03
a>ed~:
1Prso.s put 5!urats!&auo w 0 1 ~snql pm 'Yemop s!lqnd
a y l u! W ! J ~
ol aab!~d u! a 3 U ~ u ~ dUIOJJ
~ aahow
~ ~ a~ u>.sauns~ad~ 2 ~ 1 IZLI
~ 2 7
~n~!nbsal
-uow 10 'PELT u! 'a~dldruexa101 's!vl8ua s a ~~ f l sanb!ydosol~yd
s
s ~ r a ?s , ~ J ! ~ E
-lo* : w a q se paqs!lqnd alan q r o w ~uawuaiq%rlu3
ienuan[fut Luew
.qlqndar r n m
W e 'slulmnnsu!
- u a l y s l u g s!yl uiy~~m-sanlasuraqisuetonq Jaglo
3susm~3adsh o ~ s ! q~e~nleo-s33e~!lie
Jaqlo 30 Xelds!p pue 'uo!a~allo3'uo!l
-8lnxrs aq1 ~ap!suo3 L~a!rq] '~aldaqsayl lo uo!lsas ]Pug ;lql u1 -yooq ayl
pue lslly aql :siscj!i~vauepunm slow dl4u!uraas pue palyal Alas013 OM
uo n . ~ a l d e qa ~q 30
~ J I P ~I T J aql
~ u~ 'sn3oJ Xru a ~ -G a
raldey3
~
U! pasqnx!p
sans! aJe asaql pue t~uaurualq9!lrrgaq130 pue u! ssausno!3suog 1~>!yde18
-034 aql paJaqe II!luesg!us!s sraqenrdem pue ' s ~ a ~ o ~ d's~o~.e&nou
xa
3tura3o
kq uayel~apunq a h e ~ a3uers!p-%uol
l
9% 'as~nos
10 palane11 sanpurayl s ~ a
-qu!ql luaarna~q3qu~
A
u
m -3ylrJ1q3ns bq p a m ~ ~ ~ s su omsluawua1yfiyu3
ayl nog alarlsnll! 01 pue-sxJqtlJa pur! 'seap! 'puuosrad SITlo I(l!l!qom aql
- 3 ~ ~ ~ st~uaunraiq8r~w~
1 1 ,
aql wjai Alas001 I JeqM leahaj ol I U ~ MI -parlcn
pae cal?qowt 3 ! ~ ~ ~Bulql2Gos
Xp
se c a ~ ~ ~dasn oXlle3!qd~~%o?%
Bu!yofi
luaurualy3rlug a43 lnoqP Bu!yu!qi u! ST Way3 ' a n q uJamoJ leuual
weds Jam put m ~ u!d paJni!isnos X1an?13rrB q a u r o s
se InanrualyS!lug aql azlrr2o~xu m a~ 'anom aqi uo s~aqdmolfqd
lernleu
uroq SB TFM s t 'suoles rryy~pldu! umom 'naw lesrpaur Buourc 'sa!~~uno3
l u a q ! p u! sssrut?ioqBuowe pue uaanzlq auapuodsa~iosjo S ~ J O M B U ufa3
-sip ucs am x n m q pue <oss! srql arnepaa *uo!laledas le3!qde~9oa8,sdlo$ 1 3 ~ ~
aql pa>npar XpaiB lseal le JO 4i(qde~XoaS
#<pasop-Xp~!lsaljaosle a3uels!p
ran0 uoriwrunwnro3 .a~aqds~qqndsGluawualq9!1ugaqlol adeqs a ~ e put
8
snrels I ~ ? ! ~ O Spassa~dxauo!lr>!unnruro3 .s>rdol qms uaafilaq suo!13~!1s!p
leau aas Xl!peal os ,on p!p l J ( r ~'put
X ~s~~ e ~ q lsjl o~ ome
s lnoqe J ~ ~ I O Uavo
E
q l ! ~
pales!unurruos X a u *KJO>WQ lemmu ~ a m
asuapmdspn! ' L q d ~ s ~ l ~ y d
r(urouo>ale>!rqod--laq~oueanoqe asJnoJs!p auo a8apn!rd Xltressalau
iou p ~ psa3eds 1q3os~ua.my!pul pue suo!iesol 1uaJaprp u! ~uautualqSl[u3
JSAO
n ~ ~ l asac(1 sy .uo!izu ayl e ~ ~ l
.- - aqr J Q uamoM pue uatu aql c a l e ~ ~ ssa~darexa
-aqn JO ,,qleauaq_ slanal le lnd aq plnos ~ 9 p a l ~ o tmatuusly%!lug
rq
y > ! q ~01
anoqe panour lay1 s ~ s a ~ apaseyc
w ~ u! lus~eddesf!^ w ~ r u e l ~ ~ o d o r u s o ~
L -yoofinouel!lodourso> flay] s e M ja!luoJj r d d n s ~ s q +
aql
~ uo g u ! ~ ~ o f i
ua!~s-rreu~salelcysrrreds e pup ' y l ~ u ~ms ~ p pue
y aUInH P ! A E ~ SF V n S
~~aqdosol!qd
~ S ~ I 4sls!mouo3a
I O ~
~ ~ s ! ~ ! lu~l!lode?l~
od
panauuos 3eqM
,,:dlml~as qrnaaly'i(ra ,343 %!lnp rs>lIaurv quo^ jo Ile ul luehm p;r4s!"%
-U!lqlP lSOw ayl, XlqenS~epue 'euv!s!noT JO s o u ~ a h 0~ ~~ u e d ~'273yO
l ~ + J
IeAru 'lclsapoa%'ueriolrrq lelmleu 'ler!? ~ J J el
O ap
~ d eo[ln ap o!uolu~sc
tpns uaur 01 pue 'sneal~gfiaN ol 'euers!no-j a1 LIIBJYJSS~S'salei~pal!un
Ulaylnos aql 01 a?uaJajar q l ! ~~uarun8lesrq salensnlv uow;rk,j -salde~
pue pneIlolS 01 a3uarajaJ qi!m iuanrua~qS!luy palaauuo3 put 3~!lr~!leduro3
pue 3u!yem p o l
P fq a m sly saqeul uoslJaqou .K~uarrn~
1euo!ieuiaa!
s,luaurualq%!luaaqJjo ir-eaq aql le s e Lurouosa
~
~ ~ x i t'q~oq
l ~ d!Jnln;ln pue
uo<praqo.tiJ O yspaau
~
p o l laam 01 X I V ~ Iur pa~depepue paidop~aq 01 F l l l E
-punoq IeuorssaJuos pue 'IwnlTns '3iisrnSutl passom aJayfiasTa palP~n>!lje
Xurouo?a p->?l!~od
30 seap! q 3 ! q ~U! d m aqi JJJM !miuaA palsalajur lEyM
-siuaJaqpr?lem[ maJag!p j o su~a3no3s!io!~1ed pue ?y!sads aql uf lsa~!u~ul
apeur wawaAotu 1enisalpu! IeuopeuJsxu! ue ~o sefi a d o ~ n gS S O I ~ Vpue Xla
-11u!1uaurua1q3yu~aqr 30 Ma!n a s o q 'uniuah
~
osuw3 jo TOM ar(i puallra
01 pawre oqe uoslJaqoH .may1 rraaMiaq suoslredluo~pue suo!is;l-uu03 ayl
uo sa naM sz 'su~!rnl!lsu!urei%aJpue 'TOM
waur lenpnjpu! uo ' s a l d e ~
u! 'pue-fioSsey3 pue 'uaap~aqtr' q g ~ n q u ~
u!-puel~ons
p~
UI s~ayu!yl3pv11
aaJj uo pasn30~uos-JJaqoH'~uaurnaiqS!~u~
aql u! Amouom l e ~ i ! ~ o d jsuois
o
- o a ~ ?leno!ieuJalu!
p
aql Burssarzs u1 .par3auum Xpsols ~ J sanss!
E
aql nq
'r(~o~~!perauo~
readde ktu-laldeq3 %u!mollqf aql ja 13dqns sqa-saseds
1 ~ ~ 3pue
0 s savs ~ s s ost!
t pua suo!l~auuo3leuo!leusua~i~o
~alrsure se ( a r ~ a l
gll!aa x n 01) lua~uualq%!luq,pasodwo3apm slow e lnoqe Suryutq
;s;r!rapunoq leuo!leu ~ U ~ ~ ~ J Ssa>ualag!p
U P J I
pua suo~l
-9auuo3 ie %w!qoo~Xq Inq X ~ p q n s ! ~ ~leno!ieu
sd
rro Bu!~s!su! Xq jou luam
-~al@!lu3Jql lnoqe Xrlnbu! 30 alnleu aqi pa81eyua Lpue3g1nsss spq uos
-1raqox 'p>qs!lqwa Bu!uro3aq sem uo!leia~d~ary
si! JOJ alax lerrotlvu aql
se uaAa g'lxabuosleuo!lw ahoqe 1uauruaiy4!lu3 aqi,, oi uo!luane 101%u!1le3
~ a u o[euorleu Jan0 suo~lipuo>le>olJO amel~odur!ayl sazlseqdma
; ~ ~ T S X Jleuo!leusueji
~
JO s u o i i e i s a ~ ~
leuo~9a~,,
u ~ ~ ~ aql q i ! ~1uaura8e8ua
srq q9no~yl'uosuaAd EaldurexaJOJ 1 a 2 ~ a pp
s d~olsryaql u! _pooyuo!leu,,
..
__--_.
-.--01 'ilu!q3~~le
sa!lu!elimun aql pue $ 3 ~. Ieuo!leu
~ 3 ~ 01 pua, qq~ssode Su!~a
-. -p!SUo3 U I 'a3ua!x JOasnieu lesJan!un r(lpxodd~~s
aqi lr:passa~dx=la~nbsrp
I V ~ Jqllm put sa!pnis tuaruua1qRrln3 u! lua~eddeMoa norTAaI ~es!i!~sJO
l?llds 1 ~ 4 y1 1 1 ~
q ~ o qlua~~tswos
sr Xne3rqde~90~8
1uawualy4qugaqi purls
-lapan 01 l t e ~ayl se lxaluos ~euoyeuu! ~ u a u r u a ~ @ qaui~ ~$urss!rnsi~
n
-
Cb
STJOAlaN U P J ~ ~ O ~ O U I S O ~
uo!leN ayl p u d a q pue anoqv
Ed
H O I L V N 3 ~ 4 C. I P I O A T A Q N V B A O B V
46
ABOVE A N D BEYOND T H E NATION
C H A P T E R THRES.
nationhood and the Republic of Letters. "How did this transnational confederation of the learned make its peace with the nationalism that was often
the key to its financial support?" 'If the citizens of the Republic of Letters
refused their ultimate allegiance to their respective nations, to whom or
what did 'they swear fealty?"'
For Daston, answers Lie in the intent af individuals to sustain international endeavor even when their nations were in con flict-correspondence
between Sir Joseph Banks and his French counterparts a n d shared interests
in mapping during the Wapolconic Wars being two such instances? Answers are to be found in the many academies and institutions (discussed in
the following chapter), in the emergence of new journals. and in the rise of
the periodical press within the Enlightenment's public sphere. Rcginning
in the mid-1680swith Pierre Bayle's trendsetting NouveIles de la RPpubIiquc
des Lettres (News from the Republic of Letters), periodical publication and
dissemination in other closely related genres such as the rnultivolnrne encyclopedia characterized the Enlightenment as no other period. The number
of French-language titles in Europe rose from fewer than 30 in 1710 to 167
by the 1780s.In Germany) 718 new titles appeared in the 1780s alone. 'lhesc
new periodicals reflected a diversification of subject matter and shared interests in making new knowledge public. Letten made up a largc part OF the
contents of many of the journal^.'^ Above all then, answers lie "in the voluminous correspondence of its far-flung members."" The Republic of Letters
was about cosmopolitan networks of individuals corresponding and of in stitutions collaborating, It was not about nations affiliating.
What distinguished the Enlightenment man of letters? Voltaire saw him
more as a n encyclopedist than as the expert or specialist of modern parlance, as a man of learning and, tmportantly, of science. He was also a man
free to offer public criticism. In that, of course, there lay a difficuIty, for the
demands of private patronage could compromise free expression of critical opinion. Voltaire was dismissive of those who had to write to live. since
such a status brought dependence on publishers and audiences. Better, he
argued, to be among the "many men of letters who do not publish anything.
They are probably the happiest of all. They are spared the humiliations that
the profession of author sometimes bring with it. . ..They live in greater
concord with each other, they enjoy sociabi tit y more, they are the judges
while the others suffer judgment." l2
Not all writers htted this ro!e, Jvdging from thc position of the man of
letters in Vottaire's France, we find that the ideal figure he portrayed was far
from common. Taking as a guide the listings in La France Iitttraire, we can
identify -three- groups
of men of letters.
- - -- __
__.
- For the first, writing activities were
47
backed up by income from another post, a title, or a benefice. Clerics, for
exarnpIe. accounted for a b u t one in five literary men in France in the first
half of the eighteenth century. In the second, writing activity was linked to
professional endeavor of one sort or another-lawyers, physicians, professors, and so on. in the third, the least Voltairean by type, were wrttets; under
the protection of an influential patton. But what was true of France was not
50 of Germany-where
the population of men of letters was twice as la-e
by the 1780s as it was in France-or of ItaIy There, the literary sommunitv
w a s smaller in size and proportionately more clerical in membership until
the last quarter of lthe eighteenth century."
I-.Such social and geographical differences within the Enlightenment Re- ,
public of Letters were paralleled by variation in the nature of letters and 'I
in the practices of letter writing. Analysis of letter writing as a social practice must forany period distinguish between the texts, the participants, the
activities, and the artifacts involved. In the Enlightenment. official genres '
of correspondence were quite different in their texts and putpose-but not ,
necessarily in their participants when men of letters held government positions-from epistolary formulae between learned men of independent
means who knew one another's work and interests but who had never met.
In this latter case, certain conventions-"Esteemed Sir," *Your Respected
Servant," and the like-needed to be employed to elicit the support of one's
distant correspondents. T h e Voltairean image of the Enlightenment man of
letters as a man of science did not always sit comfortably with such men's
other respansibitities or with an individual's selfimage as, say, "Godly
Naturalistn or "Moral Philosopher" (consider Diderot's self-cultivah-~of
his image as a "Man of Letters": for example, plate 3)!4 Letter writing between women was by and Iarge different st~ll,in consequence of the different forms of sociability among women, who were often exduded by their
. ~ traveled was as
gender (or expected to be 50) from public d i ~ c o u r s eWhat
much a reputation, a perception of social standing or of scientific prestige as
any clear conception of 'reason" or "truth."
These facts of social and geographical variation do not weaken the idea
(and ideal) of the Republic of Letters as a way of thinking about the Enlightcnrnent as a dynamic transnational phenomenon. Indeed, the opposite
is nhe case. They remind us of the need to be attentive to social, episternic,
and geographical detail, to recognize both "the social grounding" of different genres of letter^,'^ and the located and specific nature-the "geographical groundingn-of those "networks of networks" makin$ up the
Enlightenment 3 cosmopolitan public sphere. And they raise new possibilities methodologicalIy, given that different epistolary practices heIp reveal
:
I
11
LI
I
R
i
I
'
,
.
;
nuqd ayl aiuasard put! ploaa~dlaq oi sa3elon JypEd ~ ! uo
q I . U ~VI!M saX?i
-old s,u!noytjo auo 7001o y . 5~ a s n o ~ ? dap
~ qd n ~ l e s!o3ue~d-ueal
3
nam
pue ellon a y nam
~ se puv ;a?ua!ss pnjasn arour pue s~saylda p ! l a M y aJaM
Xq-uo!le%!neu >rueamjo sap>$~apuel'dayi uo paieadai alafi IaneJJ fe3ol
papaau SEM I E ~ Msaseld yaoq n! JO] dl!~el~ur!s{em[ X ~ U Q papanal [ ~ A E J I
30 slsq y3ng .saw qaql uo uo!iewjotu! ap!nord puc SIUE~CI 33ar1o3ol 6siolsal
Ipuo!lPuJalu! Ing -slesddn lysuaq o) lapso u! aurq u! neloyx WOJJ urea1
-102 play 1e34 X I ~ A ! I J ~m
J Y d e u ; l l o q ~ues!.r!pd~
p! rd: gsnolnol u! ~ u ~ p u o d d
ol lq8nos iu~uruaiq9lpgd p ~ aqi
a u! Xlellol S ~ ~ slqJ 'lsleliuo2
J
dq %n!slaD
-5Y~oss , u l n d :nlels
~
J O Ern llpo asaql I J ~ MJ O N .alSaad jo 110s ly4t~aql
SJJPUV ~ ~ I U O U O J I S B
~ S I P ~ Maq,
S JO-J -itr;lurualqS~p~
ale1 aql u! adolnq uJa
Bu!lm~qn~
psr!nhal slurld 4qen!qng -uorle4!lqo l e ~ o ~ d r r r a l ~ oaql lap
- q l ~ o ussor3e uo!ida~al pue X1vq uroq IuaruaAout j o dew e sew 'S!JE~ p u ~
-vn
sluapuodsa~103
plualod
pua
l
a
n
i
x
paxqd
aq
se
pJeMlno
u!nov
~0.13
'puvliaug pnqp!m ' u o p u o ~u! s l ~ l r d ~sil3 q i ! ~i d e m spadxan s,alloA
pue ' 9 p a 1 ~ o u qlexumoq I P ~ U O ~pue
O ~ ieuollpu JOJ J J I U ~ S e r n np
~ UI~JP~
,,,;ado~ng mamrra~q4rlu~
j o uaz!ip e pue layd
341 apeur aq se 'urnoyt 01 s~auapieB[e!su!no~d pue waslano w o s ~:spaas
-0so11yd Iwnleu e se uo parla1 eyoA sdew aqljo asoql qlr* ap!sulo3 lou p!p
papnpu? uayo s u o y ~ a ~ !qlnq
p ul sJalla7 -asueq3xa p u aPeuoiled
~
lo aua
d s u ~pqy-, s!ql uo paylelu slalldm pue s ~ a p ~ o'samleaj
q
ureul aqa 96Lr Aayo
SEM 's,JalleH u ~ 4 Xllvaprna
3
a~ow
'qloMlau asuspuodsalio3 s,u!noqL .allam1
pue alojaq yiog" - a p J qsuaq 01 uepisnv u ~ o passed
q
'uo!8al auoq qEllOA
-aN a~!ols!~.pamH aql olu! aanap i ( ~ ~ u o ! ~ nXq
~ pauriojsuw
o~al
seM uap
'Xp~eqwo~
uaqM '96Lr l a p due>!teme~ppa8ueq3 dem s!y~uo sarnleaj aql
-.re3 sr9u!y agl q3!4M U! J B ~ La q l ~ 6 pug
~ 1 ~ g uaamlaq
~ r !oy np UIPJ" I~I
'OMI ~ a q i o
sjq ayrlun _- ann nod pue amv!Salle jo dew aql-dam s,lueMas
ie ~ a u a p ~ peay
e z WM u l n o u ltsluesead ol sa>u!~du r q paLdue~5laqwaW %u!
I?A!J aql,, s e d~ m pqql s , s l o .~i ( ~ ~ n hInpsn
u ? pur: lejrl!n yelsns 01 ICrw
-puodsai~o>
asoqn yroMlau lequelos, 1~901%
o 30 J J ~ U ~ue!s!lcd
J
aql le ur!q , -saJau suorlnlrlsa! IeJnlfns pue pI3Jaurwos aql pUr uouleJls!u!mpx ~rlqnd
pano~i!sod
a~uapuodsarro3lm!ueloq s , v o y t s p u y ' a d o ~ nuJaquou
~
u! -*, 1 . . _.-+.
. '.1 ' - -' -i
unl-nam ayl p a i m p ' l a g srq se am= ay t Alpm~qqsnoylle :dew g u m ~ a d
we!>!dqd pue aaueloq ,~aqlaPol paliouy_ ylomlau s,JaneH a,aqM
X E ~paualySrpa,, ayl ' d m pno3as s'eilon *arurlyr1s!y Bu!~nppSueq3 ley1
,,-sreurnol psuJeaI u! sapyJe Xq u a q ~paseldai Su!q '(~a~e!msse
4ung-~g ,
y4
pua easu>utwaaid? g ~ i u a ! ~ amp
j o e s w s!ql s q 'uaqlo p ~ ueyl
p d m sly1
s ~ qq% n o l qu~o t i n ~ o d ~
n!o01 or pauTernx A
d
v
s @noyq~}i m u ~ o sq i q l ~ ~ -,J. qt
uo I(puau!uro~d alom pamay sla31de3 pue sa!Jlunos leranas ;plag leql u!
10 arnlen aql oi le!3n~3aq 01 a s e a ~sJallal p!p JaaJes sly 30 pua aqi p~emop
~ u ! z ! l ~ ~ s a~aqdosopyd
ds
le3nlpu e se pazuolaq ay 1 1 3 ~aq Y S ~ I . 01 sJalla7
k
l
u
-suoylnl!lsur
~
u??urra3
ut
qxeasar
@3!ruo)PueJo
alels
a
q
l ~ 0ISWJqe UP!
JO m l q n d a ~aql j o uo18a~
aqi j o dew a q i s e ~ :oei>rJlyala ue sv uo pa!l
-1~11
aql
Su!daay
i
i
o
~
~
q
t
u
o
s
~
%
a
d
~
!
