Reading Culture and Writing Practices in Nineteenth-Century France

Between about 1830 and the outbreak of the First World War, print culture, reading, and writing transformed cultural life in Western Europe in many significant ways. Book production and consumption increased dramatically, and practices such as letter- and diary-writing were widespread. This study demonstrates the importance of the nineteenth century in French cultural change and illustrates the changing priorities and concerns of l'histoire du livre since the 1970s. From the 1830s on, book production experienced an industrial revolution which led to the emergence of a mass literary culture by the close of the century. At the same time, the western world acquired mass literacy. New categories of readers became part of the reading public while western society also learned to write. Reading Culture and Writing Practices in Nineteenth-Century France examines how the concerns of historians have shifted from a search for statistical sources to more qualitative assessments of readers' responses. Martyn Lyons argues that autobiographical sources are vitally important to this investigation and he considers examples of the intimate and everyday writings of ordinary people. Featuring original and intriguing insights as well as references to material hitherto inaccessible to English readers, this study presents a form of 'history from below' with emphasis on the individual reader and writer, and his or her experiences and perceptions. Between about 1830 and the outbreak of the First World War, print culture, reading, and writing transformed cultural life in Western Europe in many significant ways. Book production and consumption increased dramatically, and practices such as letter- and diary-writing were widespread. This study demonstrates the importance of the nineteenth century in French cultural change and illustrates the changing priorities and concerns of l'histoire du livre since the 1970s. From the 1830s on, book production experienced an industrial revolution which led to the emergence of a mass literary culture by the close of the century. At the same time, the western world acquired mass literacy. New categories of readers became part of the reading public while western society also learned to write. Reading Culture and Writing Practices in Nineteenth-Century France examines how the concerns of historians have shifted from a search for statistical sources to more qualitative assessments of readers' responses. Martyn Lyons argues that autobiographical sources are vitally important to this investigation and he considers examples of the intimate and everyday writings of ordinary people. Featuring original and intriguing insights as well as references to material hitherto inaccessible to English readers, this study presents a form of 'history from below' with emphasis on the individual reader and writer, and his or her experiences and perceptions Contents 7 Tables, Maps, Images 9 Acknowledgments 11 Abbreviations 13 1. Introduction: The Importance of the Nineteenth Century 15 The Statistical Approach 29 2. In Search of the Bestsellers of Nineteenth-Century France, 1815–1850 29 3. Towards a National Literary Culture in France: Bookshops and the Decline of the Colporteur 57 Censorship and Commemoration 79 4. Fires of Expiation: Book-Burnings and Catholic Missions in Restoration France 79 5. Literary Commemoration and the Uses of History: The Gutenberg Festival in Strasbourg, 1840 106 Readers 125 6. The Reading Experience of Worker-Autobiographers in Nineteenth-Century Europe 125 7. Oral Culture and the Rural Community: The Veillée d’Hiver 153 8. Why We Need an Oral History of Reading 165 Writers 181 9. Reading Practices, Writing Practices: Intimate Writings in Nineteenth-Century France 181 10. French Soldiers and Their Correspondence: Towards a History of Writing Practices in the First World War 198 Appendix: Calculating Bestsellers in Early Nineteenth-Century France 215 Notes 221 Select Bibliography 245 Index 253