Des Périers, Bonaventure (c.1510-c.1544). French prose writer. Born in Burgundy, he was raised by the abbot of Saint-Martin in Autun. We first hear of him collaborating on Olivétan's French Bible (1535). Introduced into the service of Marguerite de Navarre, he became one of her secretaries. Mixing with the literati of Lyon, he sympathized with the Evangelicals, translated works from Latin and Greek, took Marot's defence in Pour Marot absent … contre Sagon (1537), and worked with Dolet on the Commentarii linguae latinae (1536-8). The latter and the works of Origen are said to have helped cultivate the healthy religious scepticism to be seen in his best-known work, Cymbalum mundi (1539), published under the pseudonym of Thomas du Clevier (an anagram of Thomas l'incrédule?). In four short Lucianic dialogues, he examines the dangers of reason and eloquence; the work's enigmatic or hermetic nature has prompted differing interpretations. Attacked by Protestants and Catholics alike, the book was condemned by the Parlement but Marguerite interceded in Des Périers's favour. He also left a collection of short stories, the Nouvelles récréations et joyeux devis (c.1538, published 1558), which bear the stamp of Boccacio and Rabelais, yet which reveal a certain originality of style and psychological observation. After he left Marguerite's service in 1541 little is known about him: Henri Estienne claimed he committed suicide.
[Keith Cameron]
