Jean Castaing (1723 in Alençon – March 1805 in Alençon) was an 18th-century French poet, playwright and printer.

Biography

Both an author, typographer, or bookbinder, Castaing who by profession was collector of the

taille The ''taille'' () was a direct land tax on the French peasantry and non-nobles in ''Ancien Régime'' France. The tax was imposed on each household and was based on how much land it held, and was directly paid to the state. History Originally o ...

in his hometown, is the author of several plays printed by himself in his print shop. This collection, whose plays have been described as "as bad as misprinted", has no other merit than its rarity. The author says ingenuously in his preface that by printing 30 copies of his theater, "he had no other purpose than to distract himself, without the annoyance to bother over thirty people". According to the same preface, it seems that this theater was to consist of four volumes, unless one counts for the fourth volume ''la Femme curieuse'', printed in 1793, and which is part of Volume III. Because of this, his poetry and theater are extremely rare. The local historian Léon de La Sicotière had his complete theatrical and poetic productions, printed to a very small number of copies in his rich library. Several of Castaing's plays have been performed on the stage of Alencon. Founder of the Alençonnaise

Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

("Saint-Louis-des-Cœurs-Zélés"), in 1752, he represented the masonry from Orne at the creation of the Grand Orient de France in 1773.

Works

* ''Vaudevilles et Chansons du Bouquet des Moissonneurs'', divertissement-mascarade, Alençon, 1783, in-8°. * ''Recueil de pièces de théâtre'', Alençon, 1791-2, 3 vol. in-8°. * The ''Bibliothèque dramatique'' by Martineau de Soleinne''Bibliothèque dramatique de Monsieur de Soleinne. Catalog established by P. L. Jacob, bibliophile. Paris, Alliance des Arts, 1843-1845, 6 vol.'' (1844) contains the most complete list of drama works by Jean Castaing, that is: ** ''Apologie de ma solitude'' ** ''Prologue et scènes allégoriques'' ** ''Le Philosophe soi-disant'' ** ''Prologue de Lise'' ** ''Lise, ou le triomphe de la reconnaissance'' ** ''La Fête du village'' ** ''l'Avant-Soupé'' ** ''Le Véritable ami'' ** ''Le Misanthrope corrigé'' ** ''Tout ou Rien'' ** ''Paméla'' ** ''Paméla mariée'' ** ''La Femme curieuse, ou les Francs-Maçons'' * Autres créations littéraires de Jean Castaing conservées à la BNF : ** ''Opuscules d'un amateur, imprimé par lui-même.Tome premier (1785)'' ** ''Opuscules de J.Castaing, revus, corrigés et augmentés, imprimés par lui-même, 2e édition.- Distiques et pensées morales et philosophiques, imprimés par lui-même. 2e édition (1790)'' ** ''Fugitives de J.Castaing, imprimées par lui-même (1794)''

References

Sources

* Jacques-Charles Brunet, ''Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur de livres'', t.1, Paris, Silvestre, (p. 569). *

Théodore-Éloi Lebreton Théodore-Éloi Lebreton (1 December 1803 – 12 December 1883) was a 19th-century autodidact French poet, chansonnier and bibliographer. Biography Born from a day laborer and a washerwoman, Lebreton entered at age seven in an indienne factor ...

, ''Biographie normande'', t. 1, Rouen, Le Brument, 1865, (p. 385). * Joseph-Marie Quérard, ''La France littéraire, ou Dictionnaire bibliographique des savants'', t.2, Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1828, (p. 72) * ''Bulletin de la société historique et archéologique de l’Orne'', t. III, Alençon, Renaut- De Broise, (p. 410–1). * '' L’Intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux'', t.7, Paris, Sandoz et Fischbacher, 1874, (p. 412). * ''Revue de l'exposition maçonnique 2003 du '' under the direction of Éric Saunier, (p. 10) * ''Bibliothèque dramatique de Monsieur Alexandre Martineau de Soleinne. Catalogue rédigé par P. L. Jacob, bibliophile. Paris, Alliance des Arts, 1843-1845, 6 vol.''

External links

Jean castaing
on data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Castaing, Jean 18th-century French poets 18th-century French male writers 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights French printers Writers from Normandy French Freemasons 1723 births Writers from Alençon 1805 deaths