Fiction and the Female Reading Public in Eighteenth-Century France: The Journal des dames (1759-1778) Angus Martin

T he tirst French women's periodical, the Journal des dames, ap- peared, somewhat irregularly, between 1759 and 1778. In view of

the often assumed predominance of female readers of fiction in the eigh- teenth century, the treatment of prose narrative in a series that was at least nominally intended for women would seem to offer an especially perti- nent testimony of contemporary attitudes towards the genre. The aim of this article is to evaluate, more precisely than has been done previously, the extent to which such expectations may be justified and to determine whether there is in fact a feminine bias in the Journal's prose fiction.

Twenty years ago Evelyne Sullerot, in a chapter of her book on early French women's periodicals, succinctly outlined what was then known of the history of the publication and the range of material that it covered. She gave almost no details about the stories published or of the reviews of novels, however, and suggested that such items represented a small pro- portion of the entire text. Her analysis was based on the incomplete set of the Journal in the Bibliothhue nationale.' It has been necessary to

1 Evelylr Su l lno~ Histoire de h presrcfiminine en France, &s origines d 1848 W s : Armand Colin. 1966). She draws amntion in particular to an item published in March 1778. known as the Plnidqvrr de Polly B&r (pp. 18-25) aad used by Didem in the SuppUmenl ou wwge de Bougoinville. The BN copies an 2.54526-541. R&. 2.3161-62.2. Beuchot (1683).

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION, Volume 3, Number 3, April 1991

242 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION

wait for Nina Gelbart's definitive studies of the life of this periodical to I obtain a wealth of documentation about it, as well as new contextual in- 8

formation about the press in eighteenth-century F r a n ~ e . ~ Gelbart resolves the problems posed by many inconsistencies in earlier sources, such as I Hatin and even the Dictionnaire des journalistes,) and in her book pro- , vides fully indexed details of publication history, as well as of the careers ',,

of the various editors (five men and three women, two with male asso- ", ciates) and the vicissitudes of their editorship. The almost complete sets '; of the Bibliotheque de 1'Arsena14 were used, though thorough investiga- , tions in France failed to turn up copies of the missing run for the whole of 1776, which has equally eluded my own research. Her thesis, how- ever, is essentially to demonstrate the anti-establishment spirit that for so long was exploited under the cover of an apparently anodyne title. As a result she touches only in passing on aspects of the fictional material in the series.

More recently still, Suzanna van Dijk, in a richly documented, wide- ranging study of women in eighteenth-century journalism, devoted an important chapter to the Journal des dames. She offers figures showing the changing balance between original texts and reviews of other pub- lications under various editorships. At the same time she discusses the relevance for women, either as authors or readers, of the editorial ma- terial. Again, as with Gelbart, no detailed attention is given to fiction apart from a short treatment of the periodical's attitudes towards female no~elists.~

2 Nina R. Gelbut, 'The Joumol &s d a m s and Ulefrondeur Ress in the m i e n rPgime." T m - acrions of rhe Surh Inremorio~l Congress on rhe Enlightenmenr (Oxford: Vohaire Foundation. 1983). 2p1-46.. 'The J o v d &s domes and Irs F e d e Editors: Politics. Censorship and Fem- inism in lhc Old Regime Ress," in lack R. Censer and leremy D. Popkin, Press ond Polirics in Pm-Rmlurio~ry Frame (Bnkeley and London: University of California Ress, 1987). % 74; and Feminim and Oppmirim 3o.mlism in Old Rcgime Fmncc "& Journal dm domes" (Behley and London: University of Califomia Ress, 1987). cited henaftcr as Oelbart. These studies have been invaluable in clarifying Ule background of the present article and readers are refemd to them for delailed material impossible to include b m . Thanks are due also to Jean Sgard, F'auicia Clancy, Suzanna van Dijk and Nancy MacCullach for information and advice generously shawl

3 E u g h Hatin. Bibliographic hisrorique er cririque de In p n m pkriodiqve f i q a i s e (Paris: Firmin-Didot. 1866). pp. 49-50.1. Sgad, ed.. Dictionmire des joumolisres (164&1789) (Gnno- bk: Resses universilaires de Gnmb!e, 1976). and supplmenfs (a¶kles on various collabora- W).

4 Shelf number %HZ6209 (I-XXXVI). complemented by RjlO for March and May 1777.

5 Suzanna van Dijk, Traces de fc-s: presence fhinine donr le joumlismfranpis du XVIlr sikh (Amsterdam and Mausscn: APA-Holland University Ress, 1988). See especially pp. 134-86 and 250-54.

T H E J O U R N A L D E S D A M E S 243

The editors of the Journal des dames clearly laboured under the same difficulties as most contemporaneous literary journalists: financial un- certainty, conflict with the official press, and censorship. They used es- sentially conventional methods to produce sufficient copy: long reviews of recently published books, borrowings (usually unauthorized) of texts from other sources, short literary pieces written by themselves or by col- leagues, and appeals to readers for contributions. As a context for the publication of fiction, this periodical would appear to differ little from others of the day intended for a more general readership, except in its re- peated soliciting of contributions from women, and its experiment in the serialization of a long text before it appeared in book form.

In their policy statements, the male editors proposed light, untaxing reading for a female audience, whereas, to varying degrees, the women editors promised more demanding fare. In practice, discussions of fiction seem to have been considered equally suitable copy for a "women's" periodical by journalists of both sexes.

The table at the top of page 244 presents percentage figures for each major editor of the series.6

According to my data, 11.1 per cent of a total of around 15,000 pages of the known sets of the collection is devoted to prose narratives and 11.9 per cent to announcements and reviews of novels and short stories. The genre thus represents a not inconsiderable proportion of the total content, although the very mass of data, its fragmentation, and its disparate nature make conclusions about its significance somewhat problematical. One approach, of considerable value for the specialist, would be to extract a lengthy series of detailed comments on individual works and writers. Rather than attempt to deal systematically with this type of material within the limits of an atticle, however, I have chosen to focus on a series of more general questions.

