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-	{{Template}}	+	#REDIRECT [[Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne]]
-	'''Nicolas-Edme Rétif''' or '''Nicolas-Edme Restif''' (October 23, 1734 – February 2, 1806), called '''Rétif de la Bretonne''', was a [[French novelist]], author of [[erotic fiction]] works such as ''[[The Anti-Justine]]'' (1798) and utopist non-fiction ''[[Le pornographe ou la prostitution réformée |Le Pornographe]]'' (1769). The term ''[[retifism]]e'' for shoe fetishism was named after him. His was known by several epithets: Laharpe called him "the Voltaire of the chambermaids" and was also known as "the Rousseau of the gutter." He was portrayed by [[Jean-Louis Barrault]] in Ettore Scola's film ''[[That Night in Varennes]]''.	+
-	==Life==	+
-	He was the son of a farmer, and was born at [[Sacy]] (Yonne). He was educated by the [[Jansenism|Jansenists]] at [[Bicêtre]], and on the expulsion of the Jansenists was received by one of his brothers, who was a ''[[curé]]''. Owing to a scandal in which he was involved, he was apprenticed to a printer at [[Auxerre]], and, having served his time, went to [[Paris]]. Here he worked as a [[journeyman printer]], and in 1760 he married Anne or Agnès Lebègue, a relation of his former master at Auxerre.	+
-		+
-	It was not until five or six years after his marriage that Rétif appeared as an author, and from that time to his death he produced a bewildering multitude of books, amounting to something like two hundred volumes, many of them [[self-published|printed with his own hand]], on almost every conceivable subject. Rétif suffered at one time or another the extremes of poverty and was acquainted with every kind of intrigue. He drew on the episodes of his own life for his books, which, in spite of their faded sentiment, contain truthful pictures of French society on the eve of the [[French Revolution|Revolution]]. He has been described as both a social realist and a sexual fantasist in his writings.	+
-		+
-	The original editions of these, and indeed of all his books, have long been bibliographical curiosities owing to their rarity, the beautiful and curious illustrations which many of them contain, and the quaint typographic system in which most are composed.	+
-		+
-	The fall of the [[assignat]]s during the Revolution forced him to make his living by writing, profiting on the new [[freedom of the press]]. In 1795 he received a gratuity of 2000 francs from the [[Thermidor Convention]].	+
-	In spite of his declarations for the new power, his aristocratic acquaintances and his reputation made him fall in disgrace.	+
-	Just before his death [[Napoleon]] gave him a place in the ministry of police, which he did not live to take up.	+
-		+
-	Rétif de la Bretonne undoubtedly holds a remarkable place in [[French literature]]. He was inordinately vain, of extremely relaxed morals, and perhaps not entirely sane. His books were written with haste, and their licence of subject and language renders them "quite unfit for general perusal", according to the Britannica redactors.	+
-		+
-	He and the [[Marquis de Sade]] maintained a mutual hate, while he was appreciated by [[Benjamin Constant]] and [[Friedrich von Schiller]] and appeared at the table of [[Alexandre Balthazar Laurent Grimod de La Reynière]], whom he met in 1782.	+
-	[[Jean François de La Harpe]] nicknamed him "the [[Voltaire]] of the chambermaids"<!-- and le Rousseau du ruisseau »)-->.	+
-	He was rediscovered by the [[Surrealist]]s.	+
-		+
-	He is also noted for his advocacy of [[communism]], indeed the term first made its modern appearance (1785) in his book review of [[Joseph-Alexandre-Victor Hupay de Fuveau]] who described himself as "communist" with his ''[[Project for a Philosophical Community]]''.	+
-		+
-	The works of [[Charles Monselet]], ''Rétif de la Bretonne'' (1853), and [[P. Lacroix]], ''Bibliographie et iconographie'' (1875), [[J. Assezat]]'s selection from the ''Contemporaines'', with excellent introductions (3 vols., 1875), and the valuable reprint of ''Monsieur Nicolas'' (14 vols., 1883-1884), are sufficient to form a judgment of him. His life, written by his contemporary [[Cubières-Palmezeaux]], was republished in 1875. See also [[Iwan Bloch|Eugène Dühren]], ''Rétif de la Bretonne, der Mensch, der Schriftsteller, der Reformator'' (Berlin, 1906), and a bibliography, ''Rétif-Bibliothek'' (Berlin, 1906), by the same author.	+
-		+
-	==Work==	+
-	The most noteworthy of his works are:	+
-	*''[[Le Pied de Fanchette]]'', a novel (1769)	+
-	*''[[Le Pornographe]]'' (1769), a plan for regulating prostitution which is said to have been actually carried out by the [[Emperor Joseph II]], while not a few detached hints have been adopted by continental nations	+
-	*''[[Le Paysan perverti]]'' (1775), a novel with a moral purpose, though sufficiently horrible in detail	+
-	*''[[La Vie de mon père]]'' (1779)	+
-	*''[[La Découverte Australe par un Homme Volant]]'' (1781), a piece of proto-[[French science fiction|science-fiction]] notorious for his prophetic inventions.	+
-	*''[[Les Contemporaines]]'' (42 vols., 1780-1785), a vast collection of short stories	+
-	*''[[Ingenue Saxancour]]'', also a novel (1785)	+
-	*''[[Les Nuits de Paris]]'' (beginning 1786: reportage including the [[September Massacres]] of 1792 )	+
-	* ''[[Anti Justine]]'' (1793), an answer to the earlier editions of [[Marquis de Sade|de Sade]]'s ''[[The Misfortunes of Virtue|Justine]]''.	+
-	*The extraordinary autobiography of ''[[Monsieur Nicolas]]'' (16 vols., 1794-1797).	+
-	=== Bibliographie ===	+
-		+
