Siméon-Prosper Hardy

Siméon-Prosper Hardy (1729 – 1806) was a printer and bookseller who is known for writing a detailed journal about daily life and events in 18th century Paris, from 1753 to the early years of the French Revolution.^[1][2] Hardy's journal, called Mes loisirs, ou journal d’événemens tels qu’ils parviennent à ma connaissance (transl. My Leisures, or a journal of events as they come to my knowledge), consists of 4100 folio pages and is considered a seminal historical record, akin to Edmond Jean François Barbier's Chronique.^[2]

Hardy started Mes loisirs in 1753 when he was a bookseller's apprentice, and he originally wrote journal entries in ledgers intended for his bookstore, La Colonne d’Or.^[2] Mes loisirs is a mixture of Hardy's observations of daily life, anecdotes, and excerpts from documents that he transcribed and cited.^[2]

Hardy was admitted as a master bookseller on 15 May 1755.^[1] In April 1789, he participated in the National Assembly and represented the Third Estate of the Estates-General.^[3]

• Bastien, Pascal; Mazeau, Guillaume. "Faire peuple : le témoignage de deux révolutionnaires ordinaires : S.-P. Hardy et A. Duquesnoy, mai-octobre 1789". Érudit (in French and English). doi:10.7202/1055652ar. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
• "Journal de Hardy | Le projet". journaldehardy.org. Université du Québec à Montréal. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
• "Notice de personne : Siméon-Prosper Hardy (1729-1806)". BnF. 3 June 1994. Retrieved 14 March 2026.

• Carnaval de Paris sous Louis XVI, in which Siméon-Prosper Hardy describes the carnival of Paris under Louis XVI.

• Journal de Hardy, a project by the Université du Québec à Montréal to publish the entirety of Hardy's journal.