Robert Darnton
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| + | "The American cultural historian [[Robert Darnton]], who specializes in the literary history of the French Enlightenment, made a study of banned books on the eve of the French Revolution. He opposes the prevailing view that there is a causal link between the spread of what we know as Enlightenment literature - namely by encyclopedists such as Rousseau - and the outbreak of the French Revolution. Darnton proves, on the basis of previously undiscovered bookkeeping accounts of [[Société typographique de Neuchâtel|a Swiss commercial printer]] that not the encyclopedists were the [[bestseller]]s of their time. That privilege was reserved for scabrous novels à la ''[[The Story of Dom Bougre, Porter of the Carthusians]]'' (1741), ''[[The Indiscreet Jewels]]'' (1748) by Diderot and ''[[Thérèse Philosophe]]'' (1748), novels which both embody enlightened philosophy, and also deal with the enlightenment in an 'embodied' fashion. These forbidden libertine books are sold 'under the counter' and pave the way for the French Revolution, to a greater degree than the Enlightenment canon. It is obvious that the ingredients of these forbidden books are 'light' versions of the Enlightenment ideals of the encyclopedists. It is unfortunate however that this amusing anarcho-erotic oeuvre was subsequently ignored and carefully excluded from our literary and political histories."--''[[A History of Erotica]]'' (2011) by Jan-Willem Geerinck | ||
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| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| - | '''Robert Darnton''' (born [[May 10]], [[1939]]) is an [[USA|American]] [[cultural historian]], recognized as a leading expert on [[eighteenth century]] [[France]]. | + | '''Robert Darnton''' (1939) is an American [[cultural historian]] and academic librarian who specializes in [[18th-century France]]. |
| - | Darnton is a pioneer in the growing field of the [[history of the book]]. One of his books is ''[[The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France]]'' (New York: W.W. Norton, 1996). | + | Darnton is a pioneer in the field of the [[history of the book]] He is known for books such as ''[[The Literary Underground of the Old Regime]]'' (1982), ''[[The Great Cat Massacre]]'' (1984) and ''[[The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France]]'' (1996). |
| - | + | ||
| - | In 1999 he was named a Chevalier of the [[Légion d’Honneur]], the highest award given by the French government, in recognition of his work. | + | |
| ==Works== | ==Works== | ||
| - | *''Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France'' (1968) | + | *''[[Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France]]'' (1968) |
| - | *''The Business of Enlightenment: A Publishing History of the Encyclopédie, 1775-1800'' (1979) | + | *''[[The Business of Enlightenment: A Publishing History of the Encyclopédie, 1775-1800]]'' (1979) |
| - | *''[[The Literary Underground of the Old Regime]]'' (1982) ISBN 0674536576 | + | *''[[The Literary Underground of the Old Regime]]'' (1982) |
| *''[[The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History]]'' (1984) | *''[[The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History]]'' (1984) | ||
| *''Revolution in Print: the Press in France 1775-1800'' (1989) edited with [[Daniel Roche]] | *''Revolution in Print: the Press in France 1775-1800'' (1989) edited with [[Daniel Roche]] | ||
| - | *''The Kiss of Lamourette: Reflections in Cultural History'' (1989) | + | *''[[The Kiss of Lamourette: Reflections in Cultural History]]'' (1989) |
| *''Edition et sédition. L'univers de la littérature clandestine au XVIIIe siècle'' (1991) | *''Edition et sédition. L'univers de la littérature clandestine au XVIIIe siècle'' (1991) | ||
| *''Berlin Journal, 1989-1990'' (1991) | *''Berlin Journal, 1989-1990'' (1991) | ||
| *''Gens de lettres, gens du livre'' (1992) | *''Gens de lettres, gens du livre'' (1992) | ||
| - | *''[[* [[List of banned books]] | ||
| - | * [[List of authors banned during the Third Reich]] | ||
| * ''[[The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France]]'' (1995) | * ''[[The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France]]'' (1995) | ||
| *''The Corpus of Clandestine Literature in France, 1769-1789'' (1995) | *''The Corpus of Clandestine Literature in France, 1769-1789'' (1995) | ||
| *''George Washington's False Teeth: An Unconventional Guide to the Eighteenth Century'' (June 2004) | *''George Washington's False Teeth: An Unconventional Guide to the Eighteenth Century'' (June 2004) | ||
| + | *''The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future. New York: NY Public Affairs''. 2009. | ||