In the first instance we shall consider the attitude towards fiction taken over time by the various editors of the Journal des dames: can any dif- ferences be detected between male and female journalists in their policy towards fiction? Secondly, we shall examine the authors and texts that were chosen, again attempting to evaluate any tendencies towards gen- der bias. A third and final aim will be to review general theoretical

6 It has not M possible for r r a s ~ l s of space to provide full suppwting data on the fictional content of the Journal &*domes. References are given only to grccisc qumtions and the small number of items that are given special attention in the text. Full listings are available from Ihe author either in summary as paper copy or in full in the form of IBM ASCU text files on receipt of a b l d 5.25 or 3.5 inch famatled IBM diskette.

244 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION

Fiction Content of Le J o u m l des domes

ReroentPge of pages Percentage for the period indicated of total

pages of Announcements series per

Narratives and reviews editorship

January-March 1759 Thorel de Campigneulks 6.6 21.5 2.5

April-September 1761 Loupti&re 2.1 23.1 3.8

Cdober 1761-April 1763 Madame & BeaumerlRozoi 8.7 7.1 12.3

May 1763-July 1768 Madame de Maisomeuve/ Mathon de la Cour 7.5 13.8 451

January 177GApril I775 la Bamnne & Princen (Madame de Montanclos) 8.0 12.2 13.5

May 177HDeccmber 1776?) Mmicr ("None of the issues for 1776 located, t iguns based on May-December 1775 only) *1.8 '9.1 *6.5

March 1777-June 1778 Dorm (*includes 11.1 devoted lo serializing one work) '32.1 7.0 16.3

Overall 11.1 11.9 100.0

comments on the nature and practice of fiction, remaining alert to any reference to the genre as a particularly female province.

It is of course necessary to remember that the J o u m l des dames, in spite of its title, was not entirely a "women's" periodical: not only were more men than women concerned with its production, but, as Nina Gelbart has argued persuasively, it was used at various times as an organ of ideas that in many cases had nothing to do with women. However, the journal's fiction can be considered outside this polemical framework. It played its role as a largely noncontroversial element in the content, being part of the specifically "feminine" camouflage, when camouflage was needed. As for the contribution of women journalists, the three female editors, although in a minority, were particularly forceful personalities.

THE JOURNAL DES DAMES 245

One of them had by far the longest run (five years and two months) at the journal's head. In fact, the three brought out 70.8 per cent of the series' total pages (although the role of male helpers, particularly from 1763 to 1768, cannot properly be evaluated).

Both the female and male editors of the periodical, with the exception of Lonis-Stbastien Mercier, are long forgotten. They belonged to that diversified and indeterminate class of literary figures who first took to journalism as a commercial enterprise. Details of their lives will be found in Nina Gelbart's study.

* The first of these editors (from January 1759) was Charles-Claude Florent de Thorel de Campigneulles (Gelbart, chap. I), whose avowed aim, according to his Avanf-propos, was to attract women readers by shunning the pedantic content of other periodicals and by offering instead 'kes riens dtlicieux, [...I ces heureux &arts d'une imagination vive & fkonde, oh tout respire la belle nature & I'aimable volupW (January 1759, p. 3). In his plan, he gives pride of place to fiction-unjustly neglected, he says, by other journalists, or else reviewed too succinctly for it to make an impression on the reader. Indeed, he devotes 28.1 per cent of the total pages to the genre, but his editorship is exuemely brief, lasting only three months and representing only 2.5 per cent of the pages of the whole series. He prints only one story, occupying 6.6 per cent of his pages; the remaining 21.5 per cent is made up of announcements and reviews. These include only eight of forty- eight new works of fiction listed in the Martin, Mylne, Frautschi bibliography for 1758 and 1759, encompassing two out of eleven works written by women?

After only four issues, and ovenvhelmed with difficulties alluded to in a final Discours de I'auteur de ce Journal at the end of the April number (discussed in detail in Gelbart, pp. 60,65), the first run of the Journaldes dames came to an end. Two years later, in April of 1761, the journal was launched again by Jean-Charles Relongue de la Louptiire (Gelbart, chap. 2). This series lasted for six months and represents 3.8 per cent of the total pages. While more strongly encouraging contributions from female readers. Louptihre basically followed Thorel's concept and offered "une lecture pour le tems de la Toilette." in which he was to mention no "Ouvrage absuait, 1 moins qu'il n'ait pour Auteur une personne du beau Sexe" (April 1761, p. vi). The proportion of space devoted to the announcement and criticism of fiction now rises slightly to 23.1 per cent. However, there is again only one narrative text-not by Loupti&re, but taken from a recently published volume of stories- and this represents only 2.1 per cent of its pages. Louptihre deals with only four of Martin, Mylne, Frautschi's sixty first editions for 1760-61, but at least these do include two out of only seven women authors represented.

In October 1761 the Journal was taken over by its first woman editor, Madame de Beaumer (Gelbart, chap. 3). who immediately appealed for contributions from her readers, particularly women (October 1761, p. v). In the year and a half of her editorship (12.3 per cent of the total series), during which she was associated with Barnab6 Fannian de

7 Angus Manin. Vivienne Mylne, Richard Frautschi. Bibliographic du genre romanesquefranpis, 1751-18W (London and Paris: Mansell-France Expansion. 1977).

246 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION

Rosoi? renewed stress was laid on fiction in the pi2cesfugitiws: nan'ative prose came to 8.7 per cent of total pages. There is, however, a decline in the relative space (7.1 per cent) accorded to hibliograpbical or critical references to the genre. Eleven of sixty- four new works of fiction published in 176142 are mentioned (with none for 1763). three of them by women. The outspoken Madame de Beaumer is capable of expressing strong feminist sentiments (see Gelbart, pp. 1 6 1 1 , 117-19 in particular). "N'avez-vous pas toujours abud," she exclaims to male readers in an Awm-propos (March 1762, pp. 224- 25). "si jose [sic] le dire, des forces du corps que la nature vous a donnks? ne vous en Btes-vous pas semis pour anCantir now capacit6, & pour ensevelir les prLmgatives particulieres que cene m h e nature 1 [sic] pmdiguks aux femmes, pour les &mager lsicl des forces materielles aue vous avez."

Beginning with a triple is&e for May-June-July 1763, Madame de Beaumer's successor as editor, Madame Catherine-Michelle de Maisonneuve (Gelbart, chap. 4). developed similar attacks on conventional attiNdes but in less forceful and rather more ironical tones: "nous convenons que [les femmes] sont destinks B plaire, pmpres pour le m6nage. hahiles dans les ieux. les baeatelles. au'elles ont du eoiit nour la frivolilk mais nous ne - . voulons pas. conm I'cxp4riencc qu'ellch soient capables d'apprendre. de dflkhir. dc mlditer. d'aoorofondir" (May-Julv 1763. P. 7). In a later oolio slatemen1 she clearly proclaims h& intention of &miding her-readers with lesa lightweight fare than w& previously thought suitable: "j'ai pend que les productions frivoles n'Ctoient pas les seules que je dusse admeme dans mon Journal, & j'ai pdsumt de mon sexe assez favorablemenf pour imaginer qu'il pournit s'occuper avec plaisir de tout Ouvrage utile, prCsent6 sous une forme a@ble" (January 1765. p. 4).

This statement by no means implies that there is to be a decline in the attention given fiction from May 1763 to July 1768, which is the longest and generally most successful era of the Journal, representing 45.1 per cent of total pages of the series. During the editorship of Madame de Maisonneuve and her partner Charles-Joseph Mathon de la Cour. the number of reviews of contemwram novels and stories is relativelv hieh (13.8 per &nt of pages for this period) and qkantitkvely the largest figure overali (m&'than 930 vaees). Of the 296 new fiction titles listed bv Martin. Mvlne. Frautschi for the six yk 1763 to 1768, 76 (or 26 per cent) are refeked to, with possible bias, it may be added, towards female novelisu: 14 out of 43 (32 per cent) of those works by women are covered. If one restricts the data to 176467, the four full years covered by the periodical. these two figures rise to approximately 32 per cent of first editions and 48 per cent of texts by women? In addition, over 500 pages of short fiction are given in exrenso during this period (7.5 per cent of the total content).

In 1767 and 176&and resulting. as Nina Gelbart points out (p. 157). from the en- forcement of the Mercure's purported monopoly of short literary texts-such stories are largely replaced in the section Pikes fugirives by historical or geographical anec- dotes. extracted from various nonfiction comoilations (Gelbart. no. 166-67). In Anril , ~~~ ~~ ~ . .. 1767, however, a particularly convoluted exAple of tde kind of borrowing that corn- monlv went on between oeriodicals is eiven in a notice on Bastide's Journal de Bruxelles. The Journal des dames reproached its rival with pirating at least three of its tales, or

9 It should be bome in mind that many of these reviews (as was common practice in eighteenth- century periodicals generally), while containing some critical comment, consisted very largely of extensive s m a i e s of the works under consideration. They were ohen illustrated by long quotations and at times whole episodes, and so represent a form of narrative reading maner that seems to have had continuing appeal.

T H E JOURNAL DES DAMES 247

rather it rejected Bastide's justification for using the texts, based on the claim that the orieinal oublications were taken from stolen manuscrim (DD. 8&81: cf. Gelbart. w. 165- . .. . . . 66j: ~rodicall~, the Joumal resorted to extensive narrative summaries when it reviewed Bastide's own periodical.

The issue foi July 1768 (but which appeared considerably later) contained apologies for extensive delays in publication and, in spite of optimistic promises for the fumre. the enternrise wassuoo&ed in 1769 (~elbak. on. 16&70). ~t the beeinnine of 1774. . . . . - - la Baronne de Princen (soon to remarry as Madame de Montanclos) launched the series afresh (Gelbart, chap. 5): she Lasted sixteen months and produced 13.5 per cent of the total pages. The new editor put past difficulties behind her: 'Ye ne me pennettrai point d'examiner quelles causes ont pu faire Cprouver au Journal des Dames des rCvolutions wccessiver.'~~he hoper for a favourable public response: "Le ruccks d'un p a d Ouvrage devo~t etre aussi rapide que durable" (January 1774. p. 8). Like earlier edturs. she solicits contributions (whiie ref&ine to oav oostaek costs on manuscriots submitted). oromises - . , . - . . an ever wider coverage of interest to women, and presses home a defence of her sex similar to that esvoused bv her female oredecessors: "Ou'importe h notre aloire lque les hommesl adoknt les charmes que la hature nous a donnks, s'ils veulent dknigre; ies vertus ou les talens que le Ciel nous a depaitis" (November 1774, p. 9).

The frequency of publication of short narratives declined only slightly under Madame de Montanclos to eleven over sixteen months as against the previous editorial team's tally of nearly fifty in sixty-three months, but with a negligible increase (to 8 per cent) in the total of pages devoted to such pieces. The use of very brief anecdotes & bons mots continued. Announcements and reviews of fiction. still offerine on maw occasions extremely full outlines, remained about as frequent as before (12.2ber cent):

In April 1775 his-%bastien Mercier (Gelbart, chap. 6 M r e a d y a contributor-took over editorial control (see March 1775, p. 138, where he is described as "un Homme de Lettres &s-connu & gtnkralement estimk," and May 1775, pp. 199-200). He appears to have continued the series until the end of 1776, but no known copies of the issues for the entire year 1776 survive, in spite of clear evidence of their publication (Gelban, p. 23611). Mv data on fiction under Mercier is thus based solelv on the period to December 1775'(6.jper cent of the total number of pages in the serie;). In the first eight months of Mercier's more radical editorship (devoted in its early months to his cmsade for theatre reform), there is a drop in the attention given fiction. This is especially so for fictional texts, with just four short prose fables and one brief songe (only 1.8 per cent of known pages), but also, rather more marginally, for comment on publications in the genre (9.1 per cent).

Overall, during the two years covered by the editorship of Madame de Montanclos and what is known of Mercier's, about 40 per cent of new titles published in 177475 are noticed, including five of the nine titles attributed to women. Some works published in 1773 are also mentioned in the Joumal, and, if the production of this year is included in the data, while the overall percentage drops to 34, the proportion of women writers remains stable at eight out of fourteen. The months of Mercier's editonhip in 1775 account for half the titles for that year and for one of three female authors.

The last editor of this oeriodical. before it was condemned and mereed with Pan- - ckoucke's Mercure de France in 1778, was the more conservative Charles-Joseph Dorat (Gelbart. cham 7). who beean oublisbine his Mklannes lindrnires ou Journal des dames in arch 1777, &ly to hate itgbtuptly end, after "seize Cahiers" and "quatre volumes," with the number for Iune 1778 (16.3 per cent of the series' pages). As the change in the title suggests, the bmadly feminine bias of the journal declines in favour of a more general literary approach. Only a dozen reviews of fiction are found during this period, representing 7 per cent of the pages: only ten out of nearly a hundred new works for

248 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION

1777-78 are represented, but as with other editors there is a hlgher percentage of works by women-four out of thirteen. In complete conbast with the low priorigv given to discussions of recent publications, however, there is a spectacular increase to 21 per cent in the space accorded short fiction. An important innovation of Dorat's editorship, between March and August 1977, is his serializing of Fanny de Beauhamais's novel Lettres de Stkphanie. This full-length text, published in book fonn in 1778, represents an additional 11.1 per cent of the pages, and this--if added to the quantity of short fiction already noted-raises the percentage of fiction published by Dorat to 32.1.

Of all pages devoted to reviews of novels and stories, 73.1 per cent were under women editors and 26.9 per cent under men, figures which correspond closely to the proportion of total pages produced by each (70.8 and 29.2 per cent respectively). The dramatic increase in the amount of space devoted to actual narrative texts under Dorat's editorship in the final period of the journal's existence brought the proportion of narrative material published by the male editors from 3.4 per cent overall to 50.4 per cent, or very slightly more than the 49.6 per cent achieved by the three women editors.

A closer examination of the authors chosen for attention and of the types of work both reviewed and reproduced will allow us further to evaluate any gender bias. We have already detected, to varying degrees throughout the history of the Journal des dames, a possible bias towards publicizing fiction by women authors. This observation is based, in the absence of broad data from contemporary periodicals, on a comparison of the titles mentioned by the Journal and of the first editions known to have been published over the same period. Between 20 and 57 per cent of narrative works by female authors are given space by various editors, as compared with 7 and 29 per cent of the total production of new fiction. All editors except Thorel and Mercier (both under 20 per cent) and Montanclos (44 per cent) mentioned about 30 per cent of novels by women, whereas only Maisonneuve (26 per cent) and Montanclos (29 per cent) go beyond 20 per cent of the overall production of fiction.

The tendency can also be tested against the relative length of articles on works by women and works by men. By this measure, Madame de Beaumer appears best disposed to authors of her sex, with just over 60 per cent of pagination of reviews of fiction by women; she is followed by the first two male journalists, Thorel and Louptikre, with 30 and 47 per cent respectively; next come the two other women, Madame de Maisonneuve and Madame de Montanclos, at approximately 16 and 29 per cent; and Mercier and Dorat trail-each at under 7 per cent. Dorat, who at 31 per cent scored well by the previous measure of the range of coverage, falls down when the actual space devoted to works by women is considered. If one discounts the Mercier-Dorat years, just over a quarter of the space devoted to reviews of fiction is reserved for women novelists. and this

T H E JOURNAL DES DAMES 249

falls to about 23 per cent if all editorships are cumulated. This figure compares favourahly, though not dramatically so, with about 15 per cent of new works that are by women out of the 650 or so listed by Martin, Mylne, Frautschi for the years covered by the Jouml des dames.

Another marker that can be subjected to statistical analysis and will thus produce a broader concept of "feminine" fiction is the appearance of a heroine's name in a title. If we add such cases to the figures on works by female authors and so consider works that purport to be about women along with works by women, the relative preferences of the edi- tors change little: the three women journalists and the two early men still contrast with the later Mercier and Dorat. However, the actual propor- tion of pages devoted to this more broadly defined category of "female" fiction rises significantly. Madame de Beaumer reaches the striking to- tal of more than 88 per cent, with Madame de Montanclos over 53 per cent and Madame de Maisonneuve nearly 35 per cent. Thorel (over 65 per cent) and Louptibre (51 per cent) help to bring the average of the pre- Mercier years to more than 58 per cent of the pages of reviews of fiction. Admittedly in the absence of comparative evidence from other journals, the result would appear to suggest strong preferential treatment of fiction about women.

Who then were the women novelists whose works were reviewed by the Journal des dames? Most are, of course, long forgotten: mesdames and mesdemoiselles #Albert, Beccary, Belot, de Boisgiron, Dionis, de Guibert, de Lezay-MmCia, Motte, de Saint- Chamond, and de Vidampiem are the most obscure of them and those to whom the Journal devotes only passing attention. Perhaps somewhat better remembered, hut re- ferred to just as fleetingly in the Journal as novelists, are mesdames d'Epinay, de Gomez, de Puisieux, and de Tencin. If one looks to female authors to whom a total of 12 pages or more is devoted, one finds eleven of them, compared with twenty-seven contemporary male writers. They include Madame Elie de Beaumont (13 pages), with her once cele- brated Lerrres du marquis de Roselle; Mademoiselle de La Guesnerie and her M h i r e s de miledi B. (30 pages); and Madame de Beaumer (32 pages), whose Euvres m2ldes were reviewed under Louptitre before she herself became editor. A small number of for- eign novelists attracted attention when their works were translated: the Englishwomen Mrs Brooke (18 pages), Mrs Bonhote (22 pages) and M n Sheridan (46) (with the less well- received Mrs Smythies [I] and Mrs Woodfin [I]), together with the German writer Sophie Laroche (16). The clear favourite among the Frenchwomen is Madame Riccoboni, whose works are regularly and sympathetically reviewed over a total of 97 pages.

In spite of a generally favourable reception of works by women, the editors can at times be critical. Lo Voir de la mrure, one of the titles by Madame Robert (who is accorded 41 pages of review material overall), provoked an exchange of correspondence between author and journal on the implications of the novel's situation and characten; while in the article on Agathe er Isidore by Madame Benoist (13 pages on four works) regrets

250 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION

were expressed that the main character, a cobbler, should have been chosen from "un Ctat si &goQmt" (July 1768, p. 73). A quarrel originating in an unfavourable review of the Nouveaux Contes moraux of Madame de Laisse (17 pages on two works) led Madame de Montanclos. offended bv the author's oublic self-defence in the Mercure de France, to declare: "N& nous so&es interditei [sic] pour I'avenir toutes dflexions sur les productions de cette dame" ~Februarv 1775. D. 241). A curiouslv reeular omission ~hrou~l;out the hfe of thc Journal dcr &mei-apdn irom one hnef ann&n&ment In a 1ht of new books (November 1777. p 8 8 ~ 1 s that of the works of the prol~fis and apparently successful journalist and novelis; Madame Lcpnnce de Beaumont. &en perhapsai a rival for a similar female aud~ence. She had nevenhclesr appeared in a Caralo~ue de.5 ouvm@v faits depuis quelques annkes par des Femmes in June 1764 (pp. 33-45), where nearly eighty fiction titles by women dating back to the early years of the century are listed.

If we turn to the male novelists reviewed, they are for the most part as obscure to modem readers as the women: one could list nearly eighty of them from Abbes de Cabreroles to a certain M. Vincent from Rouen. There are passing references to the classics, to Chariton, Lucan (in Marmontel's translation), and Musaeus, and to a small number of narrative writers whom posterity recalls more or less well. Like Berquin, or Lionard. or R&if de la Bretonne. k s a e e is alreadv a firmre from the vast. when a re- edition i f the Bachelier de ~alaman~ue-is noted, aid Pkiost appears only & the author of a compilation of material from the Pour el contre or as the translator of Mrs Sheridan's ~kmoii-e> pour servir d l'hisroire de la vertu. Rousseau, curiously enough, is accorded only 2 paged0 and Voltaire only 10. The latter does, however, figure more prominently, as we shall see, among authors whose actual texts are reproduced. Past and future editors of the Joumnl, on the other hand, are given reviews that are often substantial: while Thorel de Camoieneulles totals onlv 4 mees. articles on narrative works bv Dorat reach 32 and those b; Gercier come to 85. Bastide, although a rival journalist, would reach a m d total of 119 oaees, the hiehest of any writer reviewed. if one were to include not only anicles on his'tiction publiLhed in book form (36 pages, but al,o those pages on the ficuun in penod~cals he published. Apart from Bastide, a special case. the two narrative authors quantitativel) most favoured by the loumnl are the mu major urlten of shon fiction of their day: Mmontel (104 pages, and a funher 36 on his wandation of Lucan) and Baculard d'Amaud 11 10 oaees). the first with his "moral tales." the second with h ~ s . . - . . sentimental novelle.

The treatment of narratives in foreign languages by men is likewise somewhat uneven: there are only brief announcements of a new edition of Heinsius's late-seventeenth- century Dutch novel and of Marino's Adonis. A new translation of Tasso attracts a 9-page review and Rttif's version of Quevedo's Vida del Buscon is dealt with in 5 pages. ~ m o i ~ English novelists, Smollett ranks with his forgotten contemporaries Charles Johnston and lohn Lanehome at fewer than 3 Dazes: and h Toumeur's version of Ossian is accorded only 4. ~ k l d i n ~ (8 pages) and H;$ Kelly (7 pages) are perhaps more favoured because the French translations are by women, in the latter case by Mademoiselle Mamt de Morville and in the former by Madame Riccoboni herself. Henry Mackenzie's The Man of Feelina is the onlv Enelish novel to attract a notice (17 panes) of more than 12 . - pages. Thk sole male representative of German narrative is'wieland, who is particularly well received with 48 pages. His Histoire d'Aaarhon is somewhat incorrectly called "le premier roman compokkn langue ~llemande que l'on nous ait fait connoitre" (July 1768, p. 21).It The influence of Goethe's Weeher, first published in French in 1776, is

10 In addition. 19 pages are devoted in November 1763 to the reprinting of some extracu fmm the recently published Lerrres d'un citoycn de Gmrdw, a parody of the Nouvelle HClol'se; and in December 1764 readers are presented with a new 8-page final lener for Rousseau's novel.

I1 On the intmduction into France of German fiction in the eighteenth centory, see my article "Le

T H E JOURNAL DES DAMES 251

already being felt in the pre-Romantic gloom of the 70-page review-cum-summary of Ramond de Carbonnieres's Derni2res Aventures du jeune d'Olban (October 1777, pp. 21 1-80).

The male and female novelists reviewed by the Journal des dames cover an eclectic range of types of fiction. There are substantial articles on classical and biblical epics in prose, on fairy tales and allegories, on philosophical tales and dreams, on narratives set in the newly fashion- able Middle Ages or recounting amorous adventures in the Orient. The majority of works, however, are concerned with the traditional preoc- cupations of the genre: love, marriage, family; many, as we have seen, are constructed around a central heroine or indeed a heroine-narrator. At the same time reviewers place considerable stress on moral judgments, on the maintenance of traditional values, and on the suitability of sub- ject matter for female readers: "rien de si peu propre B former de jeu- nes filles que ce Roman, ou elles ne ponrroient puiser le respect qu'on doit B ses parens, & oh le vice parle quelqnefois plus haut que la vertu" (April 1759, p. 90). The editors prize sensibility as a quality of the better fiction of their day. Saint-Lambert's story, Sarah Th..., provokes, for in- stance, "I'Cmotion la plus douce" and inspires "B la fois l'admiration & l'attendrissement" (December 1765, p. 56). And they are not insensitive to the emotional delights of tears, particularly those offered by Bacu- lard d ' h a u d : "il est impossible au Lecteur de retenir ses lames; on est dCchir6 par la douleur; on Cprouve les sensations les plus voluptueuses pour un cceur sensible" (February 1765, p. 91).

