Denis de Sallo, Sieur de la Coudraye (1626May 14, 1669) was a French writer and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...

from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, known as the founder of the first French, and European

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to includ ...

and

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such ...

- the ''

Journal des sçavans The ''Journal des sçavans'' (later renamed ''Journal des savans'' and then ''Journal des savants,'' lit. ''Journal of the Learned''), established by Denis de Sallo, is the earliest academic journal published in Europe. It is thought to be the ea ...

'' (later renamed ''Journal des savants'').

Life

De Sallo obtained classical education and was admitted to the Paris

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

in 1652, although he later devoted himself to scholarly aspects of the law rather than active practice, serving also as a counsel in the French government. He belonged to the

clique A clique ( AusE, CanE, or ), in the social sciences, is a group of individuals who interact with one another and share similar interests. Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardless of gender, ethnicity, or popular ...

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the country ...

minister of finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

under

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

, and had active contacts with other prominent European scholars. In 1660, he travelled to Italy, going among others places to Rome and Florence, where he met many Italian scholars. In 1665 he published the first issue of the ''Journal des sçavans'' under the pseudonym Sieur d'Hédouville. The idea for the journal was similar in scope to an outline written by the historian François Eudes de Mézeray who also belonged to Colbert's clique and briefly lived in the same household as de Sallo. It included recording news and inventions in the various arts and sciences, decisions of secular and ecclesiastical courts, reviews of new scholarly books and other items of broader interest to a modern scholar. From 1666 to 1680 his journal was counterfeited in the Netherlands by a publisher Daniel Elzevier (unrelated to the publisher Elsevier). As a loyal Gallicanist, de Sallo enjoyed considerable trust by the court and received a twenty-year privilege for publishing. His pseudonym comes from the hamlet

Hédouville Hédouville () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a ...

where his

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "valet ...

is said to have come from. The ''Journal'' under his direction was suppressed after the thirteenth number, but was revived shortly afterwards, this time under his assistant Jean Gallois' editorship. The official reason for this was de Sallo's failure to submit content for approval before publishing, but was probably a result of the pressure of some influential authors whose works were criticized by the journal. De Sallo's health deteriorated in his final years so that he was unable to walk; his condition has been attributed to

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

. He died in Paris in the summer of 1669.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sallo, Denis de 1626 births 1669 deaths French editors French legal scholars Writers from Paris 17th-century French writers 17th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers