The Public Spirit and the Books Trade during the French First Republic (1793-1795)

The commerce of the political catechisms in Nancy and some elements of the sale of texts for theatre in Toulouse

The article is focused on the careers of two publicists, Claude Thiébaut (in Nancy) and Hyacinthe Pellet known as Desbarreaux (in Toulouse). The comparison between their lives illustrates the importance of some individuals for the propagation of the revolutionary principles away from Paris. It is also useful to explain how, during the French Revolution, some public people could use their position, at the same time, for the public welfare and for their private interests. Moreover, the article examines the condition of the production and the diffusion of the patriotic writings through a perspective based on the cultural history, the social history and the history of the books and their trade.

L'auteur

In 2005, Marco Marin was graduated from the University of Trieste with a thesis on the thinking of Robespierre and in 2012 he obtained a doctorate from the Institute of Social Sciences of Naples. He was a fellow at the Benedetto Croce Institute in Naples (2007) and at the FMSH (2013).  Now he is a SHARM Scholar at the University of Trieste. In collaboration with Cesare Vetter, he published two volumes of lexicometric studies entitled La felicità è un'idea nuova in Europa (Happiness is a New Idea in Europe) and several articles on the political history and lexicon of the French Revolution .

Reference

Marco Marin. Esprit public et marché éditorial au début de la Premère République (1793-1795) : La vente des catéchismes politiques à Nancy et de certains ́eléments du commerce des pièces de théâtre à Toulouse. FMSHWP-2015-94. 2015.