The was originally a French gazette and

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letter ...

first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was published from 1672 to 1724 (with an interruption in 1674–1677) under the title (sometimes spelled ; 1672–1674) and (1677–1724). The title was changed to in 1724. The gazette was briefly suppressed (under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

) from 1811 to 1815 and ceased publication in 1825. The name was revived in 1890 for both a literary review and (in 1894) a publishing house initially linked with the

symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

movement. Since 1995 has been part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. should not be confused with another literary magazine, the (1823–1830).

The original ''Mercure galant'' and ''Mercure de France''

The ''Mercure galant'' was founded by the writer

Jean Donneau de Visé Jean Donneau de Visé (1638 – 8 July 1710) was a French journalist, royal historian ("historiographe du roi"), playwright and publicist. He was founder of the literary, arts and society gazette "le Mercure galant" (founded in 1672) an ...

in 1672. The name refers to the god

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, the messenger of the gods; the title also echos the ''Mercure françoys'' which was France's first literary gazette, founded in 1611 by the Paris bookseller J. Richer. 1672 Mercure Galant January title page

The magazine's goal was to inform elegant society about life in the court and intellectual/artistic debates; the gazette (which appeared irregularly) featured poems, anecdotes, news (marriages, gossip), theatre and art reviews, songs, and fashion reviews, and it became fashionable (and sometimes scandalous) to be mentioned in its pages. Publication stopped in 1674, but began again as a monthly with the name ''Nouveau Mercure galant'' in 1677. The ''Mercure galant'' was a significant development in the history of journalism (it was the first gazette to report on the fashion world and played a pivotal role in the dissemination of news about fashion,

luxury goods In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast to n ...

, etiquette and court life under

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

to the provinces and abroad. In the 1670s, articles on the new season's fashions were also accompanied with engravings. The August 1697 edition contains a detailed description of a popular new puzzle, now known as peg solitaire. This article is the earliest known reference to peg solitaire. The gazette was frequently denigrated by authors of the period. The name ''Mercure galant'' was used by the playwright

Edmé Boursault Edmé Boursault (October 163815 September 1701) was a French dramatist and miscellaneous writer, born at Mussy l'Evéque, now Mussy-sur-Seine (Aube). Biography On Boursault's first arrival in Paris in 1651 his language was limited to Burgundia ...

for one of his plays critical of social pretensions; when Donneau de Visé complained, Boursault retitled his play ''Comédie sans titre'' (''Play without a title''). The gazette played an important role in the " Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns", a debate on whether the arts and literature of the 17th century had achieved more than the illustrious writers and artists of antiquity, which would last until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle and the ''Mercure galant'' joined the "Moderns". Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux was pushed into the role of champion of the "Anciens", and

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

Jean de La Fontaine Jean de La Fontaine (, , ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''Fables'', which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Euro ...

and

Jean de La Bruyère Jean de La Bruyère (, , ; 16 August 1645 – 11 May 1696) was a French philosopher and moralist, who was noted for his satire. Early years Jean de La Bruyère was born in Paris, in today's Essonne ''département'', in 1645. His family was mid ...

(who is famous for a jibe against the gazette: "''le Mercure''... est immédiatement au dessous de rien" the ''Mercure''... is immediately below nothing" took his defense. The periodical eventually became a financial success and it brought Donneau de Visé comfortable revenues. The ''Mercure de France'' became the uncontested arbiter of French arts and humanities, and it has been called the most important literary journal in prerevolutionary France. Thomas Corneille was a frequent contributor to the gazette. The ''Mercure'' continued to be published after Donneau de Visé's death in 1710. In 1724 its title was changed to ''Mercure de France'' and it developed a semi-official character with a governmentally appointed editor (profits were invested into pensions for writers). Jean-François de la Harpe was the editor in chief for 20 years; he also collaborated with

Jacques Mallet du Pan Jacques Mallet du Pan, (1749-1800), was a Genevan, political journalist and propagandist. A Calvinist thinker and Counter-Revolutionary reformer, he opposed extreme positions held by both Revolutionary and Counter-Revolutionary partisans during ...