Turning to the narrative texts actually reproduced in the Journal des dames, we find that they represent a total of about 1,700 pages out of 15,000. Of these. some 750 pages (including the 270-odd pages of the serial novel Lettres de St6phanie) either are given as being by named female authors or have been subsequently identified as such. And a further 126 pages are accompanied by incomplete references alluding to women writers: mademoiselle de ***,Madame de ***, la marquise d'A ..., la Solitaire des Isles d'HyPres. and so on. Compared to the nearly 880 pages of shon narrative texts contributed by women, about 500 can be attributed on similx criteria to men, leaving some 330 where I have so far been unable to determine the sex of the author. Even if all of these latter were by men, the bias of authorship in this journal would still appear to remain female, when compared with the clear male dominance in the general world of letters.

Roman allemand en Vaduetian franpise avant la R6volution," Revue de lin6mrure cornpar& 44 (avril-juin 1970). 2564i7.

252 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION

Over one fifth of the pages of sholt fiction (somewhere between 370 and 400 pages) appears to have been supplied either by the editors and their associates or by regular contributors. Madame de Montanclo~ '~ was the most productive of the editors in this field (98 pages) followed by Madame de Beaumer (50), her assistant Rosoi (421, Dorat (40). and Thorel (25). The two stories Bastide is accused of stealinn from the Joumal desdames he attributes to a certain "M. Fesquet," but in the ~ o u r n a l ~ 2 8 pages) they are attributed simply to "M.", which possibly indicated Madame de Maisonneuve. Many of the stories usedby the editors were also derived from other publications, either hooks or periodicals. I have identified over 400 pages of such material, and the total is no doubt incomolete. Over 120 naees of stories. on the other hand. were in turn used in other purnai\ of the day, oh;nLnh an mnhuuon to the J o u m l delrp dumrs

Two well-knoun plcce, of shun lict~on of the r~ahteenthsentury were fin1 pubhshcd in the Journal. ~he ' f i rs t is Voltaire's Le ~ m c h e & r borgne, presented as "i'ouvrage d'un Homme trks-cClbbre qui ne l'a jamais fait imprimer" and given in a somewhat watered-down version (March 1774, pp. 11-24). Jeanmt er Colin had already appeared in July 1764, but was reproduced from the Conres de Guillaume Vnde. The second is Vivant-Denon's Point de lendemin, published by Dorat in June 1777 (pp. 3-46).

It was also during Dorat's editorship that his mistress, Fanny de Beauhamais, brought out not only the serialized version of the Lenres de Stephanie but three other substantial stories, later to appear in her collection L a A m n s d'autrefois in 1787: 11 est bien temr!, come (September 1777, pp. 117-39). Orian et ZuUm (retitled Alzemir le Grand: November 1777, pp. 322-443) and Tour se lient (February 1778, pp. 329-57). She is by far the most copiously represented author of narrative pieces in the Journal, with a little over 500 naaes in all. or 240. discountine the serialized novel. Durine the earlier years of the publ~ation, the most consistent c k i b u t o r of short narrativeGs Baculard d'Amaud,I3 who (with a little more than I80 naaes of text) is second only to Fanny de Beauhamais.

12 In the two volumes of (Euvres diverses de madame de Monranclos [ . . . I . Grenoble and Paris, 1790 (volume I, reissued Lyon and G e n k 1792), a number of pieces from the Journal des dames were reprinted under the author's name.

13 His participation appears to have been more considerable than has to date been noted, and at the same time illustrates the complex ways in which he and his contemporaries exploited their writings to the full. by reworking. retitling and reusing them. In November 1761 (pp. 1 4 6 73), under the title of Les Riwles gdndrelrres ou les deur m u m inforrunees, we find an early version of his Lucie er Mdlanie, published in book form in 1767. The following month, under the heading Lenre d madam de Bcoumer sur un frnir iclaronr de sensibilird (December 1761, pp. 265-70). there is a funher piece, later to be used by him in his Ddlarsemns de l'homme sensible with the title Jocques. A "conte indien." Far& et Salem ou on a i m pour les awes (December 1764, pp. 7-19) was his first signed contribution. It was followed the next year by two "histoires angloises." Molly ou le retour d la wrm rdcompensde (April 1765, pp. 7- 31) and Sidney er Silly (May 1765, pp. 7-29), and an "anecdote historique," h i e er Mdlanie (August 1765, pp. 7-29). The latter piece is a repetition, being essentially the same as Les Riwles gdndrewes. alnady published in 1761; and all three stories (Molly having changed her name to Clary) were subsequently issued in book form in 1766 and 1767 and eventually formed pan of Baculard's very successful series, Les Epreuws du seNimenr. His three other contributions are Beny (August 1765, pp. 8-36), published in the anthology Le Gonr de bien des gens in 1766 and subsequently to become Nancy in 1767 and join the Epreuves: Anecdote sur la mon de Charles I (December 1765. pp. 9-16). later used in his Ddlassemens de l'homme sensible; and- Yet another repetition within the J o u m l des domes-4he story of Jacques (February 1766, pp. 5-81. already noted as appearing in 1761.

T H E J O U R N A L D E S D A M E S 253

Of the types of short fiction reproduced by the Joumal des dames the most coherent grouping is represented by the forms popularized by Bac- ulard d ' h a u d and by Marmontel: the moral and sentimental tale, and the historical novella. Realistic and serious pieces that can be classi- fied under such a heading represent about half the total, or something like 850 pages. Next comes a series of short fables, idylls, allegories, pas- torals, and dreams that present a rural, antique, and idealized view of the world and constitute about 150 pages in all. A similar total is reached by works of fantasy, nearly half being represented, however, by Fanny de Beauhamais's Orian et Zulkma ou les amours magiques. The re- maining 500-odd pages are made up approximately half and half by the serial Lettres de Stkphanie and a variety of letters, fragments, prose po- ems, and criticisms of manners, the narrative content of which is at times far from strong.