X
J
J
~
J
:
~
~
~u~rag!p
o
s
e
j
o
aim ~ u S e 4 ~ 0 ~
- a elloh
~
deur aqj sem ;dtw sc>radxam
a41 'is~gaw . u ~ w aq
p Law sdew
~
l
s
!
l
!uueAo!3
l
~
~
ls!ulojeue
enped
aqlol
sJalial
SIH
-sdw
aqijo qinos a w a
q'ns a a q l qralnq ayi 30 foiuanu! pue ~rraurua~y%lua
ale1 941 4u!~np XI?
-ps
lo
uem
auo
X~uo
y
l
!
?
~
p
?
a
.
s
~
e
auo
~
lexpam
srq
'4uo~lsseM ylofilau
-3rrnalajo il~ojqqaql u! a ~ n s u%!leq
! ~ 3ypraf aql 'elloAtOIpueqsaIy 103
ley!ueloq s,JaTleH q % n o q i l -ua%u!i109
~
ut uap.~a%
lr?ueioq e qs!lqelsa oi
.saseds alen!~dpue sqqnd s,iuamua~y%rl
sue~ds!y 30 llpd se-aldmoxa JOJ <a?!laqtS U J O ~ J s<u!latu3 S ~ o a 3uueyoj
-u3 a y jo
~ sdem paa>auuoltlalu! ~ P sn
M S ~ ~ I A O J ~ - S J ! ~ ! U ~ U I U ~ O sll
J . uaam)
uerssq aql uo-~mdsa s!q, ur S~IOM ,slavio uodn Malp J34leH .asuapuods
-aq p u t U[Y>!M syurl j o ql%uar~s
aqi lnoqe
Xayl sSu!yl ayvamelstp
-ail03
uo
papuadap
csa~d!~u!~d
~
~
u
r
o
u o xpaai%e
sl
pue y l o ~ p l a yle3q uo
E 1~ uo!13v paiwpsej Kaql SLVMaqi 'a>edslano luauranour ,unjal '8u!)r~m
paseq
P
J
Q
a
~
n
p
u
uo
q
o
o
q
q
m
s
d u ~ jo
m auo *(zbrr)tunmuaX!pu~aarlahjaH
Jallal 10 s ~ ~ u a 8 - ~ ~ , a 3 ~ a w~w(rJnB ~ o I s !si!
~ ~'sm~lal
,
ut y p p ~ ~ m ~ 3 ~ u ~ ~ y ~
lun!d-ttrs
u 3 ! p o y ~ aarrai3tunu;T
~
aq) 'rlop =!MS. aql uo alsvg ul pue qs!xnZ
--- - ---1qS!1~gaq~~.qatrepunoq
~ e u o ~ l e u a ~ purr
o q eJ ~ A Op u e u o l e s ~ qPUE
l uap~eX '.
y
ns!ueioq SSIMS Y]!M YJOM scIallEH.lie le illp~eqgu!~nRqado~nquiaylnos
~ T ? I U F I Oaql
~ p u d a q 1uauaalq'ilrp3aql JO spl~om>~nra~slda
pue le!sos aql
Y~!M inq 'luel~odw!illJeln>!l~edau,rrlag uf pus JanoueH u! s ~ u a p u o d s a ~ ~ o ~
papualxa ;rpau!elsns Xaqi xlqnda~aqi pue a>uapuodsa~~os
jo lsy~omlauuel! '
~ I ! M%llet~ad<a
adolng u ~ a q l ~ ossoi3a
u
a>uapuodsal~ojj o q a e~ ruolj
. - F O ~ Q U . I F O ~ I ' J J saurrl
A~
Auam pa!ld~~lnw
acBs~no3
jo ue3 sa?diex;r qrrni
palyauaq pue p a q s ! ~ q e i s a J a ~Wl ~' a ~aI!qM
q l .ES.LI pue 9ELr n a ~ ~ ua%utl
~ a q
,;IOU JO ~njrcamns
-103 u! ~ o s s a l o ~-edse uo!l!sod larsos umo qq alnsas 01 Sueatu T: SPM %u!~!JM
rana1 *aldrxrmaJ ~ '-lalleH
J
uon lqparqly Is!ueloq pup ue!>!uEyd ayl 103
,,-sa!i!unurmo~ $11
~~~!ue1110domso3
aql %uruaalsnsI ( ~ Maql pue moq aql sa UaM sr!OVM ayl
pne aJaqM at11 gur~p$!lygryX q sa!ydar8o>Tanrlnl!lsuo> s,~uswu;rl$~lugaql ,
\
- ;,,
-
laAEl3 cl! pup algyssod a 8 p a f ~ o -@?Tueiaq
q
43ns apeut 1~111SJalial aql ST 3Je
-xa aq 01 p~y--XBolo>a511 qe aas MOU p l n m IM I ~ M - ~ ~ Fa43
M q lelrqpq
qi! lnoqe play aqi u! PapJoDai uotieuuoju! pue 's!Jed paqsex I! awl aql
A q ~ a s s a ~pup
d p~yp
41ueldpallalps a q uaimlaq
~
asuapuodss~io3.punoJ
JO
50
CHAPTER THREE
Book Geographies: Translating and
Receiving Enlightenment Knowledge
f
r
I
Book history is an established if reta~ivelyrecent field of scholarly inquiry,
even if the term and its variant, the history ofthe book, is misleading. What
is covered by it is not just the history of books but the "social and cultural
history of communication by print . . . how ideas were transmitted through
print and how exposure to the printed word affected the thought and behavior of mankind during the last five hundred years."33A number of influential, now almost canonical texts have shown how printing changed the
nature of culture and have heIped pose questions regarding the history of
books and printing as a social history-and a social geography." By whom
were books produced? For whom? Were books equally available or the preserve of a few? How did books and print culture move through society?
Who were the audiences? Where were they? How were books read-silently