-	* ''La Famille vertueuse'' (Paris, [[1767 en littérature|1767]], 4 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''Lucile, ou le Progrès de la vertu'' ([[1768 en littérature|1768]], in-18).	+
-	* ''[[Le Pied de Fanchette]]'' ([[1769 en littérature|1769]], 3 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''La Fille naturelle'' ([[1769 en littérature|1769]], 2 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''[[Le Pornographe (traité)|Le Pornographe]]'' (Londres, [[1769 en littérature|1769]], in-8°).{{Commentaire biblio|Ouvrage dans lequel il présente un projet de réforme de la prostitution.}}	+
-	* ''[[Le Mimographe]]'' (Amsterdam, [[1770 en littérature|1770]], in 8°). {{Commentaire biblio|Ouvrage relatif à un plan de réforme pour le théâtre.}}	+
-	* ''[[Les Idées singulières]]'', [[1770 en littérature|1770]].	+
-	* ''Le Marquis de T…'' (Londres, [[1771 en littérature|1771]], 4 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''Adèle'' ([[1772 en littérature|1772]], 5 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''La Femme dans les trois états de fille, d’épouse et de mère'' (Londres, [[1773 en littérature|1773]], 3 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''Le Ménage parisien'' (Paris, [[1773 en littérature|1773]], 2 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''Les Nouveaux Mémoires d’un homme de qualité'' ([[1774 en littérature|1774]], 2 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''Le Paysan perverti, ou Les dangers de la ville'', [[1775 en littérature|1775]], [[1776 en littérature|1776]], 4 vol. in-12.	+
-	* ''L’École des pères'' ([[1776 en littérature|1776]], 3 vol. in-8°).	+
-	* ''[[Les Gynographes, ou Idées de deux honnêtes femmes sur un projet de règlement pour mettre les femmes à leur place]]'' ([[1777 en littérature|1777]], in-8°).	+
-	* ''Le Quadragénaire'' ([[1777 en littérature|1777]], 2 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''Le Nouvel Abélard, ou Lettres de deux amants qui ne se sont jamais vus'' ([[1778 en littérature|1778]], 4 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''[[La Vie de mon père]]'' ([[1779 en littérature|1779]], 2 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''La Malédiction paternelle'' ([[1780 en littérature|1780]], 3 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''Les Contemporaines, ou Aventures des plus jolies femmes de l’Âge présent'' ([[1780 en littérature|1780]]-[[1785 en littérature|85]], 42 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''La Découverte australe par un homme volant ou Le Dédale français'' ([[1781 en littérature|1781]])	+
-	* ''[[L’Andrographe, ou Idées pour opérer une réforme générale des mœurs]]'' ([[1782 en littérature|1782]], in-8°).	+
-	* ''La Dernière aventure d’un homme de quarante-cinq ans'' ([[1783 en littérature|1783]], in-12).	+
-	* ''La Prévention nationale, action adaptée à la scène'' ([[1784 en littérature|1784]], 3 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''La Paysanne pervertie'' ([[1784 en littérature|1784]], 4 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''Les Veillées du Marais, ou Histoire du prince Oribeau et de la princesse Oribelle'' ([[1785 en littérature|1785]], 2 vol. in-12), réimpr. sous le titre de ''l’Instituteur d’un prince royal'' ([[1791 en littérature|1791]], 4 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''Les Françaises'' ([[1786 en littérature|1786]], 4 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''Les Parisiennes'' ([[1787 en littérature|1787]], 4 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''[[Les Nuits de Paris|Les Nuits de Paris ou le Spectateur nocturne]]'' ([[1788 en littérature|1788]]-[[1794 en littérature|1794]], 8 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''La Femme infidèle'' ([[1788 en littérature|1788]], 4 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''Ingénue Saxancour, ou la Femme séparée'' ([[1789 en littérature|1789]], 3 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''[[Le Thesmographe, ou Idées pour opérer une reforme générale des lois]]'' ([[1789 en littérature|1789]], in-8°).	+
-	* ''Monument du costume physique et moral, de la fin du {{s-|XVIII|e|}}'' ([[Neuwied]], [[1789 en littérature|1789]], in-fol.).	+
-	* ''Le Palais-Royal'' (Paris, [[1790 en littérature|1790]], 3 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''L’Année des dames nationales, ou Histoire jour par jour d’une femme de France'' ([[1791 en littérature|1791]]-[[1794 en littérature|94]], 12 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''Le Drame de la vie, contenant un homme tout entier, pièce en treize actes d’ombres et en dix pièces régulières'' ([[1793 en littérature|1793]], 5 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''[[Monsieur Nicolas]], ou le Cœur humain dévoilé ([[1794 en littérature|1794]]-[[1797 en littérature|97]], 16 vol. in-12).	+
-	* ''La Philosophie de de Nicolas'' ([[1796 en littérature|1796]], 3 vol., in-12).	+
-	* ''[[L'Anti-Justine|L’Anti-Justine ou les délices de l’amour]]'', [[1798 en littérature|1798]], œuvre érotique saisie par la police en 1802.	+
-		+
-	Restif a encore publié, sous le titre de ''Théâtre'' ([[1793 en littérature|1793]], 5 vol. in-12), une série de pièces qui n’ont pas été représentées.	+
-		+
-	==References==	+
-	* ''[[Bad Books: Rétif de la Bretonne, Sexuality, and Pornography]]'' (2013) by Amy S. Wyngaard	+
-	* [[Mark Poster]]: "The Utopian Thought of Restif de la Bretonne" (1971).	+
-	==See also==	+
-	*[[Sade and Restif]]	+
-		+
-	{{GFDL}}	+

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Current revision

1. REDIRECT Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne