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This book is the first full-length study to examine Molière’s evolving (and at times contradictory) authorial strategies, as evidenced both by his portrayal of authors and publication within the plays and by his own interactions with the seventeenth-century Parisian publishing industry. Historians of the book have described the time period that coincides with Molière’s theatrical activity as centrally important to the development of authors’ rights and to the professionalization of the literary field. A seventeenth-century author, however, was not so much born as negotiated through often acrimonious relations in a world of new and dizzying possibilities.The learning curve was at times steep and unpleasant, as Molière discovered when his first Parisian play was stolen by a rogue publisher. Nevertheless, the dramatist proved to be a quick learner; from his first published play in 1660 until his death in 1673, Molière changed from a reluctant and victimized author to an innovator (or, according to his enemies, even a swindler) who aggressively secured the rights to his plays, stealing them back when necessary. Through such shrewdness, he acquired for himself publication privileges and conditions relatively unknown in an era before copyright. As Molière himself wrote, making people laugh was “une étrange entreprise” (La Critique de L’École des femmes, 1663). To an even greater degree, comedic authorship for the playwright was a constant work in progress, and in this sense, “Molière,” the stage name that became a pen name, represents the most carefully elaborated of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin’s invented characters.
Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Death of the Author

Chapter One: Molière’s Writers

Chapter Two: The Early Plays and the Pirates Who Loved Them

Chapter Three: Comedic Authorship and Its Discontents

Chapter Four: “Je veux qu’on me distingue”

Chapter Five: The School for Publishers

Chapter Six: Collaboration’s Pyrrhic Triumph

Afterword: The Death of the Actor

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

Literary Criticism

European

French

Informations

Publié par	Purdue University Press
Date de parution	15 avril 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781612493862
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1950€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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THE WOULD-BE AUTHOR
Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures
Editorial Board
Íñigo Sánchez Llama, Series Editor
Brett Bowles
Elena Coda
Paul B. Dixon
Patricia Hart
Gwen Kirkpatrick
Allen G. Wood
Howard Mancing, Consulting Editor
Floyd Merrell, Consulting Editor
Susan Y. Clawson, Production Editor
Associate Editors
French
Jeanette Beer
Paul Benhamou
Willard Bohn
Gerard J. Brault
Thomas Broden
Mary Ann Caws
Glyn P. Norton
Allan H. Pasco
Gerald Prince
Roseann Runte
Ursula Tidd
Italian
Fiora A. Bassanese
Peter Carravetta
Benjamin Lawton
Franco Masciandaro
Anthony Julian Tamburri
Luso-Brazilian
Fred M. Clark
Marta Peixoto
Ricardo da Silveira Lobo Sternberg
Spanish and Spanish American
Maryellen Bieder
Catherine Connor
Ivy A. Corfis
Frederick A. de Armas
Edward Friedman
Charles Ganelin
David T. Gies
Roberto González Echevarría
David K. Herzberger
Emily Hicks
Djelal Kadir
Amy Kaminsky
Lucille Kerr
Howard Mancing
Floyd Merrell
Alberto Moreiras
Randolph D. Pope
Francisco Ruiz Ramón
Elżbieta Skłodowska
Marcia Stephenson
Mario Valdés
Howard Young
THE WOULD-BE AUTHOR
Molière and the Comedy of Print
Michael Call
Purdue University Press
West Lafayette, Indiana
Copyright ©2015 by Purdue University. All rights reserved.
The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
Template for interior design by Anita Noble;
template for cover by Heidi Branham.
Cover photo: Trissotin Reading His Sonnet , from Les Femmes Savantes , by Molière (1622–73) 1846 (oil on canvas). Leslie, Charles Robert (1794–1859) / Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK / The Bridgeman Art Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Call, Michael, 1976–
The would-be author : Molière and the Comedy of Print / Michael Call.
p. cm. — (Purdue studies in Romance literatures ; v. 63)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-55753-708-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-61249-385-5 (epdf) — ISBN 978-1-61249-386-2 (epub) 1. Molière, 1662-1673—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Publishers and publishing in literature. 3. Authors in literature. I. Title.
PQ1860.C35 2015
842′.4—dc23 2014040751
Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Death of the Author
Chapter One
Molière’s Writers
Chapter Two
The Early Plays and the Pirates Who Loved Them
Chapter Three
Comedic Authorship and Its Discontents
Chapter Four
“Je veux qu’on me distingue”
Chapter Five
The School for Publishers
Chapter Six
Collaboration’s Pyrrhic Triumph
Afterword
The Death of the Actor
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
It is a great pleasure to reflect on all those who have helped to bring this project to completion. My sincerest thanks to Julia Prest, an inspiring teacher-scholar, unsparing in her time, careful and insightful in her critiques. I wish also to express my gratitude to Eva Guggemos, Vincent Giroud, Robert Babcock, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library for their generosity and assistance in introducing me to the wonders of the Pforzheimer Molière collection; and to Annie Parent-Charon and Élisabeth Parinet of the École des Chartes, and Joël Huthwohl of the Bibliothèque de la Comédie-Française, for their warm encouragement of this project. To Françoise Jaouën goes my appreciation for a great and generous teacher.
The Yale French Department was unwavering in its support, and my colleagues in the Department of Comparative Arts and Letters at Brigham Young University, as well as Dean John Rosenberg, provided encouragement and a wonderful work environment. I greatly appreciate the feedback and support from many members of SE17 and NASSCFL, in particular Francis Assaf, Larry Norman, Faith Beasley, James Gaines, Stephen Fleck, and Perry Gethner. Susan Clawson at Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures has served as a sure and patient guide in the sometimes bewildering process of transforming the manuscript into the finished book, illustrating in exemplary fashion Roger Chartier’s axiom that “les auteurs n’écrivent pas des livres: non, ils écrivent des textes que d’autres transforment en objets imprimés.” To the paroisse of Pontault-Combault, my thanks for a year of hospitality and one cherished soirée Molière . To Huguette Richard, “J’étais étranger, et vous m’avez recueilli”—we will never forget.
An early version of Chapter 4 appeared in Romanic Review 104.1–2 (Jan.–Mar. 2013): 65–82 as “Alceste at the Print Shop: Le Misanthrope ’s Response to Molière’s 1666 Œuvres .” Likewise, a section of Chapter 5 was published as “The Author’s Farce: Printing Theft in Les Fourberies de Scapin ,” in Origines: Actes du 39 e congrès annuel de la North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French Literature (Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 2009). I appreciate their permission in allowing me to reprint and expand that material here.
Finally, my deepest expressions of appreciation and gratitude are to my parents, Michael and Connie, with love and admiration; to my children, Adam, Samuel, Matthias, Elizabeth, Madeleine, and Benjamin, who provided both purpose and perspective; and to my wife, Becky, my constant partner through all.
Introduction
The Death of the Author

