T

" During this same period, the amount of street ligllting more than doubled. Gas
,,'a! 'l OW used instead of oi l. New st reet la mp8 took the place of the ol der appara
IUS. and permanent li ghti ng was 8ubl tituted for int ermitt ent lighting. " l\I . Poete,
..: . Clouzot , G. Henriot , La Transformation de Pa ris SOIU Ie Second Empire,
( Paris, 1910 >. p. 65 (Exposition de la Bibliotlleque et des 1'rayaux hi storiques de
[Modes of Lighting]
III \iIl e de Paris). [ n ,7)
Et noctunm facibus ilIustrata.]
- Medal of 1667, commemorating the imroduction
of su= lighting
" Napoleon hal coverings of wool , velvet . sille , embroider y, gold. and silver ; a g1...
ban for his hat ; wreaths of the immort als; and an eternal gal lamp." Karl Cula
kow, Briefe a/U Pari., (Leip:Ilig, 1842), vol. I , p. 270. <See "The Ring of
[ n ,l ]
Note relating to 1824: " Paris was illuminated, this year, by means of 1l ,20511treet
lamps .... The entrepreneur hal been hired to provide lighting for the enti re city
for at lealit (ort y minut es-that iSlo say, beginning twenty minutes before the hour
prescribed daily, and finishing twenty minute8 later; he can assign no more than
twenty-five lamp8 10 each lamplight er. " J .-A. Dulaure. Hu toire <physique, civile
et morale> de Pari" depuis 1821 jUlqu 'il DOl jour! (Paris <1835 . vol. 2, pp. 118
119. ]1'1,2]
"A dreamlike &etting, where the yell owish Riekering of the gas is wedded to the
lunar fri gidity of electric light. " Georges Montorgueil, Pa ris au hOJord (Parill,
1895), p. 65. ]1'1,3]
1857, the fl u t electri c streetlights (al the Louvre). ]1'1,' ]
Origi nally gas was delivered to fashionable establit hnl ents in containers for dail y
consumption. ... rn ,S]
,
" I boldly declare myself the fri end of Argand lamps; til esc, 10 tell the trutb. are
content with shedding light and do 1I 0 t dal'l zle the eyes. Much lesl volatile than gas,
t heir oil never call scs explosioll s; with them we breathe morc freely, and the odor
is less o((en8ive. Trul y incomprehensible to me is the existence of aU those . hop
who. entrenched in our ar cades, remain-at 1111 hours and in the wa'Trues
t
of wealher 8-within shops where, on account of the gas. it feels like til e Tropi cs."
oArcades 0 NQIWealiX tabkoux de "uri$, 011 Observations Sllr les m QeIl r! et us
age! des Pa r isicns alt commencement d" XIX' ! wcle (Pa ris, 11:121:1), yol. I , p. 39.
]1'1,6]
On t he ladies of the cash register: " All day long tlley go about in hair curlers and
j
dressing gown; after sundown, however, when tile gat it lit , they make their ap
peara nce, arra yed as for a ball. Seeing them, then, enthroned at the cashier',
dcek. sur rounded by a sea of light , one ol ay well think back t o The Blue Ubraryf
and the fairy tale of the prince with golden hair and the enchanting princen, a
comparison the more admissibl e inasmuch as Parisian women enchant more than
they are enchant ed." Edua rd Kroloff, Schilderungen aus Pari$ (Hamburg, 1839),
vol. 2, pp. 76-77. [f1,8]
The tin racks with arti..6.cial Bowers, which can be found at refreshment bars in
railroad stations, and elsewhere, are vestiges of the Bora! arrangements that
fonnerly encircled the cashier. [f1 ,9]
Ou Bartas called the sun uGrand Duke of Candles." Ci ted by M. Du Camp, Pan,
(Pariil, 1875), yol. 5, p. 268. rn ,IO]
""The lantern carri ers will haYe oil lant erns with 'six thi ck wi cks'; they will be
statiollcd at posts, each one separated from the ne:t:t by a dist ance of eight hundred
pacel... . They will have a tinted lamp hung aboye their post that will serve as a
beacon, and on their belts a n hour glass of a quarter hour' , duration, bearinA: the
. hield of the ci ty .... rl ere. once agai n, it was a matter of empiri cism; these wan
dering lampi proyided no securit y at all to the cit y, and the carriers beat up the
,
people they were accompanying on more thall one occasion. Lacking anything
bell er, howeyer, the cit y used them; and they were used so long that they were st ill
, to he found at the hegi nning of the ninet eenth century." Ou Camp, Pam. yol. 5,
p.275. [fl ,ll]
'"' They [ the la nt ern carri ers] would hail hackney cabs. would serye al cri er
eSCOrts for chauffe ured ca rri ages. anti would accompany late-night passersby
right to t heir homes, coming up to tllt:ir apartmellts and lighting the candl es. Some
clai ll\ that lant ern carriers \'olunt aril y gave accounts every morning t o the
li eut enant generaJ of police 0 11 wha t they had noti ced during the night." Ou Camp.
Jluri$. \' 01. 5, p. 281. [r1a,1]
'''fhe patent or importatioll t aken out by Winsor for Paris is dated Decembe r I,
11:1 15; in J an uary 18 17, 1.lIe Passage des Panoramas was illuminat ed .... The fIrst
attempt s by businesse. wer e not al all satisfactory; t he publi c seemed resistant to
this kind of lighting. whi ch was suspected of being dangerous allli of polluting
breathabl e air:' Du Camp. Puru, vol. 5. p . 290. [Tl a, 2]
" This place visit ed by commercial deat h, under tbis gas ... whi ch Roems to t rem_
ble at the thought of not being paid for.'" Louis Veuillot , Le, OclelLr. de I'urit
(Pari8. 1914), p . 182. [Tl a,3]
"Glass is de8tined to play an import ant r ole in In place of thi ck
walls whose solidit y and resistance is diminished by a large number of apertures,
our houlles will be 80 filled openings that they will apllea r di aphanous. Theae
wide openings. Curnished wit h thick glan, single- or double-paned . frosted or
transparent , will transmit- to tbe inside during the day and to the outside at
night- a magical radiance.'" Gobard, " L' Architecture de I' avenir," Revue
Seneraie d 'Clrchitect ure ( 1849), p . 30 [So Giedion, Bauen in Frankreich <LeiPD&
and Berlin, 1928> , p . 18J. [T1a,4]
Lamps in the form oC vases. The rare flower " light ," as done in oil. (The Corm on a
fashi onabl e COPller engraving of 1866.) [Tla,5]
The old gas torches that burned in the open air often had a fl ame in the o( a
butterfl y, a nd were known accordingly as pClpiUoru. [Tla, 6)
In the Ca rce1 lamp, a clockwork dri ves the oil up into the burner ; where88 in the
Argand lamp (quinquet) , the oil drips into the burner from a reservoir above ii,
thereby producing a shadow. [Tl a,7]
Arcades-they radiated through the Paris of the Empire like fairy grottoes. For
someone entering the Passage des Panoramas in 1817, the sirens of gaslight
would be singing to him on one side, while oillamp odalisques offered. entice
ments from the other. With the kindling of electric lights, the irreproachable glow
was extinguished in these galleries, which suddenly became mOT(: dillirult to
find- which wrought a black magic at entranceways, and which looked within
themselves out of blind windows. [Tla,8J
When, oll Febr uary 12, 1790. the Marquill de Favras was execut ed Cor plotting
againll t the Revoluti on , the Place de Greve and the scafrold were adorned with
Chinese la nterns. ) [T!.8,9]
" We said, in the first volume, that every historical period is b il l lied in a di stinctive
light , whether diurnal or nocturnal. Now, ror the first time, t hi s world has an
artifi cial ill umina tion in the form of gasli ght , whi ch burst ont o the scene ill Loudon
at a ti me when Na poleon's Sl ar was begi nning to decline. which entered Pll ris more
or less cont emporaneously witll the Bourbons. and whi ch. by slow ami tenRciou'
advances. finall y took IH>S8ession or all st reets and public localities. By 1840 it watl
Hari ng even in Vienna. In tltis strident and gloomy, sharp a nd flicker
iIlg. prosaic Imd ghostl y illuminati on, large insects are busil y moving about; shop
kccl,crs." Egon Friedell , K,,'wrse.chichte der Neuzeit, vol. 3 (Munich , 1931),
p.86. [T1a, IO]
On the Cafe Mill e et U"e Nui ts: UEverything there was of an unprecedented mag
nifu:e nce. In order to give you a sense of it . it will suffi ce to say that the beautiful
/inlOnadiere had, for her seat a t the count er, ... a throne, a veritable royal
throne. on which one or t.he great potent ates of Europe had sat in all hi8 maj est y.
Ho .. - did this throne get to be t here? We could nol say; we affirm t he (act without
undertaking to explai n it. " lIu toire del cafes de Paris, ext raite de. rniimoires d 'un
vi i>-eur (Paris, 1857), p. 3 1. [n a,l l ]
"Gas has r eplaced oil , gold has det hroned woodwork, billia rds has put a stop to
dominoes and backgammon. Where one formerl y heard only t he buzzing of flies,
one now listens to the melodies of Ven li or Aubert .'" lIu roire ck, cafos ck Paris,
extrait$ des memoires d 'un viveur (Paris, 1857), p. 114. [T2,1]
Grand Cafe <lu XIX' Siecie--()pens 1857 on the Boulevard de Strashourg. "The
greell felt tops of numerous billiard ta bles call he lleen t here; a splendid cOllOter is
illuminated by gas j ets . Directl y oppo8ite is a white marble fountain, on which the
all egori cal subj ect is cr owned by a luminous aureole." Hu toire des cafe. ck PaTU,
extraite de. memoires d 'un vivear (Paris, 1857), p. 111 . [T2,2]
"'As earl y as 1801, Lebon had attempted to insl aU g88 at the Hotel
Seignelay,47 Rue Saint-Dominique. The system was improved at the beginning of
January 1808; three hundred gas jelS lit up the Hospital of Saint-Louis. wi th such
BUCceSS that three !as-j et factorie8 were built ." Lucien Dubech aod Pierre
d'Espezel, Hu toire de Paris (Paris, 1926). I). 335. [T2,3]
" In,matt ers of municipal admini8trati on, the two great works of the Restoration
were gas lighting and the creation or omnibuses. Paris was illuminated in 1814 by
5,000 street lamps, serviced by 142 lamplighten. In 1822, the government decided
that 8treelS would be lit by ga8 in proportion as the old contracts came due. On
June 3, 1825, the Compagnie du Caz Portatif' undertook, for the lin t
ti me, to light up a s(luare; the Place Vendome received (our multiple.j et street
lamps at the corners of the column and two street lamps al the corner s of the Rue
de Casti glione. In 1826, there were 9,000 gas bur ners in Paris; in 1828, there were
10,000, with 1,500 subscriber s, th ree gas cOlllpanie8, a nd four gas-jet (actori es,
\ Oti Cof which was on the Left Dank." Dubech and d 'Espezel , Hi.stoire de Pari.s,
p. 358. [T2,4]
Prom all eight eenth-century pr081)ectus, " lighting Project , Proposed by Sub
scription for . Decora ting t. he Fa mous Thoroughfare of the Boulevard Saint
Amoi ne"': "The Boulevard will he iIIuminaled by a garland of Lanterns that will
extend on both sides between I.he tree8. This illumination will take place twi ce
weekly, on Thursdays and Sundays, and, when there is a Moon, on the days after
the abovemt:ntioned weekdays. Lighting will begin at tcn o'clock, and all will be
illuminated hy eleven .... Since this sort of evening Prolllcluule i8 suited only to
lordI alld Men of Weilith who have carriages, it is onl y to thcm tha t we offer this
subscripti on. Subscription for this year is at the rate of 18 pounds for each (l ouse;
in subsequent years, however. it will cost onl y 12 pounds, the 6 additionall)Ounds
this year being for the initial expenses of instaUation'" (p . 3). -rhe and
Theaters that border this famous promenade are justl y cd ebrated; Yes-I say tlris
to their glory-it was the handlome Lanterns adorning their illustri ous Booths
that gave me the idea of universallUumination. The celebrated Chevalier Servan_
doni hal promised me designs for the Arcades, for the Garlands, and for the
elegant Monograms, designs worthy of his fecund genius. Is there a si ngle one of
our wealthy style-sellers who does not heartil y support thi s brilliant Project?
Adorned in this manner, the Boulevard will become a well -appointed Ballroom,
one in whicb Carri ages will serve 88 Box Seats." [T2,5)
"Mter the theater I went to a cafe, which was all newly decorated in Renaissance
style. The walls of the main room were entirely covered by mirrors set between
gilded columns. The cashier sill at all times behind a large and sumptuous table
pl aced upon a pl atform; before her is silverware, fruits. flowers, sugar. and the
boJ:. for the ga n;on.t. It is customary for every paying customer to leave a small
gratuit y for t he waiter ; thi s is thrown by the laller into the oox. Its cont ents are
later equall y divided." Eduard Devri ent . Briefe aw Perris (Berlin, 1840), p. 20.
[1'2., 1]
Between the February Revolution and the June lnsurrection: " When the club
meeti ngs were over, workers took to the streets, and the sleeping bourgeois were
either awakened by cries of 'Des lampion8! Des lampion8!' in consequence of
which they would have to light their windows; or else wanton gunsholl roused
them from their beds in terror.... There were endles8 torchlight processioru
through the I treets of Pari8, and on one occasion it happened that a girl all owed
herself to be undreued and shown naked to the crowd by torchlight ; for the
cr owd . thi s was merely a remini scence of the Goddess of Libert y of the fir8t French
Revolution .... At one point the prefect of poli ce, Caussidiere, iU lied a procl
ama

ti on against t hese torchlight processions-but the edi ct terrifi ed the c.i ti.tellry of
Pari8 still more, beca use it stated that the people were suppo8ed to brandish
torche8 olil y in the event of some threat to t.he repllblic." Sigmund Engliill<ler,
Ge$chichte der fran%o$uche" Arbeiter-AuQCiationeli (Ha mburg, 1864), vol. '2,
p. 277- 278. (T2a,2)
" It W88 8till the womell wllO cleaned t he oi ly street lamps by Il ay, ali(I lit them at
night , climbing up and down with the aid of a n e)(t endable rope kcpt in. a
toolbo)( duri ng the daY-8ince ga8. which for some yeau had beell bl a:llI ng tn
English towns , had yet to be 8upplied. The merchant8 wilt) sold t he oi l and the
Argand lamp8 wi8hed to avoid all favorable menti on of thi s other of li ght .
and they 800n found two highl y reput able writert, menieur8 Charles Nodier and
Amedee Pichot ... to dellounce, ... ill octavo format , all the problcms and per
\'ersities connected whll gas. incl lulill g the danger of our complete annihil ation by
explosion at the hand8 of mal efactort. Nall a r, Quand j'ewi$ photogruphe (Paris
900, PI" 289- 290. [T2a,3]
Fireworks and ill uminatiOll8 were already on t he 8cene during the Restorati on;
they were sel off whenever a measure prolwsed by the ultraroyalists was defeated
ill the Chamber. [T2a,4]
Apropos of an institute for the blind and the in88ne, this excursus on elect ric light :
" I come 1I0W to the facts. The bright li ght of d ectri cit y served, at first, to illumi
nate the subterranean galleri es of nline8; aft er that, public squares and 8treets;
then faclories, workshop8, stores, theater8, milit ary barracks; finally, the dome8
tic interior. The eyes, initi ally, put "I) rather well with t his penetrati ng new enemy;
but , by degrees. they were da.tded. Blindneu began 08 something temporary, 800n
became periodi c, and ended as a chronic problem. This, then, was the fint re
8ult-sufficiently comprehensibl e, I believe; bUI what abOllt the insanity lately
visited 011 ollr leaders?-Our great heads of fin ance, industry, big bllsineu have
seen fit ... to seud ... their thought s around the world, while they them8elve8
remain at rest .... To this end. each of them has nailed up, in a corner of his
office, electric wi res connecting hi s executi ve desk with our coloni es in Mrica,
Asia, and the Americas. Comfortably seated before his 8chedules and account
books, he can communicate directly over tremendou8 di stances; at a touch of the
finger, he can receive r eports from aU hi s far-flung agents on a startling variety of
mailers. One branch-corre8pondent te1l8 him, at tell in the morning, of a ship
wrecked vessel worth over a nlillion ...; another, at five after ten, of the unex
pected sale of the most prosperOU8 house in the two Ameri cas; a third, a t teo after
ten, of the g10ri OUI entrance, into t he P<lrt of Marseilletl, of a freighter carrying the
fru}ts of a Northern California harvest . Al l thi s in rapi d succe8sion. The poor
brains of these men, robu8t a8 t hey wer e, ha\'e simply given way, just as the
shoulders of 80me Hercul e8 of the marketlJlace would gi ve way if he ventured to
,
load t hem with ten 8ack8 of wlt eat ill stead of one. And this was t he second r esult ."
J acques Fabien, Paru en songe (Pari8, 1863), pp. 96-98. [1'3, IJ
Julien Lerner, Pari$ all gaz (Pa ris, 1861 ): " I c108e the curt ai n8 on the sun. It is well
aud dill y put 10 rest ; let tl 8 spea k 110 more of it . Hcnceforth , I shall kuow no other
light thrm that of gltS" (po 10). The vollirne conlains thn-e novell as in additi on to
Ihe Parisian vigncttt:s, of which Ill c first givcs it it8 tit.l e. [1'3,21
1.11 Ihe I'l ace de ('1-lOtd de Vi ll e:
3
_around 1848-lhertJ was a Cafe dll Gu.
]T3.3]
'fhe mi sfortu;les of Ai nu:: Arga nd. The Ya rious improvement8 he made in Ihe old oil
lanl l)-the double current of air, the fuse woven in the 8hlt l>e of a hollow cylinder.
the glau tubing, and so forth- were at fi rst laid claim to by Lange in England (a
wi l.h whom Argand had been auociat cd). before being stolen in Paris by
QUllllluet , who gave hi s name t o the inventi on. And thus Argand ended in misery:
" The misanthropy to whi ch he succumbed after the wi thdrawal of hi s patent led
hi m to seek a compensation of sor U in the occult $ciences. .. ' During the last
years of his life, he was seen wandering through graveyards gathering bones and
dust from tombs, which he wouJd then submit to chemi cal processes in the hope
of finding in death the 5eCret of prolonging life. '" He himself died young.
A<ntoinette> Drohoj owska, us Grandes Induslms de la France: L'Eclairage
(Paris <1881 , p . 127. [f3a, l )
Ca reel, inventor of the lamp that oper atcs by clockwork. Such a lamp has to be
wound up. It contain, a clockwork mecha nism that pumps the oil from a reservoir
at the bottom up into the wick. Carcel', advanee over earlier oil lamp8--whi ch had
the re8ervoir located above the wi ck, whence the oil dripped down--consisted an
eliminating the shadow caused by thi s overlying reservoir. Hi8 invention dates
from 1800. Hi8 enseigne: " B.-G. Carcel, inventor of the Lycnomene., or mechani_
callamps, manufactures said laml)s." (T3a,2)
' 'The chemi cal mat ch i8, without doubt , one of the vilest devices that civilizatioa
has yet produced.... It is thank. t o thi8 that each of U8 carrie8 around fire in ru.
pocket .... 1 ... detest this permanent plague. alway. primed to trigger an explo
sion, alway. ready to roast humanit y individually over a low fl ame. If you foHow
!\t . Alphonse Karr in his crusade against tobacco, you should likewise raise tbe
banner in opposition to these matches .... If we did not have in our pockets the
possiliility of ma king 8moke, we wowd smoke less." H<enri > de Pene, Paris intime
( Pari8. 1859), pp. 119-120. [1"3a,3]
According to Lurine ("Les HowevarlS," in Paru chez; soi < Paris. 1854: the firet
gas lighting-1817, in the Passage des Panoranl as. [1"3a,4)
Rega rding the definitive installati on of st reet lamps in the streets of Paris (in
Mar ch 1667): " I know of no one but the abbe Terra880n, among the men oflettert,
who spoke ill of the la nterns .... According to him, decadence in the realm oC
leit ers began with the est ablishment of street lights. ' Before thi8 period, ' he once
said, 'everyone returned bome early, from fear oC losing thei r li ves. and thi8 fact
worked to the advantage of labor. Nowadays. people st ay out at night, and....work
less.' Surely there is truth in thi s observation and the invention of gas is not likely
to give it the li e." [douard Fournier, us Lanternes: lIutoire de ,'(weien eclairag
e
de Paris ( Paris, 1854), 1>. 25. [T3a,5)
In the 5eCond half of the 1760s, a number of pamphl ets were published that dealt
wit h the new streel li ghts in IlOCti cal form. The foll owing verse. come from the
poem " IA:s Suitanes nOcl urnes et ambulanl es conlre Nosseigneurs les reverberea:
ft Is petit e vertu" <The Strolling Suitanae of Night againu Our Lord. the
Lamps: To Easy Virtue>. 1769:
The poor WOman fi nds. instead
Of loven. only laml'l)0818
In this danling town,
Once a second Cyll. era.
Wheu nymphs would .. alk.
Tender mothers of delight.
They are forced today
To 8(lueeze themselvea into Il box,
In ot her words, an octogenarian li acre,
Which, by way of B., or r. , tllkel lhem
To wheu ha\'e nothing to do ....
when once the night
Will lei you leue Ihe hovel;
For life is 80 needy.
Not a lingle corner or carrefour
The IIreel!iptt dOQ not reach.
It i8 a that pierce. through
The plans we made by dll)....
Edouard Fourni er, Les Lanrernes: Hufoire de i 'ancien eclairagc de Puru (Paris,
1854), p. 5 (from the speciall y paginated printing of the poem). [f4,1]
In 1799, an enginef:r installed gas lighting in his house, and thus put into practice
what previously had been known only as an in the physicist'S labora
tory. [f4, 2]
It it po88ihle, you know, to .void thelt: .... thackt
By choosing the , hell er o{ cO"ered arcades;
Though, in these lane8 the idler (avon,
Spi ral, of hlue emoke rise from " avanu.
Make for U8. by your efforts, a gentler li fe,
Clear from our path all bumps and jOltll,
And wa rd off, for Il time, the deadly volcanoes
Of readillg room, and reslaunnt s.
AI d118k, give orden to ....areh
Tho.... 81.ou delil ed b)' the odorlel8 gu,
And 10 &Gund Ihe alarm with erie. of fear
Atthe seeping in of fla mmable fumel.
BartheJe,ny, !'uris: Revue sfltiri(/Ue (I M. C. De/esserl (Pari" 1838), p. 16. [f4,3]
"' \1;'h
al a splendid invent ion thi s lighting is!' Gottfried Seml>er exclaims. ' In
ho... may different ways has it not enriched the festive occasions of liCe (not to
inC/ilion its infinite importll nce for our practi cal needs)!' This stri king preemi
nelice of the festive over the dail y, or rather the nightl y, imlJeril ti ve8--for, thank8
to t.hi , gcneral illumination, urban nighttime itself hecome8 a 80rt of ongoing ant.
mated festival---clearly bet r aY8 the ori ental char act er of thi8 form of lighting .. . .
The fael that in Berlin, aft er what is now twenty years of operation, a ga8 company
ca n boast of &Ca rcel y ten thou. all d private cU5tome1"8 in the yea r 1846 can he. "
explai ned ... in the following manner : ' For the most part . of courlle. one could
l)Oint to gener al commer cial and social factors to account for thi8 phenomenon'
,
there wall 8till , in fact, no real need for increased acti vity Iluring the evening and
ni ghttime hours.'''' Dolf Sternberger, Pcmorama (I-I amburg, 1938), PI>. 201, 202.
Citation8 from Gottfri ed Semper, Wi.ueruchaft: Indus trie und Kuru, (Brull swick
1852), p. 12; and from 1-1(111dbuch fiir Steinkohleng(ubeumchlulig . cd. N. a:
Schilling (Muni ch, 1879). p. 21. [T4a.l]
Dead
Apropos of the covering over of the sky in the big city as a consequence of
artificial illumination, a sentence from Vladimir Odoievsky's "The Smile of the
lt
: "Vainly he awaited the gaze that would open up to him." Similar is the
motif of the blind men in Baudelaire. which goes back to "Des Vetters Ed.
fenster.
It
' [T4a,2]
Ga8lightand electricit y. " I reached the Champs-Elysees_ where the caP ' concer's
seemed like blazillg hea rths among the leave&. The chestnut trees, brushed with
yell ow li ght , had the look of painted object&, the look of phosphore&cent trees. And
the electric globes-like shimmeri ll g, pale moons, li ke moon eggs fallen from the
sky, like monstrous. li ving pearl&--dimmed. with their nacreous pow, mYll teriow
and regal, the Baring j ell! of gas, of ugly, dirty gas. and the garlands of colored
glass." Cuy de Maupassant , Claire de lane (Paris. 1909). p. 122 ("La Nui t caucIte.
mar" <The Nightmare. [T4a,3]
Gaslight in Maupassant: "Everything was clear in the mild night air, from the
planets down to the gas lamps. So much fire shone there above, just as in the
town, that the shadows themselves seemed luminous. The glittering nights are
memer than the brightest of sunny days.1t Guy de Maupassant, Claire de fune
(Paris, 1909), p. 121 ("La Nuit cauchemar
lt
). 1n the last sentence, one finds the
quintessence of the "Italian night.
1t
(T5,1]
The cashier, by gaslight, as living image- as allegory of the cash register. (T5,2]
Poe in the " Philosophy of Furniture": "Clare is a leading error in the philosophy
of Ameri can household decoration.... We are violentl y ellalllorell of gas and of
glaas. The former is totall y inudmissible withi n doors. Its harsh and ull steady light
offends. No one having both brains and eye5 will II SC it ." Charle8
Oeuvre5 complete5, ed . CrCltet (Paris, 1937), p. 207 (lIi81oire, s rotesqlLeS e'
5erieuses par Edgar Poe). 5 . (T5.3]
u
-
[Saint-Simon, Railroads]
"Characteristic of the enti re period Ul' to 1830 i8 the slowness of the SI)read of
machines.... The ment alit y of ent repreneurs. economicall y 5peaking, was 8till
conser vati ve; otherwise. the import duty on i team eligi llC!!, which were not yel
produced by more than a handful of factorie8 in France. could not have been
raised to 30 per cent of the value. French industry at the time of the Restoration
was thus IIliU. in essence, thoroughly tied to the prerevolutionary regime." Willy
Spuhler, Der Saillt-Simmlismus : Lehre und Leben von Saint-Amand Hazard (Zu.
ri ch, 1926), p. 12. [V1,1]
"CorreSI)Onding to the laborious developmeut of lar ge-scale industry is the slow
formation of the modern proletariat .... The actual proletarianizati on ... of the
working masses ill effected onl y at the end of the 1830s and 1840s." SpUh1er, Der
Sai"t-Simonu mus. p. 13. [UI ,2]
"During the whole period of the Restoration ... the Chamber of Deputic!! foll owed
a commer cial IJoli cy of the most extreme protecti onism .. .. The old theory of a
halall ce of trade was aga in in full swing, as in the days of mercantilism." SpUhler.
Der Saillt -Simoni, nul8 (Zurich. 1926), pp. 10- 1 I . [Ul ,3]
,
" It was only in 1841 that a mode&t little law concerning child labor was approved.
Of interest is the objeetion of the famous phYli ici81 Gay-Lussac, who liaw in the
interventi on "'an onllet of Saint-Simonianism or of phalansterianism .... Spuhl er.
Der Saint -Simofl isnuu, 1" 15. [U l .4]
"Aphrodite'll birds travel the skie8 from Paris to Amsterdam. and under their wing
is d ipped a or dail y quotatiolls rrom the Stock Exchange; a telegr aph sends a
mcssage from Puris to Brussels concerning Ihe r ise in 3 percent allnuitie&; courier!!
gall op over hi ghwa YIi 0 11 panting horses; the amba8sIIJors of real kings hargain
with idell l kings. alltl Nathan Hoth.schil d in Lolillon wi ll sllOw you, if you pay hilll a
,isil. a casket jU&t arri" ell from Brazil wit h frelihl y mined diamonds intended to
cover the interest on the current 8razili an {Iebl. h ,, ' t that intere&ting?" Karl
Gutzkow, ' Offe" ,fiche Cll uraktere. part I (lI amlmr g. 1835), p. 280 ("Hoth
s.:hild"'). [V I ,S]
" Tile inRuence and development of Sili nt Simonillnism, up until tile end of the
ninell..-enth century. had almost nothing to do witll the workingclilu. Saint-Simoni_
ani!lm provided li n impetus and an ideal for the spirit of large-scale indust ry a nd
for the rea.li"J;ation of ambitious works. The Saint-Simonian Pereire brothers con_
trolled the railroad. banking, and real estat e operations of the Jul y Monarchy and
the Set!ond Empire. The Suez Canal, for which Enfantin and Lambert-Bey would
study the plans and work out the conception at a time when Ferdinand de LeS8ePI
was consul in Cairo, has remained the protot ype of the Saint-Simonian planetary
ent erprise. We may, without hesitation, contrast the grand bourS-eoil project of
Saint-Si moni anism, which is based on production and action, with the peril bour
geois projet!t of the Fourierist phalanstery, which is based on consumption and
pleasure." Albert Thibaudet, Le, Idee, polirique, de La France (Paris, 1932),
pp. 61-62. 0 Set!ret Societiel 0 [01,6]
"Girardin ... founded La Preue in 1836; he invented the popular, low-priced
newspaper and the romon feuilkton, or serial novel. " Dubech and d'Espezel,
llisloire de Pori, (Paris, 1926), p . 391. [01,7]
" In the past several years, a compl ete revolution has occurred in the cafes of
Paris. Cigars and pipes have invllded every corner. Formerl y, ther e was smokinc
only in certain 'pet!ial establishments known as e' taminet, <public house.>, which
were frequented solely by persons of low standing; todllY people smoke nearly
everywhere.... There is one thing we cannot forgive the princes of the house of
OrIeanlJ--namely, for having so prodigiously increased the vogue for tobacco, thU
malodorous a nd nauseating plant that poisons both mind and body. All the IOnl of
Louis Philippe I moked like chimneys; no one encouraged the consumption of thU
nasty product nlore than they. Such consumption no doubt fattened the public
treasury- but at the expense of public heliith and buman intellit!:ence." Hilloire
de, cafes de Poril, extraile de, memoirs d'un viveur (Paris, 1857), pp. 91-92.
[V1a,I]
"Symbolism is so deeply rooted ... that it is found not just in liturgical rites. In
the previous century, didn' t the disciples of Enfantin wear wai stcoats that but
toned in the back, 80 as to draw IIttention to the frat ernlll assistance which one
mlln renders another?" Robert Jacquin, Notions sur Ie Langage d 'apre. lei
lravaux du P<ere) Marcel Joune (Paris, 1929), p. 22. "\ [Ula,2]
" In 1807. there wer e over 90,000 workers in Paris prllcli cing 126 professions.
They were subject to stri ct supervision: associati ons were prvhihited. employment
agencies were regulated, and work hours were fixed . Sala ri es went from 2 franci
SO. to 4 fra nc, 20. yielding an averllge of 3 franCI 35. The worker ate a hearty
breakfast, a light lunch, Mild IlII evenill g supper." Lucien Dubech and Pierre
d' Espczd, Iliswire c/e Paris (Paris, 1926), p. 335. [VI a,3]
"On August 27. 1817, the steamship Le Genie clu commerce, invented by the Mar
quis de Jouffroy, had sail ed the Sei ne bct wt:ell the POllt- Royaland the Pont Loui,
XVI." DUOech li nd d' Espe7.e1. lIiSloire cle Pnris, p. 359. [013,4)
The national workshol)S' " had been created according to tile proposal of a moder
ate. <AJexalidre-ThomIl S> Marie. because the Revolution had guaranteed the ex
istence or the worker through his work, a nd bet!ll use it was net!essary to sati sfy the
demands of the ext remists .... The workshops were organized, in a manner at
once democratic and militaristi c. into brigades, with e1ectC(i chiefs." Dubech and
dE6IJeZeI , lIi1toire de Paris. pp. 398-399. [Via,S)
The Sai nt-Simoni an,. " In the magnificent di sorder of ideas that accompanied Ro
manti cism. they had grown enough, by 1830. to abandon their loft on the Rue
Taranne and to establish themselves on the Rue Taithout. Uere. they gave lectures
before an a udience of young men dressed in blue and women in white with violet
scarveS. They had acquired the ll ewspalH!r Le Globe, and in its pages they advo
cated a program or reforms .... The government , ... 0 11 the pretext of supporting
the emancipation of women. decided to pro&e<: ut e the Saint-Simoniaos. They Clime
to the hearing in full regalia, and to the accompa niment of hunting borns. Enfan
tin wore written on his chest, in large lell ers. the two words Le Pere, and he calmly
declared to the presiding judge that he was in fact the father of humanity. He then
tried to hypnotize the magi strates by staring into their eyes. He WIIS sentenced to
one year in prison, which effectively put an end to these follies." Dubech and
d'Espezel, Hiltoire de Paris. pp. 392-393. 0 Haussmann 0 Set!ret Societies 0
[Ola,6]
"Cirardin published ... a brochure with the title. " Why a Constitution?" It Will
his idea that the entire French constitution should be replaeed by a simple declara
tion of ten lines, which ... would be engraved on the five franc piet!e." S. Englan
d,er <Geschichte der fran:osilchen Arbeilef'-AJlocicdionen (Hamburg, 1864, vol.
4, pp. 133-134. [OIa,7]
"At the time of the Revolution. a new d ement began to a ppear in Paris: lar ge.scale
industry. This was a consequeucc of the di sappearance of feudal guilds; of the
reign of unfett ered liberty that followC(1 in their wake; and of the wars against
England, which made necessary the production of it ems previously procured by
import. By the end of the Empire, the evolution was compl ete. From the revolu
tionllty lH! riod 0 11 , ther e were factories eUablishel1 for the production of saltpeter,
firearms , woolen and cotton fabrics. preserved meat, and small utensil s. Mechalli
cil i spinnilig mills for cott ollMnd linen were dcvclolH!d. with the encouragement of
Calolille, beginning i.n 1785; factories for t.he production of bronze were COli'
Structed under Louis XVI; a nd chemical ami dying companies ",ere founded by the
COIIIII d' Artois ill J a vel . Didot Sai nt -Uger ran a new machine for paper I'roduc
tioll on the Rue Saint e-Aline. In 179'). Philipl)f! Le bon recehell II palent on a
process for prod uci ng gas lighting. From September 22 to September 30, 1798, the
fi rst ' public e" hi bi t ion of the prooUCI8 of French manufacturing and industry' w ..
hel d on the Cha mp de Man." Dubee-h and d' Espezel , I/i.. loire de Paris (Pan.
1926). p. 324. 0 E)( hibi liolls 0 [U2,l j
On til e Saint-Simoni ans; "School constitut ed by a veritable corps of industrial
engineers and entrepreneurs, representati ves of bi g business underwritten by the
power of the banks." A. Pinloche. Fourier el Ie 1l0cialill me (Paris. 1933) , p. 47.
[D',' j
" Although t he worker associations were a ll run in e)(empl ary fashi on, ably aDd
honestl y ... members of the bourgeoisie were nevertheless unanimous in their
di sapproval. Most of the bourgeoisie would fLoel a certain apprehension in paBaiua
bcfore one of the houses that bore the sign . . and the embl cm of a worker
association. Though these shops were di stinguished from other. similar buaineue.
olll y by the inscripti on ' Association fra terneUe d' ouvri ers : Liherte, Egaliae,
Fraternite,' on the petit bourgeois they had the effect of snakea in the gran that
mi ght suddenly st rike at any time. It sufficed for the bourgeois to think of the
February Revoluti on, whi ch had been the origin of t hesc associations .... For
their part. the associations of worker s made every possibl e effort to conciliate the
bourgeoisie, hoping to gai n i18 sUPI)()r!. It was for thi s reason that many of tb.,.
fur nished their shops in the most splendid manner, so as t o draw their shne 01
customers. T he pri vations which the workers thus laid upon themselvefl, ia ..
effort t o withst and the competition, are beyond belief. While that part of the . bop
whi ch was open to the public was fiued out in the costliest way, the worker hiaueIf
would be sitting on the fl oor of a workroom that often was t ot all y lacking in eq.
men!. '" Sigmund Englander, Gellchichle der fraruollillchen Arbeitel'-AnociatioMll
(Hamburg, 18M). vol. 3. pp. 106-108. 0 Secret Societi es 0 [U2,sJ
Influence of the feuill eton in its ea rl y da ys. " There are newspapers for one sou aad
newspapcrs for ten centimes . A dealer obser ves a solid bourgoois passing by, who,
after carefull y pe rusing hi s COnll titlltiotlll el ... , ncgl igentl y folds it and pute it iD
his pockct . The dealer accosts thi s plucky reader. present s him with either ttl
Pellpie or La Revolllliou. whi ch eost onl y a sou, and says to him: ' Monsieur, iyoa
Like. I will gi ve you. in uchange for the pal)Cr you've juS! finished . l..e Peupk. by
cit ilten Proudhon. and its supplement cont aining a ser ial by the famous Men ...
Scnll evillc.' T he bourgeois all ows himself t o be persuaded. What good is a CiHU""
tIIliollllei you've already read? He gives up his newspaper and accepts the other,
enti ced , as he is, by sovereign namc of Menars-Senll evill c. Oft en he forget'
himself, in his del ight at being rid of so tedious a burden, and addsanother sou
into Ihe ba rgai n." A. I)r i\' al d'All glemollt. Puru inCOIln!1 (Puris. 1861), PI)' 155
156. [U2a, I)
T he well -known pr inci ple of Villcnlt:uanl : " t.hat a n incidcnt whi ch is COllllllcte11
ordi ll ury, bllt whi ch occur!! 011 tilt.: houl evards or their environs, has much mOre
iJJ!porlallce, from til e I)QUII of view of,'ourn li h
" A . a sm. t an an event of great co
(ill enee m men eaorAsia."' J eanJ\forieli val , _ C "d nse
'A!1l reateurll e la " ronde
Fr(lII ce (Pans ( 1934, p. 132. .. preue en
[U2a,2J
.. /. was run Il y Bourdin t beca uoa ViII "
. . I emessant , like Napol I d
to apporllOIl kingdoms. That curious Ill'"" " d d 0011 , ove
, . cry III epen cnt of .. I
acted alone. He "ol.dd ' coll abora te.'" J" " " I' _ , Splrat , ra re y
n " orlcnva I.A!$ Create d la d
I}reuc en Prance (Paris). p. 142. Itrll e g ran e
[U2a,3)
poetry of Saint-Simoni anism: " 'n the preface I th fi I
0 e I"8t vo lillie of l..e Prod
C I I
A. erc et aunchel all urgcnt appeal to rt ' UCteltr,
a IStJJ .... And Buchez h I
CCC(ll:d 10 the leadership of thc coope f , w 0 a lcr 8UC_
r a lYe lII aveluClit appeal ed t II
of arliSls in similar tcrnl S It was B I h fi ' 0 Ie community
. . . . ue lez w 0 Irst observed Ih t I "
and romantici sm share equ. Uy in th Id " h ' ... . a c 8SSlCism
. . e wor WIt which the - til S S .
8U9-are just as legi tirnacy a nd libcrali di ' d Y e allll _ Imoru
IlOlil ica l world In 1825 sm VI e between themselves the
" doc Rique;.a wa, Canal . t o the builder of the Langue
occaSion, oumet composed ' .
h
YOIII The literary chronicl er fo , _p __, a stirnng
r 'A! Leon Hal ' b h f
r
alll ous composer hailed tiles h' h ' evy, rot ero the
' e verses, w IC he char acterized as ' ind . I
elry. . .. Soumel , however, oo1y partl y fulfilled h . uSlna po
Simonians had pl aced in him If I ". . t e hopes whi ch the Saint
. ater on, In his DWlne Epa "
the ha mmer 's clang and th . . pee. oue can still hear
f
prttisely here, in the poet ': :IS,y gnndiDkg h the gears of industrial labor, it is
J . ,t atthe pr . ( .
abstraClJons is ma nifest HI ' openslt y or metaphyslcsl
. . .. a evy, moreover. was himself I
H
. a evy pUblished hi s
I Po. ' " a poet. . . . n 1828
e$le, eurapeenne$ d ' 1831
Simon. who had di ed in 1825 " H Th :,' . an In wrot e an ooe to Saint-
o II . . . urow Aus den Ann' d
c etri stik," Die neue Zeit 21 2 (S ' angen er 80zialisti&chen
, no. tultgart . 1903), pp. 217-2 19. (U2a,4J
On a r eview; by Sainte-Beuve in the Rev I
,"The Verses which Sa iut e_S (e$ deux mondell. February 15, 1833:
I h euve ... r eViewed were the lit
Iy t e name of BruheHle I d' d erary remaill s of a poet
Sainltl-Beuve draws ,Ie very ... . in hi, account , furthermore.
- I oa nove whl chbor th h " "
S
(I//U -Simo/lienne aud I " Id e e c araclen Sll C title La
" I W IICI emonst rates th t . h f
I( ta. That the aut ho' e nump 0 the Saint-Simoni an
I r, a cert ain Madame Le Bas b ' b
t Irough a ra ilier iml)roha bl r su, nnga a out this triumph
f e COurse 0 event&--nam I h r
rOln t he veins of a youth ' , ....1 . . . e y, I e trail s ull ion of blood
III eCh: .. W1th Samt Sin . d "
eCcleSiasticall y educa t .. .J I ,I I - loman oclnne into those of his
I
.,.. )e OVe( - may be d I '
t lent ; \:lo t the sa me tim, " 0 " " regar e( III essence as a n artistic exp"
. . , wcver It Inngs 0 I th . .
ISIII. TILi s mysti cal elemellt It I ' h I he II e lli ysllcal slli e of Saint-Simoni an_
. ai, s ort y fore found t k
stJjOli rn by. the ' fa mily' ill ,I ," I I ' 6 ar e)( pr euioll during the
IClr ast p ace of ref h R
COJlei udingcpisooe iJl tl r, r I uge,ont e ue Mellilmont anl . This
,. Ie l eo tie movemenllilc .
IJlg lil erature--poems SOli " I eWI5e cngcnder CII correspond_
, - ga. splntua e)(erciscs i I
ulllli c !!ymboli sm could be UII I 'OO<! I b II verse alii prosc--whose enig_
(ers on y y tll c few i ' f 'r
CourSt: hy the viol en(.'e of politi I d . m lal es. . . . hrown off
ca all economIC devdolllllCllIS 5.,",., S,"n " "
, lonl al1l8m
had run aground on met aphy. icI." II . Thurow, " Au! den Anfii ngcn der loziali.ti._
chen BclietriJl ti k," Die neue Zeit , 2 J. 110 . 2 (Stut tgart. 1903), JlJl . 219-220. [U3, 1)
Ut opi an socialill m. " The dallS of capitalisl8 . looked on its pa rtisans as mere
ecce.ntri cs a nd harml ess enthusiaslt.... These parti sans t hemselves, fur ther _
more, did aU that was huma nl y possilJle . .. to warr ant such an im)reu ion. They
wore dothes of a ver y pa rt icular Cllt (Saint -Simonia ns, for example, buttoned
thei r coats in the back so as to be reminded, whil e dressing, of their reli ance on
their fellow man and thereby of the neetl for uni on), or else they wore IlIl usually
la rge hats, very 10ll g beards, and so on." Paul Lafargue, " Ocr Kl assenkampf in
Frankreich," Die neue Zeit , 12, no. 2, p. 618. [U3,2J
" Mler the Jul y Revolution. the Saint-Simonians t ook over even the frontline or
gan of the Romanti cs, Le Globe, Pierre lA: roux became the editor." Franz Died_
erich , " Vi ctor Hugo," Die lI elle Zeit , 20, no. 1 (Stutt gart , 190 1), p. 651. [U3,3j
From a rel>ort on the Novembe r 1911 issue ofthe j ournal of Aust rian social democ
racy, Der Kampf : "' On Sai nt -Simon's I 50th birthday,' ... Max Adler wrote: .. ,
He was known as a 'sociali st ' at a time when thi s word meant something entirely
different from what it means today.... As fa r as the clan struggle is concerned, be
sees onl y the opposi ti on of ind ustri ali sm t o the old regi me; bourgeoisie and work
er& he considen logether as a single industri al class. whose ri cher menIDen be
calls upon to take an int erest in the lot of their impoverished fellow worken .
Fourier had a clearer view of the need for a new form of societ y." Review of
Peri odicals, Die neue Zeit , 29, no. 1 ( 19 1 I), pp. 383-384. [V3,' ]
Engels 011 Feuerbach's Wesen de! Chru tenfltmJ <Enence of Christianity>. " Evea
the shortcomings of the book contributed to iu immediat e effect . III literary,
sometimes even high-fl own. style secured for it a large public and was, at any rate,
refreshing afler long years of abstract and abstruse Hegeli aoizing. The I18me it
t r ue of its extravagant deifi cation of love, wiJich, coming aft er the now
sover eign rule of ' pure reason .' had il8 excuse, ... But what we must not for ..
t hat it was precisely t hese t wo weaknesses of Fcuerbach that ' true sociali&m,'
whi ch had been spreadjng like a pl ague in ' educated' Germany Bill ce 1844, took ..
il s st a rl ing point , )lutting Lit era ry phrases in the pl ace of scientifiC knowl edge, the
lihe r ation of mankind by means of ' love' in pl ace of the of the
. . ( d ' . I rt loslnl
proletariat through the economiC transformati on 0 pro uctlOn- 1ll S 10 ,
it self in the nauseous fine writing and ecst asies of love t ypi fied by Herr Karl
Crull ." .' ri cllri ch Engels. " Ludwi g Feuerbach lind der Ausgun&...der kl auisched
deuuchcn Phil osophie," Die neue Zeit , 4 (Stutt ga rt . 1886). p. 150 [review of C. l"l
)] ) [U3a, l}
188

Starcke. Ludll.'iS Feuerbach ( tllll gan , S .

" Railroads ... dema ndt.."I. besides other a transformat .ioll in
mode of PNlI)Crt y.... Up unt il thell . in fact . a hourgeols could r un an IIIdusl
n
or a businc&& concern with onl y hi s own money. or at most with that of olle or ntO
friends and aCtlll aintBru:e8 .. , . He managed the mOlley himself, and was the actual
propriet or of lhe factor y or business est ablishment. Bul rai.lroads hatl nt.ed of
lIIa ssive II mOllnll1 of t:apil lt.1 thut it eoultl no longer be concentrated in the
hll uds of onl y a few il1l.l ivitiua1.!i . so a great ma ny bourgeois were forced to
ellt r ust their precious whi ch had never before bt."en all owed Oll t of thei r
I!. ight . to l)COple wllOse names they hardly knew .... Once the money was gi ven
O\cr. they would lose all control over its inveUlll cllt li nd could 1I 0t expect t o claim
11 11 )' propr iet ary ri ghts over termilla1.!i . ca r.. . loconlOli ves , and the like . ... They
entitled onl y to a share of the profits; in pl al.'e of a n obj ect , ... they were
gh'en . .. a lIIere piece of pa lH:r t hat represent ed the fiction of an infinitely small
and ungr aspahlc piece of the real propert y, wllOse ull me was pr inted at the bottolll
in large leiter s .. .. This procedure ... stood in such vi olent contrast to what the
bourgeoisie was used to ... that its defense eOllld be undert a ken onl y by peopl e
who . . . were suspect ed of wa nting to overthrow the. order of society-socialislI, in
shorl. First Fourier and then Saint -Simoll extoll ed this 1II0bili1. ali on of prope rt y in
the form of paper securities." Paul Lafa rgue, " Marx' hi storiseher Materi alismus,"
Die neue Zeit , 22, no. I (Stuttgart . 11JO.1), p. 83 1. [V3a,2)
" Every day, t here is a riot. The student s, aU sons of the bourgeoisie. are fraterniz
ing here with the worker s, li nd the workers beli eve the time has come. They are
also seri ollsly counting on the pupils from the Ecole Poly technique. " Nadar,
Quandj'etm's photogrophe ( Pa ris ( 1900), p . 287. [U3a,3)
" It is not in prolet ari an circles, 1I 0t even in democr atic ci rcles, tha t the initial
imlH:IUS ... for the est ablishment of labor exchanges is to be found. The idea was
fi n t ad vanced in 1842 by M. de Molinari, edit or-in-chi ef of Le Journal des econo
mistes. It was Molinar i himself who developed thi s idea in an article he ... wrote
ent itl ed ' L' Aveni r des chemins de fer ' <The Future of the Rail roads). In order to
indicate just how much limes had changed, he r eferred to Adam Smith, who had
sai d\ ill effect , that labor was the commodit y most diffi cult to transport . Against
thi s. he affirmed that lahor power had 1I0W become mobile, Europe and the whole
World now sta llds open t o it as a market .... The main point of the concl usion
which Molina ri drew in 'L' Avenir des ehemillls de fer, ' ill favor of t he institutions
that were t o serve as lahor excha ll ges, was the following: the pri ncipal cause for
tht low rat e of wages is the frequentl y recurr ing disproporti on hd ween the num
ber of wor kers and t he delll an<i for ....ork; contrilmting further to the probl em is
Ih.e high ,?oncentra tion of worker s IHl pul ation i.n cert ai n cent ers of producti on ....
GI\'" to workers the mea ns ... Ly whi ch Ihey ca n clHllIge thei.r pl ace of resideli Ce at
\ 1
0
.... I;ost; give Ihem, too, the possibilit y of knowing ....Il ere they wi lllH: a Ll e to find
...(l rk ill the most favorahl e ci rcumsta nces .... If l'I'orkers hegin traveling (Iuickl y
anti , abo\'e all , cheapl y, lab(lr eXl;hall gl!"8 will 80011 a rise." On t he proposal to
erellt e II lahor report; " Thi s proposal , whi ch was in I.e Cour rier
edih,.. 1 hy Xa\' icl' Durri cu. tlll'ned mUll crs di rectl y to t he wor ken .. . :
'Il'e would like ... to a ser vice t o .... orkers " y puhlishing in our columns ,
Il cxt to the stock ma rket (1IiOl alioIl8. a list of work avai la hl e .... What is the
purpose of sl ock market (Illotalions? They repor t . 88 we know. the ra te of the emergence of the Liberal Empire." A. Mal et and P. Gri ll et . XIX' Sieck (Paris,
-
change of government securities and . hares of stock ... 0 11 various markeu 1919) . p. 275. (Loosening of COli trois 0 11 the prelifl. ilO a 8 to cllable coverage of
around the world.. .. WitllOul the aid of these market reports. til e capitalis
u
would oft en have no idea where 10 invest their money; withoul these Iiste , they
would find themsdves in t.he IIDm c situation liS workcn who ... have no idea where
to go to find work .... The worker is a vendor of work, and, a8 such, he has a very
maleri al interest in knowing what til e n1l1rket olillets are for ms goods. ", Low.
Heriti er, " Die Arbeitsborsen, Die neue Zeit. 14, no. 1 (Stuttgart, 1896), pp. 64S

