Book Illustration, Taxes and Propaganda: The Fermiers Généraux Edition of La Fontaine's 'Contes et nouvelles en vers' of 1762 by David Adams

Abstract

MLR, I03.3,2oo8 857 of the two,The Confessions du Comte de ***, treats issues similar to those of the Considerations, but with greater concision and with considerably less gravity, though both prefer euphemism toobscenity, abounding inmischievous ironies and allusions, but always within a framework ofmoral values, if liberally conceived. It is replete with witty epigrammatical observations thatmay be favourably compared with La Rochefoucauld's maxims. Douglas Parmee's new translation of these excellent tales combines accuracy with elegance, and succeeds well inpreserving the playful tone of the original textswhile being readily accessible to themodern reader. Parmiee prefaces his translationswith an informativeand entertaining introduction. The volume is,then,an altogether wel come addition to that small library of French literary texts available to those who cannot read French. Itmay also be of use to French degree students who need the support of parallel texts.However, it isdoubtful that thepotential market for such a publication is very large.This is to be regretted, since, a prominent member of the literarysociety of his day, and an author of nomean talent,Duclos deserves tobe read bothwithin and outside France. The Confessionswent through sixteen editions in the eighteenth century, and thework was certainly read byRousseau, who may even have borrowed the title forhiswell-known autobiography. It ispossible, too, that the tales inspiredDiderot (Les Bijoux indiscretsand La Religieuse), Laclos's Les Liaisons dan gereuses, and perhaps even Sade's Justine, narratives which echo themisfortunes of Madame de Luz, theheroine of thefirsttale in thisvolume, thesemi-historical Histoire de laBaronne de Luz. Recognizing the quality and importance ofDuclos's contribu tion to literature,Sainte-Beuve wrote a detailed study of a corpus ofwork whose gentle ironies and humorous attitudes to sexual liaisons, balanced by a shrewd psychological insight, are as instructive and entertaining today aswhen theywere first written. LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY JOHN PHILLIPS Book Illustration, Taxes and Propaganda: The Fermiers Generaux Edition ofLa Fon taine's 'Contes et nouvelles en vers' of I762. By DAVID ADAMS. (SVEC, i) Oxford: Voltaire Foundation. 2oo6. 428 PP. ?65. ISBN 978-0-7294-0885-I. This book is a labour of love and awonderful piece of scholarship and criticism. In the I750S the company of royal tax gatherers decided to procure an edition of La Fontaine's saucy verse taleswith newly commissioned illustrations byCharles Eisen. In one sense David Adams's work is the story of thisbook. The fermiersgeneraux no doubt saw theirventure as a commercial exercise: finebooks with lavish illustrations could sell for a lot ofmoney to the growing numbers of rich bibliophiles. But it is Adams's contention that thechoice of textand Eisen's manner of illustrating itcan be seen as thefermiers's assertion of the freedomwith which theywent about pursuing their own interests and advancement. They were, of course, an unpopular group. Adams sums up their reputation as 'rapacious, cruel and sybaritic' (p. 48). Unfor tunately (for them), they suffered increasing numbers of polemical attacks and, not long after thevolume had been published in 1762, theywithdrew itfrom sale.Adams suggests that thiswas because the ideological implications of thevolume would serve only to fan the flames of hostility.The poems and illustrations can certainly be seen tocelebrate personal freedom. But the images of folly,duplicity, immorality,freedom from all conventional restraintmight also be taken to reflectdirectly on the fermiers and, furthermore, might offend all readers by suggesting thateverybody is as bad as theyare. The withdrawal did not prevent thework being sought after (then, as now) as amajor achievement inbook illustration.And indeed Adams's argument depends crucially on the illustrations.He is fullyaware of theother editions of La Fontaine's 858 Reviews contes then available: most unillustrated, some illustrated by Romeyn de Hooghe, others by Charles-Nicholas Cochin. Adams claims that it is the use and nature of Eisen's illustrations thatmake the I762 edition so distinctive and thatunderline the ideological reading appropriate to its tax-gathering begetters. Only the I762 edition uses full-page illustrations thatcapture details suggesting a libertarian disrespect for authority (especially royal authority).Adams's approach has determined thestructure of his book. Between two long introductory and concluding chapters are sandwiched two chapters looking in turn at each of the twovolumes of the I762 work...