In terms of the number of pages, the most common settings for stories are thus "modem" and French. England is the one European country that is regularly given as a locale in titles (164 pages), principally by Baculard d ' h a u d . Only 3 pages make reference to a German locale. An oriental setting (268 pages) is frequently used in moral tales, in historical anecdotes, and in works of fantasy or criticism. Classical antiquity serves as a source or a setting for some 120 pages. The budding vogue for the Middle Ages accounts for only a little over 30 pages, but one does find in this category a further case of a text appearing in the Journal des dames before coming out in book form when Billardon de Sauvigny in July 1764 tries out an extract from his 1765 book in the so-called troubadour style, Histoire amoureuse de Pierre le Long."

It is difficult to perceive a particularly feminine emphasis in either the forms or content of the short fiction published by the Journal des dames. It is true that works containing the names of heroines in their ti- tle occupy over 650 pages, but in the absence of comparative samples the figure is difficult to interpret. Titles with a moralistic or sententious ring make up nearly 400 pages: Les Dangers de ['avarice, Histoire trhs- consolante pour c e u qui n'ont pas beaucoup d'argent, Que ne peut une femme sensible! and at least sixteen others in like vein. An anal- ysis of the vocabulary of the titles of these narratives does little more

14 In January 1765, on the book's publication, a brief note reads: %'Auteur, pour pressentir le gout du Public en avoit fait indrer un fragment dans le Volume de Iuillet 1764 de ce Journal" (p. 99). With regard to this author, Nina Gelban does not elucidate Bachaumont's still unexplained reference of 25th November 1764 ("Le J o u m l des dnrnes [...I vient de tomber enm les mains de MM. de Sauvigny et de Saint-PhvU or the persistent anecdote of only seven remaining subscriben (see Dictionnoire des journolistes. pp. 252. 340).

254 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION

than confirm the tendencies already observed. Among the generic words used, come is the most frequent, occurring twenty times (eight times in combination with the adjective moral), followed by lettre eleven times, anecdote nine, histoire seven, and historiette once. The realistic dom- inates the idealistic, with only eleven uses of fable and five of idylle. The most frequent geographical reference is to England with seven ex- amples of Angleterrelanglois(e). Among thematic words, amourlaimer and their derivatives form the most important block with twelve cases plus three examples of ami(e)slamitii and a cluster of semantically re- lated terms (totalling eight occurrences) like ceur, ipouuse, irotique and mariagelrnarier. It is perhaps significant that although femme(s) occurs five times, homme occurs only once; dame, damoiselle, madame, made- moiselle total thirteen as against monsieur (in the form M.) three times; and the word scPurs turns up twice with no corresponding example of frkre. The sample is, unfortunately, too small to serve as a reliable mea- sure of gender bias.

Apart from the assumption by the first two male editors, which we have observed already, that fiction may be classified among the light, un- demanding, nonabstract forms of literature suitable for women, the more general comments on the theory and practice of the genre that occur throughout the existence of the Joumal des dames do not appear to have been derived from any particularly gender-based concept of prose narra- tive. There is, as we have seen, considerable stress on the moral values to be gained from reading novels and on their part in developing sensi- bility as well as the virtues assumed to flow therefrom. Indeed, in 1774 one finds an enthusiastic defence against those who condemn fiction on moral grounds: "Quel est l'homme assez injuste pour souhaiter que I'immortelle Clarice soit retranchh des biblioth&ques les plus austkres? quel ennemi des peuples pourra desirer que le Roman du TClCmaque demeure Cternellement oubliC? Notre siCcle hi-meme, ce si6cle de la dipravation des mceurs, peut se glorifier d'avoir produit des Romans utiles" (August 1774, p. 154). Such arguments, however, are a com- monplace of the time and it is their application within the context of a women's periodical (at least nominally so) rather than any particular spe- cial pleading that may give them a female relevance. The same thing may be said of the recurrent use of the dulce et utile principle, as when Dorat, leading up to a promise to insert "des Contes, des Romans, des Poemes entiers," writes in his introductory Idie de ce Journal: "Dans un Ou- vrage consacri B l'amusement des Femmes [...I je souhaiterois pouvoir dCguiser si bien l'utilitt sous l'agdment, qu'elles voulussent me pardon- ner l'une en faveur de l'autre, & je m'estimerois heureux de leur priparer

256 E I G H T E E N T H - C E N T U R Y FICTION I vogue for epistolary novels are outlined: "il est bien difficile d'y garder toujours la vraisemblance. Comment peut-on, par exemple, dans le d6lire de la joie ou dans I'accablement de la douleur, s'occuper du soin d'6crire B une Amie?" Admittedly, however, other considerations such as reader involvement can be more important, and "ce d6faut de vraisemblance n'est point apperqu lorsque 1'Auteur du Roman sait int6resser & par les avantures qu'il imagine & par la maniere dont il les raconte" (July 1775, pp. 86-87).

The success of both Marmontel and Baculard d'Arnaud prompts con- siderable discussion of the innovations in style and content that they brought to short fiction. At first, under Madame Beaumer, reviews of Marmontel's contes are relatively restrained. Interestingly enough, ob- jection is taken to what would seem to be historically the writer's most original qualities, unity of theme and action, but these were seen then as over-schematic plotting and an excessively moral tone: "peut4tre 1'Auteur y fait-il appercevoir trop son dessein; mais il vaut mieux pkher par trop d'instruction, que de s'exposer au reproche d'Ecrivain frivole & souvent cormpteur" (December 1761, p. 207). At this stage a con- siderably more enthusiastic treatment is accorded to a more deliberately titillating type of story, like Bastide's often reprinted item La Petite Mai- son ("l'on ne put donner assez d'6loges B l'ing6nieux Auteur d'un si beau chef-d'ceuvre" [March 1762, p. 2451). Lyrical praise is heaped upon Boufflers for his Reine de Golconde and the more amusing tradition it represents. "Je lui veux un bien infini de nous ramener aux Contes, je relis tous les ans ceux du charmant Hamilton; Ah Fleur d'Espine, Fleur d'Epine [sic] que vous me d6dommagez de tous ces traits de morale as- soupissans dont on nous glace aujourd'hui!" (October 1761, p. 27). Soon Marmontel's contemporary eminence is recognized, however, and, under Madame de Maisonneuve, his new Contes moraur of 1765 are given ex- tremely full treatment between March and May of that year. They are now praised not only for the sentiments they inspire ("cet attendrisse- ment ou l'on sourit & l'on pleure tout ensemble" [April 1763, p. 721) but also on feminist grounds: "J'ai remarqu6 avec satisfaction que dans les Contes de M. Marmontel, les femmes jouent toujours les beaux r6les" (May 1765, p. 87).