Notable difference between Saint-5imon and Marx. The fonner fixes the number
of exploited as high as possible, reckoning among them even the entrepl'Uleur
because he pays interest to his creditors. Marx, on the other hand, includes aU
those who in any way exploit another-even though they themsdves may be
victims of exploitation-among the bourgeoisie. (V4,2J
It is significant that the theoreticians of Saint-Simonianism are unfamiliar with the
distinction between industrial and financial capital. All socia] antinomies dissolve
in the fairyland which k progreJ projects for the near furore. (Vb ,l)
"Let U8 examine 80me of the large manufacturing cities of France. . Never,
perhaps, hal a defeated and retreating army presented a more lamentable 8pecta
cle than the triumphant industrial army. Gaze on the workers of Lille. Reima,
Mulhou8e, Manchester, and Liverpool , and tell me if they look Like vi cton!"
Eugene Buret . De la Muere de8 claISe. laboriewe. en Anglererre et en
(Paris ,I840), vol. I, p. 67. (V4a,2)
On the political role of intellectuals. hnportant : the "Letter to M. Lamartine" by
Emile Barrawt, editor of I.e 'Tocsin cUJ trauailkurs. ["Die socialistischen und com
munistischen Bewegungen scit der dritten franzOsischen Revolution," appendix
to <Lorenz von) Stein, Socialumus und CommunumuJ cUJ heutigtn Frankreidu
(Leipzig and Vienna, 1848), p. 240.] [U4a,3]
To ascertain: whether or not, in the preimperial age, a relatively greater propor
tion of the profits of capital went into consumption and a relatively lesser propor
tion into new investments. (V4a,4]
1860: " Napoleon ent ered int o a trade agreement with the English government ... ;
according to the provision8 of t.hi s treat y. custom8 duti es were consider abl y low
ered on French agricuhural products imlwrted by Ellgland, and on 6nglish manu
factllred goods iml)Orted hy Fra nce. Thi8 treaty was ver y favorable to the '!' us
public .... On the other hantl . in ortler to holtl thei r own !lgainst English competi
tion. French illtlu8try was forced to lower the prices of its product8. The immedi
ate COll lie(luence was ... a certain rapprochement with the OPI)Osition. Aiming to
counter the r esistance of ... industri alist8. Napoleon took steps to enlist the 8Up"
l)Ort of the liberals. ThllJ led , ultimat ely. to the transformati on of the regime and
Jt.bates ill the Chamber. ) [U4a,5)
Chnsiflcation of the pres8 under til e Restoration. Uhras<?): lA Cflzette de
f rance. La Quotidienne. l...e Drflpeflu blllllC, Le Journal des delx.ts (until 1824).
IlIdt' pcndcllt8: Le G/obe. l...e MineI've. a nd , from 1830. during the last yCa r of the
Restoration. Le Natio nflt. l...e Temps. Constitutionalists: Le Constiruriormel. Le
Courrier fram;cz u. alld, aft er 1824, Le Journczl des deimts. [U4a,61
Because of the rarity of newspapers, they were read by groups in thc cafes.
Otherwise, they were available only by subscri ption, which cost around eighty
francs per year. In 1824, the cv.:elve most widely circulating newspapers had,
together, some 56,000 subscribers. For the rest, both the liberals and the royalists
were concerned to keep the lower classes away from the newspaper. [U4a,7]
The " law of justice and of love," rej ected by thc Chamber of Peen : "One detail
surfices to demonstrate the spirit of the project : every printed sheet , be it only a
notification card, would have been suhj ect to a tax of one franc per copy. "
A. Malet and P. GriIlet , XIX' Siecle (Paris, 1919), p. 56. [U5, 11
"Saint.Simon lingers over the history of the futeenth-eightt.oenth centuries, and
gives to the social classes of this period a more concrete and specificaUy economic
description. Hence, it is thi8 part of Saint-Simon '8 system that i8 of impor
tance for the genesis of the theory of clan struggle. and ,hat exercises the strongest
influence on its subsequent development. ... Although. for later period" Saint
Simon emphasizes the economic momeut in his characterilllation of classes and the
causes of their growth and decline ... , in order to be consistent he would have
h!ld to see. in this economic activity, the true r oots of the social cla88et1 as well . Had
he ,'a ken thi s etel), he would inevitabl y have attai ned to a materialist conception of
history. But SaintSimon never took this step. and his general conception remains
idealist .... The second point that i8 so surprising in Saint.Sinlon's cla8s theory, in
, view of ill discr epancy with the actual relations among the classes of the period. is
the represent ation of the clalS of illllUSlrialisl8 as homogeneous .... The mani
fes tl y e8Senti!l1 differences that exist between proletarians alul entrepreneurs are
for him external , and tll eir antagonism is groUlul CfI in mutuallllisunden tanding:
the interests of the director s of imlustrial ent erprises, in reality, coincide with the
ill terests of the masses .... This cnt irdy unfouml ed assertion resolves for Saint
Simull the vcr y real social cOlltradiction. salvaging the unit y of the industrial cla8s
alltl , wi th it, the perspe<:th'e on a peat.'eful of til e new social system."
Y. Volgin , "Obe r di e historische Stellllllg Saint-Simons," ill MClrx-Engeu Archiv,
ell. D. Hjazallov, vol. I (Frallkfurt am Main (1928), pp. 97- 99. [U5,2]
Saiut -Simon: .... I...east or all does the industri al system rC(luire t.he overst.oeing of
individuals. for with a system in which t.he immedia te goal i8 the weU-being of the
lO!lny, there ought not to be any encrgy wastCiI on power over these
people. who no longer threaten the existing order.... function of
ing ordcr Cll n lium etl8ily ... II task shared hy all citizen8, wll ether it be to
contain t roublemaken or to settJe Instead of a n in8trument for the
domination (If men, the state system bomes a system for the administration of
things .... And the chicftask of this admi nistrati ve autllorit y, whose agents will be
the schola n, a rtists, and industrialists, . .. is to organize the culti vation of the
terrest r ia l g1ohe." V. Volgin, " Uher die hi storische Stellull g in
Marx-Engel$ Archiv. ed. D. Rjazanov, '01. I (Frankfurt am Main), pp. 104-105.
[US,3)
On the idea of t he total work of art , according to Saint-Simon, Oell vreJ choisie.
vol. 3, pp. 358-360: "Saint-Simon indul ges in fantallies about the development of
cult through the combined efforts of prophets, poets, musicians, sculptors, and
archit ects. AJI the arts are to be unit ed so as to make the cult useful to so<:iety, and
so as, through the cult , to restructure humanit y in the spirit of Christian morals."
V. Volgi n, "Uber di e hi stor ische Stellung Sai nt -Simons," in Marx-Engel$ Archiv,
vol. I (Frankfurt am Main), p. lO9. [U5a,l )
Conccrning the reprcsellt ation of Louis Philippe.-Saint-Simon teache8 that "the
indust rial system is not in contradiction with royal power. The king will become
the First Industrial , just a8 he has been the First Soldier in the kingdom. "$ V. Vol
gin, .. tiber di e hi stori8che SteUung Saint-Simons," in Marx-Engel! Archiv. vol. 1
(Frankfurt am Main), p. 11 2. [U5a,2]

Saim-Simon was a forerunner of the technocrats. [U5a,3]

Two passages from Le Globe (October 31 and November 25, 1831). the
workers' uprising in Lyons: " we, defcnders of AU. workers-from the leaders of
industry to the humblest laborers"; and conceming the worki llg clau: ..It is
nizing for us to see the workers degraded by brutality. Our heart bleeds at thesipt
of such moral privations , qui te as hideous, in their way, as phys.ical priva
tions .... We would like . . . to inspi re the worken with ... our own aentiment8 of
order, peace, and friendly accord." In the same publication, an expreuion of
approval for the add ress of the Saint-Si moni ans from Lyons. who " have pJ"ellerved
Saint -Simonian calm." Ci ted in K Tarle. " Der Lyoncr ,\rbeit craufstand," in
MClrx-Engels ArcMv. ed. Rj aza nov. vol. 2 (rrankfurt am Main, 1928), PI). 108.
109, 111. [11ii a,4)
Important material relating to the history of the railroad, and particularly of the
locomotive, in Karl Kautsky, Die materialististhe Ge;chichlJa'!!faSJung, vol. 1
lin, 1927), pp. 645ff. What emerges is the great importance of mining for the
railroads, not only because locomotivcs were first used in mines but also because
iron rails crune from there. an.: thus referred back to the use that was made of
rails (originall y, no doubt, of wood) in the operation of tipcarts. [U5a,5)
On Saint-Simon's idea of progress (polytheism, monotheism, recognition of
many laws of nature, recognition of a single law of nature): "'Gravitation is
supposed to play the role of the absolute of
God." Oel/ llm choisieJ, vol. 2, p. 2 19,' oted by v: VOlglll, Ober die histonsche
Stellung Saint-Simons," in Ma rx- Engelt Archill, vol. 1 (Frankfurt am Main),
p. 106. [115a,6]
In the system of the Saint-Simonians , banks not only pl ay the part of force. that
ol" gllllize industry. They are the one antidot e which the sY8tem now in pl ace has
developed to count er the anarchy that devours it ; they are an element of the
system of the future . .. one that is free of atimwallt of personal enrichment ;
they are a aocia l institution." V. Volgin, "Uber die historische Stellung Saint
SilllOns," in Marx-Engel$ Archiv, ed. Rjazanov, vol. 1 (Frankfurt am Main), p . 94.
[U.,l)
"Thc chi ef task of an industrial system is aaid to be the establishment of a ... plan
of work that could be carried out by so<:iety .... But ... his ideal is considerably
closer to sta te capital ism than to so<:ialism. With Saint -Simon, there is no talk of
the abolition of private property, of eXI)ropriationa. Only up to a certain point
does the state submit the activit y of industrialists to the plan... .
Tllroughout his ca reer Saint-Simon .. . was drawn to la rge-8cale projects ... ,
beginning wit h the plans for the Panama and Madrid canal s a nd ending with pl ans
to transform the planet int o a paradise." V. Volgin, " lIber die historische SteUung
Saint-Simons," in Marx-Engel! Archiv, vol. 1 (Frankfurt am Main), PI'. 101- 102,
116. [U6,2]
"Sto<:ks have been ' democr atized' so that aOthe worl d can share in the benefi ts of
modem asso<:iation. For it is under the banner of 'association' that people have
glurified the accumulation of capi tal in j oi nt -stock COml)ani es, over which grand
now exer cise at the expense of the shareholders." W. texis,
Cewerkvereine IIml Unter'lehmer verbiinde in f'rankreich (Leipzig, 1879), p. 143,
cited in D. Rj azanov, " ZlIr Gescbichte der ersten Int ernationale," in Marx-Engel!
Arclli v, ed. D. Rj azanov, vol. I (Frankfurt am Main), p. 144. [U6,3)
Emi le Pereire, ex-Sai nt -Simonian, was the founder of Credi t Mobilier.-Cheval
i. ' r present s him, in La Religion SClint-Simotlienne, as " a for mer student at the
Ecole Pol yt hlli(lue." [U6,4j
Re the history of newspapers. Differentiation according to socia] classes and mass
ci rculation of literature, which, under Charles X, was mobilized against congre
gations. "Voltaire, more or less abridged, is adapted to the needs and circum
stances of all levels of socicty! There is the rich man's VOltaire, the 'Voltaire for
owners of mediumsized propeny,' and the cottager's Voltai re. Thcre arc also
editions of Tarttiffo at three sous. There an.: reprints of ... Holbach, . . .
Duprais<?), ... VOlney. "Ibings an: set up in such a way that ... more than
2,700,000 volumes were put uno circulation in less than seven years." Pierre de la
Gorce, La ReJtauratjon, vol. 2, CharleJ X (Paris), p. 58. [U6,5]
for the Riuiu,teur, who will bring on.the end of the bourgeoisie and who
will ,render to the father of the for pe?cefully administering the
Lord s estate. 'Ibis, presumably, an allUSIOn to Enfannn. At the begilUung of the
text, a sort of lament for the proletariat; the pamphl et also refers to this class in
closing: u. Emancipateur pacifique! He travels the world over, working
for the liberation of the proletarMn and of WOMAN." The lament : "Ifever you
visited our workshops, you have seen those chunks of molten iron which we
draw from .the furnaces and cast into the teeth of cylinders that tum more rapidly
than the wmd. These furnaces emit a li quid fire that, in its boiling and heaving,
throws ofT a shower of glowing drops into the air; and from the teeth of the
cylinder, iron emerges drastically reduced. \V(: tOO, in truth, are hard pressed like
these masses of iron. If ever you have come to our workshops, you have seen
those mining cables that are wound around a wheel, and that unwind in the
search for blocks of stone or mountains of coal at a depth of twelve hundred feet
The wheel moans upon its axle; the cable stretches tight with the weight of its
enonnous charge. \\e, too, are drawn taut like the cable; but we do not moan like
the wheel, for we are patient and strong. ' Great God! What have I done; mes the
voice of the people, conswned with a sorrow like that of King David. 'What have
I done that my hardiest sons should become C3JUlon fodder, and my loveliest
daughters be sold into prostitution?' Michel Chevalier, "Religion Saint-Simo
nienne: Le Bourgeois, Ie reveiateur" <pamphlet (Paris, 1830), pp. 3-4, j>.

(U6a, l]
Chevali er in 1848. He speaks of the forty-year sojourn of Israel in the wi.ldem eu,
before it ent ered t he Promised Land. "We, too, will have to pause for a time,
before advancing ill to an era ... of ... prosperity for workers. Let us aecept thit
season of wai ting .... And if some lH!rsons endeavor to sti r up the wrath of the
populace . .. on the pretext of hastell ill g the advent of beller ti.mes, .. . then lei W
emblazoll the words that Benj amin Franklin, a worker who became a great
man, ... once spoke to hi s feUow citi zens: ' If anyone saY810 you t.hal you can come
into wealth by some mea ns olher than industry and frugalit y, then pay him no
heed : He's a viper. '" Franklin. ConseiLs pour faire fo rtune (Paris, 1848), pp. i-i.i
Ulreface by Michel Chevali er). : (U6a,2)
The press under Charles X: "One of Ill e memhers of Ihe court , M. Soslhcne de la
Roehefouca ult , ... coneeived the grand project of absorhing the opposition neWI
papers by buying them up. Dut til e onl y ones that woul l) COlisentto the deal had no
inAuenee to sell. ' Pierre de la Gorce. u. Resta ura lion , \'01. 2. Charles X (Paris).

The Fouri eriSIS looked forwar,II Omll 88 eonversions among the public after they
introduced a fe uill ctoll in l.A1 PI!IJ/IHIge. See Ferrari , " I)es Ideell et li e I' ccole de
Fourier." des deux mo"des, 14, no. 3 (1845), p. 432. fU7,2]
"0 fbets! You have eyes, but you do not see-and ears, but you do not hear!
Great things are wtfolding in your midst, and you give us war chants!" [Ibere
foUows a characterization of the warlike inspiration for "La Marseillaise."] "This
hyum to blood, these frightful bear witness not to any danger that
Iltight be threatening the country, but to the impotence of liberal poetry- poetry
without inspiration beyond that of war, strugglc, and endlcss complaint .... 0
people! Sing, nonethelcss, sing "La Marseillaise," since your poets are silent or
can only recit e a pale intitation of the hymn of your fathers. Sing! The hannony
of your voices will yet prolong the joy with which triwnph had filled your soul;
for you, the days of happiness are few and far betvo"Cen! Sing! ... 'rour joy is sweet
10 those in sympathy with you! It has been so long since they heard anything but
moans and groans from your lipsl" "Religion SaintSinlonienne: La Marseillaise"
(extract from L'Organisateur, September 11, 1830) (according to the catalogue of
the Bibliothcque Nationale, the author is Michel Chevalier], pp. 3-4. The ani
mating idea of this rhapsody is the confrontation of the peacefulJuly Revolution
with the bloody Revolution of 1789. Hence, this observation: "Three days of
combat sufficed to overturn the throne of legitimacy and divine right .... Victory
went to the people, who live from their labors-the rabble that crowds the
workshops, the populace that slaves in misery, proletarians who have no prop
eny but their hands: it was the race of men so utterly despised by salon dandies
and proper folk. And why? Because they sweat blood and tears to get their bread,
and never strut about in the balcony of the Comic Opera. After forcing their way
into the hean of the palace, ... they pardoned their prisoners ... ; they ban
daged the wounded . ... Then they said to themselves: ' Oh, who will sing of our
exploits? Who will teU of our glory and our hopes?'" ("La M arseillaise," as
above, p. 1). [V7,3]
From a reply to an unfriendly review (in La RaJue de Paris) of Charles Pradier's
literary labors: "For three years now, we have been appearing daily on the city' s
' sidewalks, and you probably think l'o"C have grown accustomed to it all ....
you are m..i staken.ln fact, every tinle we step up on our soapbox, we hesitate and
look around us for excuses; we find the weather unpropitious, the crowds inat
tentive, the street too loud. we dare not admi t that we ourselves lack daring....
And now, perhaps, you understand ... why some.times we exult in the thought of
Our work ; ... and why, seeing us filled with enthusiasm, ... you-and others
\";th you-could take it for undue pride." Ch. Pradier, "Rcponse aLa Revue de
Pari.,," in I.e BohfflJe, Charles Pradier, editor-in-chief, vol. 1, no. 8 (June 10,
1855). TIle passage is entirely characteristic of the bearing-at once honest and
unccnain- of this newspaper, which did not make it past its initial year of publi
cation. As early as the first issue, it marks itself ofT from the lax, morally emanci
pated and makes mention of the pi ous Hussite sect, the Freres Bohcmes,
founded by Michel Bradacz, which it would like to ensure a literary posteri ty.
[U7a, l ]
Sli mple of the IItyle of the lI ewlI !JII I,el' LA!. Boheme: " Wllu! cruell y in the
garrets is intelligence, art , poet r y. the 80 1l1! . ' or the soul is a wallet cOllllt ining
,
onl y the banknotes of paradise, and the shoJ>keel>en of this ....orld would nail thit
mOlley t o their count er like II coin fallen from the 11811<18 of II count erlei IA." AI
.... .
andre Guerin, "Les Mansu rdee," l..e Boheme, I . no. 7 (May 13, 1855). [U7a,2!
From a confrontation between the underclass intelk'CluaI, and tile ruling-dan
intellec: lua ls: " You princes of thought, j ewel s of the intell ect ... , since you have
moved 10 Ilisown U8, we in lum have abjured your paternily; we have disdained
your crowns and impugned your coau of arms. We have casl &Side the grandiose
titl es you formerly sought (or your Jabors: we are 110 longer "The Elan," " The
Star," or "The Will -o'-the-Wisp," ... but instead are ' 'The Pretentious Fool"
"'The Pennilell8," " The Promised land," "The Enfant Terrible," "The Tra
Pariah," or "The Bohemian," and thull we protest ... your egotistical a uthOrit:"
Charles Pradier, "Peres et ftls," Le Boheme, 1, no. 5 (April 29. 1855). (U7a,3)
Le Boheme, in its first issue, bears the subtitle Nonpolitical NewJpaper.
(US, II
"Do me the kindness of walking through the dens, the little restaurants
near the Pantheon or the Medical School. There you will find ... poetl who are
moved only by envy and all the lowest paS8ions, the self. proclaimed mart yrs of the
sacred Cffwe of progress, who ... smoke many a pipe ... without doing any
thing ... ; whereas Picond, whose beautiful lines you have ci ted, Piconel the
gannent worker, who earns four and a haH francs a day to feed eight people, it
registered a t the chari ty offi ce!! ... I have no ... wi sh, paradoxical al it mipt
seem, to commend the boasting of Dumas pere or to excuse the indifference of

some of his friends towa rd younger writ ers; but I declare to you that the greatest
enemies of those who have been deprived of a literary legacy are not the writen of
renown, the monopolizeN of the daily feuiUeton, but ra ther the falsely disinher
ited, those who do nothing but hurl insults, drink, and scandalize hone" people,
and all this from the vantage l)Oint of art." Eric hoard, "Les Faux Bohemes," I.e
Boheme. I . no. 6 (May 6, 1855). (U8,2)
It is significant that Le BoMme, which looks after the rights of the literary proletar
iat-who sympathize, to some extent, with the industriaJ proletariat-wowd see
6t, in an article entitled "Ou Roman en general et du romancier modeme en
particulier" (On the Novd in General and the Modem Novelist in Particu1ar>, by
Paul Saulnier (vol. I , no. 5), to condemn the practice of "slavers." Monsieur de
SanUs, as the novelist in vogue is named here, returns home after a day spent in
idleness. "Directly upon his arrival home, Monsieur de SanUs locks himself in . ..
and goes to open a little door hidden behind his bookcase.-He finds himself,
then, in a sort of little study, dirty and quite poorly lit. H ere, with a long goose
quill in his hand, with his hair standing on end, is a man with a face at pntt
sinister and unctuous.-Oho! with this one, you can tell from a mile away he's a
novelist- even if he is only a former employee of tll e ministry who leamed the
art of Balzac from the serials in Le Constitutionnel. It is the veritable author of 1M
Clwmber 0/Skulll! It is the novelisl!" [U8,3]
"In 1852 the bruthers Pere.ire, IWO Portuguese J ews, founded the fi NI great mod
ern bank. Cr&lil Mobilier, of which olli e said Iha t il ..-as lhe bi ggest gamhlin5 hell in
Eurol)C' It u,ul ertook wild speculations ill everything- ra il ruads, hotels, coloni es,
,I. ,n
ines theaters-and. after fift een yea rs, it dt..'<:iared tQlal bankruptcy."
call, ' .
El;oll Friedell . Kulturgeschiclue rler Nellzeif . vol. 3 (Munich. 1931), p . 187.
(U8a,t)
" Yo/leme <bollt!mian ) belongs to the vocabulary in use a round 1840. In the lan
guage of Ihat lime, it is synQnymous ....ith ' artist' or 'stude,"t ' or ' pleasure seeker';
itllIeallS someolne who is light-hearled a nd unconcerned Wi th the morrow, lazy and
boisterous:' Gabriel Guillemot , I.e Boheme (paris, 1868). pp. 7-8; cit ed in Gisela
Freund, ("La Photographie a u l)Oint de vue sociologique," manuscript ,> p. 60.
(U8a,2j
"The rQman--feuilkton <serial novel> was ina ugura ted in France by Le Siecle in
1836. The beneficent effects Qf the on the newspaper's receipll is
revealed by the CQntract whicb Le COIlJ litutionnel and Ltt Prene together had
with Alexandre Dumas in 1845.... Dumas reeei"ed an annual saJary Qf 63,000
frllllC8 for fi ve years, in return for a minimullI output of eight een installments per
year:' Lavisse, Histoire de Iff monarchie de jltillet , Voli. 4 (Paris, 1892); cited,
withQut page reference, in Gisela Freund. (U8a,3]
Alaying of Murger's (cited by Gillela Freund, p. 63): "The boheme: it is the train
ing groulld for the arti stic life; it is the stcppingstone to the Academie, to the
Hotel-Dieu ( hospital> , or tQ the Morgue." (U8a,4)
Gisela Freund (p. 64) Wlderlines the difference betweell the fiNt gener ation of
bohemians---Gautier. Nervol, Nant euil- who were Qften Qf 80lid bQurgeois origin,
lind the second: " Murger WIIS the son Qf a concicrge-tailor; Champfl eury Was the
6 11 of a secreta ry in the town haU of LaQn; Barbara, the SOli of a sbeet-music
sell er ; Bouvin, the SQn of a village policeman; Delvau, the 8011 of a tanner in the
Faul)Ourg Saint-Marcel; a nd Courbet Was the SOli Qf a quasi-peasant ." To this
\ seeo"d generati on belongcd Nadnr-the son of a poor printer. (He was later, for a
long time, sccretary to Lesscps.) [U8a,5)
' M. de Ma rti guac bequea thed ... a trouhlt.,.d legacy to the newspapcN. with his
law o( Jul y 1828-a law that was more liberal , to be sure, hul which. by mak.iug
. . . daili es or periodical s more accessiblc to all , burdellcll tll cm with cert ain fiuan
cial obli gations.. . 'What will we do Iol cover the lI ew c:lo: pcnscs?' dcmanded the
IlcWspal)Cr!I. " Vell , you will run ad,-crtisements,' came the response.... The con
SCIIIU!nccs of lulvertisi ng were ui ck to emerge and seemingl)' endless. It was all
"cry weIl to want to separa te_ in Ihe pages of tIl e ncwspaper. that whiell remained
and illllcpCllllcnt from that which l)Ccaml' alltl mercenary;
but the boundary ... was quickl y crosscii. Tim udverli ilemcllt served li S "rillge.
110100' CQuld Qne condemn , five minul es Lcrore, ... wllat five afterwllrd
I)r oc.laimed itself tim wonil er of the age? Tile fascination of capitalletten. which Ihat of the word.... They opened the way 10 a journalism of the grayer." Egon
-
wer e gr owing ever lar ger , curried ad vertis ing away: it was the mountan. fri eden . KIIlmrgcschichle der Nelu:eil, yol . 3 (Munich, 193 1), p. 95. fU9a,3}
thall.hre... off the compau .... This wretched adverti sing had an inOuence no less
rulal 10 the book trade.... Advertising represented . .. a doubling of
penses ... : one thousand (ra ll es for promoting a new work. Because oflhis rise in
costs , moreover. hook dealcn merci lessly demanded from authon two volume.
inst ead of oue---voiumcs iu oclavo rather than in smaller (ormat , for Ihal did not
cost any more to advertise.... Adverti sing . .. would re<luirc It whole history unto
it liel f: Swift , wit.h his vitriolic pen, would he the oll e 10 wrile it .'" On the word
rh:lmne ( adverti sement ). the following r emark: " For those who may not know the
facts , we merely obscrve thai the nk wme is the Little notice slipped into the ncws.
I)ape r near t.he end, and ordinaril y paid for by the bookseller ; inserted on the
samc day a8 the advertisement , or on the day following, it gin!s in two words a
brief and favorable judgment that helps prepare the way for that of the review'"
Saint. 8euve, "De la Litterature industricllc," ReVile des deux mondes, 19, no. 4
( 1839), pp. 682-683. [U9,l]
" Writing and publishing will be less ami less a sign of distinction. 10 keeping with
our electoral and industrial customs, everyone, at least once in his life, will have
his page, his t reatise, his prospe<:tus, hi s toast- will be an author. From there to
penning a feuilleton is only a slep . ... In our own da y, after all , who can aay to
himseUthat he does not , in pari , writ e in order 10 Live ... ?" Sainte-Beuve, " De la
Litterature intlu8lrieUe," Revue des deux mandes, 19, no. 4 (1839) , p. 681.
[U9,.]
In 1860 and 1868, in Ma rseilles and Paris, appeared the IwO volumes of Revua
parisielmcs: Les }ollrnllllX, le, reViles, Ie! livre!, by Baron Caston de F1otte, who
took it upon himself to combat the thoughtlessneu and unscrupulousnesll of the
hi stori cal accounts in the press and, particularly, in the feuilletons. The rectifica
tioll s concern the facts the legends of cultural, Literary, aod political history.
[U9,3]
Fees for feuilletoll8 wellt as high as two fr ancil per line. Authors would often wrile
as much (lialogue as possible so as to bcncfit from the blank spaces in the lines.
[U9.,1]
In his essay, " De la Litter ature industrielle" <On Industrial Lit erature). Sainte
Beuve discusses , among other things, the initial proceedings of the newly
ize<1 Societe des Cens de Lcttres (which origina ll y compaigncd, ahove all , againllt
Ull ll ulhorized Helgjan rCI)rinu). fU9a, 21
" In tile begi nlling, Sencfelil er luul thought onl y of facilitating til e reproduction of
munuscript s, ulul he puhlici zed the II CW Icuding 10 thi s elul ill lIis Vol
sti;fldigen Lehrbucll der Steitltlruckerei <Complete MUIIII II I of Lithography) ,
whi ch a ppeared ill 18 18. Olhen fi n l exploited hill for Ihe techlliqucoflilhO!
ra phy itself. ThclIc methodil enabled n ra pidity of dra wing Ihnl wall nellriy Ct:lual to
of the r evolut ionary press ill Paris ill 1848. Cllriosit es revoillli01l1luires:
Les j OllrllUIIX rOllses-iJis toire critique de leI journullx ultra-repllblicaiw,
hy II Girondi st (Paris . 1848). fU9a,4]
'There is only olle way of preventing cholera , and that is to work to eleyate the
moralit y of the masses. No per son whose moral eonstitutioll is satisfactory has
all )'thill g to fear from the plague .... There is clearly a place, today, for awa ken
ing moral salubrit y among the manes.... What is needed are ... extraordinary
measures.... What i8 nt:eded is a coup d' etat , all industri al coup d' etat . . . . This
acti on ....ould consist in changing, by decree, the law of expropriation, so that ...
the iJllerminable del ays occasioned by the current legislation would be reduced to
II fe .... days... . One could thus begin operations, for inll ta nce, on some thirty sites
in Paris , from the Rue de Louvre to the Bastill e, whi ch would clean up and reform
the ....orst neighborhood of the ci ty .... One could ... 8tart up railways at the
barrieres .... The first stage or construction ... ""ould be accompanied by cere
mOllies and public festiyal8. All the official bodies of the state would be thcre with
their insigni a, to exhort the people. The king and his family, the ministers, the
council of II ta te, tbe CQurt of casslltion, the royal court , what is left of the two
Chamhers--all would drop by on a regular basis, wielding the shoyel and pick.
axe . . .. Military regiment s would arrive on the scene to do service in full dreu,
with their milit ary music to inspire them . ... Theatrical performances would be
put on there from time to time, and the best actors would consider it an honor to
appear. The mOi l radi ant women would mix with the worker s to provide encour
agement . Exalt ed thus, and made to feel proud, the population would most cer
tainJy become invulnerable to cholcra. Industry would be given an impetus; the
governme.nt ... would be ... established On a firm foundation ." Michel Chevalier,
",Reli gi on Saint-Simonienne: Fin du cholera par un coup d'etat" <pamphlet>
(Paris, 1832). The SaintSimonians wanted to di stribute medi cine free of charge.
[Uga,S]
,
" \!lhat makes working 0 11 the omnibus train into truly painful drudger y: it departll
Ilari s at 7:00 ill the mor ning and arrives in SITli shourg al midnight. TillS makes for
seVent een hours of cont inuous servi ce, during willch the contluclor must get off at
e\'ery stati on, ....ithout exception. to OIH!n tbe doors of the car s! ... Surely, the
empl oyee who is re.luired to climb duwn al each station, ami to wade around in the
8'IOW for fi Ye or six minutes ever y IlIlif-hour, 80 as to opell and close the car
dours_lIud all thi s lit twdve degrees below freezing, or worse--must suffer cru
el ly." A. Gra n,eau . L 'Ouvrier det/filll fa societe (Paris, 1868), pp. 27- 28 ("' Les
Empl oyee et Ie 1II0uvemcnt des chcmillS de fer"). [UIO, I]
A remarlGible apotheosis of the traveler- to some extent a counterpart, in the
realm of sheer banality, to Bauddai.re's <OLe Voyage"-can be found in Benjamin
Gastineau, La Vlt rn dwnjn fkfer (Paris, 1861). The second chapter of the book
is called "Le. Voyageur du XIX' siecle" <The Nineteenth-Century Traveler>
(p. 65). ll1is wy(lgeur is an apotheosis of the traveler in which, in quite peculiar
fashi on, the traits of the WanderingJew are mingled with those of a pioneer of
progress. Samples: "Everywhere along his path, the traveler has sown the riches
of his heart and his imagination: giving a good word to all and sundry, . , .
encouraging the laborer, rescuing the ignorant from their gutter, . , . and raising
up the humiliated" (p. 78). "The woman who seeks a love supreme: traveler!_
The man who seeks a devoted woman: traveler!-... Artists avid for new hori
zons : travders!-The mad who take their hallucinations for reality: trav
e1ers!-... Glory hunters, troubadours of thought: travders!-Life is a joumey
and every single being who departs the womb of woman to return to the womb
of earth is a traveler" (pp. 79-81). "Humanity, 'tis thou who art the eternal
voyage.-" (p. 84). [UIO,' )
Passage from Benj amin Gastineau, Lv. Vie en chemin defer (Paris, 1861): " All of a
sudden, the curt ain is lowered abruptly on the 8UII. on beauty, on the thousand
scenes of life and lI ature which your mind amI hea rt ha ve savored along the way, It
is night und deat h a nd til e cemetery; it is despotism- it is the tunnel! Nothing but
beings that dwell in the shadows, never knowing the bright wing of freedom and
truth! ... Nonethel ess , aft er hearing the cries of confusion and dismay from pa...
sengers 011 the trai n a8 it enters the gloomy archway, and their exclamations of joy
on ' Iuilt ing the IIl11ncl, ... who would dare maintaill that the human creature wa.
not mall e for light a nd liberty?" (pp. 37-38). [VIO,3]
-
Passages from Benj amin Gaslineau, Lv. Vie en chemin def er (Paris, 1861): " H. ilIO
you, nohle races of the future, scions of the railway! " (p, 112). " All a board! AU
aboard! The whilltle piercell the sonorOU8 va wt of the sta ti on" (p. 18). " Before the
creatioll of t he railroads, nature did not yet pwsate; it was a Sleeping Beauty. , , .
The hea" ens themselves a plJea red immutable, The railroad animated every
thing .... The sky has become an acti ve infinity, and nature a dynami c beauty.
Christ is descendetl from his Cross; lI e has walked the earth, and he is leaving, far
bc hind him 011 the dust y road, the old AhulI ueruiI" (p . 50). [VIOa, l ]
" Michel Clu.wali er delight ed t he !l tndellts [of the Ecole Polyteclllli<jue] when be
rdracell , in pa rti cuiur, t.he grea t hi stori cal epochs. recurring oft en to Alexauder,
Chur)cmngne. 1t11(1 Napoleon. in order to emphasize the rol e of inventors
alllitriumphaut organizers ." G, Pinet, llislOire de {'Ecole polYfeellflilllle (PariJl,
HUH), p. 205. [VIOa,2j
" The IIiJlI' ipl eli of Suinl-Simon- n 'cruit ed , for the 111081 pltrt , from the des
Mill ell. wll k h i ll to lI ay, f 1'0 111 ulll ong the best of til e Ecole Polytcchnillue-
coul l) IInl IUl vc' fail cl l to c' xc'rt a consi cl crahle influcnce un t.llI'ir younger coro
radell .... SlI inl -Si moniunili m ditl not havt' lillie 10 garner lIIany
t:UlIl'erl" a t IIII' Ecolt l'olytt:d llliclue, The schism of 1831- dea lt it II fatui blow- Ihe
folli es of Menilmont ant . lhe bi zarre COShUII C8 . and the ritiiClllouSllameS had kill ed
it . ,. G. Pinet , Ilis foire de "Ecole Jiolytedllliqlle , PI' . 204--205. [V IOa,3)
The itl ea for the Suez Ca nal gucs hack 10 [nfantin. who hall sought a conceSli ioli
frolll the ,' iceroy of Egypt. Muliamma,1 Ali , and wanted to move there with forty
pupils. Engl lllltllllude SlIre I.hallhe concession was denied him. [VIOa,4]
"Saint-SinlOn attempted to found an association to take advantage of the easy
tenns mandated by the decree, . , of November 2, 1789, which made it possible
to acquire national lands at a price that was payable in twelve annual installments
by means of assignats. These temlS for the acquisition, with modest
capital, of a considerable spread of rura! properties .... 'Every financial specula
tion is based upon an investment of industry and an investment of funds. The
returns on a financial speculation should be divided in such a way that industty
and capital have shares proportionate to the influence they exercised. In the
speculation I entered on with M. de Redem, capital played only a
role.''' The author cites a letter from Saint-Simon to dated No
vember 2, 1807; it contains indic.1.tions as to his theory of the relations between
capital, labor, and talent. Maxime Leroy, UJ Spicu/ationJ fondem de Saint-Simon
et Jt:i qumllu d'qffaim aVt:c Jon (lJJocii, Ie comlt: de Rt:dern (paris <1925, pp. 2, 23.
[U1I,1)
"Saint-Sinton beli eved in science .... But whereas. a t the beginning of his studies.
the mathematical and physical sciences, , . had almost exclusive claim on hil
att ention, it was now from the realms of the natural Icienct:s that he would seek the
el usive key to those locial problems tha t so vexed him. ' I dist anced myself, in
1801, from t.he Ecole Pol yteduti'lue.' he writ es, ' and I established myself in the
"icini ty of the Ecole de Medicine, where 1was able to aJlsociate with the physiolo
gisls. ,,., Maxime Leroy, Lv. Vie lJeri'able dll comte lIen,-i de Saint-Simon (Paris.
1925), pp. 192- 193.- The Ecole Pol ytec:: lmi 'lue. at the time SaintSinlOn li ved
near it , was housed in the Palais Bourbon. [VI 1,2]
,
"Ule Nave of the Grand Cafe Parisien" reads the cap60n under an engraving
from 1856, The view of the pubtic oITered here does, in fact, resemble the one
secn in the nave of a church, or in an arcade. Visitors are mostly standing in place
or wandcring about - t.hat is, among tile billiard tables whicll are set up in the
navc. [U Il ,3j
Hubbard says-refening, with doubtful justification, to Saint-Sinlon's tears on
parting from his wife at the time of their divorce:' "Perpetual sacrifice of the
and t:ompassionate being to the being that thinks and understands."
CIted in Maxime Leroy, La Vie uin'labte du comlt: Hrori de Saint-Simon (Paris,
1925), p. 21 1. ...... [V1I ,4]
" Let li S put all elltlto honon for AJexander; and hail Archimedcs!" Saint-Simob
,
cil l.'1.! ill Leroy, La Vie veri'tlble du comle lIenri de SainI-Simon. p. 220. [V II ,S]
Comte worked for four yean by the side of Saint-Simon. lII
[VII ,, ]
Eugene Sue's juiferrunt <Wandering J ew) in Le ConstilUlionnel as a repl acemebt
for Thiers's lIiJtoire du COnsllwt et de I'Empire, which Veron had originall
pl anned to pllb1i8h there.
Saint-Simon: " Conli ideration8 lillr les melillreli aprendre pour terminer la Revolu_
ti on" < 1820>. - lntroduction t o Les Tra uaux scienlifaques du XIX' siecle.
(UIla,l ]
Sai nt -Simon invented revolutionary pl aying cards: four geniuses (war, peace, art,
commerce) a8 kings; four libertie8 ( religion, marri age , the press, the profession8)
as (Iueens; four equalities (duties, rights, dignities, colors) as j acks. I...eroy, La Vie
verittlble du comte lIenri de Suint -Simon (Paris, 1925), I). 174. (Ulla,2]
Saint-Simon dies in May 1825. Hi8 lu t word8: " We are carrying on with our
work." Leroy, p. 328. [Ulh,3]
On Saint-Simon: "A8 much B8 he u tonishes us with his foresight in matte ... of
labor and societ y, he nonetheless gives us the impression that he was lacking some
thing: ... a mili eu, hi 8 milieu, the proper spher e in which to extend the Optimi8tie
traditi on of the eighteenth century. Man of the future, he had to do his thinlciJl8
alm08t entirel y by him8Cif, in a 80ciety that had been decapitated , bereft of ill
foremo8t minds by the Revolution .... Where was Lavoisier, founder of modera
experiment a l 8dence? Where was Condor cet, the leading phil080pher of the ap.
and Chenier, the leading poet? They would have li ved, in all likelihood, had
Rohespier re not had them guiUotined. It was left to Saint-Simon to car ry out,
without their hell), the diffi cult work of organill8tion which they began. And faced
with this immen8e and 80Lit ary mission, ... he took upon himself t oo many ta8b;
he was obliged to he a t once the poet , the experimental 8cientist, a nd the philo80
I)her of the newborn age." Maxime Leroy, La Vie veritable till comte lIenri de
Saint -Simon (Jlaris, 1925), PI)' 321-322. [Ull a,4]
A lithograph by Pattcl represents "Engraving Doing Battle with Lithography."
The latter seems co be getting the upper hand. Cabinet des Estampcs. [U Il a,5]
A lithograph of 1642 depi cts "The Di van of the AJgerians in as "The Cafe
!\1auresque. " In till: background of a coffeehouse, in whi ch exotic walk by
the sill e of EurOI)tlunS, thrl.'i: odalis(lueS are sitting, pressed close togcther 0 11 a tiny
di van hencath a mirror. and smoking wat er pil)tlS. Cabinet des Estllmpes. .
[U lla,6)
Graphics from 1830 display readily, and often allegorically, the conflict of the
newspapt::rs among one another. They love to show, in this same period, what
happens when several pt::ople have to shan: in reading one newspaper. They
picture the snuggle that arises on this occasion, whether it be over possession of
the paper or over the opinions it purveys. Cabinet des Estampes, a plate from
1817: "The Love of News, or FbliUcomania." (Ulla,7]
"AI the Siock Exchange, one Sai nt -Simonian i8 worth two J ews.'" " Paris Bour
sier. " Les Petits- Paris: Par les auteur, des memoires de Hilbof/uet [TaxiJe Delom]
(Paris. 1854), p. 5<l. (U12,1]
An uncommonly telling expression of the heyday of boulevard journalism.
"What do you mean by the word '\vit'?-I mean something which, it is said,
travels the streets but only very rarely enters the houses." Louis Lurine, u
'frei!jeme ArTf)ndi.s.mnenl de Paro (Paris, 1850), p. 192. [U12,2]
The idea that newspaper advertisements could be made to serve. the distribution
not only of books but of industrial articles stems from Dr. veron, who by this
means had such successes with his Pate de Regnauld, a cold remedy, that an
investment of 17,000 francs yielded him a return of 100,000. "One can say,
therefore, . .. that if it was a physician, Theophraste Renaudot, who invented
journalism in France ... , it was Dr. Veron who, nearly half a cenntry ago,
invented the founhpage newspaper advertisement." J oseph La Salle Ii
mtlnger du docleur Wron (Paris, 1868), p. 104. [U12,3]
The "emancipation of the 8esh," in Enfantin, should be compared to the theses
of Feuerbach and the insights of Georg Buchner. The anthropological material
ism is comprised within the dialectical. [U12,4]
V"UJemessant : " lnitiaUy, he ran a bU5iness ill ribbons. This concern ... led the ...
youlig man t o st art up a fa5hion journal. ... From there, Villeme68ant ... 800n
int o politi cs , rallied to the ugit imi sl part y and, after the Revolution of
1848, turned himself into a political satiri8l . He organi zed three different new8Jl a
succe8sion, amOng them the Puris Chronicle, which was 8uppressed by
\. Impenal decr ee in 1852. Two yean after thi s, he founded Le Figaro. " Egon Caesa r
COll te Corti , Der Ztlllberer von lIomburg lind Monte Ctl r/o (uipzig <1932 ,
pp. 238-239. [U12,5)
J.'ralltois Blallc was one of the first grellt Tllroll gl, contacts in the
press. he hll d placed for the Homhurg Casino in Le Siecle and
L"Ancmblee nlilionafe. " lie ulso pCI'sollllll y lll'runged fOI' ent ire series of cight
fifty- ad ... to appca r ill ncwspa pers ... like Lfl Pressc, Le
I\ mwnll f L I' , I ' - G I ' ... E C C C
, 1I II n e, all( Le 1I ' 8 /1WII. gUll al:Sll r ollte Oltl , Ocr Zauberer
VO/l Hom bllrg lind MOllte Carlo (Leipzi g), p . 9i. [U12.6J
II] Ilay: " " uICI)tlllli entl y of the New J erusalem of Emanuel
SWedelihor g, alh'ocated lJ y Baron Porl al , ... dll' re ...us the phalanstery of
Chllrles Fouri er. There was a lso the 80-caUed Eglise Fra lll;ai8C 6f Abbe Chatel,
Primate of the Gaul8; there was the re8toration of the Order of the Tempi....
organized hy M. Fahre-Palaprat ; allli there ,..-all the cull of Ev.damism cre.ted b;
the Mapah."11 Philibert AudeIJralll1, Michel Chevalier <Pari8_ 1861>. p. 4.
(UI',7j
Sailil -Simonian propaganda. " One of the foUowers of Ihe doclrine. who waf
asked. one day, whal hi8 dUlics were, replied: ' I am a ma n about lown, a respecled
speaker. I am elegantly Ilre88ed 80 I.hal 1ca n be presenl ed everywhere; gold is put
inio my pocket so that I am rcady to play whist. How can I fail?'" Philibert
Audebrand, Michel Chevalier, p. 6. [U12a,l]
The split in the ranks of the Saint-Simonians forced adherents of the doctrine to
choose between Bazard and Enfantin. (U12a,2]
At Mcnilmontant, the members of the Saint-Simoni an 8eC:t shared responsibility
for the various departemenu of housekeeping: cooking (Simon and Rocbelle),
tableware (Talebot ), cleaning (d'Eichtel , Lambert), sboeshine (Barrault ).
(U12a,3]
The Sai nt -Simonians al Menilmont ant: "A great nlll8ician of tbe future,
M. FeLicien David, composer of The De5ert , of The Pearl of Bra::;il aod of Hercu
wneum , was Ilirector of their orchest r a. He composed the melodies they saD ... ,
notably those which pre<:ede<1 and foUowed the meals. " Philibert Audebraod,
Michel Chevalier ( Paris, 1861>, 1' . 11. [V12a,4]
General celibacy, up until the marriage of Enfanlin, was the rule at Minilmootant.
[V12a,S]
After the dissolution of Menilmontant, and after being sentenced to a year in
prison, Chevalier was dispatched by Thiers to America. It is likewise Thiers who
later sends rum to England. After the February Revolution, which costs him his
position, he becomes a reactionary. Under Napoleon, he is made senator.
(U12a,6]
By the end of the 18508. Le Sieck. with 36,000 subscribers , had the largest circu
lation.-Milland founds Le Pe,i, Journal. which he sells on the sl.reelll for one sou.
[V12a,7]
Uab:ac, commenting on Aux Ar,i.J'e5: 011 Pel ue el de rove"ir tie5 ooaux-tIrU-Doc
de Soiflt-Simo" (Paris: Mesni er): " Apostl eship is lin arti sti c lIIi 6Sioll , but tM
uut hor of this pamphlet Illl s not shown b.imself worthy of that uugust title. The
main ideu of h.is work is I.rul y imlKlrtallt ; what he has given us is inconsider
able . ... Saini-Si mon was a remarkabl e man, one who is yt:l to be understood.
This fact has causetlthe It'aders of his I!chool to engage in the practice of prosely
tizill g II )" II IJCaking. li ke Christ . u lunguage att uned ttl the limes a lld to the men of
those timclI. a language ca lcltl at(."(lto appeallCIIs to the mind than Itl the heart. " 10
this same text. with r eference to Saint-Simon: "There, perhal>s. Iiell the truth."
lIollore de Balzac. Critique liueraire. 00. Louis Ltlmet (Paris, 1912), PI'. 58. 60
("Le Feuilleton des journaux politi(IUCII" ). V12a,8]
The immediate cause for the schism among the Saint-5imonians was Enfantin's
doctrine of the emancipation of the flesh. To this was added the fact that others,
like Pierre Leroux, had earlier already bridled at holding public confession.
(UI',I]
The Saint-Simonians had little sympathy for democracy.
(UI',']
The press under Charl es X: "The newspapers did not seU single copies to individu
abo Newspapers were read only by subscribers. and subscription wasexpeDllive. It
was a luxury, in fact , r eserved for the nobility and the hau te bourgeQisie. The t otal
number of copie. rose, in 1824, 10 only 56,000 (of which 41 ,000 were for the
opposition newspapers)." Charles Seignobos, Hi.Jtoire sincere de la nation
jram,uue (Paris, 1933), PI" 411-412. Over and above that , the newspapert had to
pay large deposits. [V13,3]
Cirardin, as editor of La Preue, introduces advertisement s, feuilletons, and sales
of single copies. [V13,4]
"Newspaper sal esmen have great difficulty procurinll: their stock. In order to gel
their supply, they bave to stand in line-in the street , no lcss!-for part of the
night. " Puris 50W W Republique de 1848: Expo&ition de la BiblWtheque el des
TravClux hutorique5 de Ja Ville de Puru ( 1909), p. 43. [V13,S]
Around 1848. lhe Cafe Chant ant opens up: The founder is Morel. (UI' ,6]
Pi cture sheets: " Occul>ations of the Saint-Simonian Ladies Attording to Their
Capacities" (lmagerie popuwire, 1832). Colored prints. in which red, green, and
"' yellow predominate: "Saint-Simonian Ladies Preaching tbe Doctrine," "This
Bouquet Cannot Be Too Beautiful for Our Brother," "Saint Simonienne Dreaming
of the Hunt ," and 10 forth . Illustrations in Henry-Rene.dAllemagne, Le5 Saint
SimonienJ. J827-1837 (Paris, 1930), opposite I>. 228. A pendant to this : ". ' unc
tions of the Apostles or l\1ellil-Montant According to Their Capacity" (illustration .
ihill ., opposit e p. 392). St.'e in this cont ext (ibid., opposite p. 296) the etiquett e for
laull ching a foot! itcm: "Liquor of tbe Sai nt -Simonian8." A group of Enfantin'l
di sci pl e8; at ccnt er, Enfunlln and the Republj c wuving a tri colored flag. Everyone
rai ses a glass. [V 13,7)
In 183 1, Chcvalier, aud a few othert refuse. as members of the " clergy" of
tht Sai nt -Simoni an church, 10 serve in the Garde Nationale. Twenty-four houu'
inl prisonment . (U13,8)
,
Le Globe (October 31 , 1831). with regard t o the uprising in Lyons. held that a r_iae
in pay could place thai ci t y', industry in j eopardy: " Don' t you sw that , even if.
direct intervention in the affairs of industry ... is rel.luired of YUII you can.
not , for some brief pe ri od, alleviat e the suffering of oue das8 of society without
pel'ha8 oppressing unother? Let 1111 now commend the henefll ' of competition, of
that lai ssez-faire ... whi ch the liberal or ators of late have once agai n been tout_
illg." H.- R. d' AUemagne . u !J SlJint -Simonien!J ( Paris, 1930), p. 140. [U13,9)
The Saint-5imonians: a salvation anny in the midst of the bourgeoisie. [U13a, l ]
Chevalier, writillg 10 Hoart a nd Brunea u, on Novemher 5, 1832: " Listen to th_.
voice from Lyons! Lyolls is calling you . is calling us, with a roar. Lyons is t otteriDfl;.
Lyon8 is trembling. What energy those proletarian8 have! They are descendaDu or
Spart acus!" Henry- Rene d' AUemagne, u! Soiflt-Simonien!J, 1827- 1837 <Pam,
1930>, p . 32.5. [U13a,2]
Rcvoaling:
1bis people, whose head and hand you fear,
Muslmarch, must march-no halting!
It's when you stop their steps
They notice the hob in their shoes.
Uon HaJevy, "La C haussure," FahltS TlouUt!/Ie; (Paris, 1855), p. 133; cited in de:
Liefde, Le Saint-Simonisme dans la pobiefranfaise <Haarlem, 1927>, p. 70.
(V13a,S]
"Sal)l)(:r 8 of the army of l.eace"-a Saj nt -Simonian formula for the entire corp. 01
workers. (V131.')
A piece from Pierre Lachambeaudie's Fable; et pobie; diverm (Paris,
"Fumee": smoke from the foundry meets with incense in the air, and they mingle
at God's behest. TIlls conception extends forward as far as Du Camp' s poem 00
the locomotive, with its "sacred smoke." (V13a,5]
[U131.6]
Le Clohe--at least for II time--was diSl ributed gratis in Paris.
" The feminine and masculine element ...hi d l they tIiSco\-er ill God, a nd which they
aim t o revive ill Ihc priestl y marriagc. ha s not LL'Cn cel ebrated in the poetry of the
sect . We have found onl y olle allU8ion 10 these doctrillL"II . . ..
God of nI . l .. and fema le ,irille. This world lack. all <n\' icl ion:
It yet .10111,18. a lld nol t he Falhcr'$ iron . mi clion!
The MOlhcr-Cod a llO,.,!- will he IIUl 8llving gr aC<"
Tha I. in j"y. he' ll hurry 10 (",hrace!"
Jul es l\1er cier, " Dieu nous Je re.ndra," in La Foi nouvelle, p. 15; ci ted in C. L. de
Liefde. U SlIinrSimonisme (l lln!J la poesie jrlJll{(Ji!Je d l aarl em. 1927 >, 1>1>. 146
14i. [U13a,7)
George Suml , for ",-holll love the unifi ca lion of the classes , understands the
fIIutt er in this wuy: "A young man of humbl e st ation, but genial and good looking,
a bea ut iful and l.erfect young noblewoman, and voil a: the merger of the
cla. sse;;.... In U Meunier d 'Angiooult , Lemor, the artisan hero, refuse8 the hand
of II patriciun widow bet!au!Ie she is rich ... , a nd then the widow rejoices at the
fi re "'hi eh brings about her ruin, removing thu8 the last obslacle in .he way of
Ull iOIl with her lover." CharlL'lI Brun, Le RonltJn social en France au XIX; sieck
(Puris, 19 10) pp. 96-97. [U13a.8j
Enfantin a88umes that pr iest s, arti st8, trutl cspeople, a nd so on will exhibit , in
their different capacities, entirely different phY8icai constitutions (and different
ailments as well). (V13a,9j
Girardin's style: " Indentation with each new sentence, each sentence being but a
line; the antillie8is of ideas enveloped in the similitude of word8; rhyme in
prose ... ; all nouns capi talized, enumerations that recall Rabelais. definitions
that often re<:aU nothing at all ." Edouard Dr umonl , Le. Hero, et Ie! pitre, (Paris
( 1900 , p. 131 ("Emile de Gi ra rdin"). (U14,1]
Drumont 0 11 Cirardin: " To get this result- beillg forgotten eight day8 aft er his
death- he rose aU his life at five o' clock in the morning. " Edouard Drumont, Le!J
fleros et 1e!J pitres (paris <1900 , p. 134-135 (" Emile de Cira rdin"). [U14,2]
According 10 cer tain calcul ation8, the Saint -Simoni ans distributed between 1830
and 1832, son;e 18 millioll printed pages among the popuJation. ell. Benoi8t,
" L' llonlJlle de 1848," Revue del deux mOrldes (Jul y I , 1913). [U14,3]
With their didactic contrast between worker bees and drones, the Saint-5imoni
\ am hark back to Mandeville's fable of the bees. ' (V14,4]
Uega rtiill g the moveill eni wilhin Sainl -Simollianism: from t he letl en addreued t o
by Cla ire Demar alld Perrel Deseuarts , before their joint suici de. Claire
Dtmar: " Bill if his "oice has lI ot drawn me on. if it is not he who has come to invite
nle to thi I r . . I I
t . S 1181 e8l lvll y. at eaiOt hllve not hastened his voyage: he hus hL'en reati y
or II long tillle." " The offi ce unti Ihe officer a re extinguishing them
aches at t l . . I .
. Ie 8Ulll1 time . .11 8 we lave often said they must ; for the une ca nnot depart
Wit hout th " . , AI I I I I I ..
CO) . ler. as" w W lave .ll way8 JL'en a nl an of advenl t)' and of soli
tUde-I I
II ' 10' 11.1 lun'e II lways murt:hed a lone IIlItl apart , ... protesti ng \'igorously
gaui sl ortl . J ' I II I .. . . I
cr unu ulllt y_ w lui COli ( )e 8l1rl)rtSlllg III my wI! ld rawal enact ed at
I
I
IC . ,
Very /1101111:111 , it would SL'CIll , when I.he peuple8 are abuut to join in a religious
feder ation. when their handa are now linked up to (orm that imP01inS chain... .
Lambert, I do not doubt humani t y, ... nor do I d oubt of Providence ... ; but iQ
- til e lime in which we live , everything is ! ucred--even suicitl e! ... Woe betide the
man who does not ba re ill s head before our cadavers, for he is trul y impioua!
Adieu. August 3, 1833, at ten o'clock in the evening. " Claire Demar, Ma Lot
d 'avenir,12 work published posthumously by SUJl ll nne (Pari8: at the offices of La
Tribune de, /emmet, and in anociation with all marchand. de nouveautes, 1834),
pp. 8, 10-11. [U14,S]
Statistics on the anllual publication of newspalH!rI, lIIontidy pcriodiclIls, and (on
nightl y r eviews. Included afe new publications onl y:
1833:251 jounlUux 1838: 184- j ournaru
1834: 180
1840: 146
1835: 165
1841: 166

1836: 151 1842: 214
1837: 158
1845: 185
Charles Louandre, "Stati stique litteraire: De la Production intellectuelle ell
France depuis quinze ans," Rellue des deux mondes (November I , 1847), p. 442.
[U14,6J
Toussenel remarks of Enfantin that , in order 10 make up for his conviction ill
court , and to console himself for the failure of bis fascination on thia ocusioD, he
turned to speculati on. Tou88enel provides, moreover, the following portrail ..
him: "There was among them a man of godlike comportment wbo was namecl
Enfantin. He was no less celebrated for the puissant maneuvers of his cue stick, ill
the noble game of billiards , than for the frequency and with wbich he
doubled the stakes at gaming. Relying on the faith of sever al charming women, ..
he passed himself off as someone ideall y suited to a leading role. and had bimMH
proclaimed the Father . ... And since it was the aftennath of the July Revolu
tion, ... this man did not lack for foll owers." A. Touuenel. us luifs rot..
l 'epoqlle, 3rd edition. cd. Gabriel de Gonet (Paris < 1886>), vol. I , p. 127.
(U14a, l]
1832?). people laid the blame for the
At the time of tbe choler a epidemi cs <in
{U14a,2J
infection on Li 1luor dealers.
Le )olJ.rIUlI des debau
..
mtroduccs t u:
If
urClgn corrC8pon
d
ent .
. "5' '. Bertin sent
.
'
mce".
Michel Chevalier on a diplomati c miu ioll to the Unit ed States (which gained for lad
newspalH!r the publication of the famous Lellres Jlir l 'Amerique du Nord), the
latt er ha s acquired a taste for these goverllment all y sponsored assignmentll ....
Following Ihe Lellres sur l'Ameril/lie du Nord . .. ca me the Leures sur
... ; Ihell there hael 10 be Lellres sur la Chine." A. Toussenel , Les )uifs rOt
l 'eptxlUe (Paris), vol. 2, 1'1' . 12- 13. {U14a,3}
1'he Saini-Silllonians looked for a female meuiah (La Mere), who ""'as to marry
with their high priest . Le Pere. (U14a,4]
"Le IK'reOlinde <Rodrigues): ' ... If you are a Saini-Si moni an woman, be advised
Ihpl it is nol the republic that we want . Firmin Maillard . La Ugerzde de la
femme em(lIIcipee (Paris), p. Ill . [U14a,5J
Hei ne IIC(lica led Deutschland to Enfantin. Enfantin r esponded with a letter that
was publishcd in 1835, by Duguet . in a r eprint , Heine a Prosper Enfantin, en
Egypt, whose jacket bore tbe Line De l 'Allemagne.-8"M. Piece 3319 <call number
in Ihe Bibliolbeque Nati onale). The letter admonishes Heine to temper hi, sar _
casm, above all in Ihings religious. Heine should writ e books nOI about Gennan
Ihoughl but rather about the German r ealit y, the hearl of Germany- which, for
Enfalltin, "", a& enentiall y an idyll . {U14a,6]
The conversion of Juli e Fanfernot to Sai nl-Simonianism (she turned later to
Fourierism) was made the subj ect of a theatrical work by the Sainl-Simoniaru.
Extracts from Ihis publication, which appeared in the grouP' & j ournal , ar e to be
found ill Firmin Maillard. La Ugende de lafemme emancipee (Paris), pp. 115f.
[UIS,!I
Saint-Simoll on tbe Rue Vivienne: " Dinners and evening parties followed one afler
anolher wilhout interruption.... There were, in addition, some late-night scenes
of amorou.!! effusion , in whicb cerlain of the gueslfI , it is reported, ... let them
selves be car r ied away in Anacreontic Iransports, while, from deep in hi s easy
chai r, a calm and impanive SaintSimon looked on, taking no pa rt at all in the
OOnverfl8tion, but nonetheless taki ng it all in, and preparing himself withal to
transform the human race." Firmin Maillard, La U gende de lafemme emanci"ee
(Pari! ), p. 27. {U15,2]
Many believed Ihat the female meniah- who, according to Duveyrier, could issue
.118 ""'ell from the ranks of the prostilut es as from any other Sirat um of 8ociet y
,
woult! have to come from the Orient (Con5lantillople). Barrauh and ""e!ve com
rades, t herefure, set out for Con8l antinople 10 look for " the Atother. " {U15,3J
Apropos of I.he schism among the Sailil-Simonians: " Hazard ... had been mortally
...ou1uled in conSC(lucll ce of the fallloll 8 general confeuion, where he learned from
his wi fe hcrself that , in spite of all the symputhy . .. whi ch she hud for him, she
Coul d ncver see him come up to her withoul feeling an instinctive repugnance. It
' Hercul es ellchaincII . ' as someone bad said un !!CC.ing him struck by apoplexy."
Fir1nill Maillard, La Legemle de la femme em(mcipce (Pnris), p. 35. [U15,4J
" E" eryone a bout the rel.reul al Menilmonl alil. . . . There they Iive!1 in celi
b
ll cy
S(I as to Ilemonstrate thallbcir idcas 0 11 marriage. and on the em,ancil'lIlion of
women, were in no way the out come of an el)icurean deAign." Firmin Maillard, La
Legende de lafemme emanci"ee (Parill). II . 40. [Ul 5,5]
Proudhon was a fierce opponem of SaintSimonianism; he speaks of "Saint
Simonian rottenness." [U15,6]
"The art ll can fl ourish only as conditioned withiJl lUI organic age <epoque or_
ganique>, and inspiration il st rong and salulary onl y when it is social and reli&
ious." Thul E. Barrault speakll out , in Aux arti.stes: Oil Passe et de l 'cHlenir de.
beaux-(lrt.s (Paris, 1830), p. 73, agaiRllt the bar ren "crit ical agel." [U15,7]
Last echo of the idea that inaugurated Saint-Simoni ani l lll : "One can compare the
zcal and the ardor displayed by the civilized nati ons of today in their e8tab_
li slullent of r ailroads ",ith that which, several centuries ago, went into the huildins
of cathedrals .... If it is true, as we hear, that the word ' religion' comes from
religare, " to bind" ... , then the railroads have more to do with the religious ' piMl
than one might suppose. There has never existed a more powerful instrument for
... rallying the scattered populations." Michel Chevalier, " Cherninl! de fer," in
Dictionn(l;re de I'economie politique (Paris, 1852), p. 20. [U15a, l ]
"The government wanted, on its own, to construct the railway system. There were
various disadvautagC8 to thil course of action, ... but , in the end, it would bave
r;iven us r ailroads. The idea occalioned a ter rific explosion; political rivalriel
dominated the scene. Science itself ... came out in support of the spirit of ayatem- _
atic oppollition. An illustrious aavant was vain enough to lend the authority of hit
name to the plot against the railways. Constructi on by the state was Ihu8 rejected
by an overwhelming majorit y. TILis occurred ill 1838. Favorably diapoaed, aa it
was, toward the project, the government now tur ned to I)rivate induatry. Take
these marvelous thoroughfarell, it said; I am offering you the conce88ion for theat.
And no sooner were these words out than a new &Iorm ar08#!. What! The banken,
the capitalists are going to reap a (ortune from this venture! ... It it feudaWlD .
. . were
reborn from its own ashcs!- The plans to 0 ffer conceUlOns to COmpanle
accordingly withdrawn, ... or else spiked with clauses that made acceptance am
. . '1'/ ' ' "k .1 til 1844 " Michel
l)Ouible for serIOus IDvestou. we contlDuetl (I e _11 8 up un .
ChevaUer, "Chemins de fer," excerpt from Dicrionnaire de I'economk
. . [U15 .2J
(Pans, 1852), p. 100.
. I ' "I d cars the
ChevaUer already sets up, (or the transport 0 r wa r matena S In ral roa '" .
(IUalion: fort y men equal six horses. See Mi chel Clulva lier, "Chemills de fer, 10
Dictwnfluire de l'economie politique (Paris, 1852). Jlp. 47-48. [U15
a
,3)
r f l ' l "into Or-
Theory of art in Saint-SimOllia ni sm. It rests on I.IIe ( n'ISlOn 0 118 ory
gallic or r eligious ages ami Crilical or irrel igious ages ... . The course of hislOry
trealed ill this "'ork compriscs t".o orga lli c agcII-the finit constitut ed under tbt:
. I r ei " dinthe
reign of Greck pulythelsm. Ihe sec-olIIl under I IUt 0 IrlSl lamty- ulI .
wake of these organic ages, Iwo criti cal agea, of which one extends from the er a of
Greek pllilollophy to the advent of Chrill tianit y, and Ihe ol her from the end of the
Mtcell th century to til e present:' [. Barraull , ] Aux url i.s les: Ou Pane et de
rtwenir cies beaux--aru (Paris, 1830). p. 6. <See NIO.5. ) [U15a,4]
Universal history appears, to the Saint-Simonian Barrault, as the new work of
art: "Shall we venture to compare the last of the tragic or comic authors ofRame
\..1th the Christian orators intoning their eloquent sennons? No, Comeille, Ra.
cine, Voltaire, and Moliere will nOI come back to life; dramatic genius has accom
plished its mission .... In the end, the novel will fail no less in respect of what it
has in common with these tv.o genres as in its relations to the history of which it
is the counterfeit. ... History, in fact, will again take on a powerful chann ... ; it
will no longer be only a little tribe of the Orient that will make for sacred history;
the history of the entire world will merit this title. Such history will become a
veritable epic, in which the story of every nation will constitute a cantO and the
story of every great man an episode." [E. Barrault,l Aux arruJe.s: Du PasJi d de
1'al1t.7ljr des beaux-aru (Paris, 1830), pp. 81-82. The epic belongs to the organic
age; the novel and drama, to the critical. (U16,l ]
Barrault already has a vague idea of the imponance, for art, of secularized cultic
elements, although he puts the emphasis on periods that are consolidated
through cult: "Although Greece never fostered a religious caste system like that of
the Orient, its epic represented nothing less than an initial separation of poetry
from cult .... Should orthodox movements survive into the critical periods, the
course of these periods is imperceptibly drawn back into the bosom of ortho
doxy." (E. Barrault,l Aux artutes: Du Paui d de l 'atml ir des beauxaru (Paris,
1830), pp. 25-26. [U16,2)
Saint+Simori. l)Oints with satisfaction to the fact that precisely those men who
humanit y most decisively- Luther, Bacon, Descartes--were r;iveo to
pa8sioliS. Luther, the pleasures of eatill g; Bacon, money, Descartes , women and
gamhUllg. St..'C E. n. CurtiulI, Bahac <Bonlt, 1923> , 1' . 117. (U16,3]
With reference to Guizot, whose brochure, "Du Gouvemement de la France et
du actuel" (Paris, 1820) presents the accession of the bourgeoisie as the
struggle of a class (of course, his work De fa Dimocrab"e [Paris, 1849)
SCes Ul class struggle, which has meanwhile arisen between bourgeoisie and
only a misfortune), Plekhanov ponrays the visions of the socialist
Utopians as, "tllcorcti call y no less than practically," a great step backward. "The
reason. for this lay in the weak. developmcnt of the proletariat at that time."
Plckhanov, "Ober die Anfange der Lehre vom KJassenkampf," Die neue
.(ell, 21, no. I (St'uugan, 1903), p. 296. [UI6,4J
I\ Ugtl stin Tilierry. all "udopted SO li " of Sui nt-Simon. According 10 Marx. he de.
8e 'I
n IeS ver y "" cll how "from fir;;l , or at least afler t. he r ise of the tOWII S, Ihe
,
French bourgeoisie gains too much inHuence by cOll stituting itself the Parliament,
the burea ucracy, and 80 on, and not , as in England, mere1y through commerce
and industry." Karl Marx to Friedri ch Engels, London, July 27, 1854 [Karl Man:
and Friedrich Engelt, Ausgewiihlte Briefe, ed. V. Adoratsld (M08COW and Lenin.
grad , 1934), p. 6O]. 1l [V16a, l}
Aftereffects of Saint-SinlOni anism: " Pierre Leroux-who is represented, in co
gravings of the period. with hands clasped and eyes upraised in ecstasy--did his
best to have an article on Cod published in La Revue dea deu.x mondea, ... We
recaU that Louis Blanc deli ghted Huge with a lecture attacking the atheists.
Quinee. along with Michelet , struggled furiously against the J esui ts, while pri
vately ha rboring the wi sh to reconcile his compatriots with the Cospel." C. Bougie,
Chez les prophetes socialistes (Paris. 1918), pp. 161- 162. [V16a,2}
Heine', Deutschland is dedicated to Enfantin. [U16a,3J
Schlabrendorf reports that SainlSimon wa nted to make physics, and but
physics, the true religion. "Teachers of r eligion were supposed 10 deliver lecturee
in church on the mysteries and wonders of nature. There, 1 imagine, they would
have set up electri cal apparatus on the altar and stimulated the faithful with
galva nic batteries." CrafCustav von Schlabrendorfin Paris iiber Ereigniue unci
Personen seiner Zeit [in Carl Cust av J ochmann, Reliquien: Aus seinen nach&eku
senen Papi4!ren, ed. Heinrich Zschokke, vol. 1 (Hechingen. 1836), p. 146] .
[U16.,')-
Enfantin hailed the coup d'ct at of Louis Napoleon as the work of providence.
[V16.,5)
1846: enthusiastic reception, on its debut , of Felicien David's Le Deser1. The
project of the Suez Canal was then the order of the day. ults theme was a poet'"
eul ogy of the desert as the image of eternit y, coupled with his pit y for the townsmaD
imprisoned between stone wans," S. Kracauer, Jacques Offenbach und dm Po';'
.einer Zeit (Amsterdam, 1937), p. 133.
14
Le Desert was parodied by Offenbach.
[U16.,6]
" Among the dream archit ecture of the Revolution , Ledoux's projects occupy.
81>ecial position .... The cubi c form of his " House of Peace" seems legi timate to
him because the cube is t.he symbol of justice anti stabilit y, alld, similarl y, all the
, . . ' II f ' ' osic
elementary forms would have aPI>eared t o him as IIl1elhp ) e SignS 0 JOtn
moment . The ville nlliuunte. the ci t y in which' an ella ited ' , , life would find iu
abode, wiJI be ci rcumscribed by the pure contour of an ellipse . ... Conce.ming the
houK of the new tribunal , the Pacifere, he says in his Architecture: ' The
dra"'11 up in my imagi nation should be as simple as the Jaw tha t will be di tpensed
Emil Kaufmanll , Von Ledoux bis Le Corbwier: Ur. pruns urnl Entwick
IUllg der tlutonomen Arcltitekwr (Vienna and Leip'J;i g, 1933), p. 32. [U17. 1]
Leiloux, Temple {Ie Mcmoire (House of Women): "The narrative reli ef on the
tri umphal columns a t four corncr! of a country house was int ended to cel ebrate
the glory of the l>estowers of life. the mot hers. in place of the customary monu
ments consecrated 10 tile bloody victories of generals. With this unusual work. the
prti st wished t o render thanks to the women he had come to know in hi s life. " Emil
Kaufmann, VO,I udoux bis Le CorbU$i4!r (Vienna and Lei pzig. 1933), p. 38.
[U17,2]
On Ledoull : " Once the di stinctions of rank within archit ecture fall by the wayside,
then all archit t.'Ctural orders are of equal value. , , . The earlier thematic eclecti
cism, ..... hi ch was ta ken up almost exclusively with churchet, palaces, the 'better '
domiciles. and of course military fortifications, ret reats before the new a rchi tec
tural univer sali sm, . , . The revoluti onary process of the suburbanizing of domes.
tic hout ing parallels the disa ppearance of the baroque anemblage as art form, ...
A more extended complell , a pparentl y conceived as a development at the entrance
to the ci t y, consists in a number of two- to four--room dwellings ranged around a
slluare court ya rd; each of these residences lIOnesses the necessary closet space,
while kit chen, pllntries, and other utility rooms are located in a building at the
C1l nter of the courtyard. We have here, probably, the ea rliest instance of the type
of dwelling that is current today in the form of the apartment with shared
kit chen. " Emil Ka ufmann, Von Ledoux bis Le Corbwier (Vienna and Leipzig,
1933), p. 38. [U17.3)
"The Orient had been discovered, and some j ourneyed there to seek the Mothel'-
La Mere--a represent ative fi gure of this century. covered with breasts like the
Diana of Ephesus." Adrienne Monnier, " La Gazette des Amis des Livrea," La
Gazette clesAmis des .Li vrel , 1 (J anuary I , 1938) (Paris), p. 14. [U17,4J
"Mall remembers the Past ; Woman divines the Future; the Couple sees the Pre
sent." Saint-SinlOllian formula, in Du Camp, Souvenir5 liUeraires, vol. 2 (Paris,
19(6), p , 93. [V17a. l )
"'La Mere": "She WDSto be lafemme libre . .. , This indel>e ndent woman had to be
a thinking woman, one who, ... having fathomed the secr ets of the fc.mnine psy
che.... would lIIake confession for all her Sell, The quest for ... the Mother
Wus !l OI all innova tion of Enfantin's; well before him, Saint -Simon himself, during
the l:.erio{1 when Augustin Thierry wall hi s secretory. hllil made an att empt to
this, . , wolltl el' .. , alltl evidentl y thought to IlIn'e found her in Matlame
de Sinel. ' The lut h:r declined a n invitlltiun to heget a messia h fur humanity wit.h
Sai nl -ShnOIl (JlP, 91- 93).-"The m.i ssioll to locate La Mere now formed , and was
o,rr. pil grims IHlluhered twelve, including o arra ult . the leader of the ex!>edi
Uo
lI
, Their ult ima te dt'stination was COllSt antinopl e. . though they had 110
Ore>J.S(. .. 1 in whit e (as a t ign of I.he vow of chasti ty they had tukell 0 11 leavillg
I aris). stuffs in IIUIHI , tl tey l>egged their way rrom pl actl t o place. in til e name of the
Mo1Jler. In llurguml y. they hi red themselves Oll t 10 help with the ha rvest; in Lyons.
I.hey arrived on the day before an execUlion and, the following morning, demon.
strat eil against I.he dealh penall y in front of the gallows. They embarked in Mar_
seilles, and worked as sailors aboard a merchant vend whose mate was
v
Garibaldi .... They siepi in the Great Champ des Morts , prolocted by cypres&e8
from the morning dew; they wandered through the ba:taars. occasionally 8topp
10 preach the doctrines of Saint-Simon, speaking French 10 Turks who could :::!
understand them" (pp. 94-95). They are a rrested, then released. They set tbeir
l ights on the island of Rotuma, in the South Pacific, as the pl ace to seek tbe
Mother, but they get only u far as Odessa , whence they a re sent back to Turk
. .
According 10 Maxune Du Camp, Souvenir. liueraire., vol. 2 (Paris. 19(6).
[U17a,2]
" Gaudissart demanded an indemnity of five hundred francs for the week he had to
spend in boning up on the doctrine of Saint -Simon, pointing out what effor13 of
memory a nd brain would be nocenary to enable him to become thoroughly coo
ver sant with this article." Gaudinart canvasses for Le Globe (and Le Journal cU,
enfants). H. de Dabac, L'llIwtre Gaudi$$ort , ed. Calmann-Uvy (Paris), p. IV'
[V18,1]
The Continental system" was, as it were, the first test for the example of Saint
Simonianism. Heine (Slimtliche WerRe [Hamburg, 1876], vol. I, p. 155-"FranzO.
sische Zustinde") calls Napoleon I a SaintSimonian emperor. [UlS,2]
In the Saint-Simonian jacket that buttoned in back, we may discern an allusion to
the androgynous ideal of the school. But it has to be assumed that for Enfantin
himself it remained unconscious. [UIS,3]
Consta ntin Pecqueur, adversary of the Saint-Simonians, respond.. " to the
ti on posed in 1838 by the Academie des Sciences Morales: ' How to usess . , . the
influence of the ... currently emerging means of transportati on on ... the state of
a society ... ?'" "The development of the r ailroads, at the same time that it in
duces t.ra veler s to fraternize in the cars, will overexcite ... the productive activity
of people." Pierre-Maxime Schuh] , iIIachinisme et philo.ophie (Paris, 1938),
p. 67. [U18,4]
The historicaJ signature of the railroad may be found in the fact that it represents
the first means of transport-and, until the big ocean liners, no doubt also the
last-to foml masses. The stage coach, the automobile, the airplane carry pas
sengers in small groups only. \ [U18,5]
"The anemi c pallor of our civililllUtiOIl , us monotonous as II rui lwuy line," say'
Bul:tuc, Lu PerlU rle clwgrill, ed . Flammarioll (Parill), p. 45.
18
[U18,6j
[Conspiracies, Compagnonnage]
" Those agenU provocateurs who, during the Second Empire, often mingled with
rioters were known as ' white smocks. '" Daniel Halevy, Decadence de la liberte
(Paris <1931 , p . 152. [VI,I]
,
" In 1848, Louis PhiUppe hud ill Paris a securit y force of some 3,000 men, in place
of the 950 gendarmes serving under Charles X, and some 1,500 police agents in
place of 400. The Second Empire had great Ilfft!(! tion for the police, and it ar
ranged magnificent installations for them. They owe to the Second Empire that
vast edifice--at once barracks, fortrel8, and office building-which occupies the
center of the Cit e between the Palais de Justice and Notre Dame and whi ch
although lar ger and less beautiful , reeaU, those palaces in Tuscan where th;
podestas resided." Daniel Halevy, Decadence de to liberte (Paris), p . ISO.
[VI ,2]
"The secret files in police headquarters inspire a cert ain awe and a certain dread.
a new police commissioner fi rst la kes office. his personal file it brought up to
him. He alone enjoys this privilege; neither the ministers nor even the president of
the republic get to see their dOlliers, which are shelved and maintained in archives
tbat no one is permi tted to examine." Daniel Halti vy, Decadence de la liberte
(Paris), pp. 171- 172. (VI,3)
back toward the Quartier Latin, one r an int o the virgin forest of the Rue
d Enfer, which extendetl between the Rue du Val-de-Grace and the Rue de l' Abbe
!le-n:' TI
I pee. lere, one fOllnd the garden of an old hotel , a bandoned and in ruins.
w Icr e p!;jJle trees, sycamores, chestnut trees, a nd int ertwi ned acacias grew hap
IUllll ardly. In the cent er, u deep shaft guve IlCCe8S into the catacombs. It was said
thallhe p' h aUlllc( . " ,.. ace was n rea Ity, II scrved for the romanti c gatherings of the
Carbonari alld of the secrct society AideToi. Ie Cic.! t ' Aider a <God Helps Him
! 1e1PIl Himsdh." Dubec!. Hnd (I'Espezel. lIistoire de Puru (paris, 1926),
I . 361. 0 Gardens, The Seine 0 [VI,4)
'''1'1
Ie Garde Nationale was 110 laughing mull cr. Positioncd between the royal
troops and the po pular insurgents, til e a rmed bourgeoitie of Parill was Ihe great
mediating power, the good sense of the nation .... From 1830 to 1839, the hour.
geois Ga rde Nationale lost 2,000 of their own in confront ation with the barricades,
and it walJ (lull. more to thcm than to the a rmy that Louill Philippe was able to
remain on hi lJ throne.... Whatever the reason- whether simple old age or a
species of lassitude--it was a lways the bourgeoisie lhal weari ed oflhis wasteful life
which made it neceuary. e\'er y six months, for hosiers and cabinetmakers to take
"I) arms and shoot at each other. The hosiers. lleaceful men , grew tired before tbe
u binetmaker s. This remark would suffice to expl ain Ihe Fehruary Revolution."
Dubech and d' Espeze1, His'oire de I'Cl ril, PI) 389-391. [VI ,S]
JUIIC Insurrection. " It was cllough to have the appearance of poverty to be treated
like a criminal. In those days there W88 something caUed 'a profile of the wur.
gent ,' and anyolle fitting the descri ptioll was arrested ... . The Garde Nationale
itself bad most certainl y determined the out come of the February Revolution, I but
it nel'er occurred even to them to gil'e the name 'insurgents' to men struggJ.ins
agaiust a king. Only those who had risen up against property ... wer e known at
insurgents, Because the Garde Nationale . , . ' had saved societ y.' they could do at
that time what ever they wa nted. and no doctor would have dared refuse them
entry into a hospital .... Indeed, the blind fury of the Guardsmen went so far th.t
they woul d scr eam 'Sil ence!' to the fever patients speaking in delirium and would
have murdered these people if the studenu had not stopped them." EngliDder
<Ge$chichte der!run:,oliscllen Ari1ei'er-Auociurionen (Hamburg, 1864), > vol. 2.
pp. 320, 327-328. 327. [VI ,6]
" It goes without saying iliat the worker auociations lost ground with the coup
d'etal of December 2, 1851. ... AU the associations of workers, those who h.d
received subsidies from thc governmellt as weU as the others . began by promptly
removing their 8igns, on which symbols of e<luality and the words ' Liberty, Fr.te....
nit y. Equalit y' wer e inscribed; it was as though they had been shocked by the
blood of the coup. Hence, with the coup d'etat , thcre were still unquestionably
worker association8 in Paris, but the worker s no longer risked displaying thO
name.... It would be difficult to trace the remaining a88ociations, for it is pot ONY
0 11 the signboards but ailio in the city's dircctor y of addre88es that the narae
' Worker! A88ociation' is mi ssing. Worker associatioll8 survive, after the coup
d'etat, only in the gui se of ordinary COlllmcrcial concerns. T hus, the former fra
ternal association of masons is now going under the trade nallle ' Bouyer, Cohadon
& Co.,' the association of gi lders that likewise once existed as such now operates as
the firm of ' DreviUe. Thibout & Co . .' and, by the sa me token, in every survivin
associat ion of worker! it is the managers wllO gi ve t1l ei r names to the business ....
Since the coup d 'etat , not one of these associat ioll s has admill cil a new member;
any new lIl ember would be regarded witll undi sguised ii uspicion. If even the cus
tomers were each time rttcived with di sl.rllst . thill was becauliC one everywhere
senseti the presence of the police-ami was tl;e more justifi ed in doing so a8 the
police themsel ves would oft en up officiall y on olle pretext or another. "
millie! Engl i nder, Geschichte der Ari1eire,...Auociutionen
burg. 1864), vol. 4, Jlp. 195. 197- 198,200. [VIa. I]
In rega rd to Cabet. " After the Revolution, someone had discovered ... ,
in the files of Toulouse's chillf of poli ce, a lett er from Couhenant, delegate or
prt'sidellt of the fi rst vanguard , who in 1843, during the trial in Toulouse, t had
orfere<i his services as Iwlice agent to the government of Louis Philippe. It was
kUOWIi that thi s poison of espionage in France had penetrated even into aU the
port'S of famil y life; bill that a poliee agent , this most disgusting excrelcence of the
oM societ y, coul d have found hi s way to the leader of the vanguard of l carianl in
onler to CUli se hi s ruill , and ut the risk of going under himself, aroused conside ....
ahl e surprise. Hadn' t Iwlice spies been seen in Paris fightin, and dying on the
barricades, doi ll g Lattle wilh the government in whose pay they stood! " Sigmund
[ng.!under, Gelchich'e der fran:,o$uchen Arbeiter-Auociationen, vol. 2, pp. 159
160. 0 Utopi ans 0 [Vla,2]
" With the development of proletarian conspiracies, the need arose for a division of
,
labor. The memben were divided into occasional conspirators. cotl.lpirateur.
d 'occa$ion-that is, worken who engaged in conspiracy alongside their ot her
ployment , merely attending meetings and holding themselvell in readiness to ap
pear al the place of assembly at the leaden' command-and profeS8ional
cOllspiraton, who devoted all their energy to the conslliracy and made their livin,
from it .... The social situation of this c1alili determines its entire character from
the outset . Proletarian conspiracy naturally affords them only very limited and
uncertain IlI callS of li ubsistence. They are ther efore constantly obliged to dip into
the cash boxea of the cOII!jpiracy. A number of them also come into di rect conftict
"'ith civil society as such, and appear before the poli ce courts with a greater or
lesser degree of dignit y. Their precarious livelihood, dependent in individual easel
more on chance than on their activit y, their irregular uvea whose only fixed ports
of-caU are the taverll s of the m(lrchand, de vin (the conspirators' places of rendez
vous), their inevitable acquainta nce wil h all kinds of dubious people. place them
in that social category whi ch ill Paris is known as the boheme. These democratic
bohemians of proletarian origin ar e therefore eit her workers who have given up
their work a nd have as a conlle(luence become (liuolute. or characten who bave
emerged from the iUllllJellproletariat and brillg all the di ssolule habits of that class
wit ll thcm into their new way of life .... The whole wa y of life of t hese professional
cOllapirat?rs has a nl osl decid ...dly bohemian characteT. Recruiting sergeants for
t he I'oll spiracy, t hey go from m(frchond de !Jill tu nlllrchund de !Jill , feeling the
of the workers, sccking out t heir men, caj olillg them into the cOlispiracy and
getling eit her till' lioeiet y's treasury or their new fri ellda to foot the hill for t he lit el'll
illcvi t ahly cunSIlII)e(1 ill the process. Indeed , it is really the marchcmd de vi,. who
pru... a mof over their heat ls. It is with him that the conspirator spends most of
Ilis time; it is here he has his rendezvous with hill colleagues, wil.h the members of
hi ", l>Hctioll 111111 wi tll prospective rI..'Cruits ; it is finaLiy, that the IIttret meetings
liections (groups) a1l<1 section leaders take "lace. The conspira tor, hi ghl y san
guine in character anyway like aU Pari,ian proletarian,. 800n develops into aD
ab,olute bambocheur <boo1:er) in thi ' continual tavern atmosphere. The sinister
conspi rator, who in secret session exhibits a Spartan self-di scipline, suddenly
thaw, alld is transformed into a tavern regular whom ever ybody knows and who
really understands how to enjoy his wine and women. This conviviality is further
inten, ified by the constant dangers the conspirator is eXI)()sed to; at any moment
he may be called to the barricades. where he may be killed ; at ever y tum the police
set snares for him which may deliver him to prison or even to the galleys .... At
the eame time. familiarit y with danger makel him utterl y indifferent to Life ud
liberty. He is as at home in prison al in the wine shop. He is ready for the call to
action any day. The desperate reckleuness which is exhibited in every insurrec_
tion in Paris is introdnced pret:isely by these veteran professional conspirators,
the homme$ de COUP$ de main. They are the ones who throw up and command the
fust barricades. who organize resistance, lead the looting of weapon-shops and the
seizure of arms and ammunition from housell, and in the nLidst of the upriain@:
carry out those daring raids which 80 often throw the government party into
confusion. In a word, they are the officers of the inll urret: tion. It need scarcely be
added that these COnSIJirators do not confine themselves to the general organi.&in
of the revolutionary proletariat. It is precisely their business to anticipate the
process of revolutionary development , to bring it artificially to the crisis point, to
launch a revolution on the spur of the moment , without the conditions for a revo
lution. For them. the only conditi on for revolution is the adequate preparation 01
thei r conspiracy. They are the alchenLislII of the revolution. and are characterised
by exactly the same chaotic thinking and blinkered obsessiolls as the alchemislll 01
old. They leap at inventions which are supposed to work revolutionary miracle.:
incendiary bombs, dest ructive devices of magi c effect , revolts which are expected
to be aU the more miraculous and 8&toni shing in effect as their balis is leu ra
tional. Occupied with such scheming. they have no other purpose than the mOlt
immediate one of overthrowing the existing government , and they have the pro
foundest cont empt for the more theoretical enlightenment of the proletariat about
their class interestl. Hence their plebeian rather than proletarian irritation at the
habits noirs ("black frock coats"}-people of a greater or lesser degree of educa
tion who represent that aspect of the movement. but from whom they can never
make themselvel quit e independent . since they are the official representative. of
the part y. The habiu noir. also serve. at times, as their souree of money. It
without saying that the conspirator s are obliged to follow will y-nill y the develop
lIIent of the revolutionary party.... The chief characteriltic of the conspi ratol"ll'
way of life is their hatti e with the police, to whom they have precisely the same
relationship as thi eves and prostitutes." At Ilnother point ill thi s article. we read
(i n reference to Chenu's report on Lucien de La Hodde that foll<fws); "Ai we see.
this spy ... turns OUI to he a politiclllproUitute of the vilet!t kind who hangs aoout
ill the st reet in the rain for the payment of his ' til)' by the fi rst officer of the peace
who happens to come along." '''On one of my nocturnal excursions,' recounU
Chellu. ' I noti ced ti e La Hodde walking III' and down the QUlli Voltaire .... It wal
raining ill torrent l, a circunUHllnce whi ch lUll me tlLinking. Was thi s dear feUow de
La Hodde also helping himlelf from the cash hox of the secret fund,. by any
chance? ... "Good evening. de La Hodde, what 011 earth are you up to here at lhill
hour and in thi s fearful weather?" " I am waiting for a rallcal .... ho owes me some
money. and since he passes thi' way every evening at Ihis time, he is going to pay
me, or else"_and he struck the parapet of the embankment viol ently with hil
sli ck.' De La Hodde altemplll to get rid of him and walks toward the Pont du
Ca rrousel. Chenu departs in the opposite direction. but only to conceal himself
under the arcades of the Institllt <tie France> .... 'A (Iuarter of an hour later. I
noticed the carriage with two little gr een lamps.... A man got out; de La Hodde
went straight up to him. They talked for a moment , and I saw de La Hodde make a
movement as though putting money int o his pocket. .. Marx and Engeill. review of
Chenll, Les COllspirateurs (Paris. 1850) anti de La Hodde. La Naiuance de Ia
Repuh/ique (Paris. 1850). published in the Neuell rheinischen ZeitulIg <1850>,
r pt . in <Die neue Zeit.) 4 (Stuttgart . 1886). PI'. 555-556. 552, 551.] [V2;V2aj
The workers of 1848 and the great Revoluti on; "Although the workers suffered
under the conditi ons created by the Revolution, they did not blame it for their
misery; they imagined that the Revolution had failed to bring about the happinen
of the manel because intriguers had perverted its founding principle. According
to their thinking, the great Revolution was good in itself, and human mi sery could
be eliminated onl y if people were to resolve on a new 1793. Hence, they turned
away distrulluully from tbe socialists and felt drawn to the bourgeois republicaru.
who conspired with the aim of establishing a republic by revolutionary means. The
leeret societi es in existence during the reign of Louis Philippe recruited a veat
many of their most active members from the working class." Paul Lafargue. " Der
K1assenkampf in Frankreich," Die neue Zeit , 12, no. 2 (1894), p. 615. [V3,lj
Marx on the "Communist League": "'As far al the secret doctrine of the League i.
concerned, it underwent aU the transformations of French and English socialism
and communism, a8 well as their German versionll .... The secret form of the
society goes back to itll Paris origins .... During my first stay in Paris (from late
October 1843 to February 1845). I establi shed per sonal contact with the leaders of
t
h
e League living there, al well 88 with the leaders of the majority of the set: ret
"
French worker associations-without . however, becoming a member of any of
them. In Brun els ... the London Central Authority entered into correspondence
wilh us and ... sent ... a watchmaker called Joscl'h Moli ... to invite us to join
the Moll allayed our doubt s ... by revealing that the Central Authority
intended to convoke a Congress of the League in London.. Accordingl y, we
joi ned it. The Congress ... look place. and. after heated debate over several
weeks, it adopt ed the Manifesto of the Communist Party. writt en by Engels and
my elf. ' At the time Marx wrote til e&e lines, he described their oontent as comprill
ing ' histories long past and half forsotten.' ... In 1860 the workers' movement ,
.by the counterrevolutioll of the 18508. was dormant throughout
Europe . ... Olle misuml eruallds Ihe hi story of the ComnUHlist Manife!lo if one
Sees the dat e of its publicatioll as lIIurking the commencement of the EurOllean
""orkert' movement . In point of fact, til e manifesto reprdentoo the cloH: of this
movement " first period, whicll stretched from the July Revol ution to the Febru.
ary Revolution.... Til e most they could ultain wus theorc:tienl clarification .... A
secret league of worker! that , over the years, could accompany and illlcllectuall
stimmat e the English and French socialism of the day, as well 8 S the
German philosophy, will have displayed an encrb'Y of thought that tlescrves the
highest respect. " " Ein Gedenktag des Kommuni smus," Die neue Zeit , 16, no. I
(Stuttgart, 1898), pp. 354-355. The pauage from Marx is taken from the polemi
cal pamphlet against VOgt.4 [V3,2]
'"The practi cal programs of the communist conspirators of the period ... se.t them
apart advantageously from the socialist utopians, thanks to the finn conviction
that the emancipation of the working clau (' the IH:Ople') is unthinkable without
struggle against the upper claues (' the aristocracy'). Of course, the 8Iruwe of.
handful of men who have hat ched a conspiracy in the name of popular interests
can in no case be considered a class struggl e. If, nevertheless, the majority of these
conapirators have come from the working class, then the conspiracy can be said to
constitute the genn of the revolutionary 8Iruggle of that class. And the conception
which the Society of Seasons
5
has of the ' aristocracy' shows how c1ose.ly the ideas
of the revolutionary communists in France, at that time, were connec: ted to the
ideas of the bourgeois revolutionaries of the eighteenth century and the liberal
opposition during the Restoration.... Like Augustin Thierry, the French revolu.
tionary communists began with the idea that the struggle against the aristocracy
was necessarily in the interests of all the rest of society. But they rightly point out
that the aristocracy of birth has been r eplaced by an aristocracy of money, and
that , as a resmt, the struggle ... must be waged against the bourgeoisie. " Georsi
Plekhanov, " Ober die Anfange del" Lehre vom Klassenkampr' (from the introduc>
tion to a Russian editiOIl of the Communi"t Manife"ro) , part 3, " Die Anschauungen
des vonnarxistischen Sozialismus vom Kassenkampf," Dk II elW Zeit , 21, no. I
(1903), I). 297. [V3a, l ]
1851; "A decree of DC(:ember 8 authorized the deportation, without hearing, ...
of any person presently or formerly belonging to a !lC(: ret society. This was under
stood as referring to any society at all , whether a society for mutual aid or
literary society, that met---even in broad daylight - without the express permis
sion of the prefect of police." A. Malet and P. Crillet , XI X' Sieck (paris, 1919),
p.264. [V3a,2]
" Following the assassination att empt by Orsini ... the imperial goverllment im
mediately voted into law a general security measure giving it the power to arrest
and deport , without hearing, ... all previously punished on the occasion
of the June Days of 1848 and the event s of December 1851 .. .. The prefect of each
dipeJrtement was ordered to designate immediatel y a specific number of victims."
A. Mal et alld P. GriJIet, XI X' Siecle (Paris. 1919), 1' . 273. [V3a,3]
"The Independents had their secret society, the Charbonnerie <Carbonari>, or
ganized at the beginning of 1821 on the model of the Italian Carbonari. The
organizers were a wine merchant, Dugied, who had spent time in Naples, and a
medical student, Batard.... Every member was required to contribute one franc
3 month, to possess a gun and fifty bullcts, and to swear to carry out blindly the
orders of his superiors. The Charbonnerie recruited among students and soldiers
in partirular; it ended up numbering 2,000 sections and 40,000 adherents. The
Charbonniers wanted to overthrow the Bourbons, who had been 'brought back
by foreigners: and ' to restore to the nation the free exercise of its right to choose
a suitable government.' They organized mne plots during the first six months of
1822; all failed." A. Malet and P. Grillet, XIX' Sieck (Paris, 1919), p. 29. The
uprisings of the Carbonari were military revolts; they had, perhaps, a certain
analogy to those of the Decembrists. [V4, 1]
April 29, 1827; dissolution of the Garde Nationale by order of Villele, on account
of a demonstrat.ion which it had organizt.-d against him. [V4,2]
About sixty students from the Ecole PolytC(:hnique at the head of the July Revolu
tion. [V4,3]
March 25, 1831: reinstatement of the Carde Nationale. " It named its own officers,
except for the military chiefs .... The Carde Nationale constituted ... a veritable
arllly. numbering some 24,000 men ... ; this army was a police force . ... Also,
care was taken to separate out the workers.... This was achieved by requiring
the Garde Nationale to wear uniforms and to pay its own expenses .... This bour
geois guard, moreover, did its duty bravely in all circumstances. As soon as the
drullls had sounded the call , each man would leave his place of work, while the
thopkeepers closed their storee, and, dressed in uniform, they would all go out to
join their battalion, IIOt needing to muster." A. Mal et and P. Grillet, XIX
(Paris, 1919), 1' . 77,79. [V4,4]
'"The republicans had helonged, for the most part , to the Charbonnerie; against
" Louis Philippe, they multiplied the number of secret societiel. The most important
... was that of the Droits de l' llomme <Rights of Man). Founded in Paris ("' here
it (Iui ckly grew to nearly 4,000 members), and modeled 011 the Charbonnerie, it
had branches in most of the major cities. It was this secret society thai orgallized
the great iliSUrrectioll s in Paris and Lyons in June 1832 and April 1834. The
principal republican newspapers were La Tribllne and Le National . the first di
rected by Armand Marrast 1.1 1111 the second by Arml.lnd Carrcl. " Mal et and Gri.llet ,
XIX Siecle (Pari;;, 1919), p. 81 . [V4.5J
Declaration of December 19, 1830, issued by students at the Ecole Polytechn.ique
to the office of I.e Coru/itulionlle/: "'Ifany man among the agitators,' they
say, ' is found wearing the umfonn of the Ecole, that man is an imPOStOr .... ' And
so they had these men tracked down wherever they appeared in the faubourgs in
the uMonn of Poly technicians, seeking to usurp the latter's influence. The best
way to recognize them, according to Bosquet, was to ask them the of
Jine x or 0/log X; 'if they respond appropriately, they are fonner students; if not,
we have them jailed.''' G. Pinet, Histoire tk I'tole polytedmique (Paris, 1887),
p. 187. Disturbances took place in cOlUlection with the triaJ against the ministera
of Charles X.' Pinet adds: "In supporting the interests of the bourgeoisie, those
with republican convictions seemed to fear they would be accused of deserting
the cause of the people" (p. 181). In a further proclamation, the school came OUt
decisively in favor of universaJ suffrage. [V4a, 1)
"The students go to their I tudent societies, whether publicl y or &eeret1y organiud,
to get the wat chword of the day.... There, they learn what actions are heine
planned.... With all this going on. the Ecole Poly technique hal ht!gun to view
itself as a fourth estate within the nation . .. . It was the moment when the Repub
lican party, which counted in its ranks the artillery of the Garde NationaJe, the
student , the proletariat , the worker. and the veteran of July. rel umed ... ill
activity; the moment when popular societie&-like Les Amis du Peupl e, LeI Droill
de I' Homme, and La Gauloise-were recruiting heavily; the moment when the
Garde Nationale failed to maintain the peace; when the
ened to unsettl e the order of society; .. . and when ... Le National and La '1hb
une waged a daily struggle against those in power." C. Pinet , Hi.stoire de l'Ecole
poly technique (Paris. J887), pp. 192- 193. [V4a,2]
During the cholera epidemi c, the government was accused of having poisoned the
fountains. For examille, in the Faubourg [V4a,3)
" Young people in the schools had adopted the red ht!r et ; and memben of the secret
lOCieti es looked forward to the next time, when the national razor would be well
honed." Charles Louandre. Les Idees subversives de notre temps (Paril, 1872),

The secret societies of the democrats """eTC chauvinistic. They wanted interna
tional propaganda for the republic by means of war. [V5,1]
" RcSlwnle aft erward made by a prisoner before the Court of Peers: I ' Who was
your chief?' I " knew none. and 1recognized none. .. Victor Hugo. Oeuvres com
plktes, novell . vol. 8 (Par is. 1881 ). p. 47 (Les Mi.serables. " Faitl d' oi! I'histoire
sort et que I' histoire ignore"). 7 [V5,2J
" From time to lime. Inen ' di sgl.liled as bourgeois, and in fllle coats' came. 'causi
n
8
embarraumcnt ,' and. having the air 'of command.' gave a grip of the hand to the
. " Vie
most important . and wenl away. They never staye d more t han ten nunltt es.
lor I-Iugo. Oeuvres completes. novell . vol. 8 (Paris, 1881). pp. 42-43 (Lei
Milerables, " Fait. tI ' ou )' rultoire sort et que I' rustoire ignore").' [V5,3]
The des Droits de I' Homme <Societ y of the Rights of Man > emploYI, in it.
pamphlets, the cal endar or the great Revolution. I.n the month of Pluviose,9 year
42 or til e Hepublican era, it COUllt. 300 branch establishment s throughout France,
163 in Paril! alone. of which every Olle had its parti cular name. The wooing of the
proletari ans by t.he bourgeoisie had the benefit " that . instead of enli sting them
through humiliati oll or mat erial services. through the offer of money or other
forms of assistance, it was by various att entions and tokcns of respt , by j oining
IOgelher ill balls and !etes. that the leaden of the bourgeoisie worked to form
att achments wi th the workers." Charles Benoist , " L' Homme de 1848," part I .
RelJlle deJ deux moru/es (July I , (91 3), pp. 148-149. [V5,4]
The Societe de Propagande <Societ y of Propaganda >: "1'0 this organization we
owe. in part . the strike at the end of 1833, which ext ended to typographen, me
chani Cl , stonecutt er s, rope maker s. hackney dri ven . eamberen, glovers,
yen, wallpaperer s, hosien. and locksmiths, and which involved no leu than
' 8.000 tail on, 6.000 shoemakers, 5,000 carpe.nters, 4,000 jewelers, and 3,000
bakers.'" Ch. Benoi st, " L' Homme de 1848," part I , Revue des deux mondes (July
1, 1913), p. 151. [V5,5]
The Comite Invisible <Invi sible Committee>-name of a &eeret society in Lyonl.
[V5,"]
Only aft er 1832, bot above all around 1834 and 1835, did revolutionary
ganda gain a foothold in the proletari at . [V5,7]
In the tightened organization of the secret societies after 1835, the mystagogic
element was intrnsified. The names of the days of the week and of the months
became codewords for assault detachments and oonunandos. An initiation cere
mony influenced by freemasonry and reminiscent of the Vehme <medieval
-nal tribunals> was introduced. According to de La Hodde, this ceremoniaJ
already includes, among other things, the question: "Must one make a political
revolution, or a social revolution?"IO See Ch. Benoist, "lJHomme de 1848," part
\
1, Revue deJ Deux Mon&J, 7, no. 1 (1913), pp. 1959- 1961. [V5,8)
"It ..... as all up with the Jacobins " y 1840, just 88 with the Montagoardl, the secret
societies. the conspiracies, the j ournal s. the ceremonial parades, and the raids.
The. ' communists' now held cent er stage .... The workers took part in the
(Iut! in Bellevill e, at whi ch the c10ckmllker Simard gave a speech. The great strike
of 1840, during which, in Paris alone. 30,000 men stopped work, ti ghtened their
federa tion .... Heinri ch Heine has gi ven U8, in ten passages of his Lutece, a vivid
picture of ... the powerful hold whi ch communi sm had on the workers from the
I)aris suburbl . Heine had the honor, in his lett ers to t.he Augsburg Gazelle, of
un' cilingcommuni sm to the communi sl8 .... But .. . there are communists and
(:olllnlUnists . I transcrihe, from 'Almanuel, Icarien of 1843, this notice ... :
' Today. the commUllists can be divided into two main cat egories: communists pure
and simpl e, ... who wan I 10 abolish marriage and t he famil y, all d Icaria" commu.
lIi sts, . . . who wit h 10 pre1lerve the rami ly and marri age. but wonld do away with
&eCret societies , walii on violence, riol s, and other such relonies." Charl es Benout
" L' lIomme de 1848,'" part 2, Relme des deuJC mondes (r ebruary I , 1914):
pp. 638-641. [V5a, l ]
In the mid-Thirties, a crisis broke out in the traditions of the journeymen and
traveling artisans. The hierarchies handed down from the time of the guilds
began to lose their authority; many of the work songs had come to seem old-fash
ioned. An effort was made to elevate the intelleaual and moral level of the
associations. Agricol Perdiguier put together a sort of journeyman's primer, with
songs and didactic or devotional readings. 1bis document shows that the mori
bund customs of the trade guilds were a breeding ground for secret societies.
[V5a,2]
Cenacles arter 1839: La Coguetle des rils du Di able ( Revels of the Sons of Satan>,
Le, CommuniUet Materialittes <The Mat eri alist Communists>. [V5a,3]
Network of wine merchants : " The current law gives them freedom, where08 the
Empire, in point of fact, had deprived them of freedom. Napoleon III looked on
the taverns as 'meeting places for the secret societies,' and the Code annote (a
pamphlet by Julien Gouj on, Code annote des limonadie rs ] accuses him of haviD
wanted to 'strike with terror,' in order to ' transform three hundred thousand
inhabitants and their fa mili es inlo official watchmen.' Three hundred thousand
-
tavern8-that is, political taverns (what Bnb:ac caUs ' the people's parliament ')-
were thus consolidated ... Wider the Jul y Monarchy and the government of
1848." Maurice Talmeyr, "Le Ma rchand de vi ns," Revue de. deux monJe, (August
IS, IS9S), pp. 877-878. [V5a,4]
Vari a from Agri col Perdiguier, Le Li vre du compagnonnage (Paris: by the author.
1840); " In 1830, the Aspirants Menuisier , <Apprenlice J oiners> and the AlIpir anu
Serruriers <Apprentice Locksmiths> in Dordeaux revolted against their fell ow
comp(lgnom, or tradesmen, and formed amoll g themselves the core of a new soci
ety. Since then, in Lyons, Marseilles. and Nantet. other apprentices have revolted
and formed societies .... These va rious societies cOrre1ll)(mded with one another.
and the Societe de l'Uni on ou des IntielJendanls was born.... It is distinguished
by 110 myster y. 110 initia tion , no hi er a rchy .... All members of this societ y are
equal" (pp. 179- ISO). Customs: " Whcn 8 compagnotl goes to Ihe house where the
societ y lodges . cats, and congregat e8, he says: ' I am going to the Mother's hOllse'"
(pJl . 180- ISI). Nanl es: "The Rose of Carcauonne, the Tournu8, and
many others" (I' . 185). Greeting-a prescrihf!:(1 form of i.lllrodllcti on for trade
gui.ld members on firsl meeting: " They ask one another what ii ide they are on or
whal all egia nce Ihey hold 10. If il is Ihe samc, there is a (Cle. alld they drink from a
shared flask .... If 11 0 1, Ihere are insuitll io starl wilh , aml l hCII hlows" hI . 187).
Variously colored ribhons, worn in llirfcn:nl ways, are insigni a or the illdividual
trades. Common, a. weU, are earrings with distinctive lillie pendants on them
(horseshoes. hammere, standard gauges, and the like). 10 which the different
trades lay exclus.l\e claim. "The T.square and compau a re emblems. of all the
trade guilds, aU compagnonnage, for il is thoughl ... that the word compagno"
derives from compaJ <compass> . 11 ... The shoemakers and bakers have several
lilll es paid dearly for the honor of weari.ng the compau; all the compagnoru with
all egia nce to ot her professions set upon them" (p. 189). " I.n the trade-guild Bocie
ties. the word mOllsiCllr is never used .... The rrench, Spanish, It alians. . and
Swi.ss, whenever they happen to meet , addr ess one another as countries-Country
of Spain, Country of It aly, Country of Swil.%erland. and so on .... Since they aU
reside under the same starry vault. and tread the s. ame they a re--and
they call themselves--countries; the world for them, is one great country!"
(p. 41).-Perdiguier was 011 the staff of L 'Atelier ( 1840-1850), founded by
IJuchell. It went under in IS50 because it could not ma ke a bail payment of 18,000
fra ncs. [VO. l ]
TheJuly Days brought about an upsurge in societies, in consequence of a
,
rapprochement between the republican bourgeoisie and the proletariat. [V6,2]
The Societ y of the Tenth of December. " On the pretext of establishing a charitable
auociation , Louie Napoleon di vided the Parisian lumpenproleta riat , after his.
elec:tion to the pretidency, into numeroua secret sf!:(;tions, whieb were beaded by
Bonapart.ist agents. " Eduard Fuchs., Die Kariharur der elJropiiilchen VOlker (Mu
ni ch <1921, vol. 2, p . 102. [V6,3]
The tavern on the Place BeJhomme. "Under Louis Philippe, it was run by an
individual connected with t he police. Its clientele was composed, in large part, of
aU the conspira tors of the day, who 88sembled there twicc a week. on Mondays. and
Thursdays. The names of confeder ate, were proposed on Thursday, and they were
admitted on Monday." A. Lepage, Les Cafi' politiques et litteraire. de Paris (Paris
<1874 , p. 99. [V6a, l ]
, From a secrel report , cit ed in Pokrowski , by the Russia n informer Jakov Tolstoi,
COncer ning hia conversation with the di reclor of the English colonial bank, Camp.
bell , an agent of Prince Louis Nal)Oleon: "The prince had apprised him of the
difficulti es or hi, situation, given that he has to battle agai nst Le National {t hat iI,
agains.t Cavaignac-M. N. P.I. no Ie" than against the red republicans {that is,
Ledru-Rollin_ M.N. P. I. who have enormous l ums at their disl)(),al(!) .... Mter
wltrd, ... he a8ked me whether or not the Russian government was likely to en
trust the prince with such a sum [which was needed for the electoral campaign and
coul d lIot be raised ill England). ... It became clear to me then thai Mr. Campbell
WitS a sort of emi 88ary of Prince Louis and so, in order to divert his a tt ention and
to put an ent!. to the conver sation, I Irealed the whole affair as a joke. I asked him
what Louis Napolw n could give 10 Hussia in relurn ror the million he requires.
' Every p088ihle concession ,' answered Mr. Campbell , gelting worked U. ' Til eD
Russia can buy the head of the Republic?' ( asked. ' And for onl y a million francs?
Di stributoo over til e four yean ofllis presidency. tllis comes 10 250.000 a year. You
will admit that it is not a great deal of money.'-' ( guara ntee you tll at, for this
price, he will he entirely at your sen-ice. '-' Will lie. at the very leasl, exert his full
authorit y to ritl France of Poli sll and Russian emi gr ants?'-' I say 10 you that he
will make a formal commitment in tins rega rd, for he presentl y finds himself in the
most difficult si tuation tll at in gener al can befall a man!'" M. N. Pokro.....ski.
tomche Auf,ii t:e (Vienna and Berlin <1928. p. 120 (" I ... amartine, Cavaignac,
ulld Nikolaus I"). fV6a,2]
"The old journeymen's associati on of coml'agnon" the begi nnings of wlli ch go
hack to the fourteenth, perhaI)S ... the twelfth century ... (a number of
ans deri ve the Ca rbonari movement from it) ... , must lI ave espec:iall y interested
Balzac .... The compagnons themselves ... trace their ori gi n to the constr uction
of Solomon's tenl ple .... In the preface to the Hu toire des Trei.:e. Balzac makes
allusion to the compagnons , who even today would have their I)artisans among the
French people." Ernst Robert Curtius, Balzac (Bonll , 1923), p. 34. fVi',I]
" In France, it was above all the secret society known a8 La Congregation that
rurnished the public with materi als ror all sorts of thrilling and gruCflome atories.
The writen of the RCfl toration, in particul ar, ascribed to it the blacken machina
tions. The Comte d ' Artois, the ruture Charles X, moved in its orbit. .. . With his
Hu tory o/Secret Societies in the Army, Char les Nodier enthralled hia readen. He
himself belonged to the Societe des Philadelphea, rounded in 1797 .... Equally
harm1ess was the Societe du Cheval Rouge <Society of the Red Horse>, which
Bab: ac founded with Gauti er and some othen in the finn conviction that , by
influencing the aalons. ita members ... would garner power and glory (or one
another.... A secret alliance or prison convicl8 is the Societe des Granda
dela, whoae orga ni zation fonns the background for ... Vautrin." Ernst Robert
Curtius, Balzac (Bonn, 1923), PI>. 32-34. [V7,2]
The Faubourg Saint-Antoine and the Temple precinct owe their importance for
handicraft to the fact that the laws which prohibited workers from establishing a
residence: before completing their term as j ourneymen were not in effect there.
The j ourneyman's tour de Frana required thn=:e to four years. (Vi',3]
Along wi lh many other particul ars concerning the compagnolU, Chaptal rt l)(l rU
or the enemy cl ans: "The tools or thei r trade were alwaya thei r weapolI lJ of war."
Chaptal. De l 'JllciustrieframiCli&e (Paris. 18 19), vol. 2,

