My wife's ancestors - Gibbon - Contents

Edward Gibbon, the historian

• Sources yet to be consulted:
  • Patricia Craddock
    • Edward Gibbon bibliography.
    • Young Edward Gibbon: Gentleman of Letters, Patricia Craddock, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1982. Contains genealogy.

  • See bibliography in [DNB].

Edward Gibbon, 1773.
At [NPG]. See here.
From Wikimedia Commons. See dispute over public domain status.

Edward Gibbon, the historian (see here and here and here),
born 27th Apr 1737,
one of the leading figures of the 18th century western Enlightenment,
educ Magdalen College, Oxford,
engaged to Suzanne Curchod, but his father would not let him marry her, she later became Madame Necker,
author of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (see here), 6 vols, 1776-88,
his gentle defense of classical paganism against the new Christianity in Chapters 15 and 16 of Vol.1 caused great scandal,
the phrase "The Decline and Fall of ----" has passed into the language,
moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, 1783,
died London, 16th Jan 1794, age 56 yrs,
bur in the church at Fletching, East Sussex. See his deathbed.
See [DNB].
See biography in [Enc.Britannica, 1911].
See images at [NPG].

Edward Gibbon.
Public domain image from here.

---

".. little more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind"
- Gibbon on history.

"Another damned, thick, square, book! Always scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh! Mr. Gibbon?"
- William Henry, Duke of Gloucester, upon receiving the second volume from the author, 1781.

---

Gibbon the ape

• Gibbon, the ape (and here and here)
• The family of apes called gibbons were given their name by the great French naturalist Buffon (also here) in his Nomenclature of the Apes, 1766.

• The origin of "gibbon":
  • The standard theory seems to be that the word "gibbon" was brought to Europe from the French colonies of India (gibbons are found in India, SE Asia, Indonesia and China) by Joseph François Dupleix, French governor general in India 1742-54 (died 1763).
  • Some sources say "gibbon" is French (perhaps purely because it is from Buffon, or was the word used by the French in India). Some sources say it is Indian (from French India). Other sources say it is derived from the English "gib" (see following).
  • Gibbons are of the family Hylobatidae, which means "tree dweller".

• Buffon knew Gibbon:
  • Interestingly, Buffon knew Gibbon the historian. Buffon and Gibbon were both among the intellectuals who frequented the salon of Edward Gibbon's love Madame Necker (Suzanne Curchod, who married Jacques Necker 1764). I had wondered whether Buffon could possibly have named the apes after the historian. Note: I have never seen anyone claim this. I just think it's an interesting coincidence.

• Etymology:
  • Gilbert - The name Gilbert (or Old French Thibert or Tibert or Tybalt) has short form Gib or Gibb.
    • Gibbon - The surname Gibbon probably derives from a short form of Gilbert.
    • Gib - Gilbert (or Old French equivalent) is the name of the cat in the fables of Reynard the Fox (12th cent). Perhaps as a result of these stories, Gilbert or Gib seems to have caught on as a cat's name. "Gibbe" is the name of the cat in Chaucer's "Romaunt of the Rose" (14th cent). "Gib" (and here and here and here), pronounced Gib (NOT Jib), became a generic old English word, meaning a male cat, especially a castrated male cat.
      • Gibbon - Some sources say "gibbon" the ape is derived from "gib" the cat. If so, then Gibbon the surname and Gibbon the ape may have a common origin in Gilbert anyway.