La MINERVE FRANÇAISE. Paris, Au Bureau de la Minerve Françai - Lot 224

La MINERVE FRANÇAISE. Paris, Au Bureau de la Minerve Française et Alex. Eymery, February 1818-February 1820, 113 issues and 5 brochures in 9 volumes. 12 by 19.5 cm. Contemporary half basane, ornate smooth spines, black title-pieces. Binding damaged. Good condition inside. The last volume also contains: Lettres sur la situation de la France. Paris, Plassan, April 1820, (2)-72 pp. ; Considérations politiques et morales. Paris, Lacretelle, May 1820, (2)-40 pp.; Portefeuille politique. [Paris], Plassan, s.d., 56 pp. ; Galerie. M. de Chateaubriand and M. de Pradt. [Paris], Plassan, s.d., 48 pp. ; Panorama. By M. Lacretelle Aîné. Paris, Lacretelle, May 1820, (2)- 48 pp. Complete copy of the 5 very rare brochures mentioned by Hatin, which the journal's authors published to circumvent censorship. They are missing from most copies. Cat. periodique B.N. III-p. 536; Yvert, Politique libérale, biblio. sélective 23; Hatin, Biblio. de la presse p. 342. Complete collection of this newspaper, which "fought for liberal ideas and reforms throughout this period, with a rigor that did not exclude snide subtlety. It always did so against the ultras. It also did so, from a certain point on, against the Ministry." (Hist. générale de la Presse Française, II-61). La politique "remained above all, at least until his election as deputy for Sarthe on March 26, 1819, the work of Constant, who published a total of 99 articles. They include some of his best texts, notably the "Lettres sur les Cent-Jours", published for the first time, and his analysis of Madame de Staël's "Considérations". We will also read his articles on the Wilfrid Regnault affair, elections, large property, parliamentary debates, the inviolability of the Charter and the Constitutions (on Lanjuinais' work, see number 27), the slave trade, England, Serre's press laws of 1819 and the invalidation of Grégoire." (Yvert). La Minerve's main editors were Benjamin Constant, Jay, Etienne, Jouy, Tissot, Lacretelle and others. The capital piece, [apart from Benjamin Constant's articles], was the Lettres d'Etienne, who took pleasure in seeking Paris news in foreign newspapers and transcribing from English things that one would not have dared to insert at first in a French gazette. The liveliness with which La Minerve supported the struggle against the authorities has led to it being called "the Menippean satire of the Restoration". Rare set.