Policing Writers in Paris Circa 1750 Author(S): Robert Darnton Source: Representations, No
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Policing Writers in Paris Circa 1750 Author(s): Robert Darnton Source: Representations, No. 5 (Winter, 1984), pp. 1-31 Published by: University of California Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2928572 . Accessed: 27/07/2013 13:50 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. University of California Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Representations. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 150.135.114.84 on Sat, 27 Jul 2013 13:50:28 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ROBERT DARNTON Policing Writers in Paris circa 1750: FROM 1748 TO 1 753, a police officerin Pariswrestled with a problemthat is stillbedevilling the sociology and historyof literature: how do intellectualsfit into the socialorder? Of coursehe did notput thequestion in quitethose terms. He had never heard of intellectualsor sociology;he merelywanted to gatherinformation about writers.But he gatheredso muchof it thathis reports, 500 of themlying unpublished in theBibliotheque Nationale, constitute a virtualcensus of theliterary population of Paris-from the mostfamous philosophes to the mostobscure hacks-at the height of the Enlightenment.' JustwhyJoseph d'Hemery, inspector of the book trade,undertook such a task is difficultto say. The reports appear in three large registersunder the title "Historique des auteurs" withoutany introductionor explanation.As d'Hemery took up his officein June 1748, he may simplyhave intended to surveyhis new administrativeterritory, which included the inspectionof authors as an activity involvedin the policingof books. But d'Hemery had some extraordinarybooks to police duringhis firstfive years in office:L'Esprit des lois,the Encyclopedie,Rous- seau's firstdiscourse, Diderot's Lettresur les aveugles,Buffon's Histoire naturelle Toussaint's Les Moeurs,and the scandalous thesis by the abbe de Prades. The whole Enlightenmentseemed to burstinto print during the mid-centuryyears. At the same time, the tax reformsof Machault d'Arnouville,the Jansenist-Jesuit controversy,the agitationover the billetsde confession,the strugglebetween the crownand theparlements, and thefrondeurspirit following France's humiliationin the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelleproduced a general heating-upof the ideological atmosphere. However absolute the monarchyclaimed to be, it had to take ac- count of public opinionand of the men who directedit withtheir pens. The new inspectorof the book trade clearlyhad his workcut out forhim, and he went about it systematically.He built up dossiers fromall kinds of sources: journals,spies, concierges, cafe gossips,and interrogationsin the Bastille.Then he selected informationfrom the dossiersand transcribedit on standardforms with printedheadings, which he filedin alphabetical order and broughtup to date as the occasion arose. The procedurewas more thoroughthan anythingdone previ- ously,but it seems primitivewhen viewed in the lightof the subsequenthistory of ideological police work. Instead of adapting data to a computerizedprogram, d'Hemery recounted anecdotes. In the reporton Crebillonfils,for example, he noted: "His fathersaid, 'There are only two thingsthat I regrethaving done, Semiramisand my son.' 'Oh, don't worry,'the son replied, 'No one attributes REPRESENTATIONS 5 * Spring, 1984 ? ROBERT DARNTON This content downloaded from 150.135.114.84 on Sat, 27 Jul 2013 13:50:28 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Diagram I Age of Authors in 1750, as Listed in Bib. Nat. ms. nouv. acq. fr. 10781-10783 and Supplementary Sources Number of Authors, Age Number of Authors age by decades 7 0-over 9 68-69 4 66-67 7 42 64-65 3 ( 62-63 2 60-61 17 Montesquieu 61 58-59 10 56-57 8 Voltaire 56 54-55 8 50 52-53 11 50-51 13 48-49 12 46-47 a11 44-45 13 75 42-43 14 40-41 25 38-39 16 Rousseau 38 36-37 23 Diderot 3 7 34-35 29 106 32-33 17 d'Alembert 33 30-31 21 28-29 19 26-27 15 24-25 21 86 22-23 13 8 20-21 11 under 20 7 Median Age: 38 Total: 359 eitherof them to you.' "Not only did d'Hemery go about informationretrieval withan unscientificsense of humor,he also exercised literaryjudgment. La Barre wrote passable prose but could not manage verse, he observed. And Robbe de Beauveset sinned in the opposite way: "There is some genius in his poetry,but he writesharshly and has very littletaste." D'Hemery would not have gone down well withthe Deuxieme Bureau or the F.B.I. It would be a mistake,therefore, to treatd'Hemery's reportsas hard data of the kind to be found in a modern census. But it would be a greatermistake to dismiss them for excessive subjectivity.D'Hemery