,
"Apart frOID ... meeting at night in small groups, the GcrUl an cr aftsmen ill Pari s,
in thos .. year s. liketlto get together on Sundays wi th kith allli ki.n i ll II refi taurant
on the outskirt s of town. In Januar y 1845. a former officer of the Garde Nationale,
Adalbert von Uornsledl . who at that time was spying on rallical ..... riten and arti
,ans in Par is for the Pr uasian government, described 10 the latter, in a report
denounc.ing Marx and He a. a ga lhering of thi s 80rt in the Avenue de Vi ncennes,
where regicide. halrell of the rich. and the abolition of pri vate prOIJerty were
OIW! nl y afl vocated." Gustav Mayer. Friedrich EngeLs. vol. J. Friedrich EngeLs in
seiner f' rii hzeit (Berlin ( 1933. 1). 252. fVi',5]
"}\dalbcrl von Bornstedl . . .....as ... a spy ... or the Prussian government.
Ell geis and Marx made lise of him. knowing well enough, however. whom they were
dealing wit h." Gustav Mayer, Fr iedrich EngeLs , vol. I . Friedrich Enge ls in seiner
f riih:;eit, sec:ond edition (Berlin), p. 386. fV7a,I)
"'ora Tri stan att empted to rree the workers rrom the tenns of their j ourneyman'S
cOllt ract . fVi'a,2]
Schlahrendorf gives an account or the popular comedian Bobec.he, who could he
seen on the Boulevard du Templ e. " His stage is so narrow, however, that he haa no
room to gesticul ate when hia brothe .... in law, with whom he perfomla, is up there
wi th him. So he haa to stick his hands in hi s pockets. Tbe other day he exclaimed,
with reason: I must have a place, I absolutely must have II pl ace!-But you aurely
know that II place must he fill ed, that you must do some work and earn your
place?-FiUed? You fill just one part of it and the r est is filled by othen.-So what
place do you want?-Tbe Place Vendome.-The Place Vendome! It will surely be
difficult ror you to have that.-Nothing easier. I shall denounce the Column."
CrafCwtCI v von Schlabrendorf in Pum iiber Ereignine und Personen &einer Zeit
[in Carl Gustav J ochmann, Reliquum: Aus ,einen Nachgela uenen Papieren, ed.
Heinrich Zschokke. vol. 1 (Hechingen, 1836), pp. 248-249]. (Vi'a,3J
The Carbonari looked on Christ 88 the fi rst victim of the ar istocracy. [Vi'a,4)
"The police spiea in Paris recognize one another by a badge bearing the aocalled
eye of providence." Carl Gustav Jacbmann, Re/uluien, ed . Heinrich Zacholtke,
yol. 3 (Hechingen, 1838), p. 220. fVi'a,5)
"For the .....ork of Balzac ... to appear authenticall y mythi c, it suffi ces to recall
Ihal. evcn during the author's lifetime, there were groups of men and women in
Vcnice and ill Rllu ia .... ho .....ould assume the parta of char acters rrom hi s Co rtledie
hUrtlHine and try to li ve li ke them." Roger Caillois, " Paris, my the moderne,"
iV
olll1e
lle RCl1ltefram;ai,e. 25 . 110. 284 (May I , 1937), p. 698. fV7a,6]
"As for Balzac, one need only ... recall that he is the man whose earliest work (or
his earliest) happens to be his H iJ/oire impartiale des Jisuites, which he
COnsIdered an homage to ' the most beautiful society ever fornu:d: and that he is,
at the sam"e time, the creator orVautrin and the author of the Huloire des 7feiu."
Roger Caillois, "Paris, my the modeme," Nouut:lle Reuue jranftlue, 25, no. 284
(May 1, 1937), pp. 695-696. TheJesui ts, like the Assassins, playa role in the
imaginative world of Balzac, as in that of Baudelai.re. [V8,1]
"Te n French regimenlll , were they 10 descend inlO the catacombs. could not have
laid a hand on a si ngl e Carbonaro. so many were the lurns of tbose dark and
dismal underground pa88ages . leading to inacceSll ibJe relrealS. It may be
ti oRed. furthennore. Ihal the catacombs were admirably nLined in five or six
places. and a spark would have been enough ... 10 blow up Ihe entire Lefl Bank."
A. Dumas, us Mohicans de Paris. vol. 3 (Paris, 1863), p. I J. [V8,2]
The conspirators of 1830 were rigorously classical in orientation and bitter foes
of Romanticism. Blanqui remained true to this type throughout his life. [V8,3]
Hei ne on a meeting of Les Arnis du Peuple, at whi ch over 1,500 in attendance
listened to a speech by Blanqui. " The meetiug had the odor of an old copy-much
perused, greasy, and worn-of u Moniteurof 1793." Cited in Ceffroy, L 'Enfenne
<ed. 1926>, vol. 1. p. 59. [V8,4j
Secret societies after the July Revolution: Ordre et Progres, Union des
lies Politiques. Rt':clamanlll de Juillet , Francs Regeneres. Societe des Amis du
Peupl e, Societe des Families. [V8,5]
Organization of the Societe des Saisons , lIucceslior to the Societe des FamilIes: At
the top, four seallOns, of which the chief is spring. Each seallOn has three montha,
the chief month being July. The month has four weeks, and their chief ill
day.-The chiefs are not present at the meetings (or are not See
Gdfroy, L 'Enferme <ed. 1926>, vol. I , p. 79. [V8,6]
The secliolls oflhe Carbollari were known as ventes
l2
(the name "Carbonari" goes
back to a conspiracy organized in the house of a charcoal dealer during the
gl e of the Ghibellines against the Guelphs). Supreme vente. district ventes, local
ventes. Among the founders of the French secti on wall Bazard. [V8,7]
J . J . Weiss on the Club dell Halles: "The club met in a little room on the second
fl oor above a cafe; it had few members, and these were serious and thoughtful.
Think of the atmosphere of the Comedie Fran",aise on days wben Racine or COr'*
neill e is performed; compare the audience on tholle days to the crowd that fills a
cirCUli wll er e acrobats are executing perilous leaps, and you wiU undersland the
' h' I t ' ...lub of Blan
impression made on someone w I10 ventured mto t IS revo u IOlIary ...
qui , compared witb the impression made by the two cluhs in \'ogue with the
of order, tbe club of Ihe Foliell-Bergere and that of Ihe Sall e Va lentino. It was like
a chapel consec:rated 10 the orthodox creed of classical cOllspiracy, the
doors werp. OJ)f'n to all . but where you never' felt like returnin,; unl eu you J)eheved.
After the sull en I)arade of the oppressed who, every ni,;ht , would prese.nl them*
selves at this tribunal in order a1wlllYs to denounce lIomeone or somethin,;-the
f:onspiracy of hankeI'll, an office manager, an administrator of the railroad- the
priest of the place would rise 10 his feet and. on the pretext of addressing the
sor rows of his congregation, the lH:ople (repretenl ed by the half-dozen furious
imbeciles who had just heeu heard), would clarify the situation. lliJl appearance
was distinguisheil. his lH:ari ng irreproachahl e; his counl enance was delicate. Sne,
a nd composed. with a Serce and sini.s ter flash tllat sometimes lit the small and
piercing eyell, whi ch. in t.heir usua] stat e, were more benevolent than harsh. His
words were meas ured, coll Ol:luial, and precise; il was, along with thai ofM. Thiers,
the least declamatory way of speaking I have ever hea rd. As to the content of his
speech. almost everything ill it was just. ... ' Wher e, then , did Corneille learn the
art of war?' cri ed the Grand COllde at the Srst performance of SertorilU. Blanqui,
I would surmi liC. hall 110 more studied war than had Corneille. But possessing. as
he did, tbe l)Olitical facult y to a superlative degree, he could manage, ... even in
military mailers, all the signals that, when duly heeded, would have called forth
a salute." Ci ted in Gustave Geffroy, L 'Enferme (Paris . 1897), pp. 346-348.
{V8a]
January 1870. after the murder of Victor Noir: Blanqui has the Blanquisls,
sented by Granger, 6Ie by before him, without letting the fact be known. " He went
oul , armed, bidding farewell to hi s sisters, and took up his post on the Champs
Elysees. It was there, a8 Granger had announced to him, that he would 6nd,
parading before him, the army of which he was the mysterious general. He
ni:ted the squadron leaders, as they came into view, and, behind each of them, he
saw the men grouped geometrically and marching in step, as though in regimentl ,
It was all done according to plan. Blanqui held his revi ew---8trange spectacle-
without arousinS the slightest suspicioll . Leanins against a t ree, surrounded by the
crowd of onlookers . the vigilant old man saw hi s comradee palll by, orderly amid
Ihe surging of the people, sil ent amid the steadily mounting uproar. " Gustave
Geffroy, L 'Enferme (Puris, 1897), pp. 276-277. [V9, 1]
On the influence of Machiavelli , which Blan<lui felt at " In contrast
the French Bia nqui---8o lucid, so intelligent. so ironic---there appeared, from
, lime to time, thi s old Italian Blanqui , denizen of florence or of Venice, who put his
r ' h '
al l In tenebrous schemes and in the possibl e succe88 of an act offon:e." Gustave
Gerfroy, L'Enferme (Pa ris, 1897). pp. 245-246. [V9,2)
type of conspirator characteristic of the 1840s: Daniel Bomle, a journeyman,
aIf crazy, but above all ambiguous. He worked on assigrunent from Vidocq.
who, for his pan, took his orders from Caussidiere as much as from Louis
Napoleon. Borme put the regiment of the Vesuviennes on their feet in 1848 he
w .. ' ,
as granled an audience, U1 the company of several Vesuviennes, with Mme. de
Lamartine. Lamartine himself refused to have any dealings with the Vesuvien
nt'S. There to have been a plan [0 set up workshops for them. Borme
nlakes an appeal to the cillYJrnneson a poster dated February 28, 1848:
"To female citizens and paaiOtS, my sisters in the Republic: ... I have asked
the Provisional Government to register you under the title of \fesuvienncs. 1'he
engagement will be for one year; to enlist, you must be between fifteen and
thirty, and unmanied. Apply at 14 Rue Sainte-Appoline, from noon to four
o'clock." C ited in Roger Devigne, "Des ' Miliciermcs' de 1937 aux ' Vesuviennes'
de 1848," Vmdredi (May 21 , 1937). [V9,3)
Ba udelaire. in his review of u& Mart yr, ridicule" by Leon Cladel: "The man of
int elligence mold. the l)eople. a nd t he vi8iona r y create8 realit y. 1have known IODle
l)!)Or wretches whose heads wer e turned by Ferragus XXIU and who !!eriou. I,
pl anned to form a 5eCret coalition in order to 8hare. Li ke a rabble di viding up
eOlUluered empire. all the functions and the wealth of modern 8ociety." Baude
laire, L'Art r omanlique (Pari.), p_434.
' 3
[V9a, l )
Charle8 Prole8, in u. Homme, de la revolution de 1871 ( Pa ris, 1898), p . 9, On
Raoul Rigault . Blanquist and prefect of police during the Commune: " In aU
things, ... even in his fanaticism, he had a r emarkable sang-froid, an indefinable
air of the si nister and impassive mystijicateur." Cit ed in Georges Laronze. Hislolre
de la Commll ne de 1871 (Pa ri s, 1928), p . 45. In the same text , p. 38, on Rigault',
specialt y, the unmasking of poli ce spies: "Under the Empire. especially. he had
thrived, .. . keeping hi s notehook up to date, denouncing, on their arrival , the
di sconcert ed agents. 'So how are things with the bo,,?' And, with a sneer, he
would announce their names. Bl anqui 8aw in 8uch perspicaci t y the mark or.
ser viceable talent. He let faU from hi s lips, one day, this unexpected word of
praise: ' He is nothing hut a hut he ma kes a fi rst-r ate policeman. ,,, [V9a,2)
Doct rine of the Bianquisis during t he Commune: " To issue decrees for the natioD
was to repudiate the ut opia of federalism and . ., from Paris a8 the abidin&
capital. to appear to govern France." Georges Laronze. Hisloire de la CommUIMI
de 1871 (Paris. 1928). p. 120. [V9a,3)
The Bl anqui.18 vener ated the memory of Hebert . [Y'" ,]
"Several edit ori al offi ces a nd boulevard cafes. in particul ar the Cafe de Suede,
were the cent ers ... of conspiracy. From there. the web spread out . It encom
passed in its linkages the enti re Commune, redoubta ble less for the resuits ob
tai ned (these were effectively nullified by the profusion of plou) thall for the
atmosphere ... of suspi cion it produced. At the Hotd de V"tlle, t here wer e ince8
santleaks. No dcliberuti oll , no sccr ct decision took pl ace that was not immedi ately
knowll by Thiers." eeorges Laroll zc, Hi&toire de la Commune de 1871 (Paris.
1928). p. 383. [\,9a,51
Ma rx ca ps u detailed account of the StH: ict y of the Tent h of Oeetllllhcr. as an
organization of the lumpcnlu'uleta riat, with these wonls: " in short , the whole.
indefi nite. disint egrated mass, thrown hither and t hither , whi ch t he French term
la boheme." Karl Marx, Der achtzehnte Bnmwire de5 Lolli., Bonaparte , ed.
Rj azanov (Vienna and Berlin ( 1927)). p. [VIO, !)
Re Balzac: "Saill te-Beuve ... recount s a n a nec{lote stra nger . . than all the
olhers. At one I)oinl , a whole society mt-'eting ill Venice (one of the more a ri sto
cr atic of the societi es) decided to assign its member s different roles drawn from the
Comedie humaine , a nd some of these roles. add8 the cri tic mY8teri ously, were
taken 10 the ver y ext reme .... Thi s occurred a round 1840." Anatole Cerfberr and
Jules Chri stol)he. Repert oire de la Comedie humaine de II . de Balzac (Paris.
1887), p. v (Introduction de Paul Bourget). [VIO,2]
hi 1828 The Conspiracy of Equab, by Buonarroti , IIppears in Brussels. " Very
(I uickly, his book becomes til e breviar y of conspirators. " Title: dlistory of Ba
bellfh Conspiracy for Equality, 60,000 copies sold in onl y a few days. In 1837,
15,000 people a t BUOll ar roti'. int erment . Michelet'. father had a relati on to the
hcginllings of Babeu!; Michelet , to Huonarroti . See Andre Monglond, u Pre
romantisme franl;ais, vol. 2, Le Ma it re des a mes sensible5 (Grenoble, 1930),
, JlP. 154--155. [V10,3)
w
een), which last would have the righllo take a lover and bear illegitimate children ;
II man who ... maint ains that unmarried young women who give Ihemselve1l up to
pl easure l)Ossess qualities superior 10 those of married women, . .. and Ilescrihes
[Fourier]
Seas they fathoml Skies they ll!vcal!
Each of these: seekers after God
Takes an infinity upon his wing:
Fulton the Herschd the blue;
MageUan sails, Fourier soars.
The frivolous and ironical crowd
Sees nothing of their dreams.
-VICtor Hugo, !:Annit tmibh: LeJ ltirorsnlrJ, Epigraph
10 the brochure by PelJarin, 104' annivC'Sairr natal 1M
FrJurier (Paris, 1876), cited in A. Pinloche, JiJurla d
fe Jocia/UIM (Paris, 1933). supplement
' 'The words of Jean Paul which I put at the head ofws biography of Fourier-' O
the fi ber s that vibrate in the human soul he cut away none, but rather harmonized
s U'-these words apply admirably to this socialist. and in their fullest resonance
apply onl y to him. One could not find a better way to characterize the phalarute
rian philosophy." Ch. PeUarin, Notice biblWgraphique (1839), p. 60, cited in
A. Pinloche, Fourier et le socialUme (Paris, 1933), pp. 17- 18. (WI,I]
Fourier on hi s business career : "My best years were 108t in the workshops of
falsehood, where from aU sides the sinister augury rang in my ears: ' A very honest
hoy! He wiU never be worth anything in business.' Indeed, I was duped and
robhed in aU that I undertook. But if I am worth nothing when it comes to practic
ing business, I am worth something when it comes to unmasking it. " Charlet!
Fouri er, 1820, Publication M3 manwcrirs , vol. I , p. 17, cil ed in A. Pinloche,
Fourier ed e socia/isme (Pari s, 1933), p . 15.
1
[WI ,2]
Fouri er wanled "every woman to have, first of all , a husband wilh whom she could
conceive two children; second, a breeder (genilcur) with whom she could have
onl y one child ; then, a lover (Javori!) who has li ved with her and retaihed lhis
title; fourth and last, mere possessors (poneueurs), who are nothing in the eyes of
the law .... A man who expressly says that a girl of eighteen who has nol yet found
ft man is entitled 10 prostilute herself; a man who directs that all girls be divided
into two classes, the juveniles (under eighteen) and I.he emancipated (over eight-
ill great detail how a n entire army of women should enter int o prostituti on under
Ihe supervisioll of matrons-such a man does not ullderstand the eternal bases of
hUlllanil y." Sigmund Engla nder, Geschichte der frallzosu. chen Arbeiter-Anocia
lionen (Hamburg, 1864), vol. I , PI' . 245, 26 1-262.-ln the same vei n: "Whal are
",e to say of a syslem in whichfilles publi(luc!S are given the name baccha ntes and in
",.hi ch il is argued that they are just as necessar y as vestal virgins, and that they
... exercise the virtue of fellowship? A system which describes in what manner
iJlJl ocenl young people areli uPPolied t o lose their innocence?" (ibid., pp. 245-246).
[WI ,31
"Around 1803 or 18M, Fourier, who practiced the profession of commercialtrav
eler--or 'shop-sergeant ,' a8 he preferred to call it- found himse.lf in Paris. Hav
ing before him a wait for a position he had been promised, he looked
around for some means of occupying hi s time and hit upon the idea of searching
for a way to make all men happy. It was not with the expectation of obtaining any
practical r esults that he entered on thi s project , but purely as a j eu d'csprit."
Charl es-M. Limousin, Le Fourieru.me (Par is, 1898), p. 3. [Wl ,4]
" Fourier is so prodigal in hi s invention and hi s cr a:r;y descriptions that l.erminier
justifi ably compares him to Swedenborg.... Fourier, loo, was at home in all skies
and on all planets. Mter all, he calculated mathematically the transmigration of
the soul . and went on to prove that the human soul must assume 810 different
forms until it completes the circuit of the pl anets and returns to earth, and that , in
the course of these existences , 720 years must be happy, 45 years favorable, a nd 45
years unfavorable or unhappy. And has he not described what will happen to the
soul after the demi se of our planet , and prophesied , in fact , t hat certain privileged
souls will retire to the sun? He reckons further that our souls will come to inhabit
alt other planets and worlds, after spending 80,000 years on planet Earth. He
calcul ates, in addition, that this termination of the human race will occur only
after it has enjoyed the benefi ts of the boreal li ght for 70,000 year s. He proves that
\ by the influence, not of the horeallight , to be sure, but of the gravi tational force of
labor, . .. the climat e of Scnegal wil l become as moder ate as summers in France
are now. He describes how, once the sea has turned to lemonade, men will trans
pori fis h from the greal ocean to the inl and seas, the Caspian, Aral, and Black
Seas, given that the boreal light reacts less potenll y with these salt y seas; and so, in
thi s way, saltwater fi sh will accust om themselves graduall y 10 Ihe lemonade, until
finally they ca n be restored to the ocean. Fourier al so says Ill al , in its eighth
ascemling period . humanity will acqui re t he clt pacily to live like fish in the water
and to fl y like birds in the air, alld that , lI y then, huma ns will have reached a
height of seven feet and a life span of al leaSI 144 years. Ever yone, at that point .
"" iIl be able -to transform himself into all amphihi an; for the indi vidual will have
the power of opening or closing at will the val ve Ihal COllnects til e two dlambers of
the hellrl , '0 li S 10 bring the blood directly to the hellrt without hllving it pa"
through the IUll goJ Nature will evolve in such he mllintllin8. that a time
will come when blossom in Siberia and the most dlillgeroll8 animals have
been replaced by their OPI)Osiles. Anti -lions, anti -whales will be lit man'llervice
then, alld the cul m will II rive hi s In thi s way, accortling to Fourier, the lion
will ierve ItS the l}Csl of horses and the shark will be ItS II seful in as the dl>8
is in hunting. New sta rs will emerge to take the place of the moon, whi ch already,
by then, will have l}Cgun to rot." Sigmund Ceschichte der !roruii
suchell Arbeite,...AuociCl,ionen (Hamburg, 1864), vol . I , pp. 240-244. [Wla]
" Fourier, ... in his last years . ... wanted to found a phalanstery that wouJd be
illhabited exclusively by children aged t.hree to fourteen , of which he aimed to
Itssemble 12,000; but hi s appeal wellt unheeded and the project wal lIever real
ized. 1.11 hi s writings he left a detailed plan, whi ch specifically delcribel how the
children must be rai lH!(l 80 as to further the idea of association. From the moment
a child begins to walk, an all empt must be made to identify ite tastes and paslioDl,
and, by thi s means, to discover it s vocation. Children who show a liking for life in
the street, who make a racket and refuse to learn neatness and cleanliness , are
placed by Fourier in small bands which have charge of the more unpleal ant tal k.
of the association. On the odler side there are childrell in whom the tast e for
elegance and luxury is inborn; tllese again Fourier arranges in a group, so that by
their 011 the scelle the phalanx will not be lacking in luxury.... The
children are to bt.'Come ... great arti sts of song. Every phalanx, Fourier BayB, will
have 700 to 800 actors, nJusicians, and dancers, and the poorest canton in the AlP'
or the Pyrenees will have all opera company at least as good as the Grand Opera of
Paris, if not much belter. In order to foster the general sense for harmony, Fourier
wouJd have the children already singing duets and trios in the nursery." Sipund
Englander, Gescllichte der !rallzo$uchen ArbeiterAuociationen (HambulrI,
1864), vol. I, pp. 242- 243. [W2,J)
"'Among the disciples of Fourier. one of the most ent ertainin5 was this AJphorue
Toussenel, who, in 1847 and 1852 respectively, published those works so popular
in their day, L ' f;spri, de$ betes and Le Monde dC$ oueaux. ... Like Fourier, ...
he sees in nalure only animate beings: ' The planets,' he affirms, ' have great dutiet
to fu1611 , first as member s of the solar system, then as mothers of familici. , And be
\'oluptuolIsly descrilks the amour8 of the Earth and the SlIn: ' As the lover dresses
ill hi H bea utiful robes, and glosses his hair, and perfumes hi s language for tbe
vi sit of hi s lovc, thll8 ever y morning the Earth indues her richest attire to meet the
ruys of her 8tar belove.!. ... Ha ppy, thrice happy the Earth,l.hat 110 couucil of the
stars has yel tlUllldered its anathema against the immoralit y of the kisses of the
SUII!' .. . 'Professors of the officially sanctioned physical sciences dare not speak
of the two of electri city; they ftnd it more moral to i lH!a k of its two pok$ . ...
SUell absurditi es are heyolilime.... If the fi re of love Ilill not kindl e allikings,
metals ani! mineral s as wdlas others. where, I ask, would be the reason for thollC
ardcnt IIffi uiti es of fur oxygen. of hydrochloric acid for water?' "
de. betel <6th edition) (Paris , 1862), pp. 9, 2-3,102_106.
2
CitC(1 in Rene de PlallllOl, l.es UWl'istes de l'amollr (Paris . 1921), pp. 219-220.
[W2,2]
"Our planet goes inlo material decline once iu inhabitllnl8 begin to backslide down
the social scale. It is like a tree whOle leaves the caterpillars have been aUowed to
devour over a period of yea rs: the tree languishes and wes." From Fourier,
Theorie en abllrait ou negati ve, p. 325. " Our vortex is young, and a column of
102 planets is presently on course for an elltry into our univer'llC, which is on the
IJOint of advall cillg from the third to the fourth power." From Fourier, Theom des
quatre mouvement$ (1808), PI" 75, 462, and Theom mute ou speculative el Syn.
the$e routiniere de l 'auocia,ioll, Pl" 260, 263. Ci ted in E. Silberling, Dicrwnnaire
de $ocwwgie phalmuterienne (Pari., 1911), pp. 339,338. [W2a, l}
Gay's newspaper, Le Communu,e: " What W88 noteworthy, in his case, was that he
championed the view that communism could not possibly be achieved without a
complete alteration in sexual relations .... ' l !l a communist society ... , not only
would aU men and women enter into a great many intimate relationships with
persolls of the opposite sex, but even at their first encounter a genuine sympathy
would spring up between them ...' Englander, Geschichte der Jranzosischen Ar
beiter-Auociatwllen, vol. 2, pp. 93-94. (W2a,2]
On Cabet: "The cry was not : Let us emigrate to America and there , with utmost
exertion, found a colony in the wilderness .... Rather, Cabet was saying: 'Let us
go to learia!' .. . Let us enter boldly into this novel, let us give life to Icaria, let UI
free ourselves from all privations ... ! Every article in his newspaper wouJd rerer
henceforth to lcaria; this went 10 far that he would describe, for example, how
several workers were injured by the explosion of a steam engine in La Villette and
conclude hi s account with the words, ' Let us go to Icaria!'" Englander, vol. 2,
)lV'. 120-121. [W2a,3]
On Cabet: " Most of the correspondents writ e as though they have Clcaped the
\ general desti ny of humanity by jourlleyi ng to Ameri ca. " [This pertains to the
correspolldents for Le Populaire. ] Englander, vol. 2, p. 128. [W2a,4)
"Cabet, wholll the radiCli1 reJluhli can part y attacked because they considered him
li n opiate-monger," had to "remove to Saint-Quentin . . so as to defend himself
frolll accusatioliS of revolutionary agitation. The accusation was to the effect that ,
e\'ell if the Icarians should embark with Ca bet . they would disembark at another
)Joint on the coast of france, in order 10 begi n the revolution." Englander, vol. 2,
p. 142. 0 Secret Socidies 0 [W2a,5]
" Mercury ta'ught U 8 to read . He brought us the alphabet , the declensions. and
finall y the enti re grammar of the unitary Harmoni an language. as spoken on
the sun and the harmonized pl anets." Citation from Fouri er, in Ma uri ce Har .
than he earns as a producer." ( Paul> Lafargue, " Der Ki asscnkampf in Fr ank
md, "Charles Fourier," Porlraitj d 'hier, vol. 2, no. 36 (Pari s, 1910), p . 184.
reich," Die neue Zeit . 12, 110. 2 (1894), pp. 644, 616. [W3,4]
[W2a,6]
"Among all the contempor ari cs of Hegel, Charles Fouri er was the onl y one who
saw through bourgeois relations as clearly as he himself did ." G. Plekhanov, "Zu
Hegels sechzigstem Todestag," Die neue Zeit , 10, no. 1(Stutt gart, 1892), p. 243.
[W2a, 7]
Four ier speaks "of t he ascendancy of the principle of ' industrial passion' (Jo ugue
industrieUe) , the univer sal enthusiasm that is ruled by the laws .. . of the 'com.
posite' or the coincident.' On a cursory inspection, it mi ght appear as though we
had reached thi s st age today. Industrial passiou is represeuted by the rage to
specul ate and the impulse t o accumula te capital ; the pauion coi'lCidenle (drive
toward iucorporat ion), hy the consolidati on of capital , illl increasing concentra.
tion. But even though the element s discovered by Fourier a re present in thia
r elation, t hey are neither articulat ed nor regul ated in the manner he envisioned
,
and anti cipated. " Charles Bonni er, " Das Fourier 'sche Prinzip del' Anziehung,"
Die neue Zeit , 10, no. 2 (Stuttgart, 1892), p. 648. [W3,1]
" We can see from his works that Fourier expected his theor y to be accomplished
beginning in the year of their publi cation. In his Proiegomencs, he designates . . .
1822 as the year when the establishment of the experimental colouy of the HarJDO.
nian associati on was to be prepared . This colony was supposed to be actually
founded and put into practice the following year, whereupon 1824 would neceuar
ily see il8 general imit ation by the rest of the civilized world." Charles Bonnier,
" Das Fourier'sche Prinzip der Anzi ehung," Die neue Zcit, 10, no. 2 (Stuttgart,
1892), p. 642. [W3,2]
Mtereffeclll: " In Zol a's powerful novel Le Travail <Labor ), the great utopian wu
supposed to celebrate hi s resurrection.... Leconte de Usle, later the famoUi
leader of t he Parnassian school , was , in his Sturm. und Drang period, a singer 01
Four ierist socialism. A contributor to La Revue sociaiiste . . . [see the November
1901 issue] informs us that , at the invit ation of the editors of La Db nocrati.e
pacifiquc, ... the poet coutribut ed first to thi s latter j our nal and then brieRy to
La Phaionge." H. Thurow, " Aus den Antangen der sozi alistischen Belletristik,"
Die neue Zeit , 21, no. 2 (Stutt gart , 1903), p . 22 1. [W3,3]
" The politi cal et:onomisu a nd politicians from whom the pr e- l 848 so<;ialists had
lea rned wer e, in every case, opposed to They explained to the wor kers that
a st r ike, even though successful , would bring them no advant age, and that the
workers should put their money int o cooperat ives for production and consump
ti on rather than int o pl ans for a st ri ke." Proudhon " had . .. the ingenious idea of
inci ting the workers to strike in order not to increase t heir wages but to lower
them .... In thi s way, the worker obtaills two or three times more 11.8 a consumer
" fourier, Saint-Simon, a nd other reformers recruited thei r followers almost ex
from the rank8 of the .. . a nd from the intell tual elit e of the
bourgeoisie. With a few exceptious, it was educated peopl e who gathered around
t hem, people who thought they had not received from suci ety consi derati on
sufficient t o their merit s .... It was the declcuses, those who had tra nsformed
t hemselves int o daring ent repreneurs, shrewd busine8smen, or speculat or s ....
M. Godin, for example .... founded in Gui se (in the departement of rusne) a
!amiliMere according t il. Four ier 's principles. In handsome bllildings sur rounding
a spacious, g1asscover ed square court yar d, he provided accommodations for nu.
merous workers fr om hi s pl ate--enamelill g factory; here they found, besides a
home, allue<:essary articles for da il y li se ... , entert ainment s in a theater, con
certs, schools for til!!ir children, and so on. In short , M. Godin saw to all tbeir
physical and spiritual needs, and moreover realized ... enormous profi ts. He
earned the r eputati on of heing a benefactor of mankind, and died a multimillion
aire." Paul Lafargue. " Der Kiassenkam"fin Frankreich," Die neue Zeit . 12, no. 2
(Stuttgar t , 1894), p . 617. [W3a, l ]
Four ier on st ocks aud bouds: " In hi s Traite de I'unite uni ver jeUe, Fouri er enu
merates ... the advant ages whi ch thi s form of property offers the capitalislll: ' It
does not run the danger of beiug st olen or damaged through fire or earthquake.
. . . A minor never ri sks being t aken advant age of in the administr ation of his
money. si nce that admini st ration is the same for him as for every ot her shar e-
holder ... ; a capitali st can realize hi s property at any moment , even though he
oWlled a hundred million'; and so forth. ... On the other hand, ' tbe poor man,
though he have but one t aler, can parti cipate in the holding of public stock. whi ch
is di vided up iuto quite small porti ons ... and hence ... can speak of our pal.
our storehouses, our wealth. ' Nal}Qleon III and hi s cohorts in the COIIP d'et at
were ver y t aken with these ideas; ... they democratized st ate revenue, as one of
them put it , by making it possible to purchase bonds for fi ve fr ancs or even one
franc. By such methods, tbey thought to interest tbe masses in the solidit y of
\
puhli c credi t and preclude politi cal revohlti ons." Pa ul Lafargue, " Ma rx' histor
ischer Materi alismus," Die neue Zeit . 22, no. I (Stutt ga rt , 19(4) , p. 831. [W3a,2)
"F
our ier is fl ot onl y a criti c; It is impe rturbahl y serene nature ma kes him a satiri st ,
II rul assuredl y one of tlt e greatest sati.ri sts of all time. " Engels,] cit ed iu Rudolf
Franz, review of Ii:. SilberBug's DictiomlUire de sociQlogic piralclIlsteriellne (Pa ris,
191 1), Dic " eue Zeit. 30, no. 1(Stutt gart . 1912), p. 333. [W3a,3)
The propagation of the phalanstery takes place through an Fourier
Speaks of <l!l "explosion du phalansterc." [W3a.4]
In England, the influence of Fourier combined with that of Swedenborg.
[W3a,5]
" Heine was well aC(IUainted with 80cialism. He could still see Fourier in perSOD. In
hi s articles entitled Fram:iisu che ZU$tiinde <French Mfairs ), he write8 at one
point (June 15, 1843): ' Ye8, Pierre Leroux is poor, just as Saint -Simon aDd
Fourier were poor, and by the providential poverty of these great socialists the
world was enriched .... Fourier likewi8e had re.!01lr8e to the charity of fri enda.
How often have I 8een him scurrying pa8t the column8 of the Palai8-Royal in hi!
shabby gray coat , both pocket8 laden 80 that Ollt of one was peeping the neck of a
bottle and out of the other a long loaf of bread. The friend of mine who fint
pointed him out to me drew my attention to the indigence of the man, who bad to
fetch drink for himself at the wineshop and bread at the bakery. ''',I Cited in "Heine
an Marx," Die neue Zeit . 14, no. 1 (Stuttgart , 18%), p. 16; pa8sage originally ill
<Heine,> Siimtliche Werke , ed. 80lsche (Leipzig), vol. 5, p. 34 ["KoDUnumsmu8,
Philosophie, und K1eri sei," part 1]. [W4,1]
"In his gl08ses to the memoir8 of Annenkov, Marx writes: ' ... Fourier was the lint
to mock the idealization of the petty bourgeoisie. , .. Reported by P. Anski, "Zur
Charakteri stik von Marx," RU$skaia Mrs! (August 1903), p. 63; in N. RjassDoff,
"Marx lind seine rU8sischen Bekannten in den vierziger Jahren," Die neue Zeit,
31, no. 1 (Stuttgart, 1913), p. 764. [W4,2j
"Herr GrUn finds it an easy matt er to criticize Fourier's treatment of love; be
measure8 Fourier 's criticism of exi8ting amorous relationship8 against the fanta
sies by which Fourier tried to get a mental image of free love. Herr Griin, the true
German philistine, take8 these fantasies seriously. Indeed, they are the only thins
whi ch he does take seriously. It is hard to see why, if be wanted to deal with thiI
side of the system at all, GrUn did not al so enlarge upon Fourier'8 remarks con
cerning education; they are by far the best of their kind, and contain 80me DIU
terlyobservations.. . . ' Fourier is the very worst expression of civilized esoilm'
(p. 208). He supplies immediate proof of this by relating that, in Fourier's world
order, the poorest member eats from forty dishes every day, that five meals are
eaten daily, that people live to the age of 144, and so on. With a naive sense of
humor, Fourier oppose8 a Gargantuan view of man to the unassuming mediocrity
of the mell [in Das Westphiilische Dampfboot, the following words . .. inserted
aft er ' men' : ' the infinitely smaD- Beranger' ] of the Restoration period; but Herr
Grtin sees in this merely a chance of moralizing in hi s phili8tine way upon the mOil
innocent side of Fourier's fancy, which he abstracts from the rest." Karl Marx
writing about Karl CrUn a8 historian of socialism (in an article originally
ed in Das Westphiili.sche Dampfboot . August-September 1847), r eprinted in Die
IIeue Zeit , 18, no. 1 (Stuttgart, 1900), pp. , (W4,3j
The phalanstery can be characterized as human machinery. This is no reproach,
nor is it meant to indicate anything mechanistic; rather, it refers to the great
complexity of its structure <Atljhau>. The phalanstery is a machine made of
human beings. (W4.4]
Fourier's point of departure: the reSection on small business. Compare, in this
connection, the following: "VVhen one considers the number of people in Paris
whose lives depend on small business-the size of this fonnidable anny exclu
sively occupied with measuring, weighing, packaging, and transponing from one
end of town to the other-one is rightJy alanned .. .. It must be recall ed that, in
our industrial cities, a shop is generally run by three or four families . .. . 'Sordidi
etiam qui mercantur a mercatoribus quod statim vendant ; nihil enim proficiunt
nisi admodwn mentiantur. Nec vera quicquam est turpius vanitate' (Ik QjJiciis).5
. The current president of the Chamber of Commerce last year fOrmally
requested once again, as a remedy for commercial anarchy, the reestablishment
of guilds." Eugene Buret, Dr: fa Misere des clas.m lahomu.m en Angk tem: et en
France (Paris, 1840), voL 2, pp. 216- 218. [W4a, l j
"The modern proletariat '8 lack of hi story, the detachment of the first generation of
factory worker s from every historical tradition of class and profession, and the
di versity of its origin- in handicrafts, smaD landholdings, agrarian labor, and
domestic concerns of every sort- made this category of economic man receptive to
,
II. vision of the world that would improvise ex novo a new state, a new economy, and
II. new morality. The novelty of what was to be achieved corresponded logically to
the novelt y of the situation in which the new men and women found themselves."
Robert I\tichels, "Psychologie der antikapitalistischen Massenhewegungen,"
p. 313 [Grundrin der Soziawko"omik, vol. 9, no. I , Die geseUschaftliche
Schichtlmg im Kapitalismus (TUhingen, 1926)] . (W4a,2j
"Grandville's life is IlDremarkable enough: peaceful , remote from all excess, at the
periphery of dangerous enthusiasms .. .. His youth was that of an honest clerk in
a respectable shop, where, on rows of spotless shelves, were arrayed- not without
malice-the various images that corresponded to the need for criti cism whi ch aD
'average Frenchman' might feel in 1827." <Pierre> MacOrlan, "Grandville Ie
precurseur," Arts el metiers g raphiques. 44 (December 15, 1934) <po 20>.
(W4a,3]
f ourier and Saint -Simon: " Fourier is more interesting and more diversified in his
economi c analysis and in hi s critique of the existing social order. But , then, Saint
Simon has the advantage over Fourier in his representations of future economic
devel0Jlment. Obviously, thi s development had to move .. . in the direction of a
gI ?bal economy . . . , and not in the directioll of many self-suffi cient IittJe econo
nues, sueli as Fourier imagined . Saint -Simon conceives the capitalist order ... as
..

"

. . . , w

I e ,'ouTler rej ects

It III t Ie nalll e 0
,
tIe pett y bourgeoisie." V
h''''' I'
. Volgin,
< die histori sche Stellung Saint -Simons," ill (Marx-Engels Arclli v, vol. 1
Frankfurl anI Main, 1928>, p . 118. (W4a,4]
" III an cxchang!= of views with the writ cr Camill c Maudair, . .. Zola ... dedared
uneqUi vocally that he bore no love for collcctivism; he found it smallhearted and
Ut opian. He was an anarchist rather than a sociali o
.. .
U.
opllin SOCl.ll Ism, . .. as
. , .

he saw ii , look ils rise fromlhe irulividual workshop, proceeded to the idea of the
associalion of prOtlueers. ami ai med to achi eve a communism of thc general com_
munit y. This Wll8 hefore 1848.... Zola, however, wanled to revive the method of
thi s period ; he ... took up tile ... ideas of Fourier, whi ch were conditioned by the
embryoni c rel ati ons of capiialisl production, and att empted to aUy them to the
mo<lcrn form of t.hi s production. whi ch had grown to giganti c pr oportions." Frana
Diederi ch, " Zola als Utol)ist" (on I.e Tra vail), Die neue Zeir, 20, no. I (Stuttgart),
PI) 326-327,329. [WS,I)
rourier (in u Nouveau Montie indUJlriel et Jooitaire, 1829) disapproves or the
contempt ror gastronomy. "111is gaucherie is yet another or those exploits or
morality calculated to tum us intO enemies or our own senses, and into rriends or
that commercial activity which serves merely to provoke the abuses or sensual
pleasure." E. Poisson, Founu [contains sclected texts] (Paris, 1932), p. 131. Thus,
Fourier here views inlD10ral businesses as a complement to idealist morality. 10
both he opposes his hedonistic materialism. His position recalls, from afar, that or
Georg Buchner. The words quoted above might have been spoken by Buchner's
Danton. [W5,2)
" A phala nx does not sell n thousand quintals of flour of indifferent quality; it aeu.
a thousand quint als classified according to a scale of five, six, or seven varietiCi of
flavor, whi ch it has te!!ted in a bakery and di stinguished in terms of the field where
it was harvested and the method of cultiva tion .... Such an agricultural meclul
nism will contrast sharpl y with the practi ces of our backward world, our civilisa
ti on so in need of perfecting . ... We ace among OUr!lelVetl, furthermore.
merchandi!!e of inferior quality that is twenty times more abundant and more
easil y sold tha n he tt e .....quality goods.... As a result of this circumstance, we can
no longer even recognize the inferior qualit y; moralit y accu!!tom!! the civilized to
eating the good and the bad indiscriminately. From this coar seness of taste follow
all the knaveries of mercantilism." TheorU! des quatre mouvemenU ( 1828). cited
in E. Poisson. Fourier (Pa ris, 1932). pp. 134-135. :-Already children are taught
to "clean their pl atc!!. ,. [W5,3)
" Knowing ... that sometimes, in the region of the North Pole, there is generated
an electrical discharge which lights up those lands plunged in darkne88 for six
months of the year, Fourier announce!! that, when til e eart h shall have been ra
tionall y cultivated ill all its pa rts , the aurora boreali s will be continuous. h this
absurd?" The lIuthor endeavors, following thi s, to provide an explanation: the
transfor med curtI! will absorh less electricit y from the sun, a nd whatever is nol
absorbed will encir cl e it as 8 ring of Northern LiglJls. Charl es-l'tt . Limou!!in, Le
Fourierisme: Repo/l se f; IHI article de Edmond Villey inti,ule " Fourier et son oeu
vre" (Pa ri s, 1898). p. 6. [W5a, I)
"T hen: ","oultl he lI ot hillg ver y surpri sing in the facl that Fourier had been a88o
ci

aled ... wilh a Martinist 100Igc, or al the very leasl had fel! t.he innuence of a
lIulieu in which such ideas Rouri shed ." Cha rles-M. Limousin, Le Fourwrisme
(Paris, 1898) , p. 9. (W5a,2]
""'rthy of note is the fact-to which Limousin adverts-that, with Fourier, the
desire ror possession is not a "passion." This same commentator defines the
concept or paJJirm mir.anuante as that passion which governs the play or the
others. He remarks further (p. 15) : "Fourier was surely wrong to make a j oke or
duty?' Cenainly apt is his observation (p. 17) that Fourier is more an inventor
than a scientist. (W5a,3)
" In Fouri er, occult science acquires a new form- that of industry." Ferra ri , "l>ft
Idees et de I'ecole de Fourier," Revue de. deux mondes, II , no. 3 (1845), p . 405.
[W5a,4)
On Fourier 's machinal mode of conception. The tabl e entitled " Mesh of the Lodg
ments of Harmony" establishes, for apartments in street-gall eries, twent y differ
ent categories of rentals , priced from 50 to 1,000 francs, and offers, among others,
,
the foll owing justIDcation: " This meshing of the six series is a law of the twelfth
passion. The simple progreuion. whether constantly increasing or decreasing,
would have ver y seriOU!! drawbacks. In principl e, it would be false and deleteri
ous, insofar as it was simple .... In application, it would be injurious, insofar as
... it gave to the body of dwellings in the wings ... the appearance of an inferior
clan. Care must be taken to avoid thil arrangement , which would be simple and
therefore detrimental to the meshing -of the differt!nt claI!!es. 'ttl Thus, within a
single section of the strect-gaUeries, lodger!! of differ ent social standing will reside
together. " I put off discussion of the stables ... , about which I 8hall furnisb ...
ampl e detail!! in special chapten to follow. For now, our concern is with lodg
ments, of which one part alone--the street-gallery, the hall of univenallinkage-
conclusively proves that , after 3,000 yean of research into architecture, civilized
men have yet to lea rn anyt hing about the bond of unity." Cited in E. Pois80n,
Fourier [anthol ogy] (Paris, 1932), pp. 145-146. [W5a,5)
\ Aspects of Fourierist number mysti cism. according to Ferrari, " Des Idee!! et de
I'ecole de Fourier " ( Revue de. deux mondes, 14, no. 3 [Pari s, 1845]): " Everything
indicates that FOllrieri srn bases itself on the Pythagorean harmony.. .. Its !!cience
was the science of the a ncients" (p. 397). " Number reproduces it!! rhythm in the
of earnings" (p. 398). The inhabitant!! of the phalanstery comprise 2 x
810 men and women; for " the number 810 gives them a complete series of chords
corresponding to the of cll iJulist a$sonances" (I'. 396). " If. with Fourier,
Ihe science of t he occult takes 0 11 a new form, t.hut of indust ry. it should not be
forgott en that form l>e r se counts for nothing in this airy poetry of the my!!
lagogies" (I). 405). " Number groups Il II bei ngs according to its symboli c law!!; it
develops aU the groulls through serics; the series distributes the harmonies
throughout the universe . ... For lhe series ... is perfect throughout all of 1I1l
ture.... M.an alone is unhalJpy; hence, ci vilization inverts the number whi ch
should govern him. Let us reseue it from civilization .... The order that domj _
nRtes physical movement--(lrgani c movement , animal movement-will thus radi.
ate in . .. pli ssional movement ; nature ilJlelf will organi ze the associati on"
(p. 39>-J96). [WO,I]
Foreshadowing of the bourgeois king ill Fourier: " He speaks of kings who devote
themselves to locksmithery. to woodworking, to selling fish, to the manufacture
of sealing wa): ." Ferra ri, " Des Idees et de I'ecole de Fourier," ReVile c1e, delU
monde. , 14, no. 3 ( 1845) p. 393. [W6,2)
"All his Life. Fourier was engaged in thinking; but he never once asked himself
where his ideas came from. He portrays the human being as a machine paI'ion
nelle; hi s psychology begi ns wi th the senses aud euds with the coml)Osite, without
presupposing .. the inter vention of reason in the solution of the problem of
happiness ." Ferr ari, " Des Idees et de I' ecole de Fourier," Revue des dew: monde"
no. 3 ( 1845) , p. 404. [W6,3)
Utopian elements: "The combined order comprises ' the glory of the arts and Ici.
ences , the spectacl e of knight -errantry, gastronomy combined in a political
sense . .. and a politique galante for the levy of troops" (Ferr ari , p. 399). "The
world turm to its antit ype, as dangerous and savage animals enter the service of
mankind: li onl are ul ed for deli vering the mail. The aurora borealil reheau the
poles; the atmosphere, at the earth's surface, becomes clear as a mirror; the aeat
grow calm; and (our moonl light up the night. In short , the earth renewl itself
twent y-eight times, until the great soul of our planet (now enfeebled, exhauued)
passes on, with all its human soull , to another planet" (Ferrari, p. 401) . [W6,4)
" Fourier u cels in the observation of animalit y, whether in beasu or in men. He
has a geni us for common maHers." Ferrari , " Del Idees et de )'ecole de Fourier,"
Revue de. dew: mondes. 14, no. 3 (1845), p. 393. [W6a,l)
A Fourierist formul a: "Nero will be more useful than Fenelon" (in Ferrari,
p.399). [WOo,2]
In the following scheme of twelve pallions, the four in the second group represent
the puuioru group allles , the th ree in the third group the pouions serionles : "6nt
the five senses; then love, fri endshil>, famil y feeling, ambition; thi rd , the pauionl
for intrigue, for mut abilit y, for union- in other words, the cabalist . the butterfly,
the composite; II thirtet!lI th pas8ion, ' unit yism, ' absorbs aU the otll ers." Ferrari,
'; Oes Itl i:es et de I' ecole de Fouri er," ReVil e dcs deux mondes. 14, no. 3 ( 1845),
p. 394. [W6a,3)
From "' ourier's last work, I A I Faluse I ndll.uric ( 1835-1836): "The celebrated
American hoax auociated with Her schel's discoveri es ahout the world of the
moon' had raised in Fourier, once lhe hoax was revealetl as such, the hope of a
direct vision of the phalanster y on other 1)lanel8... . Here is Fourier 'l reBponse:
'TheAmeri can hoax,' hededares, ' proves. fIrst , the anarchy ofthe press; second,
the barreOli ess of storytell er s concerned with the extraterrestri al: third, man's
ignorance of the atmospheric shell s; fourth . the need (or a megatelescope ... Fer
. " D-, Idees et de I' ecole de Fourier." Revue des deux monJe" 14, no. 3
ran. ..
(1 845), p. 415. [W6a,4)
Allegori cal specime.ns from La Fuu.ue Indwtrie: "On earth Venus creates the
mulberry bush, symbol of moralit y. and the r aspberry filled with ver se, symbol of
the cOlilltcrmorality preached in the theaten ." Ferrari, " Des Idees et de I' ecole de
Fourier," Revue des deux mondes, 110 . 3 (1845), p. 416. [W6a,5)
"'According to Fourier, the phalanstery should be able to earn, merely from spec
tators alone, 50 million francs in two years. " Ferrari , " Del Idees et de I' ecole de
Fourier," Revue c1el dew: mondes, no. 3 ( 1845) , II . 412. [W6a,6]
'"Tbe phalanstery, for Fouri er. wal a veri table hallucination. He saw it every
where , both in civilizat ion Bnd in nature. Never was he lacki ng for a military
pllrade; the drilling of l oldien was (or him a representation o( the all-powerful
play o( the group and of the scri es inverted for a work of destruction ." Ferrari ,
"Des Idees et de l'ecole de ."ourier," Revue des deux mondel , no. 3 (1845). p. 409.
[W6a,7)
Fourier, in connection with a proposal for a miniature pedagogical colony: "Ful
ton Wll8 supposed to have constructed or merely drawn up plans for a delicate little
laullch that would have demollstrated, on a miniature scale. the power of steam.
This skiff was to have tranl ported (rOlIl Paris to Saint -Cloud-without sails or
oars or borses-a half-dozen nymphs , who, on their return from Saint-Cloud.
would have publi cized the prodigy and (>ut all the Parisian beau month in a flut
ter." Ferrari, " Des Idees et de l'&:ole de Fourier," Revue del deux monde" no. 3
(1845), p. 414. [W', I]
"The Ian to encircle Pari \O;th (ortificati ons would squander hundreds of mil
\ lions of francs for reasons of defense, whereas tbil magician, with onl y a milli on,
\O'ould r oot out fore\'cr the cause of all wars and all revolutions." Ferrari , " Des
Idi:"es et de I' ecole de Fourier," Revue de. deux mOlldes, 14, no. 3 (1845), p. 413.
[W',2]
Micllelet on Fouricr: "SinguJa r contrast betwcen his boast of materialism and his
self-sacrifi cing. di sinterested, aud spiri tu ul !ife!" J. Michelet, Le Pellple (Pari s.
1846), p. 294. 10 [W7,3)
Fourier's conception of the propagation of the phalanstcries through "explo
sions" may be compared to two anida of my "politics" : the idea of revolution as
an innervation of the tecluucal organs of the collective {analogy with the child
who learns to grasp by trying to get hold of the moon}, and the idea of the
"cracking open of natural tdeol? gy." (See W8a,S and Xla,2.) [W7,4]
Fourier, Oeuvre. vol. ( 3) , p. 260: " L.ist of charges to be brought against Cod, 00
the hypothesis of II gap in the divine social code." [W7,5j
A take on the ideal of Fourier: " King Clodomir, restored by harmony to his natu.
ral vocation, il no longer that ferocious Merovingian who has his confrere Sips.
mont! thrown into a pit. ' He is a friend of flowers and of verse, an active partisan
of musk roses, of golden plums and fresh pineapples , and many another growing
thing.... He weds the vestal Antigone and follows her a8 troubadour to join the
Hippocrene phalanx.' And Lows XVl, instead of filling so pitiably the job of Irins
for which he was hardly cut out, makes magnificent door locks." Charl es Lcman_
dre, Le. Idee. mbvenive. de notre temp. (Paris, 1872), p. 59 [ci ta ti on given with_
out indi cation of source]. [W7,6)
Delvau, in Le. Lio,." du jour (Pa ris, 1867), p. 5, slJeaks of Fourier's " ingeoiolll
II rgol ." {W7,7]
" It is easy to understand that every ' interest' on the part of the mas&el ... goes far
beyond its ccllilimiu in the 'idea' or ' imagination' when it first comes on the scene,
and is confused with human inlerest in general. This illusion constitutes what
Fourier calls the ' tone' of each historical epoch ." Marx and Engels ,
Fomilie, in Der hi!tori!che Moteriolismw. vol. 1 <Leipzig, 1932), p. 379.
11
(W7.8)
Augustin-Louis Cauchy is mentioned by Toussenel (L 'E'prit des betel [PariJ,

1884], p. 111)12as a mathematician with Fourierist leanings. [W7a,l)