. Other significant editors and contributors include: Marmontel, Raynal,

Chamfort Sébastien-Roch Nicolas, known in his adult life as Nicolas Chamfort and as Sébastien Nicolas de Chamfort (; 6 April 1741 – 13 April 1794), was a French writer, best known for his epigrams and aphorisms. He was secretary to Louis XVI of Fran ...

and

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

. It is on the pages of the May 1734 issue of the ''Mercure de France'' that the term "

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

" makes its first attested appearance – used (in pejorative way) in an anonymous, satirical review of

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of Fr ...

’s ''

Hippolyte et Aricie ('' Hippolytus and Aricia'') was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was premiered to great controversy by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé Sim ...

''. Right before the revolution, management was handed over to Charles-Joseph Panckoucke. During the revolutionary era, the title was changed briefly to ''Le Mercure français''.

stopped its publication in 1811, but the review was resurrected in 1815. The review was last published in 1825.

The modern Mercure de France

History

At the end of the 19th century, the name ''Mercure de France'' was revived by

Alfred Vallette Alfred Vallette (1858, Paris – 1935) was a French man of letters. He founded (in 1890) and edited the ''Mercure de France'', a Symbolist review publication. His wife, Rachilde Rachilde was the pen name and preferred identity of novelist a ...

. Vallette was closely linked to a group of writers associated with

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sy ...

who regularly met at the café ''la Mère Clarisse'' in

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. S ...

(rue Jacob), and which included:

Jean Moréas Jean Moréas (; born Ioannis A. Papadiamantopoulos, Ιωάννης Α. Παπαδιαμαντόπουλος; 15 April 1856 – 31 March 1910), was a Greek poet, essayist, and art critic, who wrote mostly in the French language but also in Greek ...

, Émile Raynaud,

Pierre Arène Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

, Remy de Gourmont,

Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896). He also coined the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics. Jarry was born in Laval, Mayenne, France, ...

Albert Samain Albert Victor Samain (3 April 185818 August 1900) was a French poet and writer of the Symbolist school. Life and works Born in Lille, his family were Flemish and had long lived in the town or its suburbs. At the time of the poet's birth, his fa ...

and Charles Cros. The first edition of the review appeared on January 1, 1890. Over the next decade, the review achieved critical success, and poets such as

Stéphane Mallarmé Stéphane Mallarmé ( , ; 18 March 1842 – 9 September 1898), pen name of Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of ...

and

José-Maria de Heredia José-Maria de Heredia (22 November 1842 – 3 October 1905) was a Cuban-born French Parnassian poet. He was the fifteenth member elected for seat 4 of the Académie française in 1894. Biography Early years Heredia was born at Fortuna C ...

published original works in it. The review became bimonthly in 1905. In 1889, Alfred Vallette married the novelist

Rachilde Rachilde was the pen name and preferred identity of novelist and playwright Marguerite Vallette-Eymery (11 February 1860 – 4 April 1953). Born near Périgueux, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France during the Second French Empire, Rachilde went on t ...

whose novel ''Monsieur Vénus'' was condemned on moral grounds. Rachilde was a member of the editorial committee of the review until 1924 and her personality and works did much to publicize the review. Rachilde held a

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

on Tuesdays, and these "mardis du Mercure" would become famous for the authors who attended. Like other reviews of the period, the ''Mercure'' also began to publish books (beginning in 1894). Along with works by symbolists, the ''Mercure'' brought out the first French translations of

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

, the first works of André Gide, Paul Claudel,

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...

and Guillaume Apollinaire and the poems of Tristan Klingsor. Later publications include works by:

Henri Michaux Henri Michaux (; 24 May 1899 – 19 October 1984) was a Belgian-born French poet, writer and painter. Michaux is renowned for his strange, highly original poetry and prose, and also for his art: the Paris Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim ...

