La dernière partie du recueil est consacrée au «monstre métaphorique». Martine Vasselin propose un panorama très documenté et une analyse très fine de la figure du grotesque en peinture. Dans la ligne de Erwin Panofsky et plus récemment d'André Chastel, elle montre comment le monstre est inséparable de l'idéal de beauté qu'il sert par contraste, une hypothèse de lecture très pertinente qui emmène l'auteure sur le chemin d'une anthropologie du beau, lisible au cœur des œuvres et des traités de la Renaissance. L'ampleur de cette dernière enquête contraste avec celles qui la suivent et que l'on peut considérer comme des illustrations des multiples déclinaisons métaphoriques des figures du monstrueux. L'étude du traitement de Catherine de Medicis dans *Les Tragiques* d'Agrippa d'Aubigné de Jean-Reymond Fanlo montre que le registre du monstrueux est souvent l'allié de la misogynie dans la littérature. L'esquisse d'une «généalogie du monstre politique» de Jacques Guihaumou propose une intéressante, mais trop courte, «réflexion sur la formation de la notion-concept d'ordre social au cours des temps modernes» (p. 179). Catherine Delpy établit une typologie sans doute utile mais peut-être trop élémentaire de «la figure du monstre dans le conte de fées littéraire» en monstre «humain», «animal» et «symbolique», remplissant des fonctions spécifiques dans la narration de l'accomplissement de leurs héros. Enfin, l'analyse très descriptive de la figure du monstre dans l'opéra romantique italien de Martine Lapied clôt l'ouvrage.

Hétérogène mais pas hétéroclite, ce recueil de travaux démontre à merveille que le monstre reste «bon à penser» comme le miroir troublé, voire inversé, de nos règles, dans des cadres épistémiques, épistémologiques et moraux dans lesquels les sciences et la médecine ont occupé une place importante, participant ainsi au façonnage de ce qu'a signifié à travers l'histoire de la modernité le fait d'«être humain».

Francesco Panese, Lausanne

Nicoli, Miriam: **Apporter les lumières au plus grand nombre. Médecine et physique** dans le *Journal de Lausanne* (1786-1792). Lausanne, Editions Antipodes, 2006. 260 p. Ill. Fr. 33.-; € 22.-. ISBN 2-940146-82-9.

The *Journal de Lausanne* was the first weekly journal of the Pays de Vaud published over a period of several years. With a life span of six years and an estimated circulation of 250-350 copies the journal was – in terms of the local press market of these days – relatively successful. It was the enterprise of one man, Jean Lanteires (1756–1797), a former apothecary, who determined its character and content and wrote a large part of the articles. In a similar manner as many other journals, it consisted of four weekly pages containing reports and letters on various aspects of arts, sciences and trade considered to be of general interest. Practical subjects such as agriculture and medicine and topics with a local or national connection were particularly well represented.

Like most journals of the 18th century, the *Journal de Lausanne* claimed to aim at a broad dissemination of useful knowledge. In contrast to most of its rivals, however – and that is the central argument of Nicoli's book –, it was not intended to be read mainly by a polite and erudite elite but by the 'people'. It thus occupied an intermediary position between the learned journals such as the *Gentleman's Magazine*.
zine or the *Mercure de France* and the almanacs. In her analysis, Nicoli focuses on articles dealing with medicine (173) and physics (44) in order to reveal the intentions of the editor and the response of the readers. Whereas the majority of the physical pieces were written by the editors, half of the medical ones were letters written by the readers. A large part of these letters deal with remedies which are recommended or sought by the sick and their relatives. For Nicoli, this shows that the readers were mainly interested in matters of practical and daily importance and Lanteires in fact seems to have reached the public he had aimed at. Nevertheless, Lanteires gave up his enterprise. He had envisaged his journal as a repository of knowledge to which naturalists and physicians as well as the ‘simple people’ would contribute. But he was supported only by few savants, and no physician from Lausanne contributed to the Journal. Lanteires’ ideal of exchange seems to have conflicted with the more paternalistic attitude of his learned contemporaries. Without their support, he was unable or unwilling to continue this time-consuming project.

Thanks to Jean Sgard’s dictionaries of journals and journalists and an increasing number of other publications we begin to get an idea of the importance and of the role journals played in 18th century culture. But our knowledge is still very limited and fragmentary. Every new study on journals is – if seriously undertaken – a pioneering work. This is certainly the case for Miriam Nicoli’s book. Her task was all the more difficult as the *Journal de Lausanne* represents a particularly badly studied type of journal and as she had only few accompanying sources to consult. Despite these difficulties she succeeded in furnishing a convincing portrait of Lanteires’ ideals and of the journal itself. The book is a significant contribution to our understanding of the different and often conflicting concepts and projects of popularisation. The lack of sources and studies leaves open whether some of Nicoli’s assertions can be confirmed or need to be readjusted. Is the press market divided into the two large sections of the learned journals and the almanacs in which the *Journal de Lausanne* holds a singular position or do the sections merge into one another? Does the predominance of medical therapy reflect the interests of the readers or the selection of Lanteires, the former apothecary? Can the letters be used as representative and genuine expressions of the ‘people’ or are they modelled after the discourse predefined by the journal? Nicoli’s rich and stimulating book will encourage other historians to study these and many more still open questions on 18th century journals.

Hubert Steinke, Bern

Pormann, Peter E.; Savage-Smith, Emilie: **Medieval Islamic Medicine.** Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2007. XIII, 223 p. (The new Edinburgh Islamic surveys). £ 18.99 (pbk.); £ 55.– (hbk.). ISBN 978-0-7486-2067-8 (pbk.); 978-0-7486-2066-1 (hbk.).

Il libro di Pormann e Savage-Smith sulla medicina islamica medievale è certamente la migliore presentazione per il largo pubblico che il recensore conosca. Ma data la mia competenza centrata sulla medicina greca, la mia recensione riguarderà più specificamente i rapporti tra medicina greca e medicina islamica.

Gli autori sono noti agli studiosi di medicina greca per importanti lavori sulla tradizione araba di opere greche (Savage-Smith fin dalla sua tesi di dottorato sulla