The French Book: Religion, Absolutism, and Readership, 1585–1715 by Henri-Jean Martin

Abstract

technology and culture Book Reviews 137 sub-Roman Gaul, including much that should be better known to military historians. Bert Hall Dr. Hall is with the University of Toronto’s Institute for History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, where he teaches, among other things, some medieval military history. The French Book: Religion, Absolutism, and Readership, 1585-1715. By Henri-Jean Martin, trans. Paul Saenger and Nadine Saenger. Balti­ more: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. Pp. xii+117; illustra­ tions, maps, figures, notes, index. $35.00 (hardcover); $13.95 (paper). Since the publication of L’Apparation du livrenearly fortyyears ago, Henri-Jean Martin has written widely and authoritatively on the his­ tory of the book. In the latest addition to this corpus, Martin summa­ rizes much of his vast knowledge on the book trade in early modern Europe. Based on a series of talks presented for the 1993 Schouler Lectures atJohns Hopkins University, each of the four chapters in The French Book examines a different aspect of the commerce of books with particular attention to the social, cultural, and political role they played in early modern society. Using the printed text as a historical artifact, Martin outlines such developments as the cre­ ation of an international market for books stimulated by the de­ mands of the Catholic Reformation; the shifting attitude of the state toward books as monarchies began to see the advantages of the printing press as well as the need for censorship; the nature of the readership and the struggles undertaken by regional presses to meet the literary needs of their clients; and changes in the format ofpages and the relationship between illustrations and texts. Martin paints four interrelated portraits of the cultural landscape ofbooks and readers in 17th-century Europe, arguing that the print­ ing press and the commerce of books exerted a profound influence on changing religious, political, and cultural attitudes. As the title indicates, France provides the chiefsetting, although inevitably Mar­ tin brings in examples from other parts of Europe. This is especially true in his examination of the religious book trade. The commerce of books, Martin reminds us, was an international affair and one whose cultural modes and themes traversed many of the political divisions that existed at the time. Libraries, during this period of religious conflict, became weapons “for the reconquest ofsouls” (p. 15). Martin traces the interconnections between various countries and examines how the Catholic Church strove to control the content and the circulation of books. Although works from different genres were also published during this period, theological and spiritual lit­ 138 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE erature, written in the vernacular, dominated the literary market­ place well into the 17th century. Of course, the Catholic Church was not the only institution that attempted to control printing for its own use; the French state, and especially the chief 17th-century ministers, Richelieu, Mazarin, and Colbert, all worked tirelessly to impose royal domination on the printing trade. The crown wanted to regulate printing in order to use it for its own political program, but also to prevent the dissemination of any opposing political and intellectual views. Martin traces this “typographical absolutism” (p. 37) from the Wars ofReligion though the reign of Louis XIV. The controlling efforts of the state were not always effective, of course, and Martin also outlines the formation of an oppositional press that churned out pamphlets and books attacking the crown, especially during the Fronde. In addition to examining the methods utilized by the church and the state to appropriate and supervise printing, Martin also discusses how individuals acquired and accumulated books, as well as the way books themselves changed over the course of the 17th century. Through an investigation of several provincial cases, such as Rouen and Grenoble, Martin analyzes the organizational techniques used in the publication and sale of books. At the same time, an examina­ tion of privately owned libraries allows Martin to speculate on local cultural attitudes toward religious differences, new philosophical ideas, and contemporary literature. Regional variations were some­ what blurred by certain literary similarities in the structure and form of the book. These similarities developed in conjunction with the newly formed Académie Fran...