THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY by Far the Most Interesting General

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY By W. H. BARBER Reader in French at Birkbeck College in the University of London I. GENERAL BY far the most interesting general work on the century to appear in 1955 is the valuable special number of XVII S, entitled 'Comment les Frans:ais voyaient la France au XVIIe siecle' (XVII S, 25/26). This attempts a serious historical examination of the 17th-century Frenchman's concept of nationality and of his attitudes to the political and religious institutions which shaped the country's life. M. R. Mousnier shows the constitutional limitations upon royal power in 17th century France, draws an important distinction between abso lutism and despotism, and stresses the indissolubility of religious and political elements in the 17th-century conception of the monarchy. M. V. L. Tapie analyses the development of the 17th-century notion of patriotism and finds in it the seeds of the later concept of 'la nation'. Other articles discuss 17th century attitudes towards the papacy and towards taxation, and the relations between the new and largely alien province of Alsace and the rest of France. All these articles have valuable bibliographies. A picture emerges of a society precariously balanced between unifying and particularist forces, continually menaced from both within and without, ultimately dependent solely on the monarchy for its survival, yet showing, in spite of these dangers, a surprising stability in its social and political attitudes and institutions. Students of the period will also welcome the latest addition to Fliche et Martin, Histoire de l' Eglise depuis les origines jusqu' d nos jours, 19; Les Luttes politiques et doctrinales aux XVIIe et XVIIle siecles, Bloud et Gay, by E. Preclin and E. Jarry. This volume, covering the period 1648-1789, has five chapters on French ecclesiastical affairs during the reign of Louis XIV, and offers succinct and up-to-date accounts of the Huguenot prob lem, Jansenism, Gallicanism, Quietism and the missionary con troversies. The emphasis is factual and narrative, but the w. H. BARBER 75 doctrinal issues are well summarized. The bibliographies are comprehensive and further enhance the book's value as a work of reference. An article by G. Snyders, 'L'Evolution du gout musical en France aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siecles', RSH, 79, venturing into little-known territory, provides some interesting evidence, from major writers, of the 17th century's lack of esteem for music, and offers some judicious comments on the reasons for it. This is perhaps the place to mention also an important pub lication by Mme M. J. Durry: Autographes de Mariemont. Premiere partie, avant 1800 (2 vols, Nizet). This is a descriptive catalogue of the very rich collection of French MS. corre spondence in the library of the Chateau de Mariemont in Hainault, and Mme Durry prints in full all items hitherto un published or published only in part. The 17th-century material, in vol. I, includes inedits by some 28 figures of literary or historical interest, of whom Malherbe, Balzac, La Fontaine, La Rochefoucauld, Bossuet, Mme de Montespan, T. Corneille, Saint-Evremond, Mlle de Scudery, Bayle, Mme de Maintenon, and Fenelon are only the major names. 2. THOUGHT The Proceedings of the 6th triennial congress of the IFMLL, held at Oxford in 1954, have now been published (Literature and Science, Oxford, Blackwell) and provide two items of special interest for 17th-century scholars. Dr W. G. Moore, in' Scien tific Method in the French Classical Writers', draws a number of suggestive parallels between the artistic procedures of classical authors and the developments taking place at the same period towards a fruitful scientific method. And Professor J. S. Spink presents an interesting link between contemporary aesthetic and scientific notions in an example of Cyrano's use of concepts of form and structure (' Form and Structure: Cyrano de Bergerac' s atomistic conception of Metamorphosis'). On Descartes I have found nothing of note apart from Mme G. Rodis-Lewis' excellent critical ed. of Les Passions de l'Ame (Vrin). Gassendi, however, the 3rd centenary of whose death n 1655 has been publicly commemorated at Digne, is well .

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