Star.
London, England, 1829-11-24 00:00:00

LITERARY STATE OF FRANCE.

Through the kindness of a friend, we had in our hands,
a few days ago, the Altnanach du Commerce for 18t9, which is
analogous to our Generil British Directories; and though Its
literary pretensions are • fly of the very humblest class, we
found some facts in it which are not without literary interest. Of
this description we consider the detailed catalogue it presents of
the Journals of all kinds published in Paris. These are vastly more
numerous than any one in this country could have anticipated.—
There are actually 178 Journals published In the French Capital ;
and if we add the fourteen annual publications, the whole numbe-
is 182. There is something as Interesting in the details as in the
gross numerical amount. London has, we believe, 14 daily news-
papers, and about 35 weekly, semi-weekly, or tri-weekly. Paris
has only nine daily Journals dealing in political news, one tri-
weekly, and no weekly wee ; but besides its newspapers, it has ten
Journals, some daily, some weekly, hikd with advertisements, ju-
dicial notice., and commercial announcements; and ten Journals,
all daily, devoted to literature, the-stage, &c. Of the uthet parts
of the classified list below, it strikes us as remarkable, that there
are twenty Journals devoted to jotisprudence, of which a very
few are mere reports of decisions—eight to education, which does
not form the staple of one periodical in Critain, so far as we know
—twenty-one to science, which forms the material only isf four or
five in London—and twenty-two to medicine, which numbers
only six or seven in its service in the British Metropolis. Ex-
clusive of the ten Daily lAterary Journals, there are eighteen pub-
lished at intervals, varying from thrice a week to once a quarter, a
great proportion of which bear the title of Reviews. The eight
Musical Journals are, we imagine, a greater proportion than fall to
the share of London.
The per Monthly Mainline, for November, contains a short
article, copied from a French Paper, in which the number of Jour-
nals in Paris is said to be 169. Our statement, of course, refers to
the end of December last, and since that time some changes may
have taken place : but it has, from the nature of the document, all
the authenticity which any account nen have: We believe one or
two Weekly Newspapen have started since that time ; and it is
possible that some of the literary ones may have disappeared under
the political excitation produced by the recent changes.
The entire number of Newspapers in France, we know on good
authority, is nearly SOO. In Engl.:tido Scotland, and Ireland,
there are about 350; but we must remember that political Jour-
nals, in the.proper sense of the term, are a novelty in France,
while the population of liritain have been familiar with them for
half a century. A comparison between the two countries may
be more fairly drawn twenty years hence, than at this moment;
but jud,ing from what we have witnessed within the last fifteen
years, we anticipate that after the lapse of a quarter of a century;
newspapers will be more cotnmon, awl political information more
abundant in France than in England.
In France, the price of a daily newspaper is only one-third of
the price in England, but a French paper does not contain one-
fourth part of the quantity of letter-press contained in some of the
London Papers. The duty in France is two centimes, or onss
penny; bet fora paper as large as the Monikur it is five cents, or
twopence halfpenny. We must recollect, on the other band, that
the French daily Journals publish on Sundays, and give of course
fifty-two numbers mote in the year than the English Look-
ing at the French periodical press as a whole, our impression is,
fitst, that science and literature occupy a greater space in it, in pro-
portion to politics, than they do in the press of this kingdom; and,
secondly, that the press of the capital has a greater preponderance
over that of the country in France than in England.

NEWSINAPRILI PVIILLINIS IN NMI DAILY.
Price per annum.
Moniteur
Journal du Commerce 3 4 0
des Debate
Constitutional 3 4 0
Carrier Francais 3 4 0
Gazette de France .. 4 0
Meager des Chaahres ........... 9 4 0
Journal de Paris . lll 0
Quotidienne
Galignani's Messenger (in English) 4 0 0
Journal des Makes (thrice a week) 1 0
OTHIIIR JOURNAL/.
There are ten Journals entirely filled with advertisements, judi-
el.l notices, and commercial intelligence, published once a week,
twice a week, or daily, price from Bs. to it ets. per annum.
Ten daily Journals, Literary, Theatrical, dm—generally at
.e 2 Its. per annum.
Seventeen relating to trade, the useful arts, &c.—one for in-
stance, to Stocks and Exchanges—one to the Corn Markets, one
to the Mechanical Arts, &c.
Five Journals relating to Agriculture, Horticulture, the Ma-
risgement of Horses, &c.
Twenty Journals relating to Jurisprudence, including reports of
decisions, &c.
Six relating to administrative matters, such as orders and regu-
lations regarding maritime affairs, public schools. itc.
'Three -Military Journals.
Eleven relating to religion, including " The Protestant Revue."
publishing monthly, at 16s. per annum.
Eight relating to education.
Fourteen scientific Journals ; but as the " Bulletin des Sci-
erc.es" is a collection of eight Journals, the entire number should
be reckoned twenty-one.
Twenty-two Medical Journals.
Eighteen Literary Journals, chiefly Reviews—at every date,
from thrice a week to once a quarter.
Eight Musical Journals.
Three devoted to the Fine Arts.
Five to Modes and Fashions.
Fourteen Annual Publications, under the title of Almanack,
Annuaire, or Memoir.
There are about 570 booksellers in Paris, Including, we believe,
those who let out books and journals to read. There are about
1,500 sellers of wine in retail in Paris; and about 1.400 post towns
in France.