Pierre-Thomas-Nicolas Hurtaut
French writer (1719-1791)

Pierre-Thomas-Nicolas Hurtaut (French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ tɔma nikɔla yʁto]; 17 April 1719 – 5 May 1791) was an 18th-century French historian and writer.
Short biographie
The son of a horse trader, Pierre-Thomas-Nicolas Hurtaut became Latin teacher at the École Militaire and published his first book, Le Voyage d'Aniers in 1748. Interested in the mysteries of the human body, he devoted several books to the topic, including L'Art de péter and Essai de médecine sur le flux menstruel in which he pastiched medicinal treaties. He was also a historian and a member of the Société du bout du banc.
Bibliography
1748: Le Voyage d'Aniers
1750: Coup d’œil anglais sur les cérémonies du mariage
1751: L'Art de péter
1754: Essai de médecine sur le flux menstruel
1770: Le Pacte du destin
1774: Iconologie historique des souverains d'Europe
1775: Abrégé historique et portatif des rois mérovingiens
1775: Dictionnaire des mots homonymes de la langue française
1779: Dictionnaire historique de la ville de Paris et de ses environs, (in collaboration with Magny).
“Pierre-Thomas-Nicolas Hurtaut” enters the record as french writer (1719-1791). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Pierre-Thomas-Nicolas, Hurtaut and French can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3383523. VIAF identifies the subject as 69036462. The Library of Congress control number is n90658020. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1719, 1791, 1748 and 1750.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pierre-Thomas-Nicolas Hurtaut” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.