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M adam e d’E pinay’s C ontributions tozyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcb the Correspondance litteraire R U T H P L A U T W E IN R E B QPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 1 he C orrespondance litteraire, philosophique et critique (hereafter the CL) has been characterized as a literary journal, a cultural review, and a propaganda tool for the philosophes. Frederic Melchior Grimm assumed responsibility for the enterprise at a moment when it had a mere three subscribers.1 Under his direction, the number grew to fifteen, not an imposing number for a periodical, but the CL counted among its patrons the King of Poland, Frederick of Prussia, the Queen of Sweden, and Catherine the Great. The journal was produced twice monthly in a man­ uscript copy sent to each subscriber. The most complete edition available to date is Tourneux’s drastically edited and abridged version (Paris, 1877-82)? More concerned with profit than with reproducing a faithful text, Tourneux omitted hundreds of pages from manuscript copies, a particularly relevant fact in the con­ text of Mme d’Epinay’s role; the edition presents a completely erroneous picture of her contributions. Although she first appeared in the CL’s pages as early as 1755 and contributed an average of five articles per year for the following five years, Tourneux included a single entry on Mme d’Epinay between the years 1755 and 1771. From her most productive period, 1771 to 1775, Tourneux included twenty-five pieces, five of which are incomplete, and entirely omitted twenty-four others. Among abridged articles are theater reviews from which Tourneux includes only 389 390 / QPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA W E I N R E B the first and last paragraphs of pieces sometimes ten folio pages in length. These reviews, like Diderot’s ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Salons, were written in great detail, to create the illusion for readers of attending an event. Tourneux also omitted no fewer than forty letters to Mme d’Epinay from the Neapoli­ tan Abbe Galiani, and several from Voltaire. Consequently, not only the number of articles, less than half of which are to be found in the edition, but also the character and extent of Mme d’Epinay’s contribution to the CL are misrepresented.3 Mme d’Epinay’s contributions to the CL from 1768 on, during her most intensive collaboration, are found in the unpublished manuscript of the Bibliotheque historique de la Ville de Paris (hereafter VdP), the Ansbach manuscript, covering the years 1768 to 1793.4 Previously unpublished material mentioned in this article comes from that manu­ script. Mme d’Epinay’s contributions have been listed by Jochen Schlobach , and are included by Kolving and Carriat in their comprehensive inventory of all manuscript copies, but no analysis or interpretation has been made of her articles or her role.5 The CL’s raison d’etre was to keep its sovereign subscribers in far-flung capitals abreast of the most important artistic and literary events in Paris, the cultural capital of Europe. Secondarily, it was meant to amuse and entertain them with some lighter fare. Its content, therefore, consisted largely of essays, and reviews of books, theater, and painting exhibitions. In addition, it reported miscellany consisting of anecdotes, and political and social gossip, and it reproduced personal correspondence.6 Texts included in the CL were often reproduced without permission of an author. If a witty poem made the rounds of fashionable Parisian dinner tables or an important speech was delivered at the Academie fran^aise, it was copied and circulated. Other articles found their way into the CL either before or after being published independently, some in serial form; the CL was thus a forerunner of that trend in nineteenthcentury publishing. Among Mme d’Epinay’s earliest pieces, appearing between 1756 and 1759, thirteen were published also in her M es m om ents heureux, a collection of essays, light verse, and letters.7 Mme d’Epinay participated in the CL in every conceivable capacity. She was a writer of essays, theater reviews, and book reviews, of articles on politics, philosophy and economics, of light verse, and of letters. On several occasions, during Grimm’s travels, which were frequent and lengthy, Mme d’Epinay was...

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