While appreciation of Marmontel appears to grow, under Madame de Montanclos's editorship one senses that Baculard d ' h a u d ' s rather more fulsome effects are found increasingly tiresome. His reputation is high, when, "encourag6 par le succbs le plus heureux & le plus m6rit6," he launches his series of Nouvelles historiques, which claimed to offer the

T H E J O U R N A L DES DAMES 257

young "un Cours de morale, exempt de dcheresse et de ptklanterie" (January 1775, p. 16). It is noticeable, however, that a new note of initation creeps into the review as Amaud is reproached with "un peu trop d'abondance": "I1 semble se dtfier quelquefois de la ptnitration de ses Lecteurs. Sa plume ne leur laisse rien B imaginer" (p. 18). And later works in this series are not given extensive treatment, overtly for the reason that they are too well known: " c o m e ces ouvrages sont ripandus & lus d'un grand nombre de personnes, nous sommes dispensts d'en faire les Extraits: les annoncer, c'est donner au public le s i g d de leur lecture" (August 1775, p. 250). On the other hand, Amaud's imitator, Louis d'ussieux, author of the series Le D6cadronfran~ais, is generally well received, but his poetic style is not appreciated: "nous qui croyons que la poisie & la prose ont des droits qu'il ne faut jamais confondre, nous le remarquons c o m e un difaut" (July 1774, p. 54).

Impatience also appears to have marked reader reaction to the serial- ization of the Lettres & Stiphanie. It should be noted that the initiative appears to have been extremely unusual in the French press of the day. Although short stories were sometimes given in episodes, I know of no other example of a novel presented in this way during the eighteenth century.'5 In view of the important role that serialized fiction was later to play in the women's press, it is surprising to find in July 1777 (pp. 233- 34) that the innovation seems to have been poorly received. In what purports to be one of many leners to the editor in a similar vein, an ap- parent reader complains of the practice. She explains her reaction to an unfamiliar technique in terms of the torment endured by a sensitive reader through having her emotional absorption in the text so constantly interrupted: "Oser prendre I'accent du sentiment, divelopper toutes les dtlicatesses du caeur dans un roman intiressant, & ne donner ce roman que par lambeaux, le dipecer de sens [sic] froid; nous laisser, pendant un mois, sur une impression tendre, inquiete & triste! [ . . . I c'est un rafine- ment de cruaut6 que je ne tolere pas, & par le ma1 qu'elle me fait, & par l'insensibiliti qu'elle annonce. [ . . . I HBtez-vous, Monsieur, de nous don- net la suite de ses lettres sans intmalle & sans mslange, ou je vous dinonce 21 toutes les femmes sensibles qui, c o m e moi, anendent & souffrent."

15 lean-Louis Castilhon's version of the Vie et awnturrr d'Ambroise Gwimett in the Journal encyclopidique in May and June I769 is, for example, only a ;?O-page sketch of what was lo be a two-volume novel in 1770 as Le Mendiont boitewi (Manin. Mylne. Frautschi 70.38). The various Bibliothdquer de compgne presented their texts consecutively, volume by volume, as did the Biblhthdque universelle des romans and the Biblioth2que uniwrselle des dames.

258 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FICTION

Whatever the authenticity of this text, it epitomizes the enthusiastic interest in fiction that our analysis suggests was shared by the Journal des dames's audience over a broad period of nearly twenty years. And at the same time it conveniently illustrates the notion of intense reader involvement that sentimental narratives typically sought to produce. The Journal's first editor, Thorel de Campigneulles, defined and encouraged from the outset this close identification by the reader with the protagonists of fictional discourse: "[ ... ] nous suivons d'un ceil curieux un personnage supposb, qui nous affecte de ses sentimens, qui semble nous faire rendre ses diffCrentes situations, qui rassemble quelquefois nos vices & nos vertus, & se rend toujours intCressant par un conflit de passions que nous avons CprouvCes nous-mEmes on du moins que nous pouvons Cprouver tous les jours" (January 1759, p. 3).

How typically "feminine" such interest and such attitudes may be is difficult to assess in the absence of any comparable "masculine" corpus. No French periodical title echoes the English Gentleman's Magazine-- the Journal de Monsieur bears this title because of its dedication to Monsieur, the King's brother. The norm would need to be found in a broader study, not yet undertaken, of the treatment of fiction in a range of general interest periodicals like the Mercure de France.I6 On the internal evidence examined in this article, however, it seems clear that the editors of the Journal des dames were convinced of the importance of the genre for their female readers, that they tended overall to promote the nov- els and short stories of women writers, and that the conventions of the contemporary view of fiction needed little adaptation to provide a con- ceptual framework for the discussion and presentation of prose narrative in the context of a pioneering women's periodical.

Macquarie University

16 Bernard Petit's thesis on 'The Theory. Criticism and Practice of Pmse Fiction in the Mercure de France 1700-1750 (unpublished doctoral dissenation. Vanderbilt University. 1973) is concerned with the first half of the eighteenth century. See also my wo articles on shon stories in the Mercure beween 1750 and 1789 (Studies on Voltaire 171 [1977], 197-210; 201 I19821, 221- 31). and my fonheaming study (and listing) of shon fiction in French periodicals of the eighteenth cenhlry, to be published by the Voltaire Foundation. R.D. Mayo's The English Now1 in the Mopozines, 174&18/5 (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1962) is concerned with the narrative texts that were published and not reviews of fiction, and the accompanying catalogue of "magazine novels and novelettes" excludes shoner pieces.