The Small Republic and the Great Power: Censorship between Geneva and France in the Later Eighteenth Century

In September 1759, a seventeen-year-old apprentice called Jean Louis Damoisel endured two interrogations at the hands of a magistrate in the republic of Geneva. During his second interrogation Damoisel broke down, begging God for forgiveness with tears in his eyes.¹ Damoisel’s crime was the production of defamatory writings which targeted the French King Louis XV. The French diplomat in Geneva was appalled by these writings and requested that the Genevan authorities find and punish the culprit. Similar misdeeds committed by Genevan authors, publishers and booksellers obliged the French government to intervene in the Genevan print trade on other occasions across the later 1700s. For many eighteenth-century Europeans, the small republic of Geneva seemed to be something of a haven of virtue. Strict moral discipline and an aversion to luxury were fundamental legacies of the religious reforms instigated by Jean Calvin in the 1500s. Despite this, Geneva was also a key site of a continuing trade in provocative books and pamphlets. This article examines the way in which censorship was negotiated between the neighbouring states of France and Geneva. The French government exercised surveillance over the European print trade and made efforts to curb the foreign publication and circulation of contentious material. Genevan officials responded to these efforts not with simple submission, but rather with a complicated blend of cooperation and resistance.

The independent republic of Geneva comprised a territory of some 9000 hectares, centred on a walled city covering about 3 miles. By the mid-eighteenth century, the Genevan population had reached 22,000.² The republic had an oligarchic form of government but was never completely independent, coming under the sway of European powers including the House of Savoy, the Swiss Confederacy, Britain and France. Despite this, Geneva did have international influence thanks to its lively banking industry and its position as an important site of the Protestant Reformation. Geneva’s print trade was another significant element of its international identity. A scattering of publishers working in the 1500s eventually expanded into a vigorous industry of publishing and bookselling. The imperative of spreading the Protestant message impelled Genevan printers to trade on an international scale. France’s persecution of Protestants, particularly the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, affected the progression of Genevan print as well. An influx of French Protestant exiles decamped to neighbouring Geneva where many became involved in the book business. The expansion of print in Geneva was encouraged by other favourable conditions inside the republic. Structures of censorship did exist but they were not especially stringent. Geneva’s geographical positioning was decidedly advantageous for the wider dissemination of literature. Nestled between France, the Swiss cantons and the duchy of Savoy, Geneva was a central point on various trade routes between France, Italy and the Swiss and German states. The growth of Geneva’s print trade was further accelerated in the course of the eighteenth century as French gradually replaced Latin as Europe’s lingua franca. Voltaire’s decision to contract many of his later publications to the Genevan brothers, Gabriel and Philibert Cramer illustrates the importance of the republic’s print trade.³ By the later 1700s Geneva was arguably one of the most influential centres of book production in Europe, alongside London and Amsterdam.

This article draws upon the Genevan print trade to investigate the question of censorship across borders in the later eighteenth century. It considers how Geneva’s relationship with the powerful neighbouring state of France affected the policing of the written and printed word. In doing so, it will shed light on two areas of enquiry. First, this research aims to deepen understanding of the operation of censorship in the eighteenth century. Secondly, this article will highlight the complexities of relations between large and small states in this era.

An expansive understanding of the term ‘censorship’ has been taken here, in order to encompass the measures which governments use to control the flow of information. The present analysis is concentrated on active attempts made to gain information about and...