Charles Duclos: Considérations sur les moeurs de ce siècle (review)

Probably best-known as author of the 1741 libertine novel, Confessions du comte de*** , Charles Duclos also composed a number of more mainstream fictions, as well as historical essays, notably the Mémoire sur l'origine et les révolutions des langues celtique et française (1740). His Considérations sur les moeurs de ce siècle of 1751, as the editor of this new edition points out, has been undeservedly neglected in recent times, despite being lauded as a masterpiece by critics of its day. Mistakenly read by many as a succession of maxims in the tradition of La Rochefoucauld and La Bruyè re, Duclos's sixteen essays on subjects ranging from education, manners and wit to reputation, virtue and honour in fact break with the universalizing tones of the genre, attacking the shallow values of court culture and the aristocracy, while promoting in their place a 'morale de l'utile'. Prefiguring Jeremy Bentham's utilitarianism, Les Considérations argue that the public good and the happiness of the greatest number are the only sensible criteria for determining the conduct of individuals and institutions. The subject-matter of the essays reflects the dominant preoccupations of eighteenth-century French court society: outward show and standing in the eyes of others, so exquisitely satirized in Patrice Leconte's 1996 film Ridicule. The tyranny of fashion and wit, and the fear of mockery, are thus the central targets of these pithy and entertainingly written pieces. In essence, Duclos champions what he calls 'le prix ré el des choses', to which he devotes an entire chapter, inspired by Pufendorf's Le Droit de la nature et des gens. The volume includes a lengthy and informative introduction, a scholarly discussion of the merits and demerits of the three different editions of the work (1751, 1764 and 1767), an extensive bibliography, and, rarely for a French publication, an index. Each essay is accompanied by detailed notes. Given the wide-ranging nature of its topics and themes, this attractive, pocket-sized and modestly priced volume should appeal to eighteenth-century scholars of all complexions.