Title: The devil in the holy water or the art of slander from Louis XIV to Napoleon
First published: 2009
Description: "Slander has always been a nasty business, Robert Darnton notes, but that is no reason to consider it an unworthy topic of inquiry. By destroying reputations, it has often helped to delegitimize regimes and bring down governments. Nowhere has this been more the case than in eighteenth-century France, when a ragtag group of literary libelers flooded the market with works that purported to expose the wicked behavior of the great. Salacious or seditious, outrageous or hilarious, their books and pamphlets claimed to reveal the secret doings of kings and their mistresses, the lewd and extravagant activities of an unpopular foreign-born queen, the affairs of aristocrats and men-about-town as they consorted with servants, monks, and dancing masters. These libels often mixed scandal with detailed accounts of contemporary history and current politics. And though they are now largely forgotten, many sold as well as or better than some of the most famous works of the Enlightenment." "Darnton here weaves a tale so full of intrigue that it may seem too extravagant to be true, although all its details can be confirmed in the archives of the French police and diplomatic service. Part detective story, part revolutionary history, TheDevil in the Holy Water has much to tell us about the nature of authorship and the book trade, about Grub Street journalism and the shaping of public opinion, and about the important work that scurrilous words have done in many times and places."--BOOK JACKET.
Subjects: Publishing, Literature and society, Publishers and publishing, History and criticism, French literature, Libel and slander in literature, Underground literature, Authors and publishers, Law and literature, Libel and slander, History, French literature, history and criticism, 18th century, Publishers and publishing, france, Publishers and publishing, history, Untergrundliteratur, Verleumdung
Places: France
Time periods: 18th century
LC classification: PQ265 .D3675 2009