in private, aloud ta others? Robert Darnton's model of the "communications
circuit" has achieved prominence as one way of addressing these issues.
Darnton proposed this model as a way. of tracing the cyclical life history
of a book or other printed work: from author to publisher (if the bookseller
does not assume that role) to printer to shipper to bookseller to reader and,
since authors respond to their audiences, back to the author.15 Darnton's
work on the Encyciop6dfehas traced the urban and social geography of that
work's ownership and readership throughout France-an example to which
I return in chapter 8. In doing so, of course, he mapped then an urbanprovincial geography of Enlightenment in stark contrast to his more recent
"narrow" or "deflationary" view that the Enlightenment was an eIite and
philosophical movement centered upon early eighteenth-century Paris.26
Issues of publishing history-the production part of the communications
circuit-have been accompanied by work on the reception of print in different contexts and new questions concerning reviewing cultures and reading
practices in different countries and social spaces." "us book history, and
Darnton's formative role within it, has become a key element in explaining
the Enlightenment's literary and smial contours.28
What, then, of book geography and its variant, the geography of the
book? Is it useful in thinking about the Enlightenment geographically? 'She
term, we should remember, is not a new one. In their L'upparition du livre,
arguably the bible of book history, Febvre and Martin considered *thegeography of the book" to include printers' journeys, the locational geographies
of publishing, and the diffusion of the printed word in the Slav countries,
.~
use of the term thus incorpothe New World, and the Far E a ~ t Initial
ABOVE
A N D B E Y O N D THE W A T l O N
51
rated questions of location and of movement compatible with viewing the
Enlightenment in terms of sites of knowledge making and the mobility of
people, ideas, and artifacts. My use ofthe term here is designed to extend its
to cover the reception of books and printed media, and to emphasize the movement of texts between the sites and social spaces in which
books were read, reviewed, and acted upon in the Enlightenment. n e difference between book history and book geography is, I suggest, more one of
approach than of substance. Where the hrst kooks at temporal dimensions,
the second addresses the spatial, PO include the displacement of texts, reading, and reviewing practices in different physical and social spaces and the
questions of meaning and epistemic significance that arise from such matters of geography. Humboldt's Mexican work as an Enlightenment geogtapher, for example, was read differently-and in consequence Hurnboldt as a
whoIe was seen quite differentIy-by British, French, Spanish, and German
r e ~ i e w e r sMy
. ~ use of the term "book geographies" thus echoes Rupkc's remarks on "geographies of reviewing," Secord's attention to the "geographies
of reading," which charts Chambers's Vestiges in its different social and geographical spaces with reference to sources that highlight its private reading and not alone its public reviewing, and Secordk wider interests in the
study of those communicative practices by which knowledge r n o v e s ? ~ u s
understood, *book geographies" can illuminate the Enlightenment's making, movement, and reception as productive activities in different social and
epistemic spaces-points returned to in chapter 8 in looking at books of
geography.
