divinatione et Magicae praestigiis, Oppenheim and Hanau, rare and curious; and, 10. Habitus Variarum Gentium, Metz, 1581, ornamented with seventy illuminated figures.