‘Les Êpîtres familières et invectives’; ‘Le Songe’ by Hélisenne de Crenne

Abstract

MLR, 105.1, 2010 243 'Les Epitres familieres et invectives) (Le Songe\ By Helisenne de Crenne. Ed. by Jean-Philippe Beaulieu. Saint-Etienne: Publications de l'Universite de Saint-Etienne. 2008. 187 pp. 12. ISBN 978-2-86272-489-8. This edition continues the excellent series by the Publications de l'Universite de Saint-Etienne, which existswith the principal aim ofmaking earlymodern French women's writing available to an undergraduate audience at a reasonable price. Even on its own terms, this new addition to the corpus ofwomen's writing suitable for the undergraduate curriculum is a triumph. The first text,well known to Crenne scholars, is a series of personal and invective letters set within and elaborating the fictional universe of the author's firstwork, theAngoisses douloureuses. These letters illuminate the social networks of the correspondent Helisenne and include her famous defences of female nature and woman's right to literary creation. Le Songe, an allegorical dialogue based on Cicero's Somnium Scipionis, is a much lesser-known work which is attracting increasing amounts of critical attention. Like Crenne's preceding works, it is essentially preoccupied with questions of love. It stages a sequence of dialogues between three sets of protagonists: the lover and the beloved; Venus and Pallas (Minerva); Sensuality and Reason. The edition draws upon Jean-Philippe Beaulieu's vast knowledge of sixteenth-century French women's writing, his experience of editing theAngoisses douloureuses in the same series in 2005, and,most significantly,his recentmajor work, a long-awaited critical edition of Le Songe, which appeared with Champion in 2007. The edition carefully targets theundergraduate audience by presenting the text with modernized spelling and keeping the critical apparatus to aminimum: difficult passages are glossed in the footnotes and proper nouns and important intertexts have their significance explained. Although some will regret the lack of a lengthy introduction and ex tensive notes, many will rejoice that themodest price and attractive paperback format place this edition comfortably in the undergraduate pocket, both literally and metaphorically. Indeed, scholars wishing to access fuller explanations of the text can refer to recent Champion editions of both texts {Les Epistres familieres et invectives,ed. by Jerry C. Nash (Paris, 1996); Le Songe deMadame Helisenne, ed. by Jean-Philippe Beaulieu and Diane Desrosiers-Bonin (Paris, 2007)). However, given the current strength of the euro, many UK-based academics may also appreciate access to amodern critical edition which does not oblige them to take out a second mortgage. University of Liverpool Pollie Bromilow Opinion. Voltaire. Nature et culture. Ed. by Jonathan Mallinson. (SVEC, 2007:12) Oxford: Voltaire Foundation. 2007. xi+307 pp.; 36 plates. ?69. ISBN 978-0-7294-0918-6. The thirteen articles in this volume treat key themes and figures of eighteenth century thought and culture?such as public opinion, Bayle, and Voltaire?as well as some seemingly peripheral subjects, including lascivious Laplanders and obscure ...