Consider the central role of translation in spreading the Enlightenment. Translation as a practice reflected the transformation of the bookand
printing industries across Europe. Enlightenment Europe's great centers
for translation were Paris, London, and, after 1760, Leipzig. Smaller centers
included Amsterdam, Zurich, Hamburg. Lisbon, Naples, Edinburgh, Copenhagen, Dublin, Saint Petersburg. Stockholm, and Berlin. In Gottingen.
by far the most Anglophile of German universities, professors and students
there came into contact with British coIleagues and English books more
regularIy than was the case in other German towns. It was largely through
translations that Voltaire found a readership in Budapest, Adam Smith an
audience in Lisbon as well as in Naples, and so
The history of translation in the Enlightenment is mainly a history of the reIationship between
French and English, the first the Republic of Letters' lingua franca, the second only rising to prominence later in the eighteenth century. Almost every
important Edghtenment work not originally written in French was translated into it. When poIitica1 economists in Naples read the works of Scots,
A
years later to a Parisian chemist friend, and afier his own shipboard measurements of the Gulf Stream using a thermometer, part of Franklin's 1785
letter illustrates my more genera[ claims about seeing the Enlightenment
geographically as a matter of networks.
It appearing strange to me that there should be such a difference between
two places, scarce a day's run asunder, especially when the merchant ships
are generally deeper laden, and more weakly managed than the packets, and
had from London the whole length of the river and channel to run before
they left the land of England, while the packets had only to go from Falmouth, I could not but think the fact misunderstood or misrepresented.
There happened then to be in London, a Nantucket sea-captain of my acquaintance, to whom I communicated the affair. He told me he believed the
fact might be true; but the difference was owing to this, that the RhodeIsland captains were acquainted with the gulf stream, which those of the
English packets were not.We are well acquainted with that stream, says he,
because in our pursuit ofwhales, which keep near the tides of it, but are not
to be met with in it, we run down along the sides, and frequently cross i t to
change our side: and in crossing have sometimes met and spoke with those
packets, who were in the middle of it, and stemming it. We have informed
them that they were sternrnlng a current, that was against them to the
value of three miles an hour; and advised them to cross it and get out of it;
but they were too wise to be counselled by simple American fishermen.
When the winds are but light, he added, they are carried back by the current
more than they are forwarded by the wind: and if the wind be good, the subtraction of 70 miles a day from their course is of some importance. 3 then observed that it was a pity no notice was taken of this current upon the charts.
and requested him to mark it out for me, which he readiIy complied with,
adding directions for avoiding it in sailing from Europe to North-America.
I procored it to be engraved by order from the general post-ofice, on the old
chart of the Atlantic, at Mount and Page's, Tower-hill; and copies were sent
down to Falrnouth for the captains of the packets, who slighted it however;
but it is since printed in France, of which edition I hereto annex a copy.S5
My point is a simple one. What may matter more than claiming that
Enlightenment knowledge moved above and beyond the nation is to show
h o x w h e ~ eand
, E?_yhat_Efbz it moved-through personal contact and correspondence, in books and in articles in learned journals, in conversations
in taverns, and through the mobility of instruments whose results could
be used to make local claims travel. For Franklin, the question "how and
where was oceanographic and navigational knowledge made in the Entightenment?" would allow different answers: at sea, as ships crossed the ocean
and one another's path, even if English captains refused to acknowledge the
AND BEYOND THE NATZON
,,periential knowledge of their American counterparts whose navigational
practices were based on natural observation-whale watching; on a map,
produced in a London tavern as a result of the verbal testimony of a Nantucket sailor (and allowing for the fact that the map in question was later
*lightedby its intended audience); in Paris as a letter received; and in Philadelphia as an article read by fellow members opening their Transactions.
Terms such as "Republic of Letters" and "network" as a social, intellectual, and geographical conception thus help describe the Enlightenment's
traffic.Terms like "transIation," "mediationP "reception: and "appropria--tion" may help better explain it. As others
- .have indicated,Cthe i5nIighi&A
{Gnt-in thh sense emerges as a periodof intellectual mobility when "a gen- ;
era1 transformation of different kinds of knowledge into different forms of :
1 knowledge took place, of the world of knowledge into society and sites of '
and vice versa."d~n
-/
developing my claim; that the ~ n l i ~ h t e n m e n t
understood did not "float free" and that what was nnderstood by its knowledge was made. moved, and received differently, it is ap~ropriateto turn to the variety of IocaIes, institutions, and spatial settings
in which the Enlightenment was grounded.
I
1