Barat, Nicolas, a French Orientalist, b. Bourges during the first quarter of the seventeenth century; d. in 1706 at Paris. He began his studies at Sens, and continued them in Paris, where he was instructor in the Mazarin College. There he came under the influence of Richard Simon, the famous Orientalist and Biblical scholar. The greater part of his published work was done in collaboration with other scholars. With Pére Bordes he edited the posthumous work of Thomassin, “Glossarium universale hebraicum” (Paris, 1697), and aided J. B. Duhamel in the publication of his Bible (Paris, 1706). At the time of his death he was engaged on a French translation of Schabtai’s “ Rabbinical Library”. His critical opinions, and much curious literary information that he had acquired, were published posthumously under the title, “Nouvelle bibliothéque choisie” (Amsterdam, 1714, 2 vols.).
TALLEMANT, Eloge de M. Barat in Mémoires de l'académie des holy et belles lettres, I, 345; BOZE, Histoire de l’acad, des inscrip., I, 41.
Eneas B. Goodwin.