Pierre Reverdy Pierre Reverdy (; 13 September 1889 – 17 June 1960) was a French poet whose works were inspired by and subsequently proceeded to influence the provocative art movements of the day, Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism. The loneliness and spiritual a ...

Pierre-Jean Jouve Pierre Jean Jouve (11 October 1887 – 8 January 1976) was a French writer, novelist and poet.Michael Sheringham, 'Jouve, Pierre-Jean', ''Oxford Companion to French Literature''Onlineat answers.com He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literat ...

Louis-René des Forêts Louis-René des Forêts (January 28, 1918 – December 31, 2001) was a French writer. Life Des Forêts's only novel, ''The Beggars'' (''Les Mendiants'') was published by Éditions Gallimard in 1943.The rest of his works include shorter narrative ...

Pierre Klossowski Pierre Klossowski (; ; 9 August 1905 – 12 August 2001) was a French writer, translator and artist. He was the eldest son of the artists Erich Klossowski and Baladine Klossowska, and his younger brother was the painter Balthus. Life Born in Par ...

André du Bouchet André du Bouchet (April 7, 1924 – April 19, 2001) was a French poet. Biography Born in Paris, André du Bouchet lived in France until 1941 when his family left occupied Europe for the United States. He studied comparative literature first ...

, Georges Séféris,

Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco inst ...

and Yves Bonnefoy. With the death of Vallette in 1935, the management was taken over by

Georges Duhamel Georges Duhamel (; ; 30 June 1884 – 13 April 1966) was a French author, born in Paris. Duhamel trained as a doctor, and during World War I was attached to the French Army. In 1920, he published '' Confession de minuit'', the first of a serie ...

(who had been editing the review since 1912). In 1938, because of Duhamel's anti-war stance, he was replaced by Jacques Antoine Bernard (in 1945, Bernard would be arrested and condemned for collaboration with the Germans). After the war, Duhamel (who was majority stockholder of the publishing house) appointed

Paul Hartman Paul Hartman (March 1, 1904 – October 2, 1973) was an American dancer, stage performer and television actor. Early years Born in San Francisco, California, Hartman was the son of Ferris Hartman, who was sometimes called the "Ziegfeld of ...

to run the review (Hartman had participated in the resistance and clandestine publishing during the war). In 1958, the Éditions Gallimard publishing group bought the ''Mercure de France'' and Simone Gallimard was chosen as its director. In 1995,

Isabelle Gallimard Isabelle Gallimard (born 4 January 1951 in Boulogne-Billancourt) is a French publisher and entrepreneur. Biography Born in Paris the daughter of Claude and Simone Gallimard, Isabelle Gallimard studied sociology at the Sorbonne. From 1974 to 1 ...

took over direction of the publishing house.

Literary Prizes

Mercure de France has won awards with the following authors: * Salvat Etchart ( Prix Renaudot 1967) *

Claude Faraggi Claude Faraggi (28 May 1942 – 14 December 1991) was a French writer best known for his 1975 novel, ''Le Maître d'heure'', which won the Prix Femina. Works * 1965: ''Les Dieux du sable'' * 1967: ''Le Jour du fou'' * 1969: ''L'Effroi'' * 1971: ' ...

(

Prix Fémina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...

1975) *

Michel Butel Michel Butel (19 September 1940 – 26 July 2018) was a French journalist and novelist. He won the Prix Médicis The Prix Médicis is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and . It is awarded to an au ...

( Prix Médicis 1977) *

Jocelyne François Jocelyne François (born 1933 in Nancy, France, Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle) is a French writer. She is the author of five Lesbian fiction, lesbian novels, and winner of the Prix Femina. Career François was born in Nancy as the eldest of three ch ...