In a passage concerned witb Malthusianism. Toussenel explains that the solutioa
to the problem resides in the double (_ filled?) rose of Rhodes, whose nameD
maments have been transformed into petals. "and which consequently becoa18
barren by exuberance of sap and of ri chness. In other words, ... so long as miaerr
shall continue increasing, the fecundity of the femal e sex will follow the ,ame
course; and there is but one method of curbing this continual prolification
namely, to surround all women with the delights of I",wry.... Except throuP
luxury ... ,except through general riches, no salvation!" A. TOll.8senel. L'E.p",
de. bete.: Zoowgie passionnel (Paris. 1884), p. 85.
13
[W7a,2)
On til e feminism of the Fourierist " On Herschel and Jupiter. botany
cour5e@ aretaught by young vestals of eightecn to twent y... . When I say 'eighteen
to twellty,' 1 spell k the la nguage of Earth , since the years 0 11 Jupiter are twel
vfl
times longer t han ours, and the vestalate begi ns only toward the hundredth year."
A. TOUS6ellel, L 'E. prit de. bete. (Paris, 1884), p. 93. H [W7a,3)
A model ofFourierist psychology in Toussenel's chapter on the wild boar. "NoW,
surrounding the dwellings of humanity are great quantities of broken glass
ties, rusty nails, and candle ends, which would be completely lost to society if
some careful and hand did not charge itself with the collection of all
tllese vaJucless relics, to reconstruct out of them a mass susceptible of being
reworked and made fit for consumption again. This important task evidently
belongs among tlle attributes of the miser. . .. Hett the character and mission of
the miser perceptibly rise: the pinchpenny becomes a ragpicker, a salvage opera
lOr. ... The hog is the great salvager of nature; he fattens at nobody's expense."
A. Toussenel, L'&pn't des bi tes (Paris, 1884), pp. 249-250.
15
[W7a,4]
Marx charPcterizes the insufficiency (I f Fourier, who conceived "a particul ar form
of labor-labor leveled down, parceled , and therefore unfrce--... as the source
of private propert y's perniciousne88 and of its existence in estrangement from
mell ;' instead of denoull cing labor as such, as the essence of private property.
Karl Marx, Der ili. tori.che Materililultlll. , ed. Lalldshut and Mayer (Leipzig
( 1932, vol. I , p. 292 ("NationalOkonorui e und Philosophie" ). I. [W7a,5]
Fourierist pedagogy, like the pedagogy ofJean Paul. should be studied in the
context of anthropological materialism. In this, the role of anthropological mate
rialism in France should be compared with its role in Germany. It might tum out
that there, in France, it was the human collective that stood at the center of
interests, while here, in Germany, it was the human individual. we must note, as
....-ell, that anthropological materialism attained sharper definition in Gennany
because its opposite. idealism, was more clearly delineated over thett. The his
tory of anthropological materialism stretches, in Germany, from Jean Paul to
Keller (passing through Georg Buchner and Guttkow); in France, the socialist
utopias and the physiologies are its precipitate. [W8, 1]
Madame de Cardoville. agronde d(lme in Le Juiferran( <The Wandering Jew). is
a Fouri erist . [W8,2)
In cOnnection with Fourierist pedagogy, one should perhaps investigate the dia
lectic of the example: although the example as model (in the moralists' sense) is
pedagogically worthless, if not disastrous, the gestic example can become the
Object of a controllable and progressively assimilable imitation, one that pos'
sesses the greatest significance. [W8.31
" Lfl Phalange. journul tie la science .ociale ( 1836-1843), which aplH!3rs three
limes II ....eek ... will fade from the scene olily when it call cede il s place 10 a dail y.
/..{I lJemocrtllie IJUcijiqlle (IJl1J3- 1851). Here, the ul ai ll idea ... is ' the orga nization
of luho
l
" through the associ ation." Charll' S Benoist. " L' Homme de 1848." part 2,
Rlllille de. dellX "lOlide. (February I, 191'1). p. &15. [W8.4)
FrUin Nell emell!', discussion of Fourier: " In crcuting the present world . Goo re
Sen 'ed t he righllO cha uge its outwanl aij IW(t through suhsel lucnt crea tions. These
c.relt lions arc cight ecn in numher. Every crt:atioll is Lruughl IlIJOul by a cuujunc
hOIl of uuslral fluid alld boreal lluitl." The lalcr creatiOIiS. following on the
can eventuat e onl y in lI armony. AHred Nettement, HUloire de fa litterature
JrtJII{aise SOliS Ie gOll verllemenl de juille, (Paris, 1859), vol. 2, p. 58.
{W8,5)
" According to him (Jo'ourier >, soul s trunsmigrate frOIll body to body, and even
from world to world. Each planet possesses a soul , which will go to animate some
other, superior planet , carrying with it, as it does so. the sonls of those people who
have inhabited it . It is thus that , before the eud of our planet earth {which is
supposed to endure 81,000 years) , t he human soul s upon it will have gone through
1,620 existences; they will have lived a tot al of 27,000 years on earth aud 54,000
yea rs 0 11 another plauet. ... In the exertions of its earliest infancy, the earth waa
struck by a putrid fever that eventuall y spread to the moon, which died as a result.
But once or ganized in Harmony, the ea rth will resuscitate the moon ." Nettement, -
Histoire de hi litterafltreJran{aise 301t.f le gouvem ement dejuiUet , vol. 2, pp. 57,
59. {W8,")
The Fourierist on the subj ect of aviation: " The buoyant aerostat .. . is the chariot
of fire, whi ch . . . respects above all the works of God; it does not need to aggrade
the valleys or tunnel through mount ains in imitation of the murderous locomotive,
which the speculator has di shouored." A. Toussenel . Le Monde del oi.tearu, vol. 1
(Paris, 1853). p. 6. [\VSa, l ]
" It is impossible ... that zebras, quaggas, hemiones, and pygmy ponies, who know
they are destined to serve as steeds for tbe children's cavalry of the future, are
sympathetic witb the poli cy of our st atesmen , who treat as merely utopian the
C<IUestrian institutions wher e these animals are to bold a position of honor....
The lion likes nothing better ... than having its nails trimmed, provided it is
pretty girl that wields the scissor s." A. Tou8senel , Le Momle de, oi.tearu: 0nU.
thologie passwnnelle. vol. I (Paris, 1853). pp. 19-20. The author sees in woman
the intermCi:li ary between human and animal. [\VSa,2)
Memorable letter from Victor Cousin to Jean J ournet, in response to writings
sent him by the latter. It is dated October 23, 1843, and concludes: "When you
are suffering, think not of social regeneration but of God, ... who did not create:
man only for happiness but for an end quite otherwise sublime." The prefacer
adds: "'"'* would have consigned this litde anecdote to oblivion, had not this
poor letter ... , a uue masterpiece of perfect ignorance, summed up ... the
political science ... of a coterie that, for the past twenty-one years, has overseen
. . . the fortunes of our country." J ean J oumet, Po(sies d cnantJ narmonieru (Paris,
1857), pp. xxvi- xxvii (editor's preface). rw
8a
,3]
"The hi slory of Ihe ... human races 011 Jupiter allli Saturu leaches U 8 that civili
zati on ... is on il s wa y to guarantislII ... by virhle of the political equality be
hn:t:lIl1l an and woman, ami frolll guaralltism to Harmony through the recognitioP
of the superiorit y of WOIIIUII ." A. TOlIsscnci. Le MOlille d C5 oiseullx, vol. I (Paris,
1853). p. 131. rwSa,4j
Fourier's long-tailed men became the object of caricature, in 1849, with erotic
drawings by Emy in Le Rire. For the purpose ofelucidating the Fourierist extrava
gances, we may adduce the figure of Mickey Mouse, in which we find carried
out, entirely in the spirit of Fourier's conceptions, the moral mobi.l.ization of
nature:. Humor, here, puts politics to the test. Mickey Mouse shows how right
Marx was to see in Fourier, above all else, a great humorist. The cracking open of
natural teleology proceeds in accordance with the plan of humor. [\VSa,S]
Affiliation of anti-Semitism with Fourierism. In 1845, Les Juifi rois <The Jewish
Kings>, by Toussenel, appears. Toussenel is, moreover, the partisan of a "demo
cratic royalty." [\VSa,6]
" The line ... generally associat ed with the family group is tbe parabola. This
postulate is demonstrated in the work of the Old Masters, and above all in
Raphael. ... From the approximation of this grouping to the parabolic t ype, tbere
reswts, in the oeuvre of Rapbael , a hymn to the family, ... masterful and ...
divine .... The master thinker, who determined the analogies of the four conic
sections, has recognized the correspondence of the parabola and of familyism.
And here we find the confirmation of thi s proposition in the prince of painters, in
Raphael. " D. Laverdant, De hi Mi.uwn de l'art et du role ck5 arti..!Ile,; Salon de
1845 (Paris, 1845), p. 64. [\V9,1]
Delvau {Le, Deuow ck Pam ( Paris, 1860>, p. 27) sees connections between
Fourier and Restif de La Bretonne. [\V9,2]
Highly characteristic of the relation of the Fourierists to the Saint-Simonians is
Considerant's polemic against the railroads. 1bis polemic relies, for the most
part, on Hoene Wronski, Sur la Barbade des chemins de fer et sur la rijOrme
de la /ocomoton. Wronski's first objection is directed against the system
of iron rails ; Considerant indicts "the process operating under the name 'railway
system,' that is to say, the consuuction of very long fiat roads equipped with
metallic rails and re:quiring enonnous amounts of money and labor-a process
i. ' not only opposed to the actual progress of civilization, but contrasting all the
more strongly with this progress in that it presents something truly ridiculous:
the barbarous contemporary reproduction of the massive and inert roadways of
the Romans' (lftition aux Chambres, p. Il)." Considerant opposes the "barbarous
means," which is "simplistic," to the "scientific means," which is "composite"
(pp. 40-41). At another point, he says explicitly: "For this Jimpfume has led, just
as one would expect, to a result that is completely barbarian: that of the ever
more ineluctable leveling of roads" (p. 44). By the same token: "HorUontality is a
proper condition when it is a question of conununications over water. The sys
tem of terrestrial locomotion, on the other hand, evidently ought to be capable of
PUtting . .. . different elevations in communication with one another" (p. 53). A
Second and related objection of Wronski's is directed against navel on wheels,
which he describes as "a well-known and extremely vulgar process ... , in use
since the invention of the chariot.n Here, too, he stresses the lack of any genuine
scientific and compl ex character. Victor Considerant, Dirau(Jn t:l dangs de len
gvucnent pour cncnins rnf (Paris, 1838). The comentS first appeared, in large
part, in La Phalangr. (W9,3]
Considcr ant ar gues di al the work of engi lll!en sll ouM be focused nol on the im
provemenl of the track bUI 00 the improvement of Ihe means of Iransl)Ort. Wron_
ski , 10 whom he refen, a plHlars t o he thinking primarily of an in11)roved form of
wheel or of its replacemenl by something else. Thus, COll sidcrant writ es: "Is it not
clea r ... that the Iliscovery of a machine thai would facilitate locomotion over
ordinary rout es, and incr ease ... til e present speed of transportation on these
route!! , would devast ate, from top to bottom, the entire ente'1lri!le of the rail
roads? ... Hence, a di sco\'ery 110 1 onJy l)Ossihle bUI indeed probable can annihi_
lat e, at one blow alld forever, the extraordillary amountll of capital that some
IHlopl c have propolled be sunk illto the railway lIYll tem!" Vietor Conside.rant,
Deraisoll et da nger' de I'ellgouermmt pour k . chemiras en fer (Paris, 1838), p. 63.
[W9a, l}
"'The ope rat ion of ruilroads , .. forced humanit y into the position of comhati.ns
nature's workll ever ywhere 011 ea rth, of filling up vall eys and breaching moun
t ains, ... of struggJing fmally, by means of a general system, againsl the natural
conditions of the pl all et's terrain, ... and r eplacing them uni versally by the oppo
sit e sort of cOllditioll s." Vi ctor Considerallt , Deroison et danger' de l'engoueme ...
pOllr les cll emiru en fer (Pa ris, 1838), pp. 52-53. [W9a,2]
Charles Gide on the " di vi natory genius" of Fourier: " When be writes: ' A certaiD
veuel from London a rri ve8 in China today; t omorrow the planet Mercury, haviDB
been advised of the arrivals and movement s of shil)8 hy the astrOnomers of Asia,
will trall smit the list to di e aatronomer s of London,' and if we transpose tbit
prophecy into currellt vernacular ao that it reads, ' When a ship arrives in China.
the T. S. F. will transmit the news to the Eiffel Tower or to London,' then it is clear.
I be lieve, t hat we have here an extraordinar y anticipati on. For what he mealll to
say is precisely this: the pl anet Mer cury is there to repreSf: nt a force, a8 yet un
known, which would enable the transmi ssion of message8-a force of which he hal
had a presentiment ." Cha rl es Gide, Poltrier precurseur cle 10 cooperation (Pan.
<1 924 , p. 10-11 Y [W9a,3j
Charles Cide on Fourier's nonsensical astrol ogical specul ati ons: " lie tells us that
the pl a nel8 Juno, Ceres, a nd Pall as each produce a species of gooseberry, aud that
tll ere ought to be a fourlh and still more excellellt ki nd, of whi ch we are deprived
hecHuse the pl anet Phoebe (the moon). whi ch IO' ouill have generat ed it . is unfortu
11
!lately dead." Charl es Girle. Pourier "reeur.eur c/e fa coo/,erafioJl (Pa ri s), p, 10.
[W9a,4i
" When hcspeak.1I ' .. of u celest ial a rmy which Ihe Sidereal Council hus resolved to
8end to the a id of Humanit y, UII army a lr eady dispatched some 1,700 yean ago and
havi.ng before it more than 300 yean of t ravel until it arrives in the conrmes of our
solar system ... we shudder a IittJe allhe hinl of Apoca lypse. In other pl aces this
lunacy is nlOre ami able, bordering often on wisdom, abounding in fine and willy
ohser vati ons, a bit like Ihe harangues on the topi c of the Golden Age Ihat Don
Quixote ill til e Sierra Morena addrened 10 the astonished goatherds." Charlee
Gide, PourU!r precur,eur de la coopert,tion (pari s), p. 11 .19 (WI O, I ]
"One could aay, and he says it himSf:lf, that his observatory--or his laborator y, if
you prefer- is the kit chen. It i!! his poinl of depart ure for radiating into all the
dOlllaill8 of social life." Charles Gide, POllrU!r precur.eur de 10 cooperaticJII
(paris), p. 20. [W1O,2]
On the theory of attraction : " Bernardin de Saint-Pierre denied the force of grav
ity . . , beca use it signifi ed an infringement on the free exer cise of providence; and
the aurOIlOlll er Laplace struggled ... 110 len violentJy ... against the fanciful
generalizations of t bis force. But that did not prevent the doctrines of an Aui's and
ot hers ... from finding thei r imilaton. Henri de Saint-Simon .. , was
oecupi ed for yean with the elaboration of a system of ' universal gravitation, ' and
in 1810 he out with the foll owing cr edo: ' I believe in God. I believe that Cod
created the universe. I beli eve that God made the universe subj ect to the law of
gravitation.' Fourier likewise founded ... his ... system on the ' force of universal
attraction,' of which sympathy between one man and another is said to be but a
case." Ernst Robert Curtiw, Bauac (Bonn, 1923). p. 45 (Azau, 1766
1845, Des Compematiom dam ks de, ti"ees humaine.). [WIO,3]
Relation of the Commu"ist Manifesto to the draft by Engelt: "The organization of
labor (a concessiOn 10 Louis Blanc) and the constructi on, on state-owned lands, of
large communal palaces designed to bridge the gap between city and country (a
Concession 10 the Fourierists of the Democratu! Pacifique) were items which de
rived from Engels' draft and which the final version of the manifeno left out ."
Gustav Mayer, Friedrich Engels, vol. J, Friedrich Engeu in ,einer Friilueit , 2nd
ed. (Berlin ( 1933, p. 288. (WIO.4]
\
Engels on Fourier: "' It is Morgan's work whi ch throws into bold reli ef the whole
brilliance of Fourier 's criti llue of civilization,' he announced t o Ka utsky while
workillg on his Ur. pnmg der FamiJU!. In t his book itSf:if, however, he wrote: ' The
lowest int erests .. . usher in the new. civili zed society, the cla8S-based societ y. The
nlOst 'out rageolls means ... topple the old. classless, gentil e socieIY.'" Cil ed in
CUslav Mayer, f"riedricll Etlgels, vol. 2, EtlgeLs utld der Auf5lieg der Arbeiter
bewegllng in Eu.ropa (Berlin 1933 , II, 439. :!U [WlOa,11
Marx 0 11 Proulll lon, in a lett er 10 Kugelllllum . October 9. 1866: " I-li s sham criti
cisl
ll
alit! lI.ham opposi li on to Ill e utopi ans (he IUlIIseif is onl y a IHlUy-bolirgeois
Ulopiall , whereas in the ut opias of a Fourier, all Owen, and others, there is the
allticipa tiull and imaginati ve expressioll of s new world) a ttracted and corrupted
Grn the j euneue briUiantf', the studenll, a nd then the workmen, I)srticularly
those of Pari8, who. as worker8 in luxury tradel, are 8trOngly attaehed, without
knowing ii , 10 the old Karl Marx and Friedrich Awgewiihlte
Brief. ed. and Leningrad, 1934) <po 174) . %1 [WIOa,2)
"When properly has been aboli8hed throughout Cermauy. these ultrac1ever Bel"
linen will up a Democratie PucifUJIW on the .... Watch out! A new
Messiah will in the Uckermark-a Messiah who will tailor Fourier
to accord with I-Iegel , erect a UpoD the eternal categorie8, and lay it
down an eternal law of the 8elfdeveloping idea that capi tal, tal ent , a nd labor aU
have a definit e share in the product . will be the New Testament of Hegelian_
ism; old Hegel will be the Old Testament ; the '51ate, ' the law, will be a ' t u kml8ter
over Christ ' ; and the phalanstery, in whi ch the are located in accordance
with logi cal necessit y, will be the ' uew Heaven' and the ' new Earth,' the Dew
J eruu lem descending from heavell decked out like a bride." Engell to Marx,
Barmen, November 19, 1844, in Karl Ma n: and Friedrich Engels, Briefwecluel,
vol. 1, 1844-1853, ed . MarxEngels-Lenin Instilut (Moscow and Leningrad, 1935),
1)11.%1 [WIOa,3)
Only in the summery middle of the nineteenth century, only under its SWl, can
one conceive of Fourier's fantasy materialized. [WIOa,4)
"Cultivate in children the sharp earl of a rhinoceros or a cossack." Ch. Fourier,
Le Nouveau Monde indwtriel et societaire. ou Invention du procede d 'indwrrie
aUrayante et natureJle distribuee en .eries passionnee. (Paris, 1829), p. 207.
-
(WIOa,5)
One readily grasps the importance of the culinary in Fourier; happiness has its
recipes like any pudding. It is realized on the basis of a precise measuring out of
different ingredients. It is an effect. Landscape, for example, signifies nothing to
Fourier. He has no feeling for its romantic aspect; the miserable huts of the
peasantry arouse his indignation. But let "composite agriculture" move into the
area, let the little "hordes" and the little "bands":!l spread out across it, let the
noisy military marches of the industrial anny play over its surface, and we have
arrived at that proportion of elements needed for happiness to result. [WII ,I)
The kinship between Fourier and Sade resides in the constructive moment that is
proper to all sadism. Fourier conjoins the play of colors of the imagination in a
unique way with the play of numbers of his idiosyncrasy. It must be emphasized
that Fourier's hannonies are not dependent on any of the traditional number
mysticisms, like that of Pythagoras or of Kepler. They are altogether his concep
tion, and they give to the harmony something inaccessible and protected: they
surround the hannonitru as though with barbed wire. The happiness of the
phalanstcry is a bonheuT barhdl. On lhe other hand, Fourierist traits can be
recognized in Sade. The experiences of the sadists, as presented in his J20 J ours
de Sodome, are, in their cruelty, exactly that extreme that is touched by the
ext::reme idyllic of Fourier. us extremes .Ie touchent. The sadist, in his experiments,
could chance on a partner who longs for just those punishmentS and humiliations
which his tomlentor inI.icts. All at once. he cou1d be standing in the midst of one
of those hannonies sought after by the Fourierist utopia. [W II ,2]
Simplism appears in Fourier as the mark of "civilization." [W Il ,3]
According to fouri er. the people in the vicinit y of Paris, Blois . and TOli n are
especially suited to put their children int o the trialphalunstery. The lower classes
there are particularl y well bred. See Le Nouveau Momle, p. 209. [Wll a,l ]
Fourier's system, as he himself explains, restS on two discoveries: that of attrac
tion and that of the four movements (material, organic, animal, and social).
[Wlla,2)
Fourier of a transmission mirogiqae which will ma ke it for London
to have newl from India within four hours. See Fourier, La Fawle Indw trie
(Paris. 1836), vol. 2, I). 711. [Wlla,3J
"The social movement is the pattern for the three others. The animal , organic, and
malerial movemenll! a re coordinated with the 80cial movement , which i. primary.
Thi. means that the propertiefl of an a nilllal, a vegetable, a mineral , or even a
vortex of stan represent an effect of the human palsions in the l ocial order, and
that everything, from atoRls to stars, il an image of the propertie8 of the hURl an
passions." Cha rles Fourier, Theorie des quatre mouvements (Paris, 1841), p. 47. :.1
[Wlla,4]
The contemplation of maps was one of Fouri er's Cal'orite occupations. [Wl l a,5]
Messianic timetable: 1822, preparation of lhe experiment al canton; 1823, ill! open
ing and trial run; 1824, its illlita tion in aU civilized nations ; 1825, recruitnl ent of
the barbarians und savages; ) 826, organizat ion of the spherical hier ar chy; 1826,
\ dispatching of coloni al squadrons. - The phrase hierarchie s"herique should be
taken to mean the "distribution of the 8cepters of sover eignt y" (according to
E. Silberling, DiClioml(lire de sociologie phtlltl R.f terielUl e [Paris, 1911 ], p. 214).
[Wlla,6]
The Illude! of the phala nstery comprises 1,620 persons-in otllcr words . a male
and a femal e exempl ar of each of the 8 10 characters tllUt , acconling to Fourier,
exha ust aU 1}I)81ihilities. [W ll a. 7]
III 1828. the I)oles were to hecome ice fn. [W11a,8J -e.
"The of lIIall ill an emanation of the grea t pluneta ry 80ul , hody a portion of
the hody. Whcn a ilion di es. hill hotly Ji u olvcs illlo thc hody of t.he pl anet
and his soul fadc8 int o the planetary 80UI. " F. Armand and R. Maubl a nc, ,"' ourier
(Pllris, 1937). vol. I , p. 111. [Wlla,9)
" AU childrell have thc following dominant tastes: ( 1) Ferreling. or the penchant
for handlillg thingt, exploring, running around, and constantl y changing activi_
tie8. (2) Industril (lin. the taste for noisy jobs. (3) Aping. or the imitative mania.
(4) Working on a minialllre scale. the taste for little workshops . (5) Progru. ive
ent icemenl of the weak by the 8trong." Charl es Fourier, Le Nouveau Monde indw_
trrel et locietaire (Paris, 1829), p. 213. u [W12,1]
Two of the twenty-four "'Sources for the blossoming of vocations": (3) The lure of
hi erarchi cal ornaments. A plume already suffices to bewitch one of our villagers' to
such a n extent that he is ready to sign away his liberty. What. then, will be the
effect of a hundred honorific adornments in the effort to enroU a child in the
pleasurable association with his fellows? ... (17) Hannony of materi el , or the uni
ta r y maneuver-something unknown in the workshops of civiliution, but puc
ti cetl in those of Harmony, where it is performed by tlte ensemble of soldien and
chor eographers in II manner deli ghtful to all children." Charles Fourier, Le Nou.
ve(1It Monde illdllltriel ef socielaire (Paris, 1829), PI'. 215, 216. [W12,2)
\kry characteristic that Fourier wants much more to keep the father away from
the education of his children than the mother. "Disobedience toward the father
and the teacher is ... a perfectly natural impulse; and the child wants to com
mand rather than obey the father." Charles Fourier, I.e XoulJt:au Monde ituJwtriel
e/ Jodilaire (Paris, 1829), p. 219.215 (W12,3)
Hierarchy of children: juveniles, gymnasians, Iyceans, seraphim, c.herub8. ur
chins. inll)S, weanlingt, nurslingt. The c.hildren are the only one of the .. three
sexes" that ca n ellter "straightaway into the heart of harmony." (W12,.)
"Among the imps, we do not distinguish the two sexes by means of contraltlq
attire, like trousen and petticoat; that would be to risk stunting the growth of
vocations and falsifying the proportion of the two sexes in each function." Fourier,
Le NOll ve(J u Monde inllu,slriel et sociktaire (Paris, 1829), PI" 223-224 (imps: a ~
one and u half to three; urchins: uges three to four and a hull). (W12,5)
Tools in 8even sizes. Industrial hierarchy of children: offi cers uf vurious t ypes,
li centiate8, bachelors , neophyt cs, aspirants. (W12,6)
Fourier concei ves tbe departure for work in the fields us a sort of country outiug,
in large wagons a nd with music. (W12,1J
Qua lifying eJl:u minatiun for the choir of cllerubim: ( I) Musical and choreogr aphic
ulUli li on a lille OIH':ru. (2) Washing uf 120 plates in half an hour. witllout breakin
one. (3) PeeUng uf I.alf a quintal of appl es in u given space of time, without allowin
the weight of the fruit to drop below a certuin level. (4) Perfect suting of a quantity
of rice or other grain in a fi xed period of time. (5) Skill in kindUng and 8creening a
fire ~ i t h intelligence a nd celerity." Charles .'ourier, Le Nouvea u Montie indlUt riel
et societaire (Paris . 1829), p. 231. [W12a,I)
Fourier unveils " the prospect of attaining, at the age of twelve or thirt een, to a post
of high digni t y. such as commanding ten thousand men in a military or parade
maneuver." Fourier, Le NOluJCau Monde indUJt riel et societaire (paris, 1829),
~ - ~ ~
Names of children in Fourier: Nysas, Enryale. The educat or: Hilarion. (W12a,3)
"And so it is that, from his childhood on, a lDan is not compatible with simple
nature; there is needed, for his education, a vast array of instruments, a multi
grade and variegated apparatus. and thi s applies from the 1D0ment he fi n t leaves
the cradle. J.-J. Rousseau has denounced this prison in which the infant is pin
ioned, but he could not have known of the system of elastic lDats, of the combined
attentions and distractions, thut would be enlisted in support of this method.
Thus, the philosophers, in the face of evil, know only to oppose their sterile decla
mations, instead of building a road to the good- a system of roads that . far re
moved frOID 8imple nature, result s only from composite method!." Fourier, Le
Nouveau Montle indUJt riel et &ocietaire (Paris, 1829). p. 237. The " distractions"
involve, among other thinga, letting neighboring children play with one another in
hammocks. [W12a,4)
Napoleon III belonged t o a Fourierist group in 1848. [W12a,5]
The Fourieri st colony founded by Baudet-Dulary in 1833 still exists today in the
form of a family-ron pension. Fourier had disavowed it in his day. [W12a,6)
Babac knew and admired Fourier'. work. [W12a,7)
The Hag of the phala nster y di8pl ayed the &even colors of the rainbow. Note by
Rene Maublanc: "The colors are analogou8 to t he passions .... By juxtaposing a
seri es of tables wherei n Fourier compares the passions to colors, to notes of the
scale, to natural rights, to mathematical ope rations , to geometric curves, to met
alsl and to heavenl y botlies. one fmtl s, for exampl e, that love corresponds to blue,
to the note mi , to right of pasture, to division, to the ellipse, to till , and to the
pl anets." F. Armalltl and H. Mauhlall c, Fourier (Puris, 1937), vol. 1, PI" 227-228.
(""12a,8J
He Toussenel: " Io' ourier ... claims tu ' join together and enframe, within a single
plall , th@ societary mecha ni cs of the pau ions with the other known harmOllies of
the universe,' and for that , he adds, 'we ll ced uli ly have recour&e t o the amusing
lessons to be drawn from the m08t fascinating objects among the animals and
planu.'" Armand and MaliLlanc, Fourier (Paris , 1937), vol. I , p. 227; citins
Fourier, de i 'u$6oci(JtiQlI clome51ique-ugricole (Paris alill Lomlon, 1822),
vol. I. pp. 24-25, and 1'hlwrie rie l'unite Imi ver$elle ( 1834). p. 31. [W13,l l
Fourier reproache8 DC8carh:8 with having, in hi s doubt , spared " Ihat tree of lies
one caUs civili zation." See I.e Nouveau Monde. I). 367. [W13,2]
Styli stic (Iuirks reminisccnt of J ean Paul. Fourier loves preambles, cisambles,
trllllsambles, 1)o8lamble8. introductions, extroductions, prologues, inter ludes
,
postludC8, cismedi anl s, medi ants, transmediants, inlermedea , notes , appendixee,
(WI'",1
Fourier appears very suggestive before the background of the Empire in this
note: "The combined order will, from the outset, be as brilliant as it has been
long deferred. Greece, in the age of Solon and Pericles, was already in a position
to undertake it, having a degree of luxury sufficient to proceed to this fonn of
organization.
n
Annand and Maublanc, FOuna- (Paris, 1937) , vol. 1, pp. 261-262;
citing Truitt de {'association domestique-agricole (Paris and London, 1822), vol.1,
pp.lxi- lxii; Theone de {'unitt uniuer.seffe (1834), vol.l , p. 75.'11 (W13,4]
Fourier recogni zes Illany forms of collective procession and cavalcade: storm,
vorlex, swltrm, seqH!ntage. [W13,5]
Wilh 1,600 phalansleries, the association is already depl oyed in aU iu combina
tions. [W13,6]
"Fourier put himself body and soul into his work because he could nOt put into it
the needs of a n=volutionary class, which did not yet exist.n F. Armand and
R. Maublanc, rouna- (Paris, 1937), vol. 1, p. 83. It shouJd be added that Fourier .
appears, at many points, to pn=6gure a new type of human being, one conspicu
ous for its hannJessness.
a
[W13,1]
" In his rOOIll , Ihere was ordinarily but one free pathway, righl in Ihe middle.
h:acling from (Ioor 10 window. The rest of the space was enlirely taken up by his
flowerpot s, which offered in themselves the spectacle of a progressive series of
sizeIJ, shapes. and even qualilies; there were pots of common clay, allIl there were
pols of Chincse pOIcelain. " Charles Pellarin. Vie de FOllrier (Paris, 1871). pp. 32
33. (WI' ,' 1
Chal'les Pell a rill , Vie de Fourier (Paris, 18i I) report.s (p. 144) thltt Fourier would
someti mes go !l.i" or sel'en ni gllts without sleeping. This happened I ...:cltuse of ex
citemcnt over his diseovcrics.
"The phalanstcry will he an illllllense lodging house." (Fourier had no conception
offa mil y life.) F. Armand ancl R. Maublanc. Fourier (Paris, 1937), vol.l . p. 85.
[W13a,2]
The e;abalisl, Ihe composite, and the butterfl y form appear WIder the rubric "dis
tributil'es," or <po,uion!> meclUl;,!'OlIte.s. <See W15a ,2.) [W13a,3]
cabalist spirit always brings selfish motives into play with passion. AU is
calculation with the intriguer-the least gesture, a wink of the eye. Everything is
done on reflection and with a1acrity.n 7ltone de i'uniti unillme{k (1834), vol. I ,
p. 145." ibis n=mark shows very clearly how Fourier takes account of egoism.
(In the eighteenth century, workers who agitated wen= called CIlbaleun. )
[W13a,4]
"The earth copulating with itself engenders the cherry; with Mercury, the straw
berry; with Pallas, the black curranl ; wilh Juno, the raisin; aod so Oil!' Armand
and Maublanc, Fourier (paris, 1937), yoU, p. 114. [W13a,5]
"A seri es is a regular classification of a gellua, species, or group of beings or of
objects, arrauged symmetri caUy with r espect 10 one or several of their properties,
and 011 both sides proceeding from a center or piVOI , according to an ascending
progression 011 olle side, descending on the other, like two fl anks of an army....
There are ' OIH! n' series, in which the world (!) of subdivisions is not determined,
and ' measnred' seri es, whi ch comprehend, at vanous levels. 3, 12, 32, 134,404
subdivisions." Armand and Maublanc, Fourier (Pans, 1937), vol. I, p. 127,
[W13a,6]
According 10 Fourier, every passion corresponds to an orgau of the human body.
(W13a,1]
" In Harmony ... the relations ansiug from the series are so dyuamic that one has
liltle tillie for remainiug in one's room " Ciled in Annand and l\oIaublanc Fourrer
(Paris, 1937), vol. 2, p. 2 11.' '(W13a,81
The four "sources of virtue" in the Little Hordes: "These sources are the penchant
for dirt, and the feelings of pride, inlpudellce. and insubordination." Fourier, Le
NOIwe(l u Monde indliMriel et .societ(lire ( Paris, 1829), p. 246. )0
Work signal or Ihe Lit tl" Hordes: "The charge ofthc Liltle Hordes is sounded in an
UJlrO/H' or Lell s, chilli es , drulIIs, and Irumpets, It hO\O!'ling of dogs and a bellowing of
hulis. Tllcn Ihe Horel c>! , Iccl by thcir Khans II;lId Druids, rU51! forward with a great
sho
UlI
> If I .
. asslIIg JC ore t II! pri ests, "'ho sprlllkle tll em with hol y wat er.... The
LllIlc lIorel!!s should he associalctl with th" prieslhood as member5 of a religious
Il rotherhood. When lH!rforming lhc:i.r work. they should wear a religious symbol
hin all !I
I I I ' ,. " Althougll the Little Hordes perform the most difficult
I comprehend aU choreogra phic exen:ises, including
o n I . JClr C 01 nng.
"Under the tenn 'opera '
Q
. . . the reeeive the least remuneration. They would accept not gat
thOfle of the rifle and t he censer." Four ier. Le Nouveau Monde indu.triel et so
tRsks. . . y.. . t' AJI aut horities, even m
.
ona rchs, Owe the
(W14a, 41
that were IJerml u ed III 8880CI II 1011 . . . .
c;etoire (pari s. 1829). p. 260.
With thei r pygmy horscs, ..the Little Hortles COIll. be .
first salut e to the
Li
lu 'e HonIe8.
Pu II
8t re";menUi of cavalry; 110 IIldus
.
trla!
...
army
U
can
k d
P
n
.
SI! the
"
0
be'
8
,
aremo ... The phaJanstcry is organized like a land of milk and honey. Even amusements
. . h
em.
Th
ey II
Iso have the prerogative of initi a ting
.
a
I
wor
'"
one
(hunting, fishing, making music, growing Bowers, perfonning in theatricals) are
ampalgll Without t
c
. "Ch Fourier Le Nouveau Monde indu&'ne et soc&et(urc
[W14a.5]
1 [W' 14,2]
in the name of Untl ),. al" CI , II
remunerated.
(Pari8, 1829), I). 247-248 and 244-246.
FOurier dlXS not know the concept of exploitation.
[WI4a,6]
"JU tiN! t a rrare-or ellrv ' ear mode" of the Little Hordes, in contrast to the
ilin
mode" of the Little Bantls. "The Horde re
"ma
onoeu
noeuvre modernc--(u- ree
til
III
' e
ar
. . .L-:
In reading Fourier, one is reminded of the sentence by Karl Kraus: "I preach wine
semhies a square
bed
0
,
va n
.
ega
ted tulips: one hund
".
red cavali
N
ers will t
M
oge
n.de
un::r
and drink water."
[W14a,7]
0 ,
. h d- - .I colors artisticall y contrasted. Founer, Le ouveau
[W 14,3]
dISplay t wo un n:u ,
p.249. 3:
Bread 1)lays only a small role in the diet or the HarmonieTl$ .
(WIh,8]
b'
Irt
I
s,
fish or insects, ei thtr
.
b
_.
y h
H
ard
d
usage
ADd
or
"The initiation or barbarians in the use or tacticH i8 one of the signs of the degen_
" Whoever shall abuse quadru,,,,,,,8,
erati on ... or civilizati on. " E. Silherling, Dicrionnaire de sociologic phalon_
I ill b li able to the tribunal or the Litue . or et.
by unneees.sar y wo:ld be brought berore this tribullal or children, and
Ilerienne (Paris, 1911), p . 424 (s .v. " tacti cs").
[W14a,9]
whatever ' I timent to children themselves." Fourier. Le Nog..
treated as infenor 1Il mora sen JJ
[W14,4]
veal! Monde (Paris, 1829), p. 248. "The savage enjoys Beven natural righu ... : hunting, fis hing. harvesting, pas
ture, external theft (that ia, pillaging of whal belongs to other tribe&), the rederal
bli
g
ed to look arter the concorde sociale; the Little BancU,
league (the intrigues and cabal a internal to the tribe), and insouciance." Armand
[Wa,S]
The Little Hordell are 0
Ind Maublanc, Fourier (Pa ris, 1937), vol. 2, p. 78.
(W14a,1O]
the charme socia l.
til I by way or the good, by lpeculative The poor man speak!: " I ask to be advanced the neeenary tools ... and enoush to
" The Lit tle Hordes will come to t
h
e
b
cau II ;It
[W14,6]
live on, in exchange for the right to fIleal which simple nat ure h., given Ole." Cited
defLI ement. " Fouri er, Le NOlweu Monde, p. 255.
in Armand and Maubl all c, Fourier (paris , 1937), vol. 2, p. 82. [WI 5,l]
h . D .d d Druidesses, the Little Bands have
b The, abo have theiroWD
" Just as the Little Hordes have t ell' rUI 8 aCn
. _._
In the phalanstery, a caravansary is outfitted for the reception of foreigners. A
.
H , Whereat the Lit&a< ho are known as ory ants.
their own adult aSSOCIates, w
8p"Uaure characteristic of the phalanstery is the "(ower of order." This building
r ho travel about armon .
allie! among the groups 0 voyager! W
d Adventurelltell, who beloae:
of
houses the optical telegraph, the control calter for the signal lights, and the
. d h b' hordesorAdvenlurer san
[WIS,2]
Hordes are allie 10 t e 19
. _.I ith the big band!
carrier pigeons.
. h Little Bands are assoclateu w
l h Ii Is .. Fourier, Le No..
to Ihe industrial a rrmes, t e
[Wl b,l]
The circul ation or work8 uscIullo aUIhe phalansteri eR amounts to 800,000 copies.
Knights and Ladies Errant, who dedicate( to t e me ar .
ve(IU MOrlde (Paris, 1829), p .
FOUrier t hink8, above all , or puhlishing all Encycwpaedie natllro/ogiqlle calu
[W15,3]
minee.
. d and ,ardeM.
. rr s agalllsi mea ows
[Wlb,2]
The Liltle Bands have j urisdi cll on over 0 ense
and over questions or language.
Fourier loves to clothe:: the most n=asonable sentiments in fanciful considerations.
liis discourse:: resembles a highe::r Bowe::r language::.3Ii
fW15,4]
. I d the minds or the children concerninl
" Ir the vestalate is call ed to. nu,s ea r two setl or genit al. urinary appar
FoUrier would like:: to see:: the people who servc= no useful purpose in civifuation
"E Silherlin, Diclionnaire.
Bexual relations , Ihe tact manifest m t Ie use ,0
ur
.. I t ',lI orance 0 sex.. ,
rhOS(: who merely gad about in search of news to conununi cate-circulating
424 ( " tact" ). Likewise, Ihe cO
tus leaves the child III comp e e.'
to mask the meani.ol the of the Hannonians, so as to keep people there from losing time
sociuwgie phalanMerienne
[W14a,3]
teflY Or the bOYfl toward the prlfl in the tl e In reading newspapers: a divination of radio, born from the:: study of human
[W15,5]
of saUallt behavior aIDoug adult s.
character.
Fourier : UEver y calling h88 its countermorality and its I'rinciplell ." Cited in Ar.
mand and Maublanc, Fourier (Paris, 1937), vol. 2, p. 97. Fourier menti ons, 8.$
exampl es , Ie mOllde gulunt and the wurld of domestic II-Crvant s. (W15,6]
" After three generations of Harmony, two-thirds of the wOlnen will be unfruitful ,
as is the case with all fl owers which. by the refinemellts of cultivation, have been
raised to a high degree of perfection." Fourier, La F(IIlSse Indu.slrie (Paris , 183&
1836), vol. 2, PI' . 560-561.
31
(W15,7]
The voluntary suLmiu iveneu of the savage, with his seven natural rights , would
be. accordi ng to Fourier, the touchstone of civilization. It is something finlt ob
tained in Harmony. (W15,8]
"The indi vi dual ... is a being eSll-Cnti ally false, for neither by himIClf alone Dor
with another can he bring a bout the development of the twelve passions , since
these comprise a mechanism of 810 keys and their compl eme.nts. It is therefore
with the passional vortex alone tha t the scal e begin8, and not with the individual
P1l r801l. " Pltblicafion des manuscrits de Foltrier, 4 vols. (Pari s, 1851- 1858), 1857
1858, p. 320. (W"15,9]
After 70,000 years comes the end of Hannony, in the fonn of a new period of
civilization, in descending tendency, which once more will give way to "obscure
limbs.
n
Thus, with Fourier, tranSience and happiness are dosely linked. Engels
observes: just as Kant introduced into natural science the idea of the ultimate
-
destruction of the earth, Fourier introduced inw historical science that of the:
n
ultimate destruction of the human race. Engels, Anti-Diihring, part 3, p. 12.
[WI5a,l]
The mechanics of the passions: " The tendency to harmonize the five sensual pas
sions-(I) taste, (2) touch, (3) 8ight , (4) hearing, (5) smeU-with the four affective
pau ions--(6) friendship, (7) ambition, (8) love, (9) paternity. Thia ha rmony takH
pl ace through the medium of three little-kno""n and abused pauion8, which I shall
ca ll: ( 10) the cubalist , (11) the butteTjly, (12) the composite." Cited from Le NOIJ
veuu Monde, in Armand and Fourier (Paris. 1937), vol. 1. 1). 242.M
[W15a,2]
" A lurge lIumher of universes (il ince one universe, alollg with mall alld
constitutes t he third echdon, ... Fouril:r calls it u " tri -ver se") go to fonn a quatn
vene; and so 011 , up to the octi -verse, whi ch represell lS ... lIulure as a whole, the
tutalit y of the bei ngs of Ha rmony. Fourier enten into some minut e calculatio
lU
ull tl anllounces lhat the octi-vene is composed of 10'ili . " Armand and
l\1aubIUIl C. Fourier (Paris. 1937). \'01. I . p. 11.2. [W15a,3]
On " beautiful agriculture": "" his plow that today is so despised will be takeD up
by the young prince, jUl. t as by the yuung plebeian; they willtogcther compete iP a
sort of industri al tOllrnalllellt, where each of the athl etell wiU test his vigor and
dexterity, anti where each ca n show off to an audience of lovelies, who will hring
t he fes ti vities to a close by l!ervi ng lunch or a s!lack. to Charles Fourier, Ti-aite de
f'flS$ociation domestique-agricofe (Paris anti London. 1822), vol. 2, p. 584. To thill
be/III flgricole belong, further, the steles that are raised on Rower-covered ,M!de
and the husts of descrving farm lahorers or agriculturists placed on altars
t.ha t arc scatt ered through the field8. ""The8e are the mythological demigods of the
UuJu.!! trial sect or seri cs." Cit ed in Armand and l\1aubl anc, Fourwr (Paris, 1937),
vol. 2, p. 206. Offering>! of incense are made to them through tbe Corybants .
[W15a,4]
Fourier recommends gearing the experiment , in the triall)halanx, towa rd pre
cisely the most eccentric characters. [W16,1]
Fourier was a chauvinist: he hated Engiislunen andJ ews. He saw theJ ews not as
civilized people but as barbarians who maintained patriarchal customs. [W16,2]
Fourier' s apple-the pendant to that of Newton- which, in the Parisian restau
rant F'evrier, costs a hundred times more than in the province where it is grown.
Proudhon, too, compares himself to Newton. (W16,3]
To the Ihrmonians, Constantinopl e is the capi tal of the earth.
[WIO,4]
Harmonians need ver y little 81eep (like Fourier !). They live to the age of 150 at the
very least . [W16,5]
"The ' oper a' stand8 at Ihe forefront of educational directives .... The opera is a
school of morality in outline: it is there that young people are imbued with a
horror of anything prejudicial to truth, precision, and unity. At the opera, no
favor can excuse the one whose note is false, whose timing, step, or gesture is off.
Tile prince's child who has a part in the dance or the choir must endure the truth.
must listen to die criticisms arising from the mane!. It is at the opera that he
;, lea rns, ill evcr y move he makes, to subordina te himself to unitary proprietiea, to
general accords." Ci ted in F. Armalld and R. Fourier (Paris, 1937).
10'01. 2, PI' 232- 233. [W16.6]
"N
I ever dreallled , ill civilization, of perfecting that Jlortion of our dreu we
cil li ' atmospherc.' ... It does IIOt suffi ce tu change it merely in the rooms of certain
idlc!"s \""r I
. , ... . wc IllLl SIIllUUI Y tiC atmosphere in gencr al a nd systemati cally." Cited
III 1'. Armand lind R. Ma ubl ullc. "ourier (Paris. 1937) . vol. 2, p. 145. [W16,7]
foUrier's tcxts are ridl in stereotypical locutions comparable to the graduJ ad
Almost every time he speaks of me arcades, it is to say that, under
circumstances, even the king of France gelS wet when he steps into his
carnage during a rairu; tonu. [W16.8J
Ten million francl would be needed for the ere1.! tion of the complete phalaoatery;
three million, for the trial phala n' tery. [W16,9)
All fl ower beds of the Ha rmonian, are " , hielded" from too much sun and rain.
[W16,IO]
Of the beauties of agriculture among the Hannonians, Fourier gives an aCCOUnt
that reads like a description of color illustrations in children's books: "The socie
tary state will be able to establish, down to the most unsavory functions, a
speciesspecific luxury. The gray overalls of a group of plowmen, the bluish
overalls of a group of mowers, will be enhanced by the borders, belts, and plumes
of their uniform, by glossy wagons and inexpensively adorned harnesses, all
carefully arranged to protect the ornaments from the grime of work. Ifwe should
see, in a pretty vale of the medleyed English sort, all these groups in action, well
sheltered by their colored tents, working in disseminated masses, circling about
with Bags and instruments, singing hymns in chorus while and should
the region be sprinkled with manor houses and belvederes colon
nades and spires, instead of with thatched cottages, we would verily believe that
the landscape was enchanted, that it was a fairyland, an Olympian abode." Even
the rape cutters, who lack high standing with Fourier, have a part in the splendor,
and are found "at work in the hills, raising their pavilions above thirty belvederes
crowned with golden rape." Cited in Annand and Maublanc, rourUr (Paris,
1937), vol. 2, pp. 203, 204. [W16.,I]
Forming a mesh- for example, between herding, plowing, and gardeniog: " It it
not necessary that Ihis interchange be t ot al_ay, that all of the twenty men eo
gaged in lending Rocks from 5:00 to 6:30 go off as a group to work in the fields
6:30 to 8:00. All that is necessary i! for each series to provide the othen WIth
several members taken from its different groups. The exchange of a (ew memben
will ! uffice to est ablish a Linkage or me!hing between the different series." Cited in
Armand and Maubl anc, Fourier (Paris, 1937), vol. 2, pp. 160-161 ("E!!or de la
,
pap
ill
onne
"') [W16a,2)
.
It is not just the despotism but also the moralism that Fourier hates the great
Revolution. He presents the subtle division of labor among .Harmoruans, as the
antithesis of ega/iii and their keen competition as an altemanve tojralmu/l.
, [WHia,3)
In u Nouveau Montie induJlrid (pp. 281- 282), Fourier's rancor against Pestaloz.:-i
., ". .. thod'" his 'fralle
is very evident. He says he took up PestalOUl s mtultlvc: me lo
/'(JJJociah"on of 1822 because of the great success it had had
with the public. Lacking such popular success, it would have created an unfavor
able impression on its readers.-Of Yverdon he recounts, best, tales o.f
calculated to prove that institutions of hannony cannot be mcroduced With unp
. . 'viliz" [W11, 1]
ruty lOto Cl abOIl.
Under the healling "Le GarantiSl11e d 'olli'e" <The GU8ranleeism of Hearing). and
ill cOlljunctioll with the ameliorali on of popula r SI)CeCh ha bits and of the mu! ical
education of the people (worker-choi rs of Ihe theater of Toulouse!), Fourier IreaUi
of measures 10 be taken againsl noise. He wanlS the workllhopII isolated aud, for
1111" 1II0St part, tnlnsrerred to t he [W17,2)
'('own-Planning: " A lIIan who wi shes 10 have a brillianl drawing room is keeul y
aware that Ihe beauty or the principal room cannot do wit hout that of the avenue!.
\\'lul l is one t o Ihink of an elegant ! alon that require. the visitor, on his way there,
10 pas! Ihrough a courtyard litt ered wi th refuse, a stairwell full of rubbish,
11 1111 all antecillllllher provilled wilh old and uncouth fUnlidlings? ... Why i! it,
then, Ihal the good l allte eviuced by each individual in t.he decoration of hi s private
Il holle is nol met with, as well , ill our areh.itt.'ds responsible for those coll ective
abodes known as ci ties? And why hasn' t one of the myriad princes and arli8t, ...
e,'er had the idea of adorning, in appropriate degree, the three components: fau
bourgs, annexes, and avenues ... ?" Charl es Fouri er, Cite! ouvnere.; Modifica .
tion. ii. introduire dan. l'architeclllre de. villes (Parie. 1849), pp. 19-20.
mallY other prescriptions for urban pl anning, Fourier imagines some that would
allow one 10 recogni ze, from the increasing or decr easing decoration on the build
ings , whether one was approaching or moving away from a city. [W17,31
Barbarian, civil i1:ed, and harmonian town 1)lanning: "A barbarian town is fonned
of buildings haphnardl y assembled ... and confusedly grouped along streetll that
are tortuous, !larrow, badly constructed , unsafe, and unhealthy. Such , in general,
are the cities of France.... Civil..i1:ed town8 have a monotonou!, imperfect order,
a chet: kerboard pattern, as in ... Philadelphia. Arn8terdam, Nancy, Thrin, the
new parts of London and Marseill es, and other citie! which one know. by heart aa
800n as one has looked at three or (our st reets. Further inspection would be
pointless and dispiriting." In contrast to this: " neulral harmony," "which recOil
cile! incoherent order wilh a combined order." Fourier, Cit es ouvnere pp. 17
18. [W17,4]
;. The lbrmonians neither acknowledge nor desire any holidays. [W17a, I )
In Die heilige f'amili e (where?)"2Marx refers 10 Fourier. [W17a,2)
Toltsseu,?l , in 1848, was a mong the founder s of the Societe Rcpuhli cai ne Centrale
(Ulali' lui 's c1uh). [W17a.3)
Claut!c NielJ las LcllollX: " Like aUlhe COllllllullal dwellings envisioned for Chaux.
Ill
e
hospi ce (a low-ri se st r ucture ringed !Jy arcades and cnclosing a 8tlua re court
yartl ) lias the task of furthering the moral d evation of humankind, insofar il
ca refull y lesls.the people it shelt er" all ows t he good their fTt.-etlolll , and Ilet ains Ill e
"uti for ctJlIlpulsory luhor. To what l'xtenl the a rtiSI was gripped by the reforillist
idell8 of t hose Ilays can be seen in the pcculiar project of t he ' oikcma.' Already
quite eccent ric ill ils outward aspe-<: t , this elongated building with its Greco-Roman
veijtihule a nd windowless waU8 was to be the place wlJere a new sexual ethic Was
pioneered. To reach the goal of higher sexual morality. the SIH:Ctade of human
dissipation in the oikema, in the hou8e of uninhibited passions, Wat IUp)lOsed to
lead to the path of virtue and to ' I-I ymen's altar. ' Later. the archit ect decided that
it would be better .. . to grant nat ure its rights .... A new, more liberated form of
marriage was to be institut ed in the oikema, which the ar chit e<: t wanted to situate
in the most beautiful of landscapes." Emil Kaufmann, Von LedQUX b;., Le Cor_
busier: Urspru"8 und EntwickluDB der autonomen Architektur {Vienna and
Leipzig, 1933), I}. 36. (W17a,4]
" During a large part of his life, Grandvill e was much preoccupied with the general
idea of Anal ogy. " Cil. Baudelaire, Oeuvres, ed. Le Dantec, vol. 2 <PQris, 1932),
p. 197 ("Quelques cari caturist es [W17a,5)
H.J. Hunt, Le &ci4lisme tI Ie RomantUme en France: Etude de In. prwe JociaIiJle de
1830 ti 1848 (Oxford, 1935), provides, on p. 122, a notably concise and fdiQ.
tous statement of the main lines of Fourier's doctrine. The utopian element
recedes into the background, and the proximity to Newton becomes clear. Pas
sion is the force of attraction as experienced in the subject; it is what maIr.cs
"work" into a process as natural as the fall of an apple. (W17a,6]
"'In contrast to the Saint-Simoni ans, Fourier has no use for mysticism in aesthetie
matter s. In his general doctrine he is certainl y mystical, ut opian. messianic UYOD
will, but in speaking of art he never once utters the word ' priesthood. ' ... ' Vanity
takes over and impels artists and scientists to sacrifice their fortune [which they
would have needed to preserve their independence] to the phantoms of pride. '"
H. J. Hunt , Le Socialisme et I.e Romant;"me en France (Oxford, 1935). pp. 123
rn.
-
x
[Marx]
The man who buys and selb reveals something about hinudf
more diRet and less composed than the man who discourses
and battles.
-Maxinlt Leroy, UJ Spi{IJ/atirmJ.frmcU:rtJ de Saillt-SilJlO1l
e/ HJ qumf/(J d'ajfoirrJ awe J01I aJJw, Ie coIJI/e de &dern
(Paris (1925)), p. 1
" We see how the history of industry and the established obje<:tive existence of
industry are the open book of man', essential )lOwer s .... Hitherto this wa, con
ceived not in its inseparable conne<:tion with man's essenti al being, but only in an
external relation of utilit y .... Industry is the actual historical relation, hip of
nature-and therefore ofnatural science--to man." Karl Marx. " Nationalokono
ntie und Philosophie" (1844) [Karl Marx, Der h;"tor;"che I'tfatermlismw, ed.
Landshut and Mayer (Leipzig < 1932). vol. I , pp. 303-304).1 (XI,I]
"Not onl y wealth but , likewi se. the poverty of man- under the a88umption of
socialism-receives , in equal measure, a human and therefore lIOCiai sipllficance.
Poverty is the )lOsitive bond which causes the human being to experience the
greatest wealth- the other human being-as need. " Karl Marx. "National okono
mi e und Philosophie" [Karl Marx, Der hiJtoriJche i'tfaterialiJmus, ed. Landshut
and Mayer (Leipzig), vol. 1, p. 305).2 [XI ,2)
"The concl usion Marx draws for the capitalist economy: with the purchasing
power given him in the fornl of salary, the worker can purchase onl y a certain
anJount of goods. ",'hose production required just a fraction of the labor he himself
has provided . In olher words, if the merchandise he produces is to be sold by hi a
at a profit . he must always he expending surplus labor. " Henryk Gross
Diann, " F'iillfzig Jahre Kampf um den Marxislllus," WOrterbuch der Volk. wirt
.chaft. 4t h ed . , ell. Lud ...ig Elster, vol. 3 (Jena, 1933). p . 318. [XI ,3J
Origin of fwae cOllsciousness: " Di vision of labor becomes trul y such only from the
mOlllellt when a llivisioll of material and mental lahor apl)Cars .... FrOl1! this
mOlllent onward, conijciousness can reall y fl att er itself that it is somelhill g other
than consciousneu of existing I)rtlcti ce. that it reaUy reprc8eIl U tomething without
Poiut of departure for a critique of "culture": "The l)Qlitive Iranscendence of
somelhing real. " " Marl' ulld Engels ilber l?euerbad.l: Aus dem
private propert y. a8 t he appropriation of human life, is . .. the positive transcen
arischell Nachlas8 von Man: und Engels," in J\fnr.x-Engeb Archil). ed. D. RJaza
(II' lIce of aUestrangement ; Ihal is to say. the return of man from religion. family,
nov. vol. I (Frankfurt UIII Main <1928). p. 248.
l
[Xl ,4]
still e. 111\(1 80 on, to his human- that is, social-ex.istence." Karl Marx. Der
torische Materi(l/ismus. ed. Mayer alltl Landshllt (Leipzig). vol. I , p. 296 ("Na.
lion:.ii)koIlOlllie 111111 Philosophie").! A passage on the Hevolution as a " Last Judgment" the Bruno
[X1a,4]
Bauer dreamt of--one that would usher in the victory of cnbcal consciousness:
" The hol y futher of the ehurch will be greatly surprised when judgment day over-
A derinltioll of class hatred Ihat ,Iraws 0 11 Hegel: "The annulling of objectivi t y in
ta
ke8 h

mi ... a
d.y when the reflec:tion of burning cities in the sky will mark the
Ihe for lll of estrangement (which has t o advance from indifferent foretgnness to
N.nl , antagonisti c eSlrangemeut ) means etlually or even primarily, ror Hegel , that
dawn; whcn together with the 'celestial harmonies' tunes of " La
and " Carmagnole" will ec:ho in his ears accompallled by the requIsite roar of
il is objeeti"it y which is 10 he annulled, because it is not the detenninate character
cannon, with the guillotine beating time ; when the infamous 'masses' will shout ,
uf Ihe object hut rather its obje<: tive character that is offensive and consti tutes
"f"
..,a Ira, I r
.
.
' " .nd su6.....
,- -
nd <aurhebl) ' self-consciousness' by the lamppost."
estrangcment for self-consciousness." Karl Marx. Der historische Materi4lismlU
'J'
" Marl' und Engels tiber Feuerbach: Aus denlliterarischen Nachlass von Marx
(Leipzi g), vol. I. p. 335 ("Na tionalOkonomie und Philosophie").' [Xl a,S)
Engels," in Murx-Engcb Arclliv, ed. D. Rjazanov, vol. I (Frankfurt am Mam),
I)' 2
"D
[Xl,S]
Communism " in fll"8t form." "Communism is ... , in iu first fonn , only agener
.....
lIliz(ltiotl li nd consuJllmati on of this relatiollship [ that is. of private property] ....
Self-alienation: '
for it . the sole purpo!le of life and existence is direct , physical ponenwn. The task
'The worker produces capital; capital he of til e ltlborer is not done away with, but el'tended to aUmen. It wants to do away l)rOOuces himself, and ... his human qualities exist only lIIsofar as they for
" I /. '0 h;-
byforce widl talent , and so forth... . It may be said that this idea oftbe
ca pi a (l Ien ..... . . .
The worker exists as a worker only when he exllIufor
.' .
"ity ofwomen gives away the .'ecret of thi s as yet completely crude and thoughtl ess himself as capital; and he exists as capital only when capital en sts communism. Just as woman passe8 from marriage to general prostitution, 10 the The existence of capital is his existence, . . , since it detemunee the tenor of bi,life entire world of wealth . .. panes from the relationship of el'c1usive marriage with
in a manner indifferent to him. .. , Production ... produce[s] man a '.: . the owner of I)rivate property to a state of universal prostitution with the commu
', d bein, " Karl Marx
d

h

Der histornche MaterialismlU: D&e FriUa
. . ,

nil Y .. , HO\o<\'
$chriftell , cd. Lnndshut and Mayer (Leipzig) , vol. 1. pp. 361-362
lillle thi s annulment of private property is reaDy an appropriation is
abon
. . hi ") 5
... proved by the abstract negation of the entire world of cwture and civiliution,
likononue und Pbilosop e .
[Xla,l]
the regression to tlte unnaturaisinlplicity of the poor and undemanding man. who
has not only failed to go beyond private property, but has not yet even reached it."
On the doctrine of revolutions as innervations of the coUec:tive: "The transceD Karl Marx, Der histornche MaterialismlU, ed. Landshut and Mayer (Leipzig).
dence or private property is .. , the complete ema ncipation of all
vol. I , pp. 292- 293 ("Nationalokonomie und Phiiosophie"). ID [X2,IJ
senses ... but it is t his emancipation ... because ... the senses and IJlJ.Dds 0
other men have become my own appropriat
..
ion.
B ' d d e direct organs there
eSI es les
'. .
It would be an error to deduce the psychology of the bourgeoisie from the
.. ' d' t assOClaUon fore social organs develop, .. ; thus, for instance, activit y an lrec
,
od (
attitude of the consumer. It is only the class of snobs that represents the stand
( ' wlIlire andam eo with odlers ... has hecome all organ or exp
reuHl
8 Ill y 0 ""'. . wa
point of the conswner. The foundations for a psychology of the bourgeois class
appropriating hUlIIlJlI life. 11 is obvious thut the 111111111 eye dungs III a
are much sooner to be found in the foUowing sentence from Marx, which makes
Ilif(erent from that of the crlul e, nonhuman e)'e; the human
it possible, in particular, to describe the influence which this class exerts, as model
I
" K.,I Marx Dcr historische Mnterwlumus: DIf! crude ear; alii so 011 . '
. h' ") .
and as customer, on an: ""A certain stage of capitalist production dictates that the
.chriflen (Leipzi g), vol. I , pp. 300-301 ("Nati onalUkonomie ulld Phl losop
capitalist be able to devote the whole of the time during which he functions as a
capitalist- lhat is, as personified capital-to the appropriation and therefore con
trol of the labor of others, and [0 the selling of the products of this labor." Karl
"The nllture which de\'e1ops
.
III human
I
II
.
story-
,I nesis of 1IIIIIIIIn society-is
Marx, Das Kllpital, 1,) ed. Korsch (Berlin <1932 . p. 298.
11
Ie ge .
gb .
[X2,2j
lIIan's relllllllture; hence. nature as it develops through industry, even ;:;
. / " K I Marx Der hulo
nfC F
rum
Marl' .. K(lpitnl . vol. 3. part I (Hamhurg, 192 1). p . 84: "Tht: advice of the
un es trullged forlll , is ,rue l1llthrolJOlogica nat ure. ar ',. vol I.
J\fat eri(liisnllls: Die fruhschriften. ed. Lalltbhut alld Mayer (leIpZIg), ; 31
"linker ... more vBlll ahlt: t hall dlat of tlte Ci ted in Hugo .' illcher. Karl
p. 30-1 ("NatiollaWkollomic IIl1d I' hil os0l'hie").
[X a,
M
flrx
IIntl $eill Verll iilwis ZII Swot Will Wiruclmjt (Jena, 1932). p. 56.
12
[X2,3j
Time in technology: " AI ill a gelluine political action, the choice ... of the
moment is cruci al. ' That a capitalist should commalld on the field of production is
now as indispen88hle al that a general should command onlhe field of bat tIe' (vol.
I , II . 278). ' l ... 'Time' has here, in technology, a meaning different from the one it
has in the hil lorical event s of the era, where ... the ' actions all unfold on Ihe same
)Iane.' ' Time' in technology ... also has a meaning different from the one it has in
mooern economics, whi ch ... measures labor-time in terms of the clock." Hugo
Fischer, Karl Marx und sein YerhiUmis ;u Slaal und Wiruchafl (J ena, 1932),
p . '12; citation from Kapilal <vol. I > (Berli n, l CT23). [X2,4)
" If you recall that Cournot died in 1877, a nd that his principal workll were con.
ceived during the Second Empire, you will recognize tha t, after Marx, he was one
of the most lucid minds of his day.... Coumot goes well beyond Comte, who it
mi l led by the dogma of hi! Religion of Humanit y; beyond Taine, who i! misled by
the dogma of Science; and well beyond the nuanced skepti cism of Renan... . He
utters thi! admirable senlence: 'From being the king of creation, man hal falleD_
or risen (depending on how one understands it)-to the role of concessionaire for
a planet.' The mechanir.ed civilization of the future in no way relJresenta for him
' the triumph of mind over matter ' ... ; rather, it represents the triumph of the
rational and general principles of things over the energy and 'Iualities proper to
the living orga nism." Georges Friedmann, La Crne du progres (Paris <1936,
p.246. [X2a, l ]
"'fhe dead ma tter was a n adva nce over living labor power; second, it it consumed
-
in the latter's blaze; and third, il once again takes its place on Ihe throne.. .. For
even before Ihe entrance of the worker ' inlo the procell of production, hit own
labor is est ranged from him, appropriated by the capitalist , and incorporated into
capital; a nd during the process, it is continually materialized as an alien product.'
... The deadly thing that assails technology from all directions is economiC'.
Economics has, for its object , the commodity. ' The procell of production' th.t
begi ns in a blaze, as labor engagell its products, ' is extinguished in the commodity.
The fact t hat labor power was expended in itll fabrication now appears as a mate
rial property of the commodit y, as the property of possessing value' (vol. 2,
1' . 361)... . The action of a man, as the unique and 'entire connected act of pro
ducti on' (vol. 2, I). 201), is already more than the agent of this acti on.... The
action alrcady takes pl ace in a higher sphere, which has the future for itself, the
sphcr e of tet; llIli cs, while the agent of this action, as isolated indi vidual , remains in
the spllere of economi cs, a nd hi s pro<luct is likewise bound to thi s sphere....
Acroll thc Europcan continent , technology as a whole forms a single
actioll . insofa r as it ta kes effCi;1 (IS technology; the physiognomy of the. earl h IS
fronl the out iicl transformed within the sphere of techni cs, lind the gulf between
city and country is IIltima tely spunlled. But if the deatlly force of e<:ollomics should
gain Ill c upper hami. thclI the repetiti on of homoiogouli mllglliludes through abso
lutely int er changeable exii lenccs, t he production of commodities through the
. "
agency of t.he worker. prevaili over the singularity of the teclmologica I aell o
n
.
Hugo Fischer, Karl Ma rx lind sein VerhiillnilJ %U Staat und Wiruchaft (J ena,
1932), PI" 43-45; the citati ons arc from Kapilal (vol. 2) (Hamburg,
[X2a.2]
''' The iame spi ri t t hat conSlructs l'hiiosophic systems in the brain of philosophers
builds railroads with the hands of workers.' ... In the desert of the nineteenth
century, according to Marx, technology is the onl y sphere of life in which the
human being mo'es al the cent er of a thillg." Hugo Fischer, Korl Marx und lJein
Verhiiltni&;11 S'aat und Wirt scha/t (jena, 1932), pp. 39-40; the ci tati on of Marx is
apparentl y from Marx and Engels. Cesammeue Schriften, 1841- 1850 (Stuttgart,
19(2), vol. I , p. 259.
15
[X3,1)
On the di vwe forebears of the charlatan: "The various divine ancestors had by
now [at the end of the eighteenth century] revealed not onl y prescriptions for
elixirs of life but also methods of dyeing. indicati ons for spinning silk, and secrets
of firing clay. The industry was mythologized. " Grete de Francesco, Die Macht de,
Charwlam (Basel < 1937 , I). 154. [X3,2]
Marx emphasizes " the ,Iecisive importance uf the transformation of value and
price of labor power inlo Ihe form of wages, or into the value and price of labor
ili elf. This phenomenal form, whi ch makes the actual r elation invisible, and,
indeed, shows the di rect opposite of that relation, forms the basis of all the juridi
cal notions of both laborer a nd capitalist, of all the mystifications of the capitalis
tic mooe of prodnction, of all its illusions as to libert y." Karl Marx, Dos Kapital
<vol. I >.ed. Korsch (Berlin <1932, p. " 99." (X3,3)
"Had we gone further. and inquired under what ci rcumstances all or even the
\
majorily of products take the form of commodities, we should have fouod that thi.s
ca n happen onl y with production of a very epeci fi c kind: capitalist production."
Karl Marx, Dos Kapilal <vol. I ), ed. Korsch, p. [X3,4]
""This race of peculi ar commooity-owners," as Marx at one point calls the prole
tariat (Kapital ( vol. h . ed. Korsch, p. 173). Compa re: " Nat ural instinct of the
eommodi l y-ownerS" (i bid., p. 97). " [X3,5)
Marx opposes the idea that gold and silver are olil y imagi nary values. " The fact
thai money can, in certain functions, be repl aced hy mere symbols of itself gave
ri se to 'that other Illi stakell Itoti on: thai it is itself a mere symbol. Nevertheleu,
untler thi s error lurked a preseutimcnt that the money form of an object is not an
inseparahle part of thai object hut is simply the form untl er whi ch certain social
manifest themselves. In Ihis eense, every commodity is a symbol, since,
Insofar as it is va lue, it is only the mat erial envel ope of the human labor spenl upon
it. But if it be declared that ... the mat erial forms assumed by the social qualities
or labor under the r egi me of a deHnite mode of production are mere symbols, it is
in Ihe same breath also decla red that these characteristics are arbitrary fictions
sa nctioned by t.he so-call ed uni versal consent of mankind ." Note after "spent upon
it": "' If we consill er the concept of value, we musllook on till} thing it lOclf as ollly a
symbol; il counu 1I0t as itselfbttt as whal it is ....orth ' (Hegel, Recht5p/lilo,ophie,
addition to paragraph 63)." Mau, DCl! Kapiwl ( vol. I ), ed . Ko rsch, )Jp. 101- 102
("Der [X3,6]
Private propert y as origin of the aliellalion of huma" beings from oll e another:
"Objects in themselves are external to man, and conseq uentl y ali enable by him . In
order thai this alienation may be reciprocal, it is onl y necessary for men, by a tacit
understanding, to treat one another as private owners of those alienable objects,
and by implication as independent individuals. But such a state of reciprocal
independence has no existence in a primitive society based on property in
mono ... The exchange of commodities, therefore, fi rst begins on the boundaries
of such conUllunities." Karl Marx, Deu Kapital <vol. h, ed . Korseh (Berlin ,
1932), p. 99 C"Der Austauschproze8"}.2O [X3a,11
" tn order that ... objects may ent er into relation with one another as
ties, their guardians must place themselves in relation to one another, as persons
,
whose will resides in those objects." Marx, Das Kapital <vol. 1> , ed. Korseh
(Berlin, 1932), p. 95 ("Oer Austauschproze8,,).zl [X3a,2]
Marx recognizes a climax in the development , and in the transparency, of the
fetish character of the commodit y: "'The mode of production in whi ch the product
takes the form of a commodity, or is produced directl y for exchange, is the most ....... ,
general and most embryonic (onn of bourgeois production. It therefore makes iu
appearance at an early date in history, though not in the same predominating and
characteristic manner as nowadays. Hence, its fetish character is relatively easily
seen through. But when we come to more concrete forms. even this appearance o(
\
simplici ty vanishe8." Marx. Do&Kapital <vol. 1), cd. Korsch (Berlin, 1932). 11 . 94
("Fetischcharakt er").zz [X3a,3]
The model according to which the polytechnical education demanded by Marx
ism must orient itself: "There are ... states of society in which one and the same
man does tailoring and weaving alternately, in which case these twO forms of
labor are mere: modifications of the labor of the same individual, and not specia1
and fixed functions of different persons" (Marx, Kapital, p. 57). These various
modified acts of labor on the part of one individual are not compared with one
another quantitatively, in tenus of duration; to the abstraction "mere labor,"
which we can educe from them, corresponds nothing real ; they stand within a
unique concrete labor-contat, the results of which bring no advantage to the
ol'l11er of commodities. Compare the following: "For a society based upon
production of commodities, in which the producers in general enter intO sooal
relations with one another by their products as commodities ... ,
whereby they reduce their individual private labor to the standard of homogene
ous human labor-for such a society, Christianity with its cu/tUJ of abstract man
... is the most fitting fonn of religion." Marx, p. 91 ("Fetischcharak.
ter
")
.
.
[X3a, 4)
.r.; The body of the commodity, which serves as the equivalent, figures as the
materialization of human labor in the abstract, and is at the same time the
product of some specifically useful concrete labor. 1bis concrete labor becomes.
therdore, the medium for expressing abstract human labor." In this latter i!
contained, as Marx believes, all the misery of the commodity-producing society.
(The passage is from Kapital, p. 70 ["Die "'"=nfonn oder der Tauschwenj.):N In
addition, it is very important that Marx immediately after this (p. 71 ) refers tc
abstract human labor as the "opposite" of the conCTete.-To formulate differ.
ently the misery at issue here, one could also say: it is the misery of the commod.
ity-producing society that, for it, "labor directl y social in character" (p. 71) i.!
always merely abstract labor. U Marx, in his treatment of the equivalent form.
lays weight on the fact "that the labor of private individuals takes the form of it.!
opposite, labor directly social in form" (p. 71), then this private labor is precisel)
the abstract labor of the abstract comrnodity-owning man. [X4, 1:
Marx has the idea that labor ","'Quid be accomplished voluntarily (as lTavai
ptusionni) if the commodity character of its production were abolished. TIl(
reason, according to Marx, that labor is not accomplished voluntarily wouk
therefore be: its abstract character. [X4,2:
"Value ... converts every product into a social hi eroglyphic_ Later on, men try t(
decipher the hi eroglyphic, to get behind the secret of their own social producu; fOI
the deflniti on of the object of utilit y as value is just as much their social product al
language." Marx, Das Kopital (vol. 1>, p. 86 ("Oer Fetischcharakter der Wart
und sein Gebeimnis").15 jX'"
..
"!he general value-form, which represents all products oflabor as mere congela
nons of undifferentiated human labor, shows by its very SDUCture that it is the
social expression of the commodity world. Thus, it reveals that within this worle
the generally human [that is, the impoverished and abstract] character of the
labor COIl.SOtutes at the same time its distinguishing fearure as social labor." Marx
Das Kapllal <vol. h , p. 79 ("Die "'"=nfonn oder der ab
SttaCt narure of the social labor and the abstract nature of the human being wh(
relates to fellow humans as an owner correspond to each other. [X4,4
are we to express the fact that weaving creates the value of the linen not b:
VirtUe of being weavi.ng, as such, but by reason of ils general prOIM!rty of beinl
hUnl an labor? Simpl y by opposing 10 weavi ng that ot her parti cul ar forlll of con
cret e labor (i ll this instance tail ori ng) , which produces the equivalent of the prod
uct of ",eavi llg. Jusl as the coa t ill ils bodi ly form becamc a di rect expression 0
IIalue s
now
d
OIlS ta
il
orln
'
g. a concret e
I
urm 0
I I
/thor, appear as the direct /l llt ' 0
Ilalllable embodiment of human labor gell eraUy" (Kapital (vol. I ), p. 71).z: Thil
is what Marx is referring to when he writes in the lentence precedill g this pas8age:
" In the value-e:w.:pn:u ion of the commodi ty. the lables are turned. " At thi s point a
1I 0te: "Thi8 inversiOIl , whereby the a.en8uous-concret e counts only a8 a phenome
nal form of the abstract-general- rather t.han the abstract -general as a property
of the concrete-i8 char acteri stic of the expression of val ue .... If I say: Roman
law and German law are both ,yetcms of law, my statement is perfectl y self-evi_
dent. But if I say: the law, that abstract concept , realize", iuelfin Roman law and
in German law, t hOle concrete legal systems, my context becomes mystical" (p. 71)
("Die Wertform oder der Tauschwert"). [X4a, l j
" When I st ate that coats or boots lIand in a r elati on to lill en beca use linen ia the
universal incarnation of abst ract human labor, the absur dit y of the proposition ia
manifest. Nevertheless, when the producer s of coats and boots compare those
article, with linen, or, what is the same thing, with gold or silver, as the universal
equivalent, they express the relation between their own privat e labor and the
coll ective labor of societ y in precisely this absurd form." Karl Marx, DlU Kapitol.
( vol. 1>, ed. Korsch ( Berlin, 1932) , 1). 88 ("Fetischcharakter"V [X4a,2)
" Political economy has . .. never ... asked the question why labor i8 represented
by the value of its product , and labor-time by the magnitude of that value. Theae
formulas, which bear it st amped upon them in unmist akable letten that they
belong t o a st ate of societ y in which the process of production has the mastery over
man, instead of bei ng controlled by him_ uch formulas appea r to the bourgeoia
intellect to be as much a self-evident necessity imposed by nature as productive
labor itself." Marx, DlU Kapiwl (vol. 1> , ed. Korsch, p . 92-93 ("Der
Fetischcharakter der Ware und sein Geheimnis"). 2'l [X4a,3j
An extremely important passage rdating [0 the concept of the "creative" u
Marx's conunent on the beginning of the first paragraph of the Gotha Program.
"Labor is the SOUTCt of all wealth and all culture"; "The bourgeois have very
good grounds for falsely ascribing Jupmw.tural (;1"tQtiue power to labor, since pre
cisely from the fact that labor depends on nature, it follows that the man who
possesses no other property than his labor power must, in all conditions of
society and culrure, be the slave of other men who have made themselves owners
of the materia1 conditions of labor." Karl Marx, RandglOSStn lum Programm der
tUutJcnm Arbtit"/Jartn, ed. Korsch (Berlin and Leipzig, 1922), p. 22.:10 [X5, l j
" Within tht: cooperative socidy bused on common oWli er ship of the III can! of
production, the producers do not exchange thd r products; just as littl e does the
labor empl oyed on the product! appea r here at the value of these products , as a
materi al qualit y possessed by them, since 1I0W, in contrast to capi ta list society,
indi vidual labor exiijll! no longer in all indi rec:: t fashion, but directl y as a con1l)O
nenl part of the tol al labor. The phrase ' proceeds of labor' ... tllUS loses all
mea ning." The passage refers t o the demand for " a fair dilltribntion of the pro
ceeds of luhor." Marx, Rarllls iouen ::um Programm der delltlu;hell Ar beiterpartei
(Berlin alld Leipzig, 1922), pp. 25,24.31 (X5,2]
' 111 a hi gher phase of communist societ y. after the enslaving subordination of the
intli vid ualto the division of labor, and therewith al so the a nti thesis bet ween mell
tnl and physical labor. has va ni shed ; afler labor has become not onl y II means of
life bllt Life's chi ef lI ecessit y; aft er the product ive forces have also increased with
the all -round development of t he indi vidual ...--olil y then can the narrow hori
ZOIl of bourgeois r ight be crossed in its enti ret y and society inscribe on its bannen :
'From each according to his abilit y, to each accordill g to his needs!'" Marx,
Randgiouell :;um Progra",m (/er deutschen Arbeiterpart ei (Berlin a nd Leipzig,
1922), p. 27, 32 [X5,3j
Marx ill hi s critillue of the Gotha Program of 1875: " Lassalle knew the CommWl:is'
Manifesto by heart .... If, therefore, he has fal sified it so gro88ly, be has done so
only to pul a &ood face on hi s alli ance with absolutist and feudal opponenU a&ainst
the bourgeoi8ie." Marx, Rands louen zum ProSramm der deutlcMn Arbeiter.
pflrlei, fed . Korsch,> p. 28.
M
(X5,4]
Korsch directs attention to a "scientifi c insight that is fundamental to the overall
under standing of Marxist communism, though today it is often looked upon by the
adversaries of Marxism, and even by many of its proponents, as ' meanin&leu'
the in8ight , namely, that the wasel a/labor are not , as bourgeois to
think, the value (or price) of the labor, but ' onl y a masked form of tbe value (or
pri ce) of the labor power, whi ch is l old as a commodit y on the labor market well
before its productive utilit y (as labor) begins in the operation of the capitalist
proprietor." Karl Korsch, Int roducti on t o Marx, RantJslouen zum Pros ramm
derdeutschen Arbeiterpartei, ed. Konch (Berlin and Leipzig, 1922), p. 17.
(X5a, l j
Schiller: "Conunon natures pay with what they do; noble natures, with what
they are.":U The proletarian pays for what he is with what he does. [X5a,2)
" In the course of the labor process, labor passes continually out of a state of unrest
int o a state of being, out of the form of motion into the form of objectivit y. At the
end of one hour's spinning, t hat act is represented by a defini te quantit y of yam;
in other words. a definite qua ntit y of labor, namely that of one hour, has been
obj ectifi ed in the cott OIl . We say ' labor ' be.:ause the work of spinning counts her e
onl y insofar as it is Ihe expenditure of labor power in general, and not insofa r as it
is l he specifi c work of the spinner .... Raw materi al and product appear here [in
the I)roduction of surplus value) in quit e a new Light , very different from that in
...hi eh ....e viewed them in the Jabor process pure a nd simpl e. The raw materi al
&en 'es now. merel y as an absorbent of a defi nit e (IUa ntit y of labor.... Defi nite
1III Il lilities of product , these quantities being determined by experience, now rel)
resent nothing but definit e quantiti es of labor , deflnile lIIasses of cr ystalli"t.'(llahor
tinl e. They are nothing more than til e mat erialization of 10 many or 80 many
days of social labor:' Karl Mau. DOli Ktlpiltll <vol. h , cd. Korsch (Berlin
<1932. p. 191 (" Wertbi ldungsprozeB"}. [X5a,3)
The petty-bourgeoisidealist theory of labor is given an unsurpassed formulation
in Simmd, for whom it figures as the theory of labor per se. And with this, the
moralistic element-here in antimaterialist form-is registered very clearly.
"One may ... assen in very general tenns that ... the distinction betv.een mental
and manual labor is not one between mental and material nature; that, rather, the
reward is ultimately n:quired in the latter case only for the intemal aspect of
work, for the aversion to exertion, for the conscription of will power. Of course,
this inteUectuality, which is, as it ......-ere, the thing-initselfbehind the appearance of
work ... , is not n:ally intellectual but resides in emotion and the will. It follOWs
from this that it is not coordinated with mental labor but rather is its basis. For at
first the objective content ... , the result ... , the demand for reward is produced
not in it but in ... the expenditure of energy that it n:quires for the production of
this intellectual content. In that an act of the soul is revealed to be the source of
value ... , physical and ' mental' labor contain a conunon (one might say, mor
ally) value-grounding base, through which the reduction of labor value as such to
physical labor loses its philistine and brutal materialistic appearance. This is
roughly the case with theoretical materialism, which acquires a completely new
and man: seriously discussible basis if one emphasizes that matter itself is also a
conception, not an essence which, . .. in the absolute sense, stands opposed. to the
soul but which in its cognizability is completely determined by the foons and
presuppositions of our intellectual organization." Of course, with these reRec
tions Philruophie des Geldes (Leipzig, 1900), ) pp. 449-450), Simmel is playing
dew's advocate, for he does not want to admit the reduction of labor to physical
labor. Indeed there is also, according to him, a valueless lahor that still requires
an expenditure of energy. "This means, however, that the value of labor is
measured not by its amount but by the utility of its result!" Simmel goes on to
reproach Marx, as it appears, for confusing a statement of fact with a demand
He writes: "socialism, in fact, strives for a ... society in which the utility value of
objects, in relation to the labor time applied to them, fonns a constant" ibid.,)
p. 451). "In the third volume of CaPillli, Marx argues that the precondition of all
value, of the labor theory too, is use value. this means that so many partS .of
the total social labor time are used in each product as come in n:lation to Its
importance in use .... The approximation to this complete1y utopian state of
affairs seems to be technically possible only if, as a whole, nothing but ...
unquestionably basic life necessities are produced. For where this is exclUSively
the case, one work activity is of course precisely as necessary and useful as .the
next. In contrast, however, as long as one moves into the higher spheres in which.
on the one hand, need and estimation of utili ty are inevitably more individual
and, on thc other, the intensity of labor is mon: difficult to prove, no of
the anlounts of production could bring about a situation in which the relation
ship between need and labor applied was everywhere the same. On these )Xlin
ts
,
all the threads of the deliberatiolU on socialism intertwine. At. this point, it is clear
that the . .. difficulty .. . increases in relation to the cultural level of the prod
uct-a difficulty whose avoidance, of course, must limit production to that of the
most primitive, most essential, and most aVtr.lge objects." Georg Simme1, Phi/ruo
phie des Geldes (Le1pzig, 1900), pp. 451-453."" With this critique, compare the
counter-critique of this standpoint by Korsch, X9,1. [X6;X6a]
"The individual signifi cance of different objects of equal value ill degraded
through their exchangeabilit y-however indirectly or imaginary this may be....
The di lpar agement of the interest in the individuality of a commodity leads to a
disparagement of individuality itself. If the two sides to a commodity are its quality
alld its price, then it seems logicall y impossi.ble for the interest to be focwed on
only one of these sides; for 'cheapneu' is an empty word ifit does not imply a low
price for a relatively good 'Iuality.... Yet this conceptual impossibility ill psycho
logically real and effective. The interest in the one si.de can be so poeat that ita
logically necessary counterpa rt completely disappear s. The typical instance of one
of these cases is the ' fifty-cent bazaar.' The principle of valuation in the modern
money economy finds its clearest expression her-e. It is not the commodity that is
the cent er of interest here hut the price--a principle that in fonner times not only
would have appeared shamel ess but would have been absolutely impossible. It hal
been rightl y pointed out that the medieval town ... lacked the extensive capital
economy, and that thi s was the r eason for seeking the ideal of the economy, not so
much in the expansion (which is possible only through cheapnese) as in tbe quality
of the goode offered: ' Georg Simmel, PhiloJophk dell Geltk, (Leip:tig. 19(0),
pp. 4l1-412Y [X7, l j
"Political economy is now no longer a sci. ence of commoditiea .... It becomes a
\
direct science of eociallabor" : " in iUl present unambiguous , and definite, form of
labor producing a commodity for another penon-that is, of labor formally paid
tO,its full value but actually exploited ... , actually collective labor performed by
proletarian wage laborers ... to whom ... the productive power of what would be
under otherwise similar conditions the produce of an isolated worker. now in
/" creased a thoulandfold by the eocial division of labor, stands opposed in the fonn
of capitalo" <Karb Korsch <Karlll1oI"X. manuscripo , vol. 2, p. 47.- Compare
XII,I. 1X7,2]
On the bungled reception of technology. "The illusions in this sphere are
quite dearly in the terminology that is used in it, and in which a mode of
thinking, proud of its .. . fn:edom from myth, discloses the direct opposite of
these features. To think that we conquer or control natun: is a very childish
Supposition, since ... all notions of ... conquest and subjugation have a proper
meaning only if an opposing will has been broken .... Natural events, as such,
are not subiect to the alternatives of freedom and coercion_ ... Although ... this
seems to be just a matter of terminology, it does lead astray those who think
Supercially in the direction of anthropomorphic misinterpretations, and it does
show that the mythological mode of thought is also at home within the natural_
scientific worldview." Georg Simmd , Phj/osophie deJ Gddu (Leipzig, 1900),
pp. 520-521.
39
It is the great distinction of Fourier that he wanted to open the
way to a very different reception of tecimology. [X7a, l]
" The ... doctrine of'surplus value,' already largely anti cipatet.1 ... by the c1an ic
bourgeois economists and their earli est socialist adversari ll8, . .. anti the reduc_
tion of the ' free labor contract' of the modern wage laborer to the sale of the
'commodit y labor-power,' first acqui re their real efficacy through the transfer of
economic thought from the fi eld of the exchange of commotlities ... to the fi eld of
material production ...- that is, through the transition from ... surplw value.
emting in the form of goods and money, to ... sltrpllU labor, performed by re..J
workers in the workshop under the social domination eJ{ ert ed upon them by the
capitalist owner of the workshop." Korsch <Karl Marx, manuscript> , vol. 2,
pp. 41-42.- [X7a,2]
Korsch, vol. 2, p. 47, cites a phrase from Marx <Da.! Kapital, vol. 1, 4th ed.
(Hamburg, 1890), pp. 138- 139>: "the hidden haunts of production, on whose
threshold we are faced with the inscription: ' No admittance except on busi
Compare Dante's inscription on the Gate of Hell , and the "one-way
strttt." (X7a,3]
Korsch defmes surplus value 88 the " particularl y ' deranged' form whi ch tbe gen
eral fetishi sm att ached to aU commoditie8 a8sumes in the commodity called ' labor
power. '" Karl Korsch, Karl Morx, manuscript , vol. 2, p. 53.4: [X8,1]
" What Marx ... terms the ' fetishism of the world of commodities' is only a scien
tifi c exprenion for the same thing that he had described earli er ... a8 'human
self-alienation. ' ... The most important substantive difference between thi.H philo-
sophical critique of economic ' self-ali enati on' and the later scientific exposition of
the same problem consi81s in the fact that , in Dcu Kapital. Marx ... gave hit
economic critique a deeper and more general signifi cance by tracing back the
delusive character of all other onomic categorie3 to the fetish character of the
commodity. Though even now that most obvious and direct form of the 'self-al.
ienation of the human being,' which occurs in the relation between wage labor and
capi tal, keeps its decisive importance for the practical attack on the existing order
of society, the fetishism of commodity labor power is , a t this stage, for theoreti cal
purposes regarded as a mere derivative form of the more general fdisltism which ia
contained ill t he commodity itself.. .. Dy revealing all cconomi c cat egori es to be
mere fragments of one great fetish, Marx ultimatel y transcended preceding
forms and phases of bourgeoi8 e<;onomic and social theor y .... Even the most
udvanced c1ussical economists remuincd caught in the . .. world of bourgeois ap
IJearance, or fell back into it , because they hud uever succ(:eded in extending their
critical analysis either to the derived forms of economic feti shi8m [ lIllnlasking of
the gold a nd sil ver fetisll es, the physiocratic illusion Ihal relit grows out of the
earth, the interpretation of interest and rent al mer e fractions of industrial profit]
or to that gener al fundamental form which aplJeara in the value-form of the labor
prodUC18 as commodity and in the value-rel ations of the commoditi es themselves."
Korsch. Karl Marx. <vol. 2,) pp. 53-57 Y [X8,2]
"From the bourgeois point of vi ew, the individual ci ti zen think8 of 'economi c'
thill gs alld forces as of something ent ering into hi s private life fronl without ....
According to the new conception, however, indi viduals in all t hey do are moving,
fronl the outset, within definit e social circumsta nces that a rise from a given stage
in the tl eveIOpnU!I.lt of material production. .. Such hi gh ideall of bourgeois
society as thai of the free, seLf-determining individual , freedom and equalit y of aU
citizens in the exercise of their political rights, and equality of all in the eyes of the
law a re now seen to be nothing but correlati ve conce,)f& 10 the f etuhism of the
commodity .... Only by keeping the people unconscious of the r eal content a of
those basic relations of the emting social order ..., onl y through the fetishisti c
transformation of the social relations between the class of capitalists and the clan
of wage laborer8, r esulting in the ' free and unhampered' sale of the 'commodi ty
labor--power ' to the owner of 'capital ,' is it possible in this society to 8peak of
freedom and equalit y." KONlch, Karl Marx, ( vol. 2,) pp. 75-77.'" [X8a, l ]
..... he individual and coll ective bargaining over the condition8 of sale of the com
modit y labor-power still belongs entirel y to the worl d of fetishistic appea rance
<Schein>. Socially considered, and together with the material mean8 of produc
tion, the propert yless wage laborer s selling, through a ' free labor contract,' their
individual labor-poweTli for a certain time to a capitalist entrepreneur are, as a
class, from the outset and forever , a common property of the possessing class,
whi ch alone has t he real mean8 of labor at its disposal. It was therefore not the
whole truth that was revealed by Marx in the Communist Manife,to when he . aid
that the bourgeoisie had ... replaced the veiled forms of exploitation practi ced
during the ... Middle Ages hy an altogether ' unveil ed exploi tation.' The bourgeoi
, sie replaced an eXIJloitation embroidered with religious a nd political ilIusioru by a
new and more refined system of concealed exploitation. Whereas in earlier epochs
the openly proclaimed relati Oll s of domination and servitude appeared aB the
immediate springs of production, in the bourgeois period it is ... , conver&ely,
producti on that is ... the pretext ... for the. . expl oitation of laboren."
<Korsch,) Karl Marx, <vol. 2, >pp. 64-65 . .tS [X8a,2]
the doctrine of value: "The idea that there is an 'equali ty' inherent in all kinds
of labor, by which economists are entitled to regard qualitatively different kinds
of labor . . . as quantitatively different portions of a total quanti ty of 'general
labor,' which fomu the basis of the economic concept of value is so little the
discovery of a natural condition underlying the production ar:d exchange of
con.unodities that this 'equality' is, on the contrary, brought into existence by the
SOcial fact that, under the conditions prevailing in present-day capitalist ' com
modity production,' all labor products are produced as commodities for such
exchange. In fact, this ' equality' appears nowhere else tlum in the 'wJue' 0/ the
commoditieJ JO produced. The full development of the economic theory of ' labor
value' coincided with a stage of the historical development when human labor,
not just as a category but in reality, had long ceased to be, as it were, organically
COIU1ected with cither the individual or with small productive communities and,
the barriers of the guilds having fallen under the new bourgeois banner of 'free..
dom of trade: every particular kind of labor was treated henceforth as equivalent
to every other particular kind of labor. It was precisely the advent of these::
historical and political conditions that was expressed (unconsciously, of course)
by the classical economists when they traced back the 'value' appearing in the
exchange of commodities to the quantities of labor incorporated therein, though
most of them believed they had thus disclosed a natural law .... Those minor
followers in the wake of the great scientific founders of political economy, no
longer accustomed to such audacity of scientific thought, who have later patheti
cally bewailed the 'violent abstraction' by which the classical economists and
Marxism, in tracing the value relations of commodities to the amounts of labor
incorporated therein, have 'equaled the unequal,' must be reminded of the fact
that this ' violent abstraction' results not from ... economic science but from the
real character of capitalist commodity production. '!hecommodity is a bt'Jrn InMkr."
Korsch, Mrl Man:, vol. 2, pp. 66- 68. In "reality," of course, the "particu1ar kinds
of labor perfonned in the production of the various useful things are, according
to Marx, effectively different also under the regime of the law of value" (ibid.,
p. in opposition to Simmel ; compare X6a. [X9]
" Marx and Engels ... pointed out that the equali ty-idea resulting from the epoch
of bourgeois commodity-production and expressed in the economic ' law of value'
is still bourgeois in its character. It is therefore only ideologically incompatible
with the exploitation of the working class through capi tal , but not in actual prac
tice. The socialist Ricardians ... on the basis ofthe economic principle that 'it i.
labor alone which bestows value,' ... wanted to transform all men into actual
workers exchanging equal quantities of labor.... Marx replied that ' this equali- .
tarian relation ... is itself nothing but the reflection of the actual world; and that
therefore it is totally impossible to reconstitute society on the basis of what it
merely an embellished shadow of it. In proportion as this shadow takes on sub
stance again, we perceive that thi s substance, far from being the transfiguration
dreamt of, ill the actual body of existing society. '" The citation from La MiJere de
wphiU,sophie. in Korsch. vol. 2, p. 4Y [X9a,IJ
Korsch: In the bourgeois epoch, " the production of the products of is pretext
and cover for the ... exploitation and oppression of the laborers . The scientific
method of concealing this stal e of affairs is called political economy." Its function:
to shift " responsibility for all the waste and hideousness which is already found at
o, r ' dwhich
the present stage of development of the productlve orcell 0 society, an
cmergcs catastrophicall y during e<!onomic crises, from the realm of human action
to the sphere of so-called immutable, nature-ordained relations between things. "
Korsch . Karl Marx. vol. 2, p . 65." [X9a,2]
"The di stinct.ion between li se value a nd exchange value. in the abstract form in
",hich it had been lIIalle by the bourgeois economists, ... did not provide any
useful starling point for an . . . investigation of bourgeois commodity produc
tion . .. . With Marx, ... use value is not defined as a use value in general , but as
the u.Je vallie of a commodity. This use value inherent in commodities .. . is,
however, IIOt merely an extra-economi c presupposition of their ' value.' It is an
element of the value.. . . The mere fact that a thing has utility for any human
bcillg-say. for its producer--does not yet give us the economic definition of use
value. Not until the thing has . .. utility ' for other persons' ... does the economic
definition of use value apply. Just as the use value of the commodity is economi_
call y defined as a social use value (use value ' for others'). so is the ... labor which
goes illto the production of t his commodity defined economically as ... labor 'for
others.' Thus. Marx' s commodity-producing labor appears as social labor In a
twofold sense. It has ... the general social character of being a ' specifically useful
labor,' which goes to the pr oduction of a definite kind of social use value. It bas, on
the other hand. the specific hi.storical character of being a 'generally social labor. '
which goes to the production of a definite quantity of exchange value. The capacity
of social labor to produce definite things useful to human beings ... appears in the
we ooiue of its product. Its capacity for the production of a value and a Burplus
value for the capitalist (a particular characteristic of labor which derives from the
particular form of the social organization of the labor proceu ... . within the
present hi storical epoch) appears in the exchange vallU: of its product. The fusion
of the two social characteristics of commodity-producing labor appears in the
' value-form' of the product of labor, or the form of commodity. tt Korsch, Karl
Marx ( vol. 2), pp. 42-44.49 [XIO]
"The earlier bourgeois economists, when speaking of labor as a source of wealth.
, had likewise thought of ' labor' in terms of the various forms of real work, though
they did so onl y for the reason that their economic ca tegories were still in the
process of separation from their original material contents .... Thus, the Mercan
tilists, the Physiocrats, and so on successfully declared that the true source of
wealth lies in the labor expended in the export industries , in trade and shipping, in
agri cultural labor, and the like. Even in Adam Smith- who, from the different
hrall ches of labor, definitely advanced to the general form of commodi t y-produc
ing .labor- we find that concrete aspect retained, along with the new and more
formalistic definition which is also expressed in hi s system and was later to become
the exclusive definition of value in the work of Ri cardo. and by which labor is
defined as an abstract and merely quantitative entity. This same abstract form of
labor, which he correctly defined as exchange-value-producing labor, he at the
Sanle time . .. declared to be the only source ... of the material wealth of the
cOllimunity, or use value. This doctrine, which still obstinately persists in ' vulgar'
socialism ... is, accordillg to Marx, economicall y false." By its assumptions, " it
would be difficult to explai n why, in In'cllent day ... lociety, just those persons are
poor who hithert o havc hatl that uniquc source of all wealtll at thcir exci ul ive
disposal, and even more difficult to account for the fact that tlley remai n
ployed and poor. instead of produci ng wealth by thei r labor.... Hut ... in
ing tile creative powcr of ' labor,' Adam Smitll was t llinking 1I0t so much of the
forced labor of the modern wage laborer, whiell appean,l ill the value of commodi.
ties lI lid produces capi ta listi c profi t . as of the general na tura l necessity of human
labor .... Likewi se, hi s naive glorification of the ' divi sion of labor' achi eved in
thele 'great manufactures,' by which he under stood the whol e of modern capital.
ist production, refers not so much to the extr emely imperfect form of contempo
r ary capi talistic division of labor ... al to the general form of human labor
vaguely fused with it in hi s theoreti cal exposition." Korsch, KarllUarx , vol. 2,
pp.44-46.
50
[XIOa]
Decisive passage on surplus vaJue, the final statement no doubt standing in need
of funher clarification: "Similarly, the doctrine of surplus fJll/ue, which is usually
regarded as the more particu1arly socialist Rction of Marx's economic theory, is
neither a simple economic exercise in calcu1ation which serves to check a
lent statement of vaJue received and expended by capital in its dealing with the
workers, nor a moral lesson drawn from economi cs for the purpose of reclaiming
from capital the diverted portion of the ' full product of the worker's labor? The
Marxian doctrine, as an economic theory, starts rather from the opposite princi
ple-that the industrial capitalist under ' normaJ' conditions acquires the labor
power of the wage laborers by means of a respectable and businesslike bargain.
whereby the laborer receives the full equivaJent of the ' commodity' sold by him,
that is, of the ' labor-power' incorporated in himself. The advantage gained by the
capitalist in this business derives not from economics but from his privileged
sociaJ position as the monopolist owner of the materiaJ means of production.,
which permits him to exploit, for the production of commodities in his work
shop, the specific we uaiue of a laborpower which he has purchased at its ec0
nomic 'value ' (exchange vaJue). Between the uaiue oflhe new commodih'eJ produced
by tM we of lhe laborpower in the worluhop, and the prius paidf()r thu labor to .its
sellerJ, there u, according to Marx, no economic ()r other rationally determinable
wlllltever. The measure of value produced by the workers in the shape of their .
labor products over and above the equivaJent of their wages (that is, the mass rf
'Jurplw /abo'; expended by them in producing this ' surplus vaJue') and the quan'
titative rdation between this surplus labor and the necessary labor (iliat is, the
'rate o/Jurp/us value' or the 'rate 0/exploitah'on' holding good for a particular
and a particular country) do not result from any exact economic calculatlon.
They result from a battlc between sociaJ classes." Korsch, Karl Marx, vol. 2,