had a more intimateknowl- edge of the eighteenth-centuryworld of lettersthan any historiancan hope to 2 REPRESENTATIONS This content downloaded from 150.135.114.84 on Sat, 27 Jul 2013 13:50:28 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions acquire. His reportsprovide the earliestknown survey of writersas a social group, and they do so at a criticalmoment of literaryhistory. Moreover, they can be checked against a vast array of biographical and bibliographicalsources. After havingworked through all thismaterial and compiled the statistics,one can enjoy the firstclear view of the Republic of Lettersin earlymodern Europe. D'Hemery actuallyreported on 501 persons,but 67 of them never published anything,or anythingbeyond a few lines in La Mercure. So the reportscover 434 active writers.For 359 of them,the date of birthcan be established,for 312 the place of birth,and for333 the socio-occupationalposition. The statisticalbasis of the surveytherefore seems wide enough to supportsome firmconclusions. But how widelyhad d'Hemery cast his net in the firstplace? The only source against which to compare his surveyis La France litte'raire,a literaryalmanac, whichpurported to listevery living French author in 1756. As the listran to 1,187 names, it seems likelythat d'Hemery covered about a thirdof the totalpopulation of Frenchwriters. But which third?That question raises the furtherproblem of defininga writer.D'Hemery used the term "auteur" withoutexplaining it, and La France litteraireclaimed to include everyonewho had ever published a book. But the "books" it listed were mainly ephemeral works-sermons by village cures, orations by provincialdignitaries, medical pamphlets by small-towndoctors, in fact anythingthat anyone wanted to have mentioned, for the authors of the almanac had offeredto include in their own list the names of any books and authors that the general public could supply.As a result,La France litterairefa- vored the minor provincialliterati. By contrast,d'Hemery dealt with a broad range of writers,but he restrictedhimself almost entirelyto Paris. It seems rea- sonable to conclude thathis filescovered a major proportionof the active literary population and that the statisticsdrawn from them may give a fairlyaccurate pictureof literarylife in the capital of the Enlightenment.2 The demographicstructure of the groupis revealed in Diagram I. In 1750, the writersranged in age from ninety-three(Fontenelle) to sixteen (Rulhiere),but most of them were relativelyyoung. Rousseau, at thirty-eight,represented the median age exactly.The inner circle of Encyclopedistswas composed mainlyof men in theirthirties, beginning with Diderot, thirty-seven, and d'Alembert,thirty- three. Thus the bulge in the bar graph suggests somethingakin to a literary generation.With exceptionslike Montesquieu and Voltaire,who each had a foot in the Franceof Louis XIV, the philosophesbelonged to cohortswho reached their prime at mid-century.3 The geographical originsof the writers,which appear in Map I, fall into a familiarpattern. The south looks backward, except in urban areas scattered around the Rhone delta and the Garonne. Three-fourthsof the writerswere born above the celebrated Saint Malo-Geneva line, in northernand northeastern PolicingWriters in Pariscirca 1750 3 This content downloaded from 150.135.114.84 on Sat, 27 Jul 2013 13:50:28 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Table I Authors by Estate and Occupation, as Identified in Bib. Nat. ms. nouv. acq. fr. 10781-10783 Number of Authors in unspecified Identified Fathers Estate/Occupation 4 -5 date totala per centb number per cent Upper clergy,secular 3 3 0.9 - - Upper clergy,regular 1 1 0.3 - - Lower clergy,secular 31 31 9.3 - - Lower clergy,regular 4 1 5 1.5 - - Titled nobility,no office 11 1 1 3.3 16 10 Officer,high administration 4 4 1.2 1 1 Officer,military 20 7 27 8.1 12 8 Officer,sovereign courts 10 2 12 3.6 12 8 Officer,high finance 2 2 0.6 6 4 Officer,lower courts 4 2 6 1.8 8 5 Lower administration 20 10 30 9.0 22 14 Lawyer, attorney 26 2 28 8.4 19 12 Law personnel 3 3 0.9 1 1 Doctor 6 6 1.8 1 1 Apothecary 0 1 1 0.3 4 3 Professor 10 10 3.0 0 0 Lower finance 2 .1 3 0.9 2 1 Merchant 1 1 0.3 11 7 Manufacturer 0 0 0.0 0 0 Rentier 10 10 3.0 0 0 Journalist 9 11 20 6.0 0 0 Private teacher 27 8 35 10.5 4 3 Librarian 6 6 1.8 0 0 Secretary 15 10 25 7.5 1 1 Sinecure 10 1 11 3.3 0 0 Actor 8 1 9 2.7 1 1 Musician 1 1 0.3 1 1 Student 3 3 0.9 Employee 5 1 6 1.8 8 5 Shopkeeper 2 2 0.6 6 4 Artisan 6 1 7 2.1 14 9 Servant 1 1 2 0.6 1 1 Wives, widows 9 9 2.7 Other 1 2 3 0.9 5 3 Total 271 62 333 99.9 156 100 NOTES: a67 non-authorsare excluded; 101 are unidentified.Total: 271 + 62 + 101 = 434 "writers." bI.e., per centof totalof firsttwo columns = 333.