(

1980) *

François-Olivier Rousseau François-Olivier Rousseau (born 20 September 1947, Boulogne-Billancourt) is a French journalist and writer. Biography A young literary critic at ''Le Matin de Paris'' at the end of the 1970s, he became a novelist, met with success immediately ...

( Prix Médicis and

Prix Marcel Proust The Marcel Proust Prize is a former literary award of France. Created by the municipal council of Cabourg, in Normandy, in 1972, it was awarded until 1994; the recipient was a work which evoked that of Marcel Proust. Writers were awarded 5,000 fr ...

1981) *

Nicolas Bréhal Nicolas Bréhal (Gérald Solnitzki) (6 December 1952 Paris – 31 May 1999 Levallois-Perret) was a French novelist and literary critic. He was literary director at the ''Mercure de France'' and literary critic at ''Le Monde'' and ''Le Figaro''. ...

(

Prix Valery Larbaud The Prix Valery Larbaud is a French literary prize created in 1967, ten years after writer Valery Larbaud's death, by ''L'Association Internationale des Amis de Valery Larbaud'', an organization dedicated to the promotion of his works. The prize is ...

1992) * Paula Jacques (

1991) *

Dominique Bona Dominique Bona (born 29 July 1953 in Perpignan) is a French writer. Life She won the 2000 Bourse Goncourt for biography, and 1998 Prix Renaudot. She was literary critic for ''Le Figaro'' and ''Le Journal du dimanche ''Le Journal du diman ...

(

Prix Interallié The prix Interallié (Interallié Prize), also known simply as ''l'Interallié'', is an annual French literary award, awarded for a novel written by a journalist. History The prize was started on 3 December 1930 by about thirty or so journal ...

1992) *

Andreï Makine Andreï Sergueïevitch Makine (russian: Андрей Серге́евич Макин; born 10 September 1957) is a French novelist. He also publishes under the pseudonym Gabriel Osmonde.Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

and Prix Médicis 1995) *

Gilles Leroy Gilles Leroy (born 28 December 1958 in Bagneux, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French writer. He studied at the Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux, which appears in his 1996 novel ''Les Maîtres du monde'' as the "Lycée Ducasse". His novel ''Alabama song'' won th ...

(

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

2007) * Romain Gary published his novels under the penname Émile Ajar (with the complicity of Simone Gallimard) which allowed him to win an unprecedented two

Book series

* Les romantiques allemands (1942) * Collection ivoire (1964) * Domaine anglais (1964) * Collection bleue (1989) * Collection poésie (1990) * Bibliothèque américaine (1993) * Le Petit Mercure (1995) : series in pocket format of short texts which welcomes different literary genres * Bibliothèque étrangère (1999) * Le Temps retrouvé poche (1999) & Le Temps retrouvé (2003) : newspapers, memoirs, travel books, letters, eye witness accounts * Le goût de… (2002): literary anthologies devoted to towns, regions, countries and to numerous themes * Traits et portraits (2002): autobiographical stories

References

The bulk of this article is based on the French Wikipedia article, which is itself taken from the history page of the website of the Mercure de France (see external links). Additional information based on: * DeJean, Joan. ''The Essence of Style: How the French Invented Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafés, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour.'' New York: Free Press, 2005 * Harvey, Paul and J.E. Heseltine, eds. ''The Oxford Compagnon to French Literature.'' London: Oxford University Press, 1959. * Patrick Dandrey, ed. ''Dictionnaire des lettres françaises: Le XVIIe siècle.'' Collection: La Pochothèque. Paris: Fayard, 1996.

External links

Official website
* ''Le Mercure de France'' onlin
from 1672 to 1674from 1678 to 1682from 1724 to 1791
an
from 1890 to 1935
in Gallica, the digital library of the BnF. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercure de France 17th-century French literature 1672 establishments in France Book publishing companies of France Defunct literary magazines published in France French-language magazines Magazines established in 1672 Magazines disestablished in 1825