"The ultimat e meaning of thj s law of value, as 8 110WII ill its worki ngs by 1\1111"",
docs not ... in suppl yi ng a t heoret ica l iJasis for the practi cal calculation.
of the busineuman seeking his private adva ntage, or for the economi c_politicai
mCaSUrei t aken by the bourgeois st atesman concerned with the general maint e
nance and furt hcra m:e of t he capit ali st surplul -ma king machinery. The final
scientific pur p05e of the Marxian theory is , rat hcr, ' to reveal the economic law of
motiOl1 ofmoder,1 society. II lI d tlli s mea ns. at the sa lllC time. the law of its hi storical
development .'" Kursch, Karl Morx. vol. 2.1" 70.;': [Xll a,l ]
determinati on of t he actual social character of that fUDIl ament al proc
ess of modern capitalist prOtlucti oli whi ch il one-sidedl y III'esclited (, y the bour
geois et:ollomi sts, al by their adversaries frOIll the ca mp of vul ga r locialil m,
sonl etimes as producti oll of conl umer goods, and sometimes, by contrast , as pro
duction of value or as simplc profi t making": a " production of surplul value by
'lleans of the production of valli e by mcans of the production of consumer goods
in a societ y in which the materi al goods of producti on enter al ca pital into the
I'roce1ls of production run by til e capitalil tl, wbile tbe act ual producers enter as
the commodity labor-power." Korscll , Karl Marx, vol. 3, pp. 10-11. [XlI a,2]
The experience of our generation: that capitalism will not die a natural death.
[Xll a,3]
The confrontation of Lafargue withJaures is very characteristic for the great
form of materialism. (X l h ,4]
Sourccs for Marx and Engels; " From the bourgeois historians of the French Resto
ration, they took the concept of social clasl and of c1au struggle; from Ricardo,
the econom.ic basis of the claSH ant agonism; from Proudhon, the proclamation of
the modern prolctariat as the onl y real revolutionary class; from the feudal a nd
Christian allailants of the new economic order ..., the r uthless unmasking of the
liberal ideas of the bourgeoisie, tile pi er ci ng hat e-fiUed invective. Their ingenious
dissection of tile unsolvable contradicti onl of the modern mode of production they
took from the pett y-bourgeois l ociaiism of Sismondi; the humanism and the phi.
losophy of action, from earli er companions among the left Hegeli ans, especiall y
from Feuerbaeh; the meaning of politi cal st r uggle for the working clall, from the
contemporary labor parties , French Social Democrats and English Chartists; the
doctrine of revoluti ona ry dictat orship, from the French Convention, and from
Blanqui and his foll owers. Finall y, they look from Fourier, and
Owen the entire content of their sociali st and COllllllunist agenda: the t otal up
heal'al of the foundations of existing capit ai isl society, the aboliti on of classes .. . ,
and the tra nsformation of the Sl at e into a mere admini stration of production."
Korsch, Klir/ MlIrx , vol. 3, p . [XI2,1]
' "Through Il egel. the new materiali sm of proletarian theory linked itself to the 8um
of bourgeois social t hought of til e prece<li ng historical period . II did 10 ill t he same
alltith.,.ical f01'l1l in wlli ch. 011 II practi cal level also, the sodal acti on of the prol e
taria t continued Ihe previous movemcnt of the hourgeois class. " Korsch,
l(
a
rlMlI I"X. vol. 3, p. IXI2,2]
Korsch says very juscly (and one might weU think of de Maistre and Bonald in
this connection): "To a certain extent, that ... ' disenchantment' which, after the
conclusion of the great French Revolution, was first proclaimed by the early
French theorists of the counterrevolution and by the Gennan Romantics . .. has
in fact exerted a considerable influence upon Marx mainl y through Hegel, and
has thus directly entered into the . . . theory of the modem workers' movement."
Knrsch, Karl Marx, vol. 2, p. 36. [XI2,3)
Concept of producti,'e force: '" Productive force' is, in the ftrst place, nothing else
than the rt!al eHrthl y lHbor-powt!r of living melt : the force ... by whi ch .. , tbey
produce ... , under capit alistic conditi ons. ' commodities .' , .. Everything that
increases the productive erfect of human labor-power ... is a new social ' produc
tive force.' To the material forces of prO(lucti on belong nature, technology, aDd
science; but to these forces bdong, above all , the social organization iueU and tbe
. . . social forces created therein by cOOIHlrati on and the industrial division of
labor. " Korsch, Karl vol. 3, pp. [X12a,l )
Concept of producti ve force: " The Marxian concept of 'social' productive foreet
has nothing in common with the idealisti c abstractions of the old and new ' techno
cra ts ,' who jillagi ne they call define and measure prO(luctive powen of society
... in terms of natural science and technology ... . ' Tedmocratic' prescriptioDl
are not suf6cient in themselves t o remove the material obstacles which oppose aoy
important change in present -day capitali stic societ y .... There iJ; more power or
resistance in the mut e force of economic conditions . . . than well -meaning techno
crats have ever drealllt of." Korsch , Karl MClrx . vol. 3, pp. 59-60Y [X12a,2)
I.n Marx-"Das philosophische Mani fest der hist orischen Rechtsschule," Rhein
u che Zeitung. 221 ( 1842}--there aplHlars, as a point of refer ence, " the correct ......
idea ... that t.he primitive conditions are naive ' Dutch pictures' of the true condi
lions." Ci ted in Korsch, vol. I , p. 35.... [X12a,3)
,
Against Proudhon, who looks on machine and division of labor as antithetical w
each other, Marx emphasizes how much the division of labor has been refined
since the introduction of machinery. Hegel, for his part, emphasized that the
division of labor, in a certain sense, opened the way for the introduction of
machinery. "This parceling out of their content ... gives rise w the dirtisUm .of
labor. . .. The labor which thus becomes more abstract tends, on one hand, by Its
unifonni ty, to make labor easier and to increase production; on another, to
each person to a single kind of technical skill, and thus produce more uncondi
tional dependence on the social system. The skill itself becomes in this way
mechanical, and becomes capable of letting the machine take the place of
man labor." Hegel, Em.yRlopiidit: der philOJoplwcht:n Wwt:nJchajlt:n im GrundrisSt:
(Leiploig, 1920), p. 436 (paragraphs 525-526).w [X12a,4)
The critique ClI. rri ed out by the young Marx on the " ri ght s of man, " ai separated
from the " ri ghts of ci tizen." '"' None of the so-called rights of man gOCi beyond
egoistic lIl an .... Far from the rights of man conceiving of man as a sJ>eciet-being,
species-life itself. society, appears as a framework exterior to indi viduals .... The
onl y bond that holds t.hem togethll. r is natural necessity. nt!e d and private interest ,
lilt: conservation of their propert y and egoisti c person. It is . .. paradoxical . .
Ihat citizenship, the political community, is degraded by the political emancipa
IOrs to a mere means for the preserva tion of these so-call ed or mall ; that the
ci ti zen is declared to be the servant of egoisti c ma n; that the sphere in which man
be hal'es as a communal being is degraded he low t he sphere in whi ch man behaves
as a parti al being; finall y dl at it is not mall 8S a ci tizen hut man as a bourgeois who
is call ed the real and true Ill an .... The r iddl e has a silllple solution .... What was
the character or the old society? ... Feudaljsm. The 0111 civi l societ y had a direccl y
political character .... The 1)Glitical revolution ... abolished tile political ebarac-'
ter of civil 8ociet y. It shattered civil societ y ... on the oll e hand into individuals,
on the other hand into the lII ater ial a nd spiritual element s that make up til e ...
civil positi on or these individuals .... The formation of the political stat e and tbe
dissolution of civil societ y int o independent individuals, who are related by law
just as the est ate and oor))Gration men were related by privilege, is completed in
one and the eame act . Man as member of civi l societ y, unl)Oliti cal man, appean
necessarily as natural man . The rigbts of lII an aplJear R8 natllral rights. because
self-conscious activit y is concentrated upon l)Oliti cal action. Egoisti c man is the
Ilassive, given result of the dis80lved society, ... a nat ural object . Political revolu
tion's ... attitude to civil society, to the world of need, to work, private interesu,
and private law, is that they are ... its natural basis. Finally, man as a member of
civil societ y count s for true man, for man as distill ct from the citizen, because he is
Di an in his sensuous ... existence, whil e political man is only the abstract ...
man .... The abstracti on of the politicallllan is thus correctly described by Rous
seau: ' He who dares to undertake the of a people'. institutions ought t o
feel himself capable ... of changi ng human nature, of transfonning each individ
ual, who is by himself a complete and solitary whol e, into part of a greater whole
from whi ch he ... receives his life and being' (ContrOl $ocial [London, 1782] , vol.
2. p. 67)." Marx. " Zur ludcnfrage." in Marx a nd Engels, Ge$anuausgabe. vol. I ,
section 1, 1 (Frankfurt a m Ma in, 1927). PJl. 595-599.611 [XI 3]
The property appertaining to the commodity as its fetish character attaches as
well [0 the commodityproducing society-not as it is in itself, to be sure, but
more as it represents itself and thinks to undersWld itself whenever it abstracts
from the fact that it produces preciscly commodities, The image that it produces
of itself in this way, and that it customaril y labels as its culture, corresponds to the
concept of phantasmagoria (compare "Eduard Fuchs, Coll ector and Historian,"
section 3)." The latter is defined by Wiesengrund "as a consumer item in which
there is no longer anything that is supposed to remind us how it came into being.
It a magical object, insofar as the labor stored up in it comes to seem
Supemarural and sacred at tlle very moment when it C'\Jl no longer be recognized
as labor" (T. W. Adomo, "Fragmeme liber Wagner," Zeitschrffl for SoIialfor
Jchung, 8, nos. 1-2 [19391, p. 17). In connection with this, from the manuscript on
Wagner (pp. 46-47): "The art of Wagner' s orchestration has banished ... the
role of the inunediale production of sound from the aesthecic totality .... Anyone
(ully able to grasp why Haydn doubles the violins with a flute in piano might well
get an intuitive glimpse into why, thousands of years ago, men gave up eating
uncooked grain and began to bake bread, or why they started to smooth and
polish their tools. All trace of its own production should ideally disappear from
the object of consumption. It should look as though it had never been T!UJde, so as
not to reveal that the one who sells it did nOt in fact make it, but rather appropri
ated to himself the labor that went into it. The autonomy of art has its origin in
the concealment of labor.n
o
[X13a]
y
[Photography]
Sun, look out for yourself!
- A.J . \V'tertz. o..-uvra litl(r'airts (ParU, 1870), p. 374
If onc day the sun should sputter out,
'Twill be a mortal who rek.indles it.
- Laurencin and C1aiJ'\-illc, I.e RDi DaFt Ii l'txposition tk 1844,
l1\atre du Vaudeville. April 19, 1844 (Paris, 1844), p. 18 [lines
spoken by the Genius of Industry]
A prophecy from thc ycar 1855: " Only a few years ago, there was born to UI a
machine t.hat hal since ilome the glory of our age, and that day after day amaze8
the mind a nd sta rtl e8 the eye. f Thil machine, a century hence, will be the brush,
the palette, the colors, the craft , the practice, the I)atience, the glance, the t ouch,
the paste, the glaze. the Irk k. the reli ef, the finish, the rendering. f A century
hence, there will be no more bricklayers of painti.ng; there will be only architect&-
painters in the full senle of the word. f And are we really to imagine that the
daguerreotype has mllrder ed a rt ? No, it kills the work of patiel1cc, but it does
homage to the work of thought . I Whel1 the daguerreotype, tm8 titan child, will
have att ained the age of maturit y. when all its power and potential will have been
unfolded, then the g(lIillS of a rt ,,;lI l uddenl y seiT-e it by the coUar and exclaim:
' Mine! You are mine now! We are going 10 work together .... A. J . Wi ert z, Oeuores
/ittemire8 (Paris, 1870), p. 309. FrOIll an article, " La Photographie," that ap
pea red for the first time in Jlllle 1855, in ta Nation, and ended with a reference 10
the new illvention of photographic enl a rgement , which makes it possibl e to pro
thh'C life-size pllOt08. Brickl ayer-pai nter8 a rc. fur Wi erlz , those " who apply them
selves to Ihe material pllIt only," who a l'e good al " rclul ering." [Y I,I]
liit/ustri aliza tioll ill On 51rihe. " Although he mali c fun of the bi g indus
tr ialists a nd moneymell . lit' pi cked up tlw secret ofthcir success. II did not escalJe
his eagle eye thai, ill tilt: lastltll lt lysis. all rests 011 the art of getting others to
work fur 118. So t hen. gr ollllllhrea king genius that hc was, II C t ransferred t he
I,rinciplc of the llivill ion of la),or fro", tim ,,urkshops of lailors. cahilletmakers,
alld manufact urers of IHlII nihs to the ateli ers of dramatic artists, who, before thi8
1
reform, working wil.1I onl y their one Ilead and oTle I)CO, had earned merely the
The photographic reproduction of artWOrks as a phase in the struggle betv.-een
proletarian wage. of the isola ted worker. An enti re generati on of theatrical
pholOgraphy and painting. [Yl a,3)
..
iusell were in his debt for their training and development , their awards, and. not
infrelluentl y, even their ri ches and reputa tion. Scribe chose the lI ubj e<! I, sketched
out t he mai n lines of the plot, indicat ed the places for special effects and brilliant
exits, and hi s apprentices would compose lhe 81l1)roprilltedialogue or ver ses. Once
they had made 80me progreu, their name would appear on the title page ( next to
that of the finn) as a jUl t ruompense, unti) the best would break away and begin
turning oul dramati cal works of their own invention, perhaps al80 in their turn
recruiting new assistant s. By thclle means, and under the protection afforded by
the French publishing laws, Scribe beeame a multimillionaire." Friedrich Kreys.
sig, Smdien zur /rcmzosischen Cultur und Literaturgeschichte (Berlin, 1865)
<pp.56-57). [Yl ,2J
Beginnings of the revue. "The French fairy playsl currentl y in vogue are practi.
call y all of recent origin; they derive, for the most I)art, from the revues whicb
were customarily put on during the first fortnight of the new year, and which were
a sort of fantastic retrospective of the year precedi ng. The character of the.e
theatricals was initially quite juvenile; they were tailored specificall y to schoolchil.
dren, whose new year's festh'ities would be enlivened by producti ons of this kind."
Rudolf Gottscball, " Das Theater und Drama des Second Empire," Umere Zeit:
Deuuche Revue-l'tfonalllchri/, zum Konverl otwmk:cikon 1867),
p.931. {y1 ,3J
-
From the stan, to keep this thought in view and to weigh its constructive value:
the refuse- and decayphenomena as precursors, in some degree mirages, of the
great syntheses that follow. These worlds <?> of static realities are to be looked for
everywhere. FUm, their center. 0 Historical Materialism 0 [YI ,4J
Fairy plays: "Thus, for example, in Parisiens Ii Londre. (1866), the English ind ...
tri al exhibition is brought to the stage and illustrated by a bevy of naked beautiet,
who naturall y owe their appear ance to all egory and poetic invention alone."
Rudolf Gottschall , " Oas Theater und Drama des Second Empire," Uruere Zeit:
Deutsche Revue-l'tfonaellchriJt zum KonverlaliotlJiexikon (Lei pzig, 1867)
p. 932. 0 Advertising 0 [yl a,IJ
"' Fermenters' are catalytic agents which or acceler at e the decomposition
of relatively large quantities of other organic 8ubslances .. .. These ' other organic
substances,' however, in reaction to whi ch the fermenting agents nianifest their
destructi ve power, are the histori call y transmitted styl istic forms. " "The fenneo
ters ... are the achievements of modern technology. Tiley . .. can he groUI)C{!
acc()rding to three great material divisiolls: (I) iron, (2) the art of machiner y, (3)
the art of li ght and fire." AlIred Goull old Meyer, Ei,ctlbmuetl (I<:"lingen, 1907).
from the preface (unpaginated). [yl a,2j
" In 1855. within the frlllll CWork of the grca t exhihition of ilUlustry.slH!cial sections
011 photogr aphy were opened, making it pon ible for Ihe first lime 10 familiari ze a
wider public with the Ih"W ill\enti on. Tili s exhibition was, in fact , the overture to
Ihe induSlrial dc\'dopment of photogra phy . . .. The puhli c at the exhibition
throngetl before the 1lI1illCrOUS portraits of famous and nolOO personalities, and we
can onl y imagi ne wll at it 1II11s 1 have mea nt to that epoch suddenly 10 soo before it ,
in so lifelike a form, the celebrated rlgures of the stagc, of the ,HNl ium- in short. of
puhlic life--who, up until then, could be gazed at and admired only from afar."
Gisela freund, " Ent wicklung der in Frankreich" [manuscript].
oExhibiti ons 0 [Yla,4J
\l\brthy of mention in the history of photography is the fact that the same Arago
who made the famous cxpen repon in favor of photography submitted, in that
same year (?), 1838, an unfavorable repon on the railroad construction planned
by the govenunent: "In 1838, when the government sent them the bill autho
rizing construction of railroad lines from Paris to Belgium, to Ie Havre, and to
Bordeaux, the parlianlentary reponer Arago recommended rejection, and his
reconunendation was approved by a VOte of 160 to 90. Among other arguments,
it Was claimed that the difference in temperature at the entrance and exit of the
tunnels would bring on mortal chills and fevers." Dubech and d' Espezel, His/oire
de Pans (Paru, 1926), p. 386. [Y1>,5]
Some successful stage pl ays from midcentury: Dennery, La Nou.!rage <Ship
wreck) de La Perowe (1859), Le Tremblement de terre de Martinique (1843), Le,
Bohemiens de Paris (1843); Louis Fran\".ois Clairville, Le, Sepf ChiiteUlu du di
abfe (1844), Les Pommel de terre maf(lde! (1845), RotllOmago (1862), CendriUon
<Cinderell a ) (1866). Ot hen by Duveyricr, Oartois. A Kaspar Hower by Den
nery?! (Y la,6J
i
' 'The most fant astic cr eations of fairyland are nea r to heing reaLiillw berore our
\ery eyes .. .. Each day our factories lurn 0 111 wolltlers li S great as those produced
by Doctor Faustus Witll hi s hook of magic." Eugene Buret , De 10 Misere del classel
laborieu$es ell f"rtlll ce et en Angieterre (Paris, 1840), vol. 2, pp. 161- 162. [Y2, IJ
From Nadar' s splendid description of his photographic work in the Paris cata
combs: "With each new camera serup, we had to test our exposure time empiri
cally; certain of the plates were found to require up to eighteen minutes.
Remember, we were still, at that time, using collodion emulsion on glass nega'
tives.... I had judged it advisable to animate some or these scenes by the use of
a human figure- less from considerations of picturesqueness than in order to
give a sense of scale, a precaution too often neglected by explorers in this medium
and with sometimes disconcerting consequences. For these eighteen minutes of
1
exposure time, I found it difficult to obtain from a human being the absolute,
tion Bud, on the other hand. hy two COll ijccutive bad harvests, ill 1846 and 1847
inorganic immobility I required. I tried to get round this difficulty by means of
Once again the cit y or Paris... as far oul the faubourg Sai nt -Ant oine. was tOrt
..
mannequins, which I dressed in workman's clothes and positioned in the scene
with as little awkwardness as possible; this business did nothing to complicate
our task .... This nasty ordeal of photographing in the sewers and catacombs, it
must be said, Iaste:d no less than three consecutive months.... Altogether, I
brought hack a hundred negatives .... I made haste to offer the first hundred
prints to the collections of the City of Paris put together by the eminent engineer
of our subterranean constructions, M. Belgrand." Nadar, Qyand j'ilau photo
go-aph, (Paris <1900.), pp. 127-129.' (Y' ,']
Photography by a rtificial light with the aid of Bunsen element8. '" then had an
experi enced electrician install , on a solid part of my balcony overlooking the
Boul eva rd dcs Ca pllcine the fifty medium-sized elemenl s I' d been hopi ng for and
whi ch proved sufflcienl .... The regular relurn, each evening, of thifl light (flO
liliJe utilized al lhal time ( 1860-1861 arresled Ihe crowd on the boulevard and.
drawn like moths 10 the fl ame. a good lII any of the curious--both the fri endly and
the indifferent--came to climb up the stairs to our studio to flOd oul what wa.
going on therc. Thcsc visit ors (some weD known or evcn famous) r epresented every
social class; they werc the more welcome insofar as they furnished U8 with a free
suppl y of models. va ri ously di sl)Osed toward the novel experience. It was thus that
I ma naged to photograph. during these evening affairs, Niepce de Saint
Victor... Gustave Dore, ... the finallciers E. Perei re, Mires, Halphen, and
nlany others." Nadar, QU(Hldj'elais pholOgraphe (Pari s), pp. 113,
(Y',3]
At the end of the grand prOSIH!dus Nadar offers on the state of the sciencel: " Here
we a re, well beyond even the admira ble assessment of l' our croy, at the hour su
preme when the genius of the nation. in mortal danger, calls for discoverieA."
Nadar. Quandj'erais photographe. p. 3. [Y2.4j
Nadar reproduces the Balzaoan theory of the daguerreotype, which in tum
derives from the Oemocritean theory of the ddola. (Nadar seems to be unac
quainted with the latter; he never mentions it.) Gautier and Nerval would have
confomled to Balzac's opinion. "but even while speaking of specters, both of
them ... were among the very first to pass before our lens." Nadar. Qyandj'itaiJ
photographe, p. 8. <Compare Y8a,!.> [y2a,l j
From whom does the cOllception of progress ultimately stem? From Condorcet?
At any rate, by the end of the eighteenth cenntry it does not yet appear to have
taken very firm root. In thc course of his eristic, among various suggestions for
disposing of an adversary, H erault de SCchelles includes the
him astray through questions of moral freedom and progress to the Infinite.
Herault dc $echetles, Thione de l'ambihon (<Paris,> 1927), p. 132. [y2a,2j
1848: "Til e revolution ... a r08e in the midst or a very severe economi c crisis,
provoked, on the one hand . by the speculatioll.s occasione<:1 by railroad con, truC""
by hunger ri ots. II A. Mal et aud P. Grill ct, XIX' Siecle (Paris. 1919). p. 245.
[Y2a,3
Declaration regardi ng Ludovi e Halcvy: " You may attack me on any grounds
like-hut photography. no, that is sacred ." J ean Loi1:e. " Emile lola photogra.
phe;' Aru er meticr$ graphitlllcs , 45 (Jo'chrllary 15, 1935) <j). 35>. [y2a,4:
"Whoever, at some point in hil lire. has had the chance to slip his head under tht
magi c mantie of the photogra pher, anti has peered int o the camer a so as to calcb
sight of Ihat extraordinary minia ture reproduction or the natural image--such ,
person will necenariJ y ... have asked himself what is likely to come of our modern
painting once I)hotogral'hy has succt.wed in fi xing colors on its plates as well al
rorms." Walter Cr ane, "Nachahmull g und Ausdruck in der KUlIst ," <t rans.
Witti ch,> Die neue Zeit , 14. 110. 1 (St ult ga rt < 1895-1896, p. 423. (Y2a,S:
,
The eETon to launch a systematic confrontation between art and photograph)
was destined to founder at the outset. It could onl y have been a moment in (thel
confrontation between an and technology-a confrontation brought about by
history. [y2a,6]
The passage 0 11 photography from Lemercier's La.mpelie et Daguerre:
Al , menaced hy Ihe hirdcalcher's pi ti lenneUl,
The meadowlark. rouaing the mUIIH or morning.
t-luUere and roolishly come. 10 alighl on a
\ Lark-mirror, of ila dalliances,
So LamllClie'l (_ sunli ght'l) flight ilClll ahort
By the chemical 8nal"1') of Oagl.lerre.
The race ola cryslal. conve" or conca' e.
Will reduce or enlarge every object it markB.
It. fine, lucid rays, through Ihe depth! ol lhe tral"
Calch the afl>ecl of pl ace, in rapid inllCriplion:
The image impri&Oned wilhin the gla88 plate.
PreiiCrved from alllhrealening I'onl acl,
Retainll it s hrightlire: and certain
Break through 10 Ihe most di stanl 81, ho:: r<' lI.
Ncpomucene Lclllcrcicr. Sur /(1 Decouverfe de / 'i"Berlieux peilltre rlu diorama
[Annuli l Puhlic Scuion or thc Fi vc Acatl cmi cs, Thursda y, Ma y 2, 1839 (Pa ris.
1839). PI'. 30-3 1]. <CompilreQ31l.I. ) [Y3, 1]
"Photography ... was first adopted with.in the dominant social class ... : manu
facturers, factory owners and bankers, statesmcn, men of letters, and scientists."
Gise1a Freund, "La Photographie au poim de vue sociologique" (manuscript,
p. 32).ls this accurate? Shouldn't the sequellce be reversed? [Y3.2]
Among the inventions that predate photography one should mention. in particu
lographie au point lie vue sociologi1lue" ( ma nuscript . p. 39). in reference t o Vict or
lar, the lithograph in 1805 by Alois Senefelder and introduced into
Niepce: lAI V4'l rite . !IIr f'i,'I14'l lllivfl (Ie lu piloto8rOI)I, ie (Ch:l.l ons 811r Saone.
}
France some years later by Philippe de Lasteyrie) and the physionoO'ace, which,
for its part, represents a mechanization of the process of cutting silhouettes.
Louis Chretien, ... in 1786, ... successfully invented an apparatus which
..
... combined twO different modes of making portraits: that of the silhouette and
that of the engraving .... The physionob'ace was based on the well-known prin
ciple of the pantograph. A system of paralldograms was articulated in such a way
as to be capable of transfer to a horizontal plane. With the aid of a dry stylus, the
operator traces the contours of a drawing. An inked stylus traces the lines of the
first stylus, and reproduces the drawing on a scale detennined by the relative
position of the two styluses." Gisela Freund, "La Photographic: au point de VUe
sociologique" (manuscript, pp. 19-20). The apparatus was equipped with a
viewfinder. Life-size reproductions could be obuined. (V3,3]
The reproduction time with the physionotrace was one minute fOT nonnal sil
houettes, three minutes for colored ones. It is characteristic that the beginnings of
the technologizing of the portrait, as instanced in this apparatus, set back the art
of the portrait qualitatively as much as photography later advanced it. "One can
see, on examining the quite enormous body of work produced with the
physionOtrace, that the portraits all have the same expression: stiff, schematic,
and featureless .... A1though the appararus reproduced the contours of the face
with mathematical exaetirude, this resemblance remained expressionless becawe
it had not been realized by an artist.
n
Gisela Freund, "La Photographie au point

de vue sociologique
n
(manuscript, p. 25). It would have to be shown here: just
why this primi tive apparatus, in contrast to the camera, excluded "artistry.n
[Y3a.l]
" In Marseill es, around 1850, there were at most four or five paintera of mini
atures, of whom two, perhal)S, had gained a cert ain reputation by exeeuting fifty
port raits in the coune of a year. The3e artists earned just enough to make a
li ving . .. . A few years later, there were fort y to firt y pbotographera in Mar
seill es .. .. They each produced, on the average, between 1.000 and 1,200 platee
l>er year, whi ch they sold for 15 francs apieee; thi s made for yearly r eceiptl of
18,000 francs. so thut , together. t hey constituted a n industry ea rning nearly a
milli on. And Ihis same development can be seen in all the maj or cities or France."
Gisela Freund . "La Photographi c au poi nt de vue sociologi,uet> (manuscript ,
pp. 15-- 16), citing Vidal. Memoire ele fa seance elu 15 nouembre 1868 de fa Societe
SlcIl islique de Marseille. Rt!produced in I.he Bulletin de fa de
Photographie (1871), PP' 37,38, 40. . [y3a,2]
0 11 t he iut erli nking of technol ogical invent ions: " Wll en he wa nt ed to experiment
willi Ihhogt"aJlh y, Nicpce. who lived in the COllntry, ra n into the greatest difficultiell
ill procur ing the neceUDry st ones. It was then that he got the idea of repl acing tbe
Si ones wit.h Ii met al pl ale and the crayon wilh sunlight ." Gisel a Freund. " La Pho
1867). [Y3a.3]
followi ng Arago's n 'port to t he Chamber: " A rew hours lut er, opticia ns' shops
wcrt' besicg('li ; then' wc,c lIot enough lell ses, nol cll ough camcra obscuras to sat
isfr the zca l or so lIIu ny cagcr amateurs. They wat ched wil h regnl tful eye t he
sun on t he horizon, it carried away t he raw ma tcnal or the experiment .
But 011 t he IIlOrrow, , luring the first hours of the day. a great number of these
t'xpcrimcnt crs could be seell a t their windows, st riving, with all sorts of anxious
pret:a ut ioll ll. to ca pture on a prepared plate the image of a dormer-window oppo
sit e. or the view of II group of chimneys." Louis i'\guier, L(I P/lOt08r(lpliie: Exposi
tio1l et II istoire des prill cipedes e/ecolI l/crleS scielllifjques m()(lemes (Paris, 1851);
ci ted, without pagt' rererence, by Gisela Frcund ( ma nuscript , p. 46). [Y4,1]
In 1840, Maurisset published a ca ricature of photogra phy. [y4,']
" In the area of portraiture. II conceru wi lh ' si tuation' and the ' position' of a man.
a cOll cern t hat demands from the artist the representation of a 'social condition'
ali(I all 'altitude,' can be satisfi ed . in the end. onl y with a full-lengt h portrait. "
Wil hel m Wii t7.old, Die KIIII.!t des Portriits (Leipzig, 1908), p. 186; cited in Gisela
Freund (manuscr ipt , p. 105). [Y4,3]
,
Photography in the age of Disderi: "The characteristic accessories of a photo
graphic studio in 1865 are the pillar, the curtain, and the pedestal table. Posed
there. leaning, seated, or standing up, is the subject to be photographed: full
length, half-length, or bust. The background is filled, according to the social rank
of the mood, with other paraphernalia, symbolic and picruresque.
n
Further on
comes a very characteristic extraCt (without page reference) from !:Art tk la
pnotograpnie (Paris, 1862), by Disderi, who says, among other things: "In making
a portrait, it is not a question onl y ... of reproducing, with a mathematical
t' accuracy, the forms and proportions of the individual; it is necessary also, and
above all, to grasp and represent, while j ustifying and embellishing, ... the inten
ti ons of nature toward this individual." Gisela Freund, "La Photographie au
point de vue sociologique" (manuscript, pp. 106, 108).- The pillars : emblem of
a "well:rounded education." 0 HaussmannizatiOIl 0 [Y4,4]
Ciscla FrCUlld (manuscript . pp. 116-- 11 7) the rollowing ci tatiun from Dis
Iltri"s L 'Art ell' ICl I)llOtogmphie: "Could 1I 0tthe photogr apher who was a master of
all Ihe t' ft!c ts of lighting, who IHld at his disposal II large a ud jJerfectl y t!(luipped
slIl, li o wit h 1I1111,t! AeCl ors, who WU 8 providell wi ll i backdrops of 1111 kiml s,
...it l. setl.ings; prOI)Crtieil, coSl umes-coul,1 he not. gh'en int elligent a nd il kiUfull y
dressed models, compose tabfe(llu ele genre, historica l ilcenes? Could he not aspire
to SClllimCllt . like Scheffer, or 10 style. li ke I.ngres? Could li e not treat of hi st ory,
1
like Paul Dela roche in his I)ainting The Death af the Due de Glli"e?" At the wOrld "Slea m"-"Last word of him who di ed on the Cross!" MaJUme Du Camp, Les
exhibiti on of 1855, I.here were 80me photogr aphs oflhis ' ort produced in England. ChtIDt. moderne, ( Paris, 1855). p. 260 (" La Va lM: Ur" ). [y5,"]
(Y4a, l ]
..
The paintings Oelacroix .escape the with photography, not only
because of the unpact of thelJ" colors, but also (m those days, there was no instant
photography) because of the stanny agitation of their subject matter. And so a
benevolent interest in photography was possible for him. (y4a,2j
What makes the first photographs so incomparable is perhaps this: that they
present the earliest image of the encounter of machine and man. {y4a,3]
Onc of the-often unspoken-objections to photography: that it is impossible
for the human countenance to be apprehended by a machine. This the sentiment
of Delacroix in particular. (Y4a,4]
"Yvon, ... pupil of Delar oche, ... decided, one day, 10 reproduce the Batde 01
Solfenno.... Accompanied by the photographer Bi non, he goes to the TuiJerie.,
gets the emperor to strike the right sort of pose, has him turn hi s head, and bathe.
everything in the light he wishes 10 reproduce. The painting that r et ulted in the
end was acclaimed under the title The Emperor in a Kepi." Following thill , a
court room hatti e between the painter and Bisson, who had put his photo on the
market . He is convi cted . Gisela Freund, " La Photographie au point de vue eoci
ologique" (manuscript , p. 152). [yb,S]
-
Passing by the house of Disderi , Nal)Oleon III halts a regi ment he is leawnr; down
the boulevard, goes upstairs, and has himself photographed. [Y4a,6j
\
In his capacit y as pre5ident of the Societ e des Gens de Lett res, Bab-ac propoeed
that aU of the works of the twelve greatesl li ving French authors should automat
icall y be bought by the st ate. (Compa re Daguerre.) [Y4a,7]
" At the Cafe Hamelin, ... some photographers and ni ghl owls." Alfred Delvau,
Les Ileure, parisienne, (Paris , 1866), p. 184 ("Une Heure du matin"). [yS,l j
On Nepomucene Lcmercier : "The man who spoke t.hi s pedantic, absurd, and bom
baslic idi om cert ainl y never understood the age in which he lived ... . Could any
one have Ii one a hell er j ob of di storting COlltempora r y events with the aid of
OUlmoded images alld expressions?" Alfred Mi chiels, lIisloire rle. idees litleraireJ
en France au XIX' sieck ( Paris, 1863). vol. 2, pp. 36-37. . [yS,2J
On the rise of photography.-Communications teclmology reduces the informa'
tional merits of painting. At the same time, a new reality unfolds, in the face of
which no one can take responsibility for personal decisions. One appeals to the
lens . Painting, for its part, begins to emphasize color. [y5,3]
III " La ValM:Ur," part 3, 011 Camp celehrates sleam, chl oroform, electri cit y, gas ,
photography. Maxime Ou Camp, Le. Chants mooerne. (Paris, 1855), pp. 265
272. " La Fa ub:" <The Scythe> celebrates the reaper. (Y5,5)
The firs t 1","0 st all zas , and the fourth, from "La Sobine" <The Bobbin):
t hfl cascadi llfl ri"flr'
Each of ill b",akwatert
A lwirling ",lay Iladon-
In Ihe midst of green mfladow.,
And Ihfl f10Wfl ring alfalfa.
ThflY havfl raillfld up my Iialact':
My palace of a thoun nd windowi.
My palace of ll1stic vin"
Which climb to thfl rooft opl.
My Ii alace wherfl, without rfl l)QlIfl .
Thfl nimble wheel booml oul il s lOng,
Thfl wheel of rackety voicfl!
Lib thOifl vigilanl fl lvfl a of Norway
Who waltz acl"OSll thfllnow.
To escape Ihfl Bpril fl thai . tal.k.. thfl m,
I turn, Ilurn, I turn!
Through the houl"ll of day, nfl ver reding,
Ilurn. and Ilurn Ihrough Ihfl nighl!
Maxime Ou Camp. Les Chant. mo<lerne. (Paris, 1855), pp. 285-286.
[Y5,' 1
UL.a Ux:omot ive": " One day I shaU be named a sainI. " Maxime Du Camp, Le,
Churus modernes (Pari s, 1855), p. 301. This poem, like others, from the cycle
" Chants de 10 matiere." [Y5,7J
"'The press, Ihal immense and sacred locomolive of progress." Vict or Hugo,
speech at Ihe bll llil uel of September 16, 1862, organized by the publishers of Le.
Milerables in Brussels. Cit ed in Georges Bat auh. Le Poruife de la demugogie:
Viclor.//llgo ( Pa ri s. 1934), p . 131. [y5,8)
It is a cCll lllr)' Ihal dOfl' u. honur,
Tho: co: nlury of im'enlions;
Ullforlull ilidy. it iSlllso
Thfl century of rflvoluli on .
. Louis) Cluirvill e IIl1d Jules Cordi er. Le Po/nis (Ie Cr is lclt. Oil Le. P(l r isielis (I
Lomlres. Thilh re de la Porle Saini -Ma rlin, May 26, 1851 ( Paris, 185 1), p. 31.
(Y5a, I )
the other hand, Fournel condemns the conventional poses that relied on props
such as Disderi had introduced. [y5a,4]
J
..
Self-portrait by Nadar. Counesy of the]. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angdes. See Y5a,5.
A locomoth'e pulling "severa) elegant coaches" ap"cuTI on the stage. Clalrvi1le lite
elder and DclHlollf, 1837 ullxc,,!en. Theatre tlu Luxembourg, December 30. 1837
(Paris, 1838) <po 16), [y5a,2]
To be demonstrated: the influence of lithography on the literary genre of pano
r.unas. What, in the case of the lithograph, is perfunctory individual charac
terization often becomes, with the writer, equally perfunctory generalization.
[y5a,3]
FOurnel, in 1858 ("Ce qu' oll vail dans les rues de Paris") , reproaches t h ~ da
guerreotype for being unable to embellish. Disden is waiting in the wings. On '
Wi thout indi cating his source. Delvau cites this description of Nadar', 8IJI>ear
alice: " His hai r has the reddish glow of a setting sun; itll reflection spreads acron
his face, where bouquets of curly and contentious locks spill this way and that,
unruly a8 fireworks. Extremely dilated, the eyeball raUl, testifying to a truly un
appeasable curiosity and a perpetual astonishment. The voice is strident ; the
VilUres are those of a Nuremberg doll with a fever." Alfred Delvau, Le, LWru du
j our (Paris, I867), p. 219. [YSa,S]
Nadar, speaking of himself: "A born rebel wbere all bondage is concerned, impa
tient of all proprieties, having never been able to answer a letter within two years,
an outlaw in all houses where you cannot put your feet up before the fire, and
finaUY--80 that nothing should be lacking, not even a la8t phY8ical defect, to
complete the mea8ure of all theR amiable qualities and win him more good
friend&-nearsighted to the point of blindnelS and consequently liable to the m08t
in8u1tiog amnesia in the pretence of any face which he has not seen more than
twenty-five time. at a di8lance of fifteen centimeters from his nose." Cited in Al
fred Delvau, Le. Liow dujour (Paris, 1867), p. 222. [YSa,6]
InventioDl from around 1848: matches, 8tearin candle., 8teel pen . [YSa,7]
Invention oCthe mechanical prel' in 1814. It was fiNt utilized by the TIme.
[Y5.,.]
Nadar'8 self-characterization: "Formerly a maker of caricatures ... , u1timately a
refugee in the Botany Bay of photography." Cited in Alfred Delvau, Les LWnI du
jour (Paris, 1867) , p. 220. [Y6, l ]
On Nadar: " What will remain, one day, of the author of Le lI1iroir aux aloueue8
<Lark-Mirror>, of La Robe de Dejanire, of Quand j'etau euulianl ? I do not
know. What I do know is that , on a cyclopean pile on the i81and of Gozo, a Polish
poet, Czeslaw Karski , has engraved in Arabic, but with Latin letters, ' Nadar of
the fi ery locka palSed in the air above thi8 tower, ' ami that the inhabitanta of the
i81and very likely still have not lefl off worshiping him a. an unknown Cod. "
Alfred Delvau, Le5 Liow dujour (Paris, 1867) , pp. 223-224. [Y6,2]
Genre photography: the sculptor Callimachus, on viewillg all acanthus plant, in
Vents the Corinthian capital. - .u..'Onardo paints the MOll a Lisa.-La Cloire el k
POt u u f ~ (Clary and Beef Stew). Cabinet des Estampes, Kc l64a, J. {Y6,3]
An Eliglish etching of J775, a genre Icene, I howl an arti81 making a silhouette of
<her> model by following the shadow which the lalter CHstl 0 11 the wall. It is
elltitled The Origin ofPaintifllJ. .C.binet des E8Iampes, Kc l64a, l . [Y6,4J
1
qui.n=:d of the images forming the material for this stereoscope would correspond
more readily to photography than to painting. [Y6.5}
The apparent affinity between Wiertz and Edgar Qvinet needs to be studied.
{y, 1
' "The lens is an instrument like the pencil or the brush. and photography il a
.. process like drawing or engraving; for what the artist creates is the emotion aDd
NADAR. ' I".nl I. Pholograpl\I, aIa Qul,ur de I'M
i
Nadar in his balloon. Lithograph by HonoR: Daumicr, 1862. 11K caption reads:
"Nadar raising photography to the level of an." See Y6,2.
There is a certain relation between the i n ~ n t i o n of photography and the inven
tion of the mirror-stereoscope by Wheatstone in 1838. "It displays twO different
images of the same object : to the right eye, an image representing the object in
perspective as it would be seen from the viewpoint aCthe right eye; to the left eye,
an image of the object as it would appear to the left eye. nus gives rise to the
illusion that we have .. _before us a three..wmensional objea" (Egon Friedell,
Kulturgeu hihte tkr N nluil, vol. 3 [Munich, 1931], p. 139). The exactness re
~ Origin ofPaillling. Elching by an EngI.ish artist, Ins. Counesy of the Bibliothequc
Nationale de France. See Y6,4.
1I0t the pfoceu. Whoever POUC88C8 1Iul llt.,t:eunry skills ami ha ppy ins pi.ration will.
he able to ohtain tin: same effccu (rom all y one of these meaus of rt!production."
Loui!) Figuier. La "J.% gr(lphie (Ill S(llo1l de 1859 (I"uris . 1860), PI)' 4-5. (Y6,71
" M. Quinci ... seemed to wunt to introduce into poetry the 80rt of gcnre thai the
Engli sh painter dolm ) Martin inuugufnlcd in art .. . . The poet ... did not
shrink from lun.' ing til e catllt!tlrals kllt.'C1 Lefore the sepll lcil cr of Our Lonl, and
I
..
shuwing the 10 WIIII abllorbed in com.bing out upon t.heir shuulders, ",ilh a comb of
gold, their trease, of blond colullllls, while the lower!! ,la ncet! a strange roundelay
",jlh the mountains." Alfred ' ett emcnl , Hi$IOire de 10 litt erulure!rUlu;aue lOW Ie
gouvernemellt cle )uiJIet ( Paris, 1859), vol. I , p. 131. [y6a,I] .
" At the world exhibitioll of 1855, photography, despit e lively claims, could gain
110 entry int o the 8anctuary of the hall 011 the Avenue Montaigne; it was condemned
to leek a8ylum in the inunense bazaar of auortet! proouct8 that filled the Palai8 de
l ' lndustrie. In 1859, under ,;:rowing prell8Ure, the museum committee .. . ac
corded a place in the Palais de 1'I11dustrie for the exhihition of photography; the
e",hihitioll sit e was on a level with thai made available 10 paintillg and engravin,;:,
bUI it had a separate entrance anti was sct , 80 10 speak, in a tlifferent key." Louis
Figuier, Lv. PllOtogrullhie Ull Sulon de 1859 (Paris, 1860), p. 2. [Y6a,2)
" A 8killful pholographer always has a distinctive st yle, jusl like a draftsmaD or a
painter ; ... and, what ', more, ... the disti nctive cha ract er of the artistic spirit of
each nalion is clearly r evealed ... in t.he works produced in different COUD-
tries .... A French photographer could never be COllfU8(:d .. . with one of hie
coll eagues from acron the Channel." Louis Figuier, Lu PllOtogniphie au Salon de
1859 ( Paris, 1860), p. 5. [Y6a,3]
The beginnings of photomontage come out of the attempt to ensure that images
of the landscape retain a painterly charaCter. "M. Silvy has an excellent system
for producing his pictures.... Instead of inlposing, on all his landscapes indiffer
ently, one and tile same sky fonned from a unifonn negative, he takes the
trouble, wherever possible, of separately enhancing, one aftcr the other, the view
of the landscape and that of the sky which crowns it. Here resides one of the
of M. Silvy." Louis Figuier, La Photographie au Salon de 1859 (Paris,
1860), p. 9. [Y6.,4)
It is significant tllat Figuier's bookJet 011 tllC Salon of Photography of 1859 begins
with a review of landscape photography. [Y6a,5)
Al the Sa lon ll c PllOl ographi e of HI5!) . Ilumerous " voyagls': 10 Egypl. to J erusa
lem. 10 Gn:-ece, lu Spai n. In his aceuunt, Fi b'1lier ob!icn'e>I: " Ha nll y had ti, e IJrlu:
lil.: al pn.. .""." .. f pholugraphy 011 (J aper eome to he ullli erstoot! than a whole hand
of op/rators rushell for th ... in :,11 directions, 10 bring 11 8 baek \iew" of 1II0nu
mcnts, bllildhl g>l. "1I.I IlliIiS tllkcn in 1111 kllOWIi lalltls of Ill e world." Hence the lI ew
voyage, pho,ogropltique, . Loui s Figuier . La Pholograpllie au Salon de 1859,
p.35. [Y6a,6)
Among the work, of r eproollction to whi ch Figuier give, ' I)eeial att ention, in hi s
Phot ogropllie (III Salon, are the reproduction of the Raphael cartoon from Hamp
IOn Court-"tlt e work ... tbat dominates the enlire photographic exhibition of
1859" (p. 51 }--and that of a manll 8cript of Ptolemy', GeoSrophy dating from the
fourteenth cenlury and kept , althal time, in the monastery of Mount Alhos.
[Y7,1)
There were porlraits specifi call y dcsiglled to be vi e",,ed through the 81ereoscope.
Tltis fashion was current in England, above all. [Y7,2)
Figuier (pp. 77- 78) does Ilot omit to mention the possibility t hat " mi croscopic
phot ogra phs" couJd be used ill time of war to transmit secr et messages (in the fonn
of nt.in.iature telegrams). [y7,3J
t'One tbing ... made clear by a carefuJ inspection of the exhibition . . is the
present perfection ... of the positive proof. Five or six years ago, pholography
was almost exclusively concerned with the negative, ... and it was rare indeed
that anyone gave thought to Ihe utilit y of printing from a positive image." Louis
Figuier, La Pholos raphie au Salon de 1859 (Paris, 1860), p. 83. [Y7,4]
Symptom, it would seem, of a profound displacement: painting must submit to
being measured by the standard of photography: "W: will be in agn=ement with
the public in admiring ... the fme artist who ... has appeared this year with a
painting capable of holding its own, in point of delicacy, with daguerrian prints."
1his assessment of Meissonnier is from Auguste Galimard, Exmnm du Salon de
1849 (Paris <1850.), p. 95. [Y7,5)
" Photography ill ver se"--tYllonym for a descripti on in verse. Edouard Fournier,
Chroniques et lCgendes des rue, de Pllris (Paris, 1864), pp. 14-15. [Y7,6]
' 'The world's first movie tbeater opcned 011 DecemJ)er 28, 1895, in the basement of
the Grant! Cafe, 14 Boulevard des Ca pucines, in Paris. And Ihe first receipts for a
hrand of spt!ctacle IIiat would lat er net billions amounted to the considerable , urn
of Ih.irty-five francs!" Hol and Villiers. 1. Cinemu ct sc, merveilk, (Paris ( 1930,
pp.I8-19. [Y7,7]
"1'h
e year 1882 be mentioned as a turlling poinl ill til e history of pholO
gra plli c reportage. It was the year ill which the photographer OUomar AnschUtz,
from Les:mo in Poland, ilweul ed Ihe focal -plane , hUll er IIl1d thus made lH>u ihle
trul y instantaneOIlS photography. " EllrOI)iiische I)okumem e: f1istoriscll e Photos
Q" /q den JlIhren 18" 0- 1900, ed. Wolfguug Schu{l e (Stutt gart. Berlin, Leipzig),

1
The first photographi c int er view was conducte,1 by Nmiar wilh the ninet y-seveD_
year-old French chemi st ChcvrcuL ill 1886. Europiiilcile Do/':lI/lIlllltc: Historilche
PliOt 05 (,IllS den }oliren /8" 0- / 900, e(1. Wolfgang Schade (Stuttgart , Berlin,
Lei pzi g), p. 8-9..' [Y7,9}
" The first cxpcrilllcni t o la ull ch research into scienlifi cll ll y produced motion ...
was that of Doctor Pares in 1825. The detail s are well known: on one side of II small
..
slluare of carllhoard, he had drawn II cage, alltl on the other side, II bird; by
turning the piece of cardboard briskly 011 8 11 IIJ(is , .. . lit: caused the Iwo images to
apl)ear in succession, yet the bird seellled to be in the cage, just as though there
hali been only olle dra....ing. This phenomenon, which in itself is the basis of aU
cinema, depellds on the principle of the persistence of retinal impressions....
Once this principle is admitted, it is easy to understalltl that a movement
posed, and presented in a rhythm of ten images or more per second, is perceived
by the eye as a perfectly continuous movement. The first apparatus that actuall y
.... rought the miracl e of artificial motion is the Phenakistiscope, constructed by tbe
Belgian physician Plateau as early as 1833. Still known today as an optical toy,
thi s apparatus ... consilS ted of a disk on ....hich were mounted drawings repre
senting the successive phases of an acti on, which c'ould be observed as the disk was
rotated .... There ... is an obvious relation here to the animated cartoons of
toda y.... Researchers quickly saw ... the int erest in having ... a succession of
photographs substituted for the drawillgs . Unfortlluately, ... only images running
at the minimum speed of a tenth of a secolld could work ....ith such a design. For
this, we had to a .... ait the gelatinobromide plates that permi tted the first instanta
neous exposurC1l. It was astronomy t hat initially provided an occasion for testing
chronophotography. On December 8 , 1874, thanks to the passage of the planet
Venus past the Sllll, the astrouomer <Pierre> Janssen .... as able to tryout his
invention of a photographi c revolver, .... hi ch took a picture every seventy sec
onds.... But the process of chronophotography was soon to become much more
r apid.... It was . .. wheu Professor Marcy entered the lists ....ith his photographic
r ifle ... that the result of t ....elve images per secolld was obtained .... All these
e)(perimenls were, up to theil , purely scientifiC (!) in character. The researchers
who conducted them ... saw iu chronophotogra phy a simple ' means for analy:llng
the movemellts of humans and animals.' ... At this point , in 1891 , ....e meet with
... Edison, ....ho had construct ed two devices. One, the Kinetograph, was for
recording; the other, the Kinetoscope, was for projection.. .. Meanwhile, in 1891,
Mal'cy's coll abol'alOr, <Georges> l)emeny. had built a machine t hat allo....ed for the
reconling of pi ctures aud sound at the same time . His Phonoscope . . ..... as the first
talkie. " Uoland VilLicrs , Le Cine rrl(l et merlleWes ( Paris < 1930, pp. 9-- 16
(" Petite tlu l;inclllll"). [Y7a, l )
"Lei li S t a ke as all cxample of tedlllicll i progress , which act uall y is regrcss , the
p.,rfl,.'Cti on of photogra phi c d eviccs. They lire much 11101', scnsi ti ve In light than the
old IIO)(e8 with whi ch dabruerreotypcs were pro,lueed. One hanll )" need COlicerll
ahout li ghting whcll opcratiug them now. They have a 111III111cr of olher
advantages 10 boot , especially where pholographing faces is concerned, although
the portraits which one makes with them are douhtless much poorer than before.
With the older, less light -sensiti ve apparatus, multipl e expressions would appear
on the plate. which was exposed for rather long periods of tjme; heuce, on the final
image there would be a livelier and more uni versal exp ression, alld t hi s had ilS
function as well. Nevertheless, it would 1110st certainl y be false to r egard the new
(tevices as ....or se than the older ones . Perhaps something is missi ng from them
which tomorrow will be found , and one can always do other things with them
besides photogra phing faces. Yet what of the faces? The newer devices no longer
work to compose the faces-but must faces be composed? Perhaps for these d e
vices there is a photographic method which would decompose faces. But we can he
quite slIre of nevcr finding thi s possibility realized .......ithout first having a new
fllncti on for such phot ography. " Brecht , Ver,mche <8- 10 (Berli n, 1931) >, p . 280
("Der Dreigroschenproze6" <The Threepenny La....suit. [Y8,1)
The Bisson brothers, on the occasion of the visit by Napoleon III t o their photo
graphic studio on December 29, 1856-a visit which they say coincided with the
eleventh anniversary of the opening of their business-published in pamphlet
form a poem entitJed, " Souvenir de la visite de Leurs Majestcs l'Empereur et
I'Impcratri ce aux magasius de Messieurs Bisson freres." The pamphlet comprises
four pages. The first two pages contain another poem, "La Photographi e. " Both
texts are unrelievedly fatuous. [Y8,2j
" It is ....orth noting that the better photographers of our day are Dot concerned to
belabor the question ... : 'Is photography an art?' ... By their aptitude for
creating the evocative shock , [these photographer s] prove their power of expre8
sion, and that is their revenge for the skepticism of Daumier. " George Besson, La
PhologrnphiejraR(iaUe (Pa ri s < 1936 , pp. 5-6. (Y8,3)
The famous statement by Wiertz on photography can very likely be elucidated
through the following statement by '\Ney (of course, it becomes clear by this that
Wiertz's prognosis was mistaken): "In reducing to naught whatever is inferior to
it, the heliograph predestines art to new forms of progress; in recalling the artist
to nature, it links him with a source of inspiration whose fecundity is unlimited."
Francis '\Ney, "Du Naruralisme dans I'an" [La Lumiere, April 6, 1851]; cited in
Gisele Freund, La Photographie en Frame au XIX' siecie (paris, 1936), p. Ill.
[yB,' ]
" If consider only the practi cal side of divillation, thcll to believe that previous
tlVent s in a man's life ... can be directl y represent ed by the carll s he shuffl es allli
cut s, al\(I .... hieh arc thcn st acked by the fortuneteller in accordance with some
lllystcrious laws, is to believe the absnrd. But this crit erion of absurdit y once rulC(1
out til e harnessing of stcam; it still rul es ont acrial navi ga tion; it rul ed out many
ill\'Clltions: gunpowder, prilltillg. the telescope, engrltving, and also the most re
Cellt grtlltt di scover y of our tjme, the daguerreotype. If anyolle had come and told
Napoleon that a man or a huildillg is ami at all hour s, represent ed hy
an image in the atmosphere. that all existing obj ec:t.s have there a kind of specter
which can be capturetl and l.lCrceivetl. he woulll have consigned him to Charenton
as a lunatic.... Yet that is wha t Daguerre's discovery proved ." HOllore de Balzac,
Le Cousin Pon in Oeuvres compMles. vol. 18. La ComMie humlline: Scenes de m
vie pflri. ienne, 6 (Paris. 19 14). 1'1" 129-130. " Just as physical oLj ec:ts in fact
project themselves ont o the a tmosphere. so that it retai ns this slH!f: ter which the
daguerreot Ylle can fix and capture. in the same way ideas, , , imprint themselvea
0 11 what we must call tile almosphere of the spiritual worlil , . , . a nd li ve 011 in it
speclmlly (one mll st coin words in order to express ullnamed phenomena). Uthat
he grunted , certain crcatures cndowed wi th rare faculties are lK! rfcctly capable of
di scerning t hese forms or IIl ese traces of ideas" (ihid .. p, 132), [Y8a, I)
" Degas was the first to a tt empt , in his pictu res, the reprcllenl ation of r apid move
ment such as we get in instanta neous photography," Wladimir Weidle, Le, AbeilleJ
d 'Aristee (Paris < 1936), p. 185 ("L' Agonie de I'art"). [Y8a,2)
What a uthor is lleing ciled by Mont eS(lIl iou in the following pauage, whi ch is taken
from a handwritt en text forming part of a ri chl y ornamented volume of memora
bilia shown in a displ ay case allhc Guys exhibitioll, ill Paris, in the spring of 1937?
" And that . in a few hasty words. is how it was: the fi rst exhibition of Constantin
Guys-newest surprise 10 be ser ved up to us from his treasure-box of malice by
M. Nadar,6 the famous aerona ut and (should I say?) illustrious photograpber,
Surely. this ingeni ous spirit . 8tet!IJed in the past, has a right to that title. in iu
noblest acceptation, and according to the admirable definition provided by a pow
erful and subtl e thinker, in the course of some sublime pages: ' Humani t y bas aho
in its evening peregrina tions-that is to say. in tlle nineteenth ceDtury
the symbol of memory; it has ill vented what had seemed impossible; it has invented
a mi r ror that remembers, It has invent ed photography. '" [Y8a,3)
"At no time in the past has art responded to aesthetic exigencies alone, The
Gothic sculptors served God in working for his faithful; the portraitists aimed at
verisimilirude; the peaches and the hares of a Chardin had their place in the
dining room, above the family dumer table, Individual artists in certain cases
(and they were few and far between, to be sure) may have suffered from this state
of affairs; art as a whole could only profit from it. 1bis is the way it has been
lhroughout all the great artistic epochs, In particular, the naive conviction that
they were only 'copying nature' was as salutary for the painters of those fonu
nate epochs as it was theoretically The old Dutch masters looked
upon I.hcmscl ves less as anists than as photographers, so to speak; it is only
today that the photographer is absolutel y determined to pass for an artist. ror
mcrly, an engravi ng was above all a document, less exact (on the average) and
more anistic than a photograph, but having the same function, fulfilling by and
large the same pI<lctica1 role," Together with this importan t insight we have, from
tills autllOr, another no less importan t. according to which the photographer is
distinguished from the graphic artist not through the fundamentall y greater rea1
ism of his works, but through a more highly mechanized technique, which does
not necessarily diminish his artistic activity. None of tllls prevents me author
from going 0 11 to say: "What is urifortunate [my italic.s] is nOt that today's photog
rapher believes himself an artist; what is unfortunate is that he actually has at
his disposal certain resources proper to the an of the painter." WIadimir 'M:idle,
Ul Abeilles d'Aristte (Parisl. pp. 181-182, 184 ("I.:Agonie de ran") . Compare
Jochmann on the epic poem: "The general interest which such a poem excites,
the pride with which an entire people repeats it, its legislative authority over
opullons and sentimcnts-all tills is grounded in tile fact that it is nowhere taken
as a mere poem." [Carl GustavJ ochmann,] Ober die Sprache (Heidelberg, 1828),
p,271 ("Die Riickschriue der Pocsic"). [Y9.l )
In the lK!riod arOllnd 1815, illustrations are already appearing in adverti sements.
On July 6 ofthi ! yea r. the Societe Generale des All nonces , whi ch handled publieili
for Le Journal de1l di b<lt s, Le Con1lfitUj iontlel, and Lt, Preue, publishes a pro
spectus that says: " We call , , , your attention to the illust rations which, for some
years now, a great many businesses have been in the habit of joining to their
a nll ouncement s. The power of captivating the eye hy the form and disposition of
the letters is perhaps less decisive than the advantage to he gained by Iilling out an
often arid eXIJOsiti on with drawings and designs," p, Datz. Hi. ,oire de mpublicite,
vol. 1 (Paris, 189" ), PI). 216-217. [Y9,2)
In his " Morale du joujou" <Philosophy of TOyln, Baude.l aire mentiOD!, together
with the stereoscope. the phenak.istiscope, "The " henakistiscope. which is older, is
less well known. Imagine some movement or other-for example, a dancer 's or a
juggler 's performance-di vi ded up and decomposed into a certain number of
movements, Imagine that each one of these movemcllts-as lII any as twent y, if you
,
wish- is represcnt cd by a compl ete figure of the jugglcr or dancer, and that these
are all prinled roulllithe edge of a circular piece of ca rdboard," Baudelaire then
describes the mi rror mcchaniSll1 that enables t he viewer to see, in the twenty
olK!nings of an ollter circle, twent y lillie fi gures moving rhythmically in a continu
ous actioll. Baude.laire. L 'Art rOil/antique (Paris). p. 146,: Compare Y7a, 1.
(Y9a,l )
It "'"as the pa nt ogrllph. whose princi ple is ei.IUall y at work in tile physiognotrace.
tll al uli dertook to tra nscrihe aut omaticall y a linear schcme originall y traced 0 11
palK!r ,to a plaster mass . as required by the process of photosculpture. Serving as
Ill udd in thi s prOI'CS8 we rc twclit y-folll' simultUIl COus villws taken from differcnt
si( les. Gautier 11 0 tlircatt o sculpture fl'OIIi thi s prot'esli, ca n prevent
the from IIrti.'> ticlI ll y c.nlj,clling the III ccllllllicall y pro<luced fi gure and itll
ground? " But tIt CI'.' is mOI'e: fIJI' all i(.-;; c.xtravllgall ce. 11..- ct' ntury remains economi
cal. art se('IIIS to it something expcnsi,e. Wi th dll.-ekiIlClLiI of a parvenu, it
Somc!imes da rcs to haggle o' "cr master....orkll. It is terrified of marhle and
hron:t:e.. , , But pltotosculpture iii lIot so daunting as slat ll ar y. , , , Pltotosclilptli re
is used to morlest proportiolls alld is content with a !Jet of sheh"es for pl.'(lcll tal.
happy 10 l!II ve flljlMull y rcproduccil a he loved counlcnance.... It doell not dis.
dllin an uver coat, IIml is 1101 cmbarrasscd by crinolines; it accepl8 nature and the
wurld all they ure. h I sincerit y accommodate/i ever ything, anti though its plaster
casts of 8tea rin cun he tra!l sp08cII into marble. inl o terracott a, into alabaster, or
int o brollze ... it !lever asks. in return for its work, what it s ehler sister would
demand in puymcnt ; it retluesu only the cost of mat eri al8." Thw l)hile Gautier
" PhotollcuJpture: 42 Boulevard de l' Etoile," <Le MOrliteur Imil /er 8eh (Pari,:
(january 4,> 1864). pp. 10-11. The essay incl udes . att.he elld, a woodcut witb
phot osculpturelI, one of whi ch portrays Gautier. [y9a,2)
" He refined the illusiona ry art of the panorama and invented the Iliorama. He
joined forces with another paillter. ami 0 11 July II , 1822, on the Rue de Sall80n
Paris ... , he opened an exhibition whose fame lluickl y spread .... This inventor
and entrepreneur ... was dubbed a knight in the LegiOIl of HOllOI'. Midnight Mau ,
the Templ e of Sololllon, Edinburgh in the sini8ter glow of a confl agration, and
Napoloon's Tomb tranllfi gured naturally by the aureole of a rOIlY sunset : such are
the wonders that wcre 8hown her c. A transla tor of Daguerre's own account of h.ia
two inventions (1839) portrays very ni cely the multiplicil y of lighl8 involved, great
and slllull . splendid , st.-.: ret , a nd tcrrifying: ' The spectator sits in a small amphl _
theater ; the 8tage St.'ems to him covered Ly a curtain which is still bathed in dark
ness. Graduall y, however, thi s darkne8S yields to a twilight ... : a landscape or
prosl)ect emer gell more clea rl y; the dawn is beginning .... Trees stand out from
the shadows; the cont ours of mountains, of hou8es, hc<:ome vi sibl e ... ; the day
has hroken. The 811n climbs ever hi gher ; through the open window of a house one
sees a kit chen stove slowly fl a ming UI) , while in a corner of the land8cal)e a g'oup of
ca lli pers is ra nged round a cooking pot , under which the campfire is to
bl aze; a forge hccolllt.'i viswle. iu furnace giving orr sparks as though ... from
continuous 8l0kill g. Aft er a whil e, ... the daylight begi ns t o wane, and the reddi,h
lusler of the artifi cial flalll e grows 8tronger ; once again there is advancing twitipt,
and fili all y nocturnal gloom. Soon , however, t he moonlight anerts its rights, and
the region is visihl e anew in the sofl tinl$ of Ihe illumina ted night : a mariner'.
lallterll fl are8 up on board a ship that is a nchored ill the foreground of a harbor; in
the background of an admirable of a church, the candles on the altar
are li ghted , allli the previously invisihle parishi oner s are now illuminated by the
rays streuming down from thc a ltar ; or grief-strickcll men a re standing at the edge
of u lumlslide, its devustations lit up hy the moon at the ver y spot where, 8hortly
bcfore, the Rumbcrg had formed the background to thc luvel y Swi ss llliulscape
of Goldau .... Cit cil liS "OIH:r'sctzcl" VOII Dagller res Sc!u'ift iiher sei nc heillcn Er
findungen ( 1839)," in Dolf Sternhcrger, " ,>as wUllll cr'hurl: Li cht : ZUlli 150 Ge
hurtstag Dugucrres," Fn/llkjllrtcr Zeit/wg (2 1), NovemlJCr 1937. (y 1O,IJ
nrc entrance of the temporal factor into the panoramas is brought about
through the succession of limes of day (with well-known lighting tricks). In t:his
way, thc panorama transcends painting and anticipalcs photography. Olving to
its tcclmological fonnalion, the photograph, in contrast to the painting, can and
rollst be correlated with a well-defined and continuous segment of time (exposure
time). In this chronological spccifiability, the political significance of the photo
graph is already contained in nuce. [yIO,2J
-' In these deplorable times, a new industry has developed . which has helped in no
slIlall way t o confirm fools ill t heir faith and t o ruin what vestige of the divine might
5till ha \'e remai ned in the French mind. Of course, thi s idolatrous multitude was
calling for 8n ideal worthy of itself and in keeping with its own nature. In the
domain of painting and statuary, tire present-day credo of the worldly-wise ... is
tlLi s: ' 1 believe ... Ihal a rt is, a nd call only be, the e:-:act r eproduction of na.
lure.... Thus, if all industri al process could gh'e us a result identical to nature
Ihat Yo'ould he abllolute art. ' An avenging God ha8 lr eard the prayen of this
tude. Daguerre was his messiah. And then they said to themselves: 'Since photog
raph)' provides 116 wit h every desirable guarantee of exactitude' (they believe that ,
poor madnlcll!), ' art ill photography.' From thaI moment onward, our loathsome
society rushC(I, like Narcissus, to cont empl ate its trivial image on the metallic
pl ate. A form of lunacy, an extraordinary fallaticism. took bold of these new
sun. worshippers " Strange ahominaliolls manifested themselves. By bringing to.
gelher and posiug a pack uf ra8cals, male and female , dressed up like carnival.
time butchers and washerwomen, and in lH! r sll ading these ' heroes' to ' hold' their
improvised grimaces for as IOllg as the photographi c process required, people
reall y believed they could represent the tragic and charming seenes of ancient
history.... It was 1I 0 t long before thou8a nds of pairs of greedy eyes were glued to
the peepholes of the stereoscope, a8 though they were the skylights of the infinite.
The lo\"e of obscellit y, whi ch is as vigorou8 a growth in the heart of natural man as
self-love, could not let slip such a g1oriOU! 0PIJOrtunit y for its own satisfaction ....
[ po 223] ... I am convinced that the badl y applied advances of photography-lilr.e
all purely material progreu, for that malter-have greatly contributed to the
iml)O\'erishmcnt of French a rti81ic genius, already 80 ra re .... Poetry and pro-
gress are two a mhiliouli men who hate each other with an instinctive hatred and
whell they meet along the same road one of them musl give way." Charles
laire, Oeuvres <ed. le Dantec vol. 2 <Paris, 1932>, pp. 222-224 ("Salon de
,. 1859: Le Puhlic moderne et la phot ograpILie").8 (y10a, 1]
speaks, in " QueilluC8 Ca rica turi stes fraru,ais" (apropos of Monni er).
or til e cruel and surpdsing cha rm (If Ilaguerrt.'Olypes.' Charl es Baudelaire, Oeu
vres, etl. Le Dnlltce, vol. 2. p. (yIOa,2]
"." octr"y and Ill"ugrC8ll arc two nmhi tious who hal e euch ot her with an instinc
11\' 1' Ilat . I '" ,
rCI . ant w lell I rey 1IIt.>(: t II ong the lIallle ruud, (IIiC of them musl give way. If
pholography i$ ull owed 10 8nppl elll eul a rt in SOIll C of its functions, it will soon have
8uPIJ lant ' l ". . ,
Ct ur currnpl eu It a logd.lier. thullks 10 the stupidit y of tilt: multitude
.... Ilidl i , "t , " , - - ,
I >i I natura U y. lIStUll e. t ICIl , for 1110 rel nr ll 10 its Irue dut y whi ch ill to
:>e the serva nl of t.he a lil l urt8-hul Ihe vcry humhl e servanl , I;ke printing
or shO II " _' - " - " _
r la n(, Yo lie I la ve nelt. IeI' Crt:II!CI 1101' lil erature" Let it
1
hasten to enrich the 10Urill l ', album and relltore to his eye the precill ion which bia
memory may lack: lei it adorn the naturalist', library, and enlarge mi croscopic
unimal s; lei it evcu provide information to corroborate the astronomer' s hypothe_
ses. In short, let it be the secretary aud clerk of whoever need, absolute factual
ell&clitude in his pro(el8ion- ul' 10 that point nothing could be better. Lei it resCUe
from oblivion thOle tumbling ruins, those book" prints . and manuscripts which
lime is devouring, precious things whose form ia ditso)ving and whi ch d emand
...
place in the archives of our memory- it will be thanked and applauded . But if it
he aUowed to encroach upon the domain of the impalllsble and the imaginary,
upon II.llything whose value depends solely upon the addition of something of II
man'lloul , then it will be 80 mucb the worse for u.!" Charle. Baudelaire, Oeuvret,
ed . Le Dantec, vol. 2, p. 224 ("Salon de 1859: Le Public moderne et la pno
tographie"). IO [Yll ,l J
Cocteau'$ LeJ Marib de fa tour EiffiJIl can perhaps be considered a "critique of
the snapshot,n insofar as in this piece the rnro aspects of shock-its technological
function in the mechanism and its sterilizing function in the experience-both
come intO play. [yll.2J
z
-
[The Doll, The Automaton1
I was always, among human the: only doni with a heart.
-Amalie '.\limer, /I1(111oir(1l riMf &rlin" PIIppe.,for Kindn IID1I 5 bi.! 10
]o.hrm undfiir Mm Muller (Leipzig. 1852). p. 93
Where, instead of the clock, the eyes indicate the hours.
- Franz Dingdslrol, Ein RI1mIJ.II; citro in AdolfSuodtmann, DicAkr-
profik, vol. I (Stuttgart, 1879). p. I II
"The clever Pari8iennes . .. in order to disseminat e their fashion8 more ea8ily,
made use of an cSJ>et!ially cOll8picuous reproduction of their new creations
namely, tailor s' dummies .... These doUs, which still enjoyed considerabl e impor
tance in the sevent eenth and eighteenth centuries, were pven to little prls as
playthings when their career as fashi on figurines bad elllled ." Karl Crober, Kin
derspielzeug au.! alter Zeit (8erlin, 1927). pp. 31-32. 0 Fashion 0 Advcrti8ing 0
{ZI , I)
They are the true fairies of these arcades (more salable and more worn than the
life-sized ones): the fonnerly ",",orld-famous Parisian dolls, which revolved on
their musical socle and bore in their anns a doll-sized basket out of which, at the
t' salutation of the minor chord, a lambkin poked its curious muzzle_ When Hack
lander made use of this "newest invention of industrial luxury" for one of his
fairy tales, he too placed the manrelous dolls in the dangerous arcade which sister
Tlrlchen, at the behest of the fairy Concordia, has to wander in order finally to
her poor brothers. "Fearlessly, T mchen stepped across the border into the
enchanted land, all the while thinking only of her brothers. At first she noticed
nothing unusual, but soon the way led through an enonnous room entirely filled
with toys. She saw small booths stocked with everything inlaginable-c.arousds
\\ith mini:uure horses and carnages, swi ngs and rocking horses, but above all the
Ill OSt splendid dollhouses. Around a small covered table, large dolls were silting
on easy chairs; and as Tmchen turned her gaze upon them, the largest and most
of these dolls stood up, made her a gracious bow, and spoke [ 0 her in a
little voice of exquisite refinement." The child may not want to hear of lOYS that
arc bewitched, but the evil spell of th is slippery path readily takes the form, even
today, of large animated dolls. 0 Advertising 0 [ZI,2]
" Til e fll shion is lI upposed to ha\'c heen in" ent ed hy Longdullnps. , " 'e not leen
anything new. !Jut tonlOrrow ill their bulletins all t he " Frielllll y Sprite!!." aU the
" Peli.,. Courien des Dames:' all the " p"yclles" wiU report on lie"" anire that wal
al reall y Ile!! igll ed 1111(1 avai lahle before Longcll amps ever ca nlC on the scene. I
strongl y suspeel Iha t in III l1 ny of Ihe coaches, instead of Ihe lady who woultl seem to
be seated inside. there wus olil y a dummy whi ch the owners of Ill ese fine vehicle.
had dressal accordi ng to thei r own taste in shawl!! and satins and silk,." Karl
F

