Books without Borders in Enlightenment Europe by Jeffrey Freedman

Abstract

of the process by which printmaking developed from many aesthetic and technological exchanges that took place between several countries over time. Although the editors wish to present a balanced historic perspective, the contributing authors repeatedly underscore the successful incorporation of European technological innovations in Japanese prints and Japanese aesthetics in French prints but do not equally emphasize the triumphs of Japanese technical influence and French aesthetic impact. Readers may remain unconvinced that efforts of French artists to use Japanese techniques and Japanese artists to use French aesthetics were “productive,” whereas in fact they were. In short, the editors aspire to more than this small collection of essays can deliver. An explanatory conclusion tying the essays together and clarifying how they support the editors’ message would have made them more effective and accessible to a wider audience. Nevertheless, the book gets its main point across: focusing exclusively on japonisme is an oversimplification that ignores the rich technical and aesthetic diversity predating this famous cultural exchange. As a result, this collection can serve as an excellent springboard for more research, and we can hope for future Japanese and French perspectives on the editors’ argument. Southwestern University (TX) Lisa Gustavson Freedman, Jeffrey. Books without Borders in Enlightenment Europe. Philadelphia: UP of Pennsylvania, 2012. ISBN 978-0-8122-4389-5. Pp. 384. $79.95. Using the archival papers of the Société Typographique de Neuchâtel (STN), dating from 1773–84, Freedman has woven an intriguing story of book companies, creditors, and customers in Switzerland, France, and Germany. He bases his conclusions on this company’s dealings as typical of the late eighteenth-century book trade. It was a world without copyrights, without borders, as well as without financial guarantees. Translations might become adaptations, and the book might change title and format. The distinction between editor, publisher, and bookseller was blurred, and the market, uncertain. Yet from the Leipzig Easter Book Fair to independent trade, French books made their way, often precariously, to Germany and Eastern Europe. French dominated eighteenth-century Europe, was spoken by all educated people, thus increasing the demand. The STN sent Bibles to the dispersed Huguenots and pornographic novels to interested readers. It provided the works of the Enlightenment philosophes and books on history, travel, politics, and beaux-arts. While one might expect to find Voltaire, Rousseau, and the Encyclopédie among the best-sellers, Mercier eclipsed them, and the list included Mirabeau, Mme de Genlis, and Beaumarchais. The trade from Germany to France was minimal, since few French spoke German, and produced principally translations into French. The most important was Sebaldus Nothanker, a novel with moralistic overtones, later sold as Intolérance ecclésiastique, because the publisher was over-stocked. The author, Friedrich Nicolai, received no royalties nor 246 FRENCH REVIEW 88.1 Reviews 247 was he consulted regarding the accuracy of the translation or the change of title. Freedman follows the careers of several agents of the STN, thus giving faces and names to an otherwise objective account. He introduces the reader to François Mettra, a native Parisian and a Freemason, whose turbulent career eventually brought him to Cologne as a bookseller of “livres philosophiques,”generally applied to books that were banned in France. Charles Fontaine in Mannheim maintained a peaceful and solvent relationship with the STN, quite different from most. Jean-Guillaume Virchaux of Hamburg, the STN’s most important trading partner, had customers from Sweden to Russia. Like so many other booksellers, he fell into bankruptcy, and ended his life in Paris as a revolutionary. Freedman has consulted numerous primary and secondary sources in addition to the STN papers. His bibliography includes archival documents and letters in Germany, France, and Switzerland. His translations from French and German are accurate, and he supplies both the original and his own translation. The book could be ponderous, but because of the human dimensions included, becomes readable and enjoyable. Freedman comments on the book trade in the eighteenth century as a phenomenon that the revolutionary armies and Napoleon destroyed. Books had various effects on the German public who read them or simply displayed them in their palaces: from sentimental novels read by women to a spirit of nationalism derived...