| + | *''[[The Devil in the Holy Water, or the Art of Slander from Louis XIV to Napoleon]]''. Philadelphia, PA: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press. 2009. | ||
| + | *''Poetry and the Police: Communication Networks in Eighteenth-Century Paris''. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. 2010. | ||
| + | *''Censors at Work: How States Shaped Literature''. New York, NY: W. W. Norton. 2014. | ||
| + | *''A Literary Tour de France: The World of Books on the Eve of the French Revolution''. Oxford University Press. 2018. | ||
| + | *''[[Pirating and Publishing: The Book Trade in the Age of Enlightenment]]''. Oxford University Press. 2021. | ||
| + | *''[[The Revolutionary Temper: Paris, 1748-1789]]''. W. W. Norton. 2023. | ||
| + | == See also == | ||
| + | * [[Neue Kulturgeschichte]] | ||
| + | * [[Republic of Letters]] | ||
| + | * [[Robert Darnton and the historiography of the Enlightenment]] | ||
| + | * [[Libelle (literary genre)]] | ||
| + | * [[The public sphere of the Enlightenment]] | ||
| + | * [[History of the book]] | ||
| + | |||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
| + | [[Category:Canon]] | ||
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"The American cultural historian Robert Darnton, who specializes in the literary history of the French Enlightenment, made a study of banned books on the eve of the French Revolution. He opposes the prevailing view that there is a causal link between the spread of what we know as Enlightenment literature - namely by encyclopedists such as Rousseau - and the outbreak of the French Revolution. Darnton proves, on the basis of previously undiscovered bookkeeping accounts of a Swiss commercial printer that not the encyclopedists were the bestsellers of their time. That privilege was reserved for scabrous novels à la The Story of Dom Bougre, Porter of the Carthusians (1741), The Indiscreet Jewels (1748) by Diderot and Thérèse Philosophe (1748), novels which both embody enlightened philosophy, and also deal with the enlightenment in an 'embodied' fashion. These forbidden libertine books are sold 'under the counter' and pave the way for the French Revolution, to a greater degree than the Enlightenment canon. It is obvious that the ingredients of these forbidden books are 'light' versions of the Enlightenment ideals of the encyclopedists. It is unfortunate however that this amusing anarcho-erotic oeuvre was subsequently ignored and carefully excluded from our literary and political histories."--A History of Erotica (2011) by Jan-Willem Geerinck |
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Robert Darnton (1939) is an American cultural historian and academic librarian who specializes in 18th-century France.
Darnton is a pioneer in the field of the history of the book He is known for books such as The Literary Underground of the Old Regime (1982), The Great Cat Massacre (1984) and The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France (1996).
[edit]
Works
- Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France (1968)
- The Business of Enlightenment: A Publishing History of the Encyclopédie, 1775-1800 (1979)
- The Literary Underground of the Old Regime (1982)
- The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History (1984)
- Revolution in Print: the Press in France 1775-1800 (1989) edited with Daniel Roche
- The Kiss of Lamourette: Reflections in Cultural History (1989)
- Edition et sédition. L'univers de la littérature clandestine au XVIIIe siècle (1991)
- Berlin Journal, 1989-1990 (1991)
- Gens de lettres, gens du livre (1992)
- The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France (1995)
- The Corpus of Clandestine Literature in France, 1769-1789 (1995)
- George Washington's False Teeth: An Unconventional Guide to the Eighteenth Century (June 2004)
- The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future. New York: NY Public Affairs. 2009.
- The Devil in the Holy Water, or the Art of Slander from Louis XIV to Napoleon. Philadelphia, PA: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press. 2009.
- Poetry and the Police: Communication Networks in Eighteenth-Century Paris. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. 2010.
- Censors at Work: How States Shaped Literature. New York, NY: W. W. Norton. 2014.
- A Literary Tour de France: The World of Books on the Eve of the French Revolution. Oxford University Press. 2018.
- Pirating and Publishing: The Book Trade in the Age of Enlightenment. Oxford University Press. 2021.
- The Revolutionary Temper: Paris, 1748-1789. W. W. Norton. 2023.
[edit]
See also
- Neue Kulturgeschichte
- Republic of Letters
- Robert Darnton and the historiography of the Enlightenment
- Libelle (literary genre)
- The public sphere of the Enlightenment
- History of the book
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