Il est mort, ce Grand Homme, mais il est mort trop tost pour luy, trop tost pour les siens, trop tost pour ses camarades, trop tost pour les grands divertissemens de son Prince, trop tost pour les libraires, musiciens, danceurs et peintres, et trop tost enfin pour toute la terre. Il est mort, et nous vivons; cependant il vivra après nous, il vivra toûjours, et nous mourrons; c’est le destin des Grands Hommes.
—Jean Donneau de Visé
Conversation dans une ruelle de Paris sur Molière défunt
This study at its most essential is about finding the answer, or more realistically a plausible answer, to a single question: What did Molière think about publication? The possible implications are more significant than they might at first appear, since the need to keep in mind the material methods of production is particularly acute in Molière’s case. He left no written manuscripts of his theater, no journal, and no written correspondence. While such documents are typically scarce for French writers of the seventeenth century, the lack in Molière’s case is total: his entire handwritten production consists of a few signatures on legal documents. 1 The vital corollary to this lack of handwritten material is that Molière’s theater owes its existence and its survival entirely to the medium of print, and specifically to the seventeenth-century editions published during or shortly after the author’s lifetime. Elucidating the precise nature of the relationship between Molière and the printed books that constitute his artistic legacy is of central importance to any consideration of Molière’s theater.
Understandably, this complex relationship has been the subject of considerable critical disagreement. In 1999, Larry Norman observed, “As an author, Molière’s reputation has always been oddly precarious. Few literary figures have found themselves so thoroughly canonized and yet so sharply challenged in their very function as author” (26). Debates about the nature of Molière’s dramaturgical production have often hinged on whether or not their author conceived them primarily to be read or to be seen. Describing Molière as a grand auteur or as an homme de théâtre implies critical judgments concerning appropriate methodology and interpretation. A crucial indicator of the changing fortunes and assessment of Molière’s theater from the posthumous 1682 edition of the playwright’s complete works to its 2010 Bibliothèque de la Pléiade descendent is the degree to which Molière can be deemed responsible for the printed texts that have conserved—while possibly deforming—the plays that bear his name.
The simplest answer to this vexed question would be to look at Molière’s most direct statement on the matter: his note to the reader contained in the printed edition of L’Amour médecin (1666): “Il n’est pas nécessaire de vous avertir qu’il y a beaucoup de choses qui dépendent de l’action; On sait bien que les Comédies ne sont faites que pour être jouées, et je ne conseille de lire celle-ci qu’aux personnes qui ont des yeux pour découvrir dans la lecture tout le jeu du Th&#