Jean Donneau de Visé


Jean Donneau de Visé was a French journalist, royal historian, playwright and publicist. He was founder of the literary, arts and society gazette "le Mercure galant" and was associated with the "Moderns" in the "Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns".

Life

Donneau de Visé was born in Paris. He was among the detractors of Molière during the quarrel over Molière's play "The School for Wives", accusing the author of obscenity and moral licentiousness. But Donneau de Visé eventually became reconciled with the comic playwright and contributed his own plays to Molière's acting troop, starting with la Mère coquette and several "machine" plays written in collaboration with Thomas Corneille -- Circé and la Devineresse -- which were very successful in their runs at the Hôtel Guénégaud.
Donneau de Visé wrote a collection of short novelas: Nouvelles galantes et comiques.
In 1672, Donneau de Visé founded the "Mercure galant", a gazette on the arts, theater and literature, which also included galant songs and society news and gossip. Although frequently denigrated by authors of the period, the periodical eventually became a financial success, and brought Donneau de Visé comfortable revenues.
At his death in 1710, Donneau de Visé's "Mercure galant" had become the uncontested arbiter of literary taste and the paper of record for news about the court and court society for subscribers in the provinces.

Work

In 1664, Donneau de Visé produced a heterogenous literary compilation under the title Les Diversités gallantes. It was published by Claude Barbin, initially consisting of:
The work proved popular and was reprinted twice in 1664. The 1665 edition added to the work two previously published novellas: L'Avanture d'hostellerie, ou les Deux rivales and Le Mariage de Belfegore, nouvelle facétieuse. The work continued to receive new editions to the 1670s, both at France and abroad.
Allison Stedman summarizes the plot of The Noble Apothecary, which focuses on noble protagonists Timante and Araminte. Timante regularly visits the residence of his friend Araminte, and a servant escorts him to her bedroom. There the two discuss various topics, with Araminte lounging in bed and the visitor sited nearby. The presence of servants and other visitors ensures that they are never alone. One day, Timante enters to find the house seemingly deserted but still heads towards Araminte's bedroom. He finds Araminte kneeling on the bed, with her behind uncovered. She is waiting for someone to administer an enema, and the syringe has already been prepared. Timante impulsively the role of an apothecary and delivers the treatment. Then slips away unseen.
Araminte and her staff can not explain who entered the bedroom. Rumors of a ghost apothecary soon circulate in Paris. When the identity of the ghost is discovered, Araminte is humiliated and bans entry to her house to Timante. In a series of epistles, Timante tries to convince her to reconsider. He rationally argues that his treatment of her was an act of gallantry, assisting her in her hour of need. With Cartesian-like arguments, Timante wins her over and proceeds to marry her. The society around them puzzled by a properly-delivered enema as grounds for marriage.
Stedman finds the circumstances surrounding this work to be indicative of the publishing trends of the 17th-century. Novelistic works of various lengths and genres were typically published as part of wider books. Sharing room with ghost stories, fairy tales, allegories, poetry, etc. Virtually any type of work could end up published along a novel. But these novels, and novellas are rarely studied in the context which they originally appeared. And they are often overlooked altogether. What she terms "hybrid literary production" chronologically follows the lengthy, action-oriented novels of the previous era. And they both precede and differ from the new dominant literary form of the reign of Louis XIV: the short, psychologically-realistic novellas epitomized by La Princesse de Clèves.