DUHALDE, Jean Baptiste (1674-1743), geographical writer, was born at Paris, February 1, 1674. In 1708 he entered into the Society of Jesus, and some time afterwards he was appointed to succeed Father Legobien, who had been intrusted with the duty of collecting and arranging the letters which they received from their missionaries in different quarters of the globe. He was also for some time secretary to the famous Father Le Tellier, confessor to the king of France. He died August 18, 1743. Duhalde is represented as a man of mild and amiable character, and as remarkable alike for his unaffected piety and unwearied industry. He was the author of some Latin poems, which do not evince any superior degree of excellence. The productions for which he is principally distinguished are— (1) Lettres Édifiantes et Curieuses écrites des Missions Étrangères, which he edited with great ability from the ninth to the twenty-sixth volume inclusive, and which have been translated into English and German; and (2) Description géographique, historique, chronologique, politique, et physique de l , Empire de la Chine et de la Tartaric Chinoise, raris, 1735, in four volumes large folio, with figures and an atlas by D’Anville. This work, the first in which China is described with so much exactness and detail, is a beautiful specimen of French typography. An English translation by Brookes was published in 1736 in 4 vols.