Gut:l:kow. Briefe au" Pllris (Lcip:l: ig, 1842), \'01. I . pp. 119-120. IZI,3]
"
From the Ombrc, Chifl oisc' <Chinese Shadows) of t he Palais-Royal: "A ...
demoisell e gave birt h 0 11 stage, and the children could immedi atel y scaml>er about
like moles. There were four of them, and they danced togetJler a few nl omenl8 after
Ihe birt h in a pl ealla llt quadrill e. Another young woman started tou ing her head
and ill the t winkling of li n eye a se<:ond delll oiselle had slepped fuUy
clotil c.1 from out of hcr heud. This lall er at once began dancing but, the next
minut e. was seized ill turn wi th hcadshaking; these wcre labor pains, and a third
demoiselle stepped Ollt of her head. She. too, immediately hegan dancing but sooD
look to her hcud like the ut hers, ami out of her arose the fourth demoiselle.
It continued ill thi s mUllllcr until eiglll generations were there 011 Ihe 8t age--aU
relatcd 10 one II nother through spont aneous generati on. like li ce." J . F. Henzen
berg. Briefe gescll rieben (Utj einer Reise nuch P(lriJ (Dortmund, 1805), vol. I.
1' .294. [ZI ,4]
At a certain point in time, the motif of the doll acquires a sociooitica1 sig
nificance. For example: "You have no idea how repulsive these automatons and
dolls can become, and how one breathes at last on encountering a fullblooded
being in this society." Paul Lindau, Dn' Abend (Berlin, 1896), p. 17. IZl.S]
" III a shop on the Hue Lcgt' IHl re, in Buti gnolles . a whole ser ies of female busts,
wi thout hca ds or legs. wi th curtain hook5 ill pl uee of arms and a percaline skin of
arbitrary 11I1t'- lwan hrown, gJuring pink. hurd black- arc lincd up like a row of
oni Oll8. impuled on rods. or set oul 0 11 tables .. , . The sight of thi s ebb title of
hosoms. til is MUSL't: Curtius of brcusts. puts one vaguely in mintl of those vauit s in
the Louvn' ""ilt're dU8sica i sculptures ure hOll sed , when: Oll e autl the sallie torso.
etel'nall ), TlPIUt C.!. Iwguilcs lilt! tillle fOI' those who lovk il ovcr. with a yawn, 011
ru ill )' ,1 :IY8 .. .. I-low supl' ri ul' 10 the {11'cur y stlt tues of Vellus II, ey Ilress
III lIkcrs' with thcir lifelike comportmcnt ; how much lIIore ,irovoea
ti" e plul,l cti whi ch_ cXIJOst..tJ Ihere. bring 011 a train of rcverie.:
lihcl'lill e re\"'rics, illspin'd li y cphchk nilJpl,' s alltl slightl y hrui SCl1 hubs: c1. urita
hl l: revcri es. recallill l!; viII hlcasu. shril'c1C11 with or "Ioalell with fat .
Fvr VIl1' thinks or the SOITUWS of wumcn wlm .. , expcriCllct t he growing
imlifferCli ce uf a or Ihe immi ncnt {I Ciicrt ioll uf u Ju,'cr. or t. he final dill
armill g of Ihose charms which all owed them once to cOlllluer, in the unavoidable
hall ics the)' wage for the c1used-up wa ll ct or I.he mall ." J , K. Huysmans, CrfJquu
pMisiens (Paris, J886), I'p. 129, 131- 132 (" '" ' Ell age" <Ehb Tide. [Zla,l )
"Not 10llg before til e elld of the Empi re. a ver y special question arose; tbat of the
PUIHl.zzi. People wanted thelle wooden marionettes t o perfonn I.e Roi Prudhomme
at t ht" Theatre des Varietes. The cast of charaClers for this playlet included the
En11}Cror_ Emil e Oli vier, ... V. I-Iugo.. , Gambetta... and Rochefort.... The
piet:e had heell performed in drawing rooms and even in tbe Tuileries. But these
private performallt:es did not ill the least prepare for the effe<:l!I of any public
performall ce. alld the aut horities refused to all ow ... the theat er to embark on
thi.!! path." Vi ctor l-I aUay.-Dabot , La Censure dramatique et Ie thiatt'e (lBSQ
1870) (Paris, 1871), p. 86. [Zl a,2]
" In the competitions surrounding the materi al orllament .. , of attire, the popu
larity of doll s is pul to use ... , The Little Hands (in which gi rls make up the
majorit y) are entrusted wilh the present ation of doUs and nl annequins, among
whi ch a choice is to be made." Charl es Fourier, I.e NOll vcall Monde indu"triel e t
sociewire (Paris, 1829), p. 252. IZ1a,3]
While writing Le, Tra vlIilleurs de la mer <The Toiler s of the Sea), Victor Hugo
kept l>efore him a doll dreued in the antique garb of a Guernsey woman. Someone
had procured it for him; it served as a model for Deruchette. [Zl a,4]
-
Marx explai ns tha i " the two material base. on whi ch the preparations for ma
chilie-olJerated industry proceeded wi thin manufacture during the period from
the sixt eent h to the midd.le of the eight eenth century (the period in which ma nufac
\
ture "" as developing from handicraft into large-scale industry proper) were the
clock and Ihe mill (at first the corll mill . spc:cificaUy, the water mill). 80th were
inlu:ri led from the ancienu.... The clock was the fi rst automatic device applied
10 practica l purposes; the whole theory of the production of regular motion was
developed through it . It! nature is such that it is based 0 11 a combination of semia r
listi e handicraft and diret: tlheory. Cardanus, for inst ance, wrote about (and gave
praCli cal formul as for) the construction of clocks . German authors of the six
h .... nlh century ca lled c10ckma kiug ' learned (nonguil d) handicr aft' and it would be
Ilossihi e tu show from the devclupnll'nl of the clock how entirely different the
rcla li oll helwccll science anti practice was ill t he conl ext of lI andi craft from what it
is. f(lr inslance, in mOll crn lar ge-sca le industry. T here is also no douht that in the
cight t'I'1II 11 century Ihe i.l ea or applying aut omat ic devices (moved by springs) to
prl), luction was firsl suggcste!1 by the cl ock, It can he proved histori call y that
\'Uu,' ansoll 's eXIICrimcnt s ulong these lines had a tremcndous influence on the
illHl b-illaliol) of English ilH' cntorli. On the OilIer IlUntl , from the very beginning. a8
SOOn as the Wil ier mill was invent ed . the IIlill possessed the cssential e1emenll! of t.he
organi.i111 of a lIuleh.inc. T ilc mechani eaJlllolive power. fint , the molor, on which
il ,I.:: pends; Ihen til e trallsmillll ion meehanislll; alld filiall y the working machine,
which deals with the materi al---each element existing independentl y of the other.
The theory of friction. and with it the investigations into the mathematical fornu
of gear-wheeb, cogs. and so forth, were aU develolH!d in connection with the mill .

the same applies to the theory of measurement of the degree of motive l)Ower. of the
best way of employing it, and so on. Almost aD the great mat hematici ans si nce the
middl e of the seventeenth cent ury, so fa r as they dull wit h practical mechanica
and worked out its theoretical side, started from the simple water-driven corn
mill. And indeed tM wal why the name Miihle. ' mill: which ar ose during the
manufacturing period, came to be applied to aU mechanical forots of motive power
adapted to practical PUrpose8. But in the case of the mill, as in that of the press,
the forge, the plough. a nd other implement8. the work proper- that of beatins,
Cru8hing, grinding, pulveri zing. and so on-ha8 been performed from the very
first without human labor. even though the moving force W88 human or animal.
This kind of machinery is therefore very ancient . ... Hence, it is practicaUy the
onl y machinery found in the manufacturing period. The indust rial revolution
begins as soon IU mechanisms are employed where, from ancient timC3, the 6nal
reAult h88 required human labor; hence not where, 88 with the tools mentioned
,
above, the materi al actuaDy to be worked up has never been dealt with by the
human hand." Marx to Engels. J anuary 28, 1863, from London [in Karl Man. and
Friedri ch Engels, Alugewahlte ed. V. Adoratski (Moscow and Leningrad,
1934), pp. 118-119).2 (Z2J
In his study " La Mante religieuse: Recherehes sur la nature et la signification du
-
mythe" <The Praying Mantis: Investigations into the Nat ure and Meaniq of
Myth >. Cailloil refere to the slriking a utomatism of reflexCII in the prayin@; mantis
(then! is ha rdl y a vital function that it does not also perform dec:apitated) . He linlu
it , on account of its fateful l ignificance, with the baneful a utomatonl known to us
from myths. Thus Pandora: " automaton fabricated by the blacksmith god for the
ruin of humankind, for that ' which aU shaD I take to their heam with delight, an
evil to love and embrace' (Heliod, Works ond Days, line 58). J We encounter lOme
thing l imilar in the Indi an Krtya- lhose doUs, animated by sorcer ere, which brinl
about the death of men who embrace them. Our literat ure al well, in the motif of
femmel fatales, pOS8enes the concept of a woman-machine, art ificial, mechanical,
at variance with aUllving creatures, and above aU murderous. No doubt psycho
analysis would not hesitate to explain thi s representatiou in its own term. by
envisagi ng the relati onl bctween death a nd sexuality a nd, more precillely, by
finding each ambiguously intimated in the otller." Roger Caillois, " La Mante re
Iigieuse: Recherchel sur la nature et la signification du luylllll," Me$lIre$. 3, no. 2
(April 15, 1937), p. 110. {Z2a,IJ
Baudelaire, in the st:dion, "Les Femmes etles filles" <Women and Prosti tutes> in
hi t essay on Guy . ci tes the wor ds of La Bruyere: "Some women pOlle88 an ar
tifici aillobilit y whi ch is associated wit.h a movement of the eye. a tilt of the head, a
manner of deportment . and whi ch goes no further." Compare Ba udelaire', " J.,e
Mensonge. "-In the same secti on, Baudel aire cites the cOllcept of " the f emilla
simplex of the RonllHl satir ist" (L 'A rt roman/iqlle [Parill]. p. 109). (Z2a.2J
Beginnings of la rge-Icale indust r y: " We fiml great numbers of peasauts emigratin
I . . to tie clheli , WIlere steam energy permiu t he concentrati on of factories th at for
lIIerly were sca ll erell along t.he banks of ri vers. " Pierre-Maxime Schuhl . tUa
chinisme el philosophie (Paris, 1938), pp. 56-57. (Z2a,3J
"Aristotle d(:clarel that sla\'ery would cease to be necessar y if onl y the sbuttles and
plectrlllllll coultl set themselvC3 going on their o...n. The idea accords adrnirabl
wi dl hi s definition of the slave as animated inst rument .... By the same token
ancient lwet Pherecydes of Syr os had told how the Dact yls, after building a 'new
house for Zeus. had fashi oned for him male and female servants as weU. We ar e in
the realm of fable.... Yet before three cCllluries have passed, an Anthology poet ,
Antiphilos of Byzantium. offers a response to Aristotle by singing of the invention
of the water mill , which W>erates women from the arduous task of grinding: 'Spare
the halld tha t grinds the corn, 0 miller gi rls, and softly sleep. Let Chanticleer
announce the morn ill vai n! Demeter has commanded that the girls' work be done
by Nymphs, and now they skip li ghtl y over the wheels , so that the shaken axles
revolve with their spokes and pull round the loud of revolving stones. Let us live
the life of our fathers, ulld let liS rest from work and enj oy the gifts that Demeter
sends us." (Note: "Anthologie Pal<ltine, vol. 9, p. 418. This epigram . .. hal al
ready beell related to the text of Ari stotl e. and for the firs t time, it would seem, by
Marx"-presumabl y, in Kapit al , vol. 3 <t r ans. Molit or [Paris. 1924]) , p. 61.)
Pierre-Maxillie Schuld, iIIachinisme ell'hilosophie (Paris, 1938), pp. 19-20. $
[Z3[
promote unceasingly in the face of feudal and hierarchical powers, and that we be
a
clear about the fact that the movement itself comprehends mystical elements as
-
well, although of an entirdy different SOrt. It is even more important, narurally,
[Social Movement]
Reveal to these depraved,
o Republic, by foiling their plots,
\bur great Medusa face
Rffig<d by mlliglnning.
- French workers' song around 1850, ciled in Adolf Stahr, .QM
Ml11UIlt in Paris (Oldenburg, 1851). vol. 2, p. 199
Rabble of the faithles5, the 5OuUess, the rootless,
Who want to wipe out every an and industry,
10 crwh Wlderl'oot the cult of the Cross,
And drown in an ocean of blood and flames
- Its waves have risen round the fian1u of Paris
Temples, palaces, priests, peoples, and kings!
-Edouard d'Angiemont, L'lntematifIMle (Paris, 1871). p. 7
Palermo ha! Etna; Paris, fa pnu/t.
-VICtor Hugo, Paris [Littt'rlzt'lm tt lllilk (Paris, 1861), .
pp. 466-467}, cited in Georges Batault. u PrmIift tit -
Vaetor Hllr;o (Paris. 1934), p. 203
_ 1 _.r with proletarian
"SO th Surrealists constantly confuse mo"u noncoruonrusm
met: e . f th odc:m world, to
revolution, they attempt. instead of followmg the 0 . em. """,,,,hIe.
rdocate themselves to a historical moment when this confuSion was still f
a moment anterior to the Congress of Tours, anterior even to the
M
o-;m the pen"ad of the 1820s, '30s and '40s." Emmanuel , .
. d th . nainly no aca
Pamphlet," Europe, 75 (March 15, 1929), p. 402. An at IS materialism.
dent. For, on the one hand, we have here the other
hostili toward progress-which are refractory to MarxISm, while, .on . volu'
hand le will to apocatastasis speaks here, the resolve to gather agam, rmth
Ie
" toO
'. . I ' thinkin recisely the elements 0 e
tionary action and m revo uoonary g, p [ 1 1)
early" and the "too late," of the first beginning and the final decay. a ,
WeI ' I '<aI bearing the
It is really imperative that we in pre. y Its po enu . w
apotheosis of organization and of rationalism which the Conunurust party
not to confuse these mystical elements, which pertain to corporality, with relig.
ious elements. [al ,2)
Episode orthe Februa ry Revolution. On the twent y- third, at eleven o'clock in the
evening, a fusillade on the Boulevard des Capucines: twenty-three dead. "The
coqJses are illlllledia tely paradet:1 through the " reds ill a masterl y, romanti c m ;"'e
en 5cime. ' Midnight is about to sound. The boulevards are still faintly light ed by
the fading illumination [the celebratory illumination occasioned by the retreat of
Guizot ]. The doors alld windows of the house. and 8hops ar e shut, ever yone
ha\oing returned home with heavy hear ts .... All of a sudden, a muffled rumbling
is heard on the pa ving atones, and some windows are cauti ously opened.... In a
cart drawn by a white horse, wi th a hare-armed worker holding the reina, five
cadaver s are arranged in horribl e symmetry. Standing on the shaft is a child of the
working class, sall ow of complexion, a fixed and a rdent look upon his face. his arm
extended, nea rl y imnlObile, as though to represent the Cenius of Vengeance; lean
ing backward, this boy lights up, with the beama of his torch, the body of a young
woman whose livid neck and bosom are stained with a long traiJ of bl ood . From
time to time another worker, positioned behind the ca rt , raises this lifeless body
with a muscul ar a rm and- his toreh aU the while emitting sparks and fla kea of
fi re--casts his savage gaze over the crowd, shouting, " Vengeance! Ven
geance! They are sla u&ht ering the people!"""o Arms!" re. pond some voi cetlj and
the corpse falls back into the bottom of the cart, which continues on its way. , ..
(Daniel Stern). Dubech and d' Espezel , lI;"'toire de Paru (Paris, 1926), p. 396.
oLighting 0 [a l ,3)
The massea of workera mobili zed by Haussmann were compared- unfavora bly_
to those incorporated in the national workshops of 1848. 0 Haussmann 0 [a l ,41
"The favorit e readings of the tailor are the histories of the Revolu
ti oll of 1789. lie like, it "' hen these texts develop the idea tha t this revolution was a
good thing, and thai it inlproved the conditi on of the working class . He is inspired
by the au ra of drama lent to men and events by several famous authors.... Not
l)crceiving thut the prillcipal cause of his social inferiorit y li e8 within himself. he
likes 10 think Ihal these men are the model s for those who, in forging a new
Ilrogrcss. will preserve hilu from all kiud8 of culaluiti es.' F. Le Play, u s OIl IJriers
europeeru <Puri St 1855>, p. 277. [al ,5J
"s
treel warfare today has it s own Iet: hllique; it perfet:tetf , aft er the armed
lakeo\'u of ,!-\tulli ch <1848?>, in a curi OU!I little confidentia l work published wi th
secrecy by ti lt: government in Berlin. One 110 longer advances through the
8trCCts; they are left empty. A pa th is opened within til e iUl eriora of houses. by
brea kill g through walls. A.II 800n 118 olle has ta ken II .IIlrect , olle organize1I it ; line. of dayS later, from out of this thicket a wonderful giant of a flower arises, whose
comlllunicati on are laid through the holes in the waUs, wlille, to prevent the return
growth is so rapid that one can witneu i18 unfolding wit h the nnked eye. Just 80
of the adversary, oll e immedia tely mines lhe conquered ground. .. Perha p. the paltry and stunt ed remained I.he French worki ng clan in a corner of society, until
clearest sign of progrcu, here, is that one need nol concern oneself at aU with
J
sparing houses or Li ves. Compared wi th civil wars of the future, the Cl'i8ode of the
]
Rue TranSli onain <lee a lOa,5) will seem quit e ... innocent and archaic. " Duhech
and d' E, pezel, Hi.stoire (Ie Poris (Paris, 1926), p. 479. 0 Haussmann 0 [a1a,l]
Family budget of a Parisian 1849-1851, according to F. Le Play, Le.
Ouvrier. europeefU (Paris. (855), pp. 274-275. An excerpt : "Section 4. Expen8et
for mor al improvement , recreation, aDd health.... Instruction for the children:
IChool feel p aid by employer, 48 francs; books purchased . I franc 45 centimes;
relief and alms (workers at thi s level ordinarily give no alms at all). Ret:reation and
festivi ti es: meal taken toget her by the entire family at one of the of Pam
(eight excursions per yea r), including wine, bread, and fried potatoes, 8 franc.;
meal of macaroni . with butter, cheese. and wine, taken on Christmas, Mardi Gra.,
Easter, and Pentecost : expenses included in the first section; chewing tobacco for
the worker (cigar butts collected by the worker), 6.8 kilos worth 5-34 fr anc.; snu(
for the wife h)Urchased}, 2.33 kilos worth 18 francs 66 centimes; toys and other
gifts given to the child. 1 franc .... Correspondence with r elatives: letters from
the worker ' s brother s living in It aly, on average one per year.... Note: The main
resource for the family, in case of accidents, is private charit y... . Savinge for the
year (the worker-altogether incapable of prudent habits , and desirous, above
all , of giving hi s wife and little girl all the comforts they desen e--never managea to
-
save anything; he slHmds, day by day, all he earns). " [ala,2)
"The damage done to the mor ality of the improvident worker by the . ubl titutioD
of ant agoni. m for solidarity conl ists precisely in the los. of all opportuaity of
,
exercising his natural virtues in the onl y way that "" ould be practicable for him.
The devoti on dil pl ayed in the wish to do well , in the concern for the interelta of the
employer, or in the l acriflce of needs and desires irreconcil able with the regularity
of work is, in fact, more feasible for the worker than the devotion which would
lead to a.sisting his comrades with a sum of money.... The facult y of giving aid
and protection of any consequence belongs to the upper classes; it can manuelt
itself among the workers as an immediat e and short -lived enthusiasm, but the
virt ue most within their reach is clearly the performance of their task for the
employer. " M. F. Le Piny. Les Ouvriers curopeem (Par is. 1855), " Printed by
authority of the Emperor and the Imperial Press," p. 278. [al a,3)
The "small land owners of the suhurhs." "They cultivate vines ... that produce a
wine of inferi or quality, for which the consumption tax in effect inside the capital
ens uru a profit ahle mnrket in the suburbs.... F. Le 1)lay. Les Ouuriers europeefIJ
(Paris, 1855) , p. 271. [ala,4J
"Ther e is a tropical pl allt that for years remainll unremarkable and bringe forth
110 blossom, Ulltil fi.nall y, one day, an explosion resounds like a rill e 8hot aud. lome
su<ldeni y the explosion of the Fellruary Revolut ion was heard. But with that , a
giguuLic Ll on om shot up from the unreulli rkable bushes, and this bloom full of lap
alld "itaLity, full of beaut y IIntl l ignificance, was called the association <a term
<Ieri-'ed from til e Saint-Simonians >." Sigrnulld Englander, Geschichle der fran
:oj ijcl! en Arbeiter-Auociationen (Uamburg, 1864), vol. 4, p. 217. [&2,1)
Organizati on of the ",tate workshops (ateliers nat.ionaux) by Thomas. " It suffices
to mClltion that Emile Thomas divided the workers int o brigade. and companies,
and that their chj efs were elected by universal suffrage of the workers. Every
company had its fl ag, and Emile Thomas made use, for this organUation, of other
civil engineers and of st udents from the Ecole Polytet:hnique. who, through their
youth, exerted a mor al influence on the worker s ... . NeverthelClls, although the
minister of public works ordered the atate engineers to come up with proposals for
works ... , t he engiueers in chllrge of bridges IIlId roads decided not to comply with
the minister's order, for in France there had long been a great rivalry between
state engi neers lind civil cli gUleers.
1
li nd it was the latter who directed the national
Tholllas was therefore left to his own resources. and he never could
assign to such an army of worker., whose ranks were daily swelling, any sort of
useful work. Thus, for example, he had trees from the outskirts of Paris brought
into the cit y to be pl anted along the boulevards , because during the struggles of
Febr uary the old trees on the boul evard had been cut down. The workers with the
trees paraded slowly acron Paris , singing as they went .... Other worken, who
had the j ob, for example, of cleaning the railings of bridges, became an object of
derision for passersby. and so the majority of these workers also wound up passing
their time in mere cardplaying, singing, and the like . ... The national workshop.
hefore long became .. . the gathering )Jlace for all sorts of vagabonds and idlers ,
.....hose labor consisted excl usively in marching through the streett with their stan
dard bearers, her e and there mending the pavement or turning up earth. but on
the "'IIOI e-singing and shouting, ragtag and unruly--tloing whatever came into
i their heads .... One day, tll ere suddeuly appeared on the scene 600 actors, paint
ers , art istt, and agellts. who together II lIuounced that , since the republic was
guanHll eeing work to all ci ti zens, t hey too were )Jutting forward their claim.
Thomas lII ade them SigmulI<l Englander, Geschichte der Jran%olIi
lIchen (Hamburg, 1864), vol. 2, pp. 26&-271. 0 F1aneur 0
[a2,2)
" Ncither til e mu yurll nur t he police cOltlluissioners, who Il ad to sign the certiflcate8
att esting tu the hearen' digi hilit y to work ill Paris. coul<l maintain the slightest
CIJllt rol ill \iew of the threats circulating aga inst t.hem. In their anxiety. they even
ga,, cert ificates to tell -year-old childrcn. who. with these in hand, presented
tll clnseh'es for admission to til e national work"hul)S," SignlUnd Englander,
Cesc"ichte tier JrulI::.osischefi Arbeiter-AuociatiQnen (Hamburg, 1864), vol. 2,
1
1
. 272. (a2a, l )
Episodes in the June insurrection: " Women were leen pOllring boj(jng oil or bot
water on the 80ldienl whil e II hricking and bellowing. In many place insurgentt
were given brandy mixed with vanoul ingredieolll . 80 that they would be excited 10
madneili... . Some women CUI off the sexual organs of several imprisoned guard&
J
men, and we know that an insurgent dressed in woman', clothing beheaded a
]
number of captured officers ... ; people saw the head, of .oldiers on pikes that
were planted atop barricades. Many things recounted were pure invention_for
example. that the insurgcn18 had pinioned captured guard8men between two
boards and sawed them. while alive, into piece . On the other hand, things did in
(act occur that were no leIS horrible.... Many insurgent s used bullets of a type
that could not be removed from wound, after shooting, because a wire had been
inserted into these bullets which sprang out from the l ides of them on
Behind numeroUi barricadel were spray gunl, whi ch were used to apray l uJphurie
acid on auaclringloldiers. It would be impossible to detail all the fi endilh barbari
ti es perpetrated by both l ides in thil action; we shall merely observe that world
history can point to nothing comparable." Englander, vol. 2, pp. 288-289.
June Insurrection. "On many closed shops, the inl nrgenll would write: 'Resped
ProlHl rty! Death to Thievel!' Many flags on the barricades bore the word,: ' Bread
and Work.' On the Rue Saint-Martin, on the first day, ajeweler 'l Ihop Itayedopea
without being threatened by any l ort of harm, while, a few stepl beyond, a Itore
with a l upply of &erap iron wal plundered.... Many iwurgentl, during the bat
tle, had assembled their wives and children on the barricadel , and cried: 'Since we
can DO longer feed them, we want at least to die all together! ' While the mea
fought , the women made gunpowder and their children cast bulletl, usin every
piece of lead or tin that feU into their handl . Often the children molded the bulleta
with thimbles. At night, while the combatants were l looping, girls wouJd dr.
paving stones to the barricades." Englander, vol. 2, pp. 291,293. [a2a,3]
Barricades of 1848: "More than 400 were counted. Many. fronted by trenches and
battlemenll, reached a height of two Itoriel. " Malet and CrilIet , XIX' Siecle
(Paris, 1919), p. 249. la2a,4]
" In 1839, some workers in Paris founded a newspaper with the title La RucM
populaire. 2 ... The editorial office of thil pubLicalion was located in the poorest
section of the city, on the Rue des Quatre Fils. It was one of the few worker-run
newspapers to have an audience among the general population, which can be
explained by the tendency it followed. That is, it took as it s program the goal of
bringing hidden misery to the notice of wealthy bell efaclorl.... hi the of6ce of
thil journal a regisler of misery lay opell. in whi ch every starveling couJd inscribe
hi s name. It was imposing, this regil ler of misfortull e, and since at thil period LeI
Mysteres de Pam. by Eugene Sue, had brought charil Y int o Cashion within hiP
society, one often saw private ca rriages puU up beCore the dirt y premises of the
editorial office and blase ladicl step forth to secure add.res8d of the unfortunate;
they would then deliver alml personalJy to these people and, in this way, derive a
novel stimulus for their jaded nerves. Each number oC thil workers' revi ew began
,",'ilh II summary enumeration of the poor people who had registered with the
editor ; detail s of their plight could be found in the register itseU .... Even after
Ihe Febr uary Revolution, at a time when all social clalSes looked on one another
.,.dlh distrust, ... La Ruche JJOpulaire continued to facilitate personal contacll
between ri ch and poor .... Thil is aU the more r emarkabl e in Light of the fact that ,
e.'en during thi s lH!riod, aU articles in La Ruche populaire were written by actual
"'orkers engaged in some practical occupalion. " Sigmund Englander , Geschichte
der !ram:.osi,chenArbeiter-Au ociationen (Hamburg, 18M), vol. 2, pp. 78-80, 82
a.
"The expansion achieved by industry in Paris during the past thirty yean hal
gi\'en a certain importance to the trade of ragpi cker, which occupiel the lowe(l t
level on the industrial scale. Men, women, and children can all easily devote them
selves to the practice of this trade, which requires no apprenti ceship and calli for
tools that are as simple 88 itl method8-a basket , a hook , and a lantern comprising
the ragpicker's only equipment. The adult ragpicker, in order to earn 25-40 soue
per day (depending on the season), is ordinarily obliged to make three roundl , two
during the day and one at night ; the Arst two take place from Ave o' clock in the
morning unlil nine o' clock, and from eleven o'clock unlil (here, there are four
pages missing from the copy in the BibLiothi!que Nalionale! 1. Like salaried work
ers , they have a habit of frequenting taverns... , Like them, and more than them,
they make a Ihow of the expenditures which thi, habit entails. Among the older
ragpickers and particuJarl y among the older women, ' pirill hold an attraction like
nothing else .... The ragpickers are not alwaYI cont ent with ordinary wine in
these taverns; they like to order mulled wine, and they take great offenle if tbU
drink does not contain, along with a strong dose of l ugar, the aroma produced by
the use of lemonl." H.-A. Fugier, Des Claues dangereU$e, ck la population
<da", le, grande$ viile$ el des more", de le$ rendre meiUeures >(Paris , 1840), vol.
Itllp. 104, 109. [a3,2J
Fregier speakl at length about the public scriveners,' who mUl t have Itood in the
"'"orst repute, and from whose circles emerges one Lacenaire, esteemed for his
beautiful handwriling.-"l heard teU of an old sailor endowed with a remarkable
talent for fine handwriting, who, in the depths of the wint er, had nary II shirt on
his hack. and would hide hi s nakedness by Castening hi s waistcoat with a pin. Thie
indi vidual , who was scarcely clothed, and who was not only ragged but nauseat
ingl y filthy, ","ould on occasion spend five to six francs 011 his dinner." H.-A.
Fregier, Des Cluues da"s ereu,es de ia population (Paril . 1840). vol. I , pp. 11 7
118. [a3a.IJ
'"' If it happens that an entrepreneur reproachel a worker in the presence of his
comrades, and in a manner he feell to be unjust, ... then the worker laYI down hie
tools and heads for the tavern.... In many industri al e, tahLi, hmcnls Ihat are not
rigorously mOlliton..I, the worker is not satisfi ed with going to the tavern before regular intervals , those t remors whi ch shake l.he terrestrial globe; a city whose
lh., hour when work begin' anll at his mealtimes, whi ch are al nille o'clock and two population IInitea, like that of no othcr ci t y on earth, the passion for enjoyment
o' clock; he goes there also at fou r o'clock and in the evening, 0 11 the way home .... with the passion ror hi stori cal acti on, whOle inhabitanU know how to live like the
There are women who have no conlpunctions about foUowi ng t1l cir husbands to
J
the barriere. in company with their children (who a re already able to work), in
]
order, as they say, to live it up.... There t hey spend a large l)Urbon of the income
of the entire fanlil y, and return home Monday evening in a &tate bordering on
drunkenne... Indeed. they often pretend- the children no JellS t hau their par
ents--t o be more inebriated than they reall y are, 80 that e\'eryone will know
they've been drinking, and drinking well.'''' H.-A. Fregier, De5 Claue. do,,_
gerewes de Eo populo,io" (Paris, 1840), vol. I , pp. 79-80,86. [a3a,21
On child labor among textil e workers: "Unable to meet the costs of food and of
caring for their children on their modest salary, whi ch oft en does not exceed forty
sous per day ( not even when added t o the salary of the wife, who earns barely half
that amount ), ... workers find themselves obliged ... to place t.heir children, a.
800n as they a re old enough to work (ordinarily, at age seven or eight). in the
establishmenu of which we are speaking.... The workers keep their children
working in the faclory or mill until the age of twelve. At that poinl. they see that
the children make their fir81 Communion, and then they secure them an appren
ti ceship in a shop." H.-A. Fregier, vol. I , pp. 98-100. [a3a,3J
There', hrau in our pocket .
Pierre, let'. go live it up;
On Mondays, don' , you know.
I love to knock about.
I know of a . ixpenny wine
That', not h. lfbad.
So let ', h. ve some fun,
Let ',go up to the barriere.
H. Courdon de Cenouill ac, Les Refrairl!l de Eo rue, de 1830 a1870 (Paris, 1879),
p. 56. [a3a,4]
"And what wine! What variety- from bordeaul{ to burgundy, from burgundy to
full-hodied Sai nt -Ceorges, 10 Lunel and the South's Frontignan, and from there to
sparkling champagne! What a choice of whites and reds-from Petit Macon or
chabli s to Chambertin, to Chilt eau Larose, to saut erne. to Vin du I{oll ssillon, and
AI Moussellx! Bea r ill mind th at each of these wines produces a different l ort of
intoxi cation, and thllt with a few bottles one can pass through 1111 the inwrvcllill g
st ages from a Mli sard Iluadril le to "La Marseillaise," from til e Wl.lntoll pl easures of
the ca ncan to the fi er y ardor of revolutionary fever, thence to return , with a bottle
of champagne , hI the cheeriest Cll rni val m()O(l in the world! An(1 onl y .' ranCe hal a
Paris , a cit y in wiJich European ci vilization all ai ns its full esl fl owering, in which
all the ner ve fihcr1l or Europeau history are intertwined, and from which arise, at
nJost refined of Athenian epi cures and to die like the most uliRinching Spa rt an_
Al cibiades and Leonidas rolled up into onei a city whi ch reall y is, as Louis Blanc
.sa),s, the hea rt and brain of the world." Friedri ch Engels, " Von Paris nach Bern:
Ein Reisefragment ." Die neue Zeit , 17, no. I (Stuttgart , 1899), p. 1O.- 1n his
foreword to this publication or the IJOs thumoli s manuscript , Eduard Bernstei n
",-rit es: "Although a fragment , t.hi s travel sket ch gives us. perhaps, a better picture
of its author than does any other of hi s works" (ibid., p. 8). [a4, 11
A song, "J enny the Worker," whose refr ain was inspiring 10 women:
In aj!;arden, ' neath a fragra nt bower,
You may hear a ramili ar bird:
'Tis the singing of Jenny the worker,
At heart content , cont ent with little.
She could be ricb, but prere ...
The thingl Ihe haa rrom God.
H. COllrdon de Genouillac. Les Refrai ns de 10 rue, de 1830 a1870 (Paris, 1879),
pp.67-68. [a4,21
Areacti onary song, after the J line In. urrection:
See, ace thil funeral prOCfl.ll ion!
-
It', the arehbishol_rriendl , remove your hatl;
Victim, alas, of 'aeriiegioul combat ,
He i.e raUen ror the hnppilH!u of all. I
,
H. Gourdon de Genouill ac. Les Refrains de Eo ,-ue, de 1830 a1870 (Paris, 1879),
p . ~ - ~
"The proletarians have ... comPOled a t errible, bitter " Marseill aise," which they
, sill g in unison in the workshol)S . and whi ch may be judged by the refrain: 'Sow the
field, all you proles; l it's the idler who will reap... " Die socialistischen lind com
munistischen Bewegungen sei t <l er dritt en franzosischen Revolution," opening of
St ein's Sociufi8mw tmd Communismu.J des heutigen Frankreich8 (Lei pzig and
Vi cnll a, 1848), p. 210 [ from V. Considerant , Theo,-ie du droit de propriete et du
droit de trovail ( 1848)]. [a4a,21
Buret reports 0 11 a story in l.o Revue britcl/IlI;que of December 1839 (?), 1" 29 (?):
" The associated workers of Bright on consider machines t o be absolut ely
l}tllefi cial. ' Bllt ,' they add, ' they are fatui as applied in the current regime. I.n
stead of dutifull y servi ng. as the elves serve{1 til e slu>C! maker in the German fai ry
tale, the machines have behaved like "' ra nkellstein's monster (German legend),
Who, after acquiring life. empl oyed it olll y in persecuting the man who had given it
10 him.'" Eugene Burel . La Misere de, cla.ue, laborieu.,e, en AnSleterre et en
Frnnce (Paris, IMO), vol. 2, p. 219. (a4a,3]
" If Ihe vicetl of the lower classes were limited, in Iheir eUecu . 10 those who in_
dulged in them, we may suppose thai the upper clalles wouJd cease to concern
themselves with all these di smal questions, and would happil y leave the world at
large to the sway of good and bad causes that rule over it . But ... everything it
linked together. If poverty is the mother of vices. then vice is the father of crime;

and it is in tms way that the interests of all the classes are conjoined ." Eugene
Buret , La Muere de. classe.labor i4!weJ en Ansleterre et en France (Paris, 1840),
vol. 2, p. 262. (a4a,4)
"J enny the Worker brings to Life one of the most terrible afRictions of the lOCiaJ
organi sm: the daughter of the working class ... constrained to sacrifi ce her virtue
for her family, and to sell herself ... in order to provide bread for hed oved
ones.... As for the I)rologue to Jenny the Worker, it acknowledges neither the
play' s I)oint of depa rture nor the details of poverty and hunger." VIctor HaUay._
Dabot, La CenJure dramatiqlW et Ie theatre. 1850-1870 (Pari s, 1871), pp. 75-76.
(ab,5]
" In the mind of the factor y boss, workers are not men but foroos , and expensive
ones at that- in81rument s more intractable and leu economical than tools of iron
and fire ... . Without being cruel, he can be completel y indifferent to the suffer
ings of a cla81 of men with whom he has no moraJ commerce, no sentiments in
common. Doubtl ess Madame de Sevigne was not an evil woman, ... yet Madame
de Sevigne, while detailing the atrocious punishments meted out to tbe people of
Brittany who had rioted over a tax, Madame de 5evigne. the impallioned mother,
speaks of hanginp and of thrashings ... in a light, cavalier tone that betrays not
t he s.lightest sympathy.... I doubt that , under the rule of the current law. of
industry, ther e could be any more of a moral communit y between empl oyers. and
their workers. than there was, in the seventeenth century, between poor pean
nts
and townsmen and a fine lady of t he court ." Eugene Buret , De la ftfilere de.
claJJes klbori4!we. en Ansleterre et en France (Paris, 1840), vol. 2, pp. 269-271.
(a5,1]
" Many gi rl! ... in the factories often leave the !Shop as earl y as six o' clock in
evening, instead of leavi ng at eight , and go roaming the streets in hopes of meetlllS
some stranger whom they provoke with a sort of calculated bashfulness.- In th"
factories they call this doing one's fifth (Iuarter of the day." Villernlll, Tableau de
l'etat ph;,iIJue et moral de' ouvri4!rs. vol. I , p. 226, cited in E. Buret , De la MiJe
re
des elaue, laborieuJea (Paris , 1840), vol. I , p. 415. [a5,21
The principles of philanthropy receive a classic fommlation in Buret :
and indeed decency, do not pennit u S to allow hwnan being! to die like animab
One cannot refuse the charitable gift of a coffin." Eugene Buret, De la Mism deJ
da.sses 14borieum (Paris, 1840), vol. I, p. 266. [as,3]
"The Convention, organ of the sovereign people, aims to make mendi cancy and
poverty di sappear at a single stroke .... It guarantees work for aU citilllen. who
need it .... Unfortunately, t he secti on of the law that was designed specifically to
(leal mendi cancy a8 a crime was "lore easil y enfor ced than that wmch prom
ised the benefi u of national generosi t y to the poor. Repres.s.ive measures. were
taken, and they have remained within the letter a8 well as. the s.pirit of the law,
whereas the system of chari t y that moti vated and justified these meal ures has
lIe"erexistcd, except in the decrees of the Convention!" E. Buret, De la Miser-e cia
elolSeJ laboriewe, (Paris.. 1840). vol. I , pp. 222_224. Napoleon adopted the po. i
tion described here with his. law of Jul y 5, 1808; tbe law of the convention dates
from October 15, 1793. Those convicted three times. of begging could expect depor
tation for eight years. to Madagascar. (as,4]
Hippolyte PalSY, ex-minister, in a lett er addressed to the temperance ltOCiety of
Ami ens (see Le Temps, February 20, 1836): "One is led to r ecognize that , however
meager the share of the poor might be, it i8 the art of applying that share to bit real
needs, it is. the capaci ty to encomllan the future in hi s thoughts, that the poor man
lacks. His plight is due mor e to thi s lack than to any other." Cited in E. Buret, De
10 Miser-e des elrusea klborieu.,es (Paris, 1840), vol. I, p. 78. (a5a,l ]
"There was a time, and it was not so long ago, when-all the while effusively
singing the prais.es of work-<lne never let on to the worker that the means by
wmch he derived his subsi8lence was not hi s freely willed labors but, in fact , a tax
levied on him by certain persons who fatt ened themselvetl by the sweat of his
brow.... It is what it called the exploitation of man by man. Something of this
sinister and deceptive doctrine b .. remained in the songs of the street. . . . Work is
still s. poken of with respect , but thi s respect has something forced about it, some
thing of a grimace .... It is nevertheleaa true that this way of viewing work it an
More often. it is praised like a law of nature. a pleasure, or a benefit . ..
las)" let us alwayt do bailie
Great enemies of our society.
i For if they compl ain of . Jeeping on straw,
It is only what they delH:rve.
In our 81ock)"ards, our factories, our miUJI,
Let us answer the caUat d. y't dawning:
While ....e ...ork our Jlrodigious machines.
Let us hymn a fraternal refrain ..."
- Antoine Hem)"
Charl es Nisard, Des Chtltlsons popuklire, (Paris . 1867), vol. 2. pp. 265-267.
(aSa,2J
"The fifteen years of the Restorati on had been years of great agricultural and
industri al prosperi ty .... If we leave as. ide Paris. and the large cities., we see that
the institution of the preu, along with tlle various. electoral syllems, engaged omy
part of the nation, and the numeroua part : the bourgeois.ie. Many in thia
bourr;eoill ie were already fearful of a revolution." A. Malet alld P. Grillet, XIX'
Siecle( Paris, 1919), p. 72. [a5a,3]
" The crisis of 1857- 1858 ... marked a sudden end to all the ililiSioll8 of
socialism. Al l efforts to maintain wages at a level that would have corresponded in
some degree to the eve",rising I)rices of food and proved futile."
D. Rjazanov. Zur Ge$chichle der er$len l ntcrntiotlure, ill Archi v,
vol. I [t' rankfurt am Main ( 1928)]. p. 145. [a5a,4]

"' In Lyons, the economic crisis had caused a reduction in the salary of the silk
weavers-the famolls canuU- to eighteen sous for a workday of fift een to sixteen
hours. The prefeet had tried to induce the workers and bosses to agree to establi sh
a minimum salary level. The attempt havinr; failed, a n insurreetion broke out on
November 12. 1831; it was nonpolitical in character, representing an uprising of
the poor. 'Live Working or Die Fighting' read the black banner which the canu"
carri ed before them .... Mter two days offighting,5 the troops of the line, which
the Garde Nati onale had r efused to support , were forced to evacuate Lyons. The
workers laid down their arms. Casi mir Peri er sent an army of 36,000 men to
reoccupy the cit y; furthermore, he removed the prefect frOm offace, annulled the
tariff which the latter had succeeded in foisting upon the bosses , and disbanded
the Garde Nationale (December 3, 1831) .... Two year s later, .. . char ges brousht
agai nst an association of Lyons workers , the Mutualists, were the occasion for an
uprising that lasted five days." A. !\falet and P. Gril let , XIX Siecle (Paris, 1919),
pp. 86-88. [a6,IJ
-
"A study of working conditions in the textile illdu8Iry in 184(1 revealed that, for
one fift een-and-a-haLf-hour day of active work, the average salary was leu than
two francs for men and barely one franc for women. The sufferinr; ... worse,
especially beginning in 1834, because, civil unrest being finall y queUed, indUlltrial
enterprises multipli ed so ra pidl y that , within ten years, the population of the cities
incr eased by two million solely tllrough the influx of pea8ant s to the factories."
A. Malet and P. Grillet, XIX' (Paris, 19 19), p. 103. [a6,2]
" In 1830, mallY believed that Catll olicism in Fra nce was 011 its Il eathbed and that
the political role of the cler gy was fmi shed for good.... Yet ... 011 February 24,
1848, the insurgent s who commenced the sacking of tile Tui lerics removed their
hats in front of the Crucifu: ta ken from the chapel aud escorted it all the .... ay to the
Eglise Saint-Rocll . With til e proclamation of the Rel>uhlic, univerSll1 suffrage sent
to the National Assembly ... three bishops and twelve priests .... This could
happen because, during the reign of Louis Philippe. the clergy had 50tl eh closer to
the people." A. Malct lind P. Grillet. Siecle (Puris. 1919). pp. 106, 107.
la6,3)
On l>t!Cember 8, 1831. the procapitalist JournClI del debCl/$ takcs a stand on the
Lyons inll urrection. "The a rticle ill i.e Journal des debuts produced a great sell sa
lion. The enemy of the workers bad brought into clear reli ef the international
of the Lyons symptom. Neither the republican nor the legitimist press.
however. Wished to present the <I uesti on in such dangerous terlll8 .... The legi ti _
nli sts ... protested for purel y demagogi c r eason8, since at that moment it was the
int ellti on of thi s )larty to play the working class off against the liberal bourgeoisie
ill the int erests of reestablishing the elder line of Bourbons; the republican8. on the
other halld, had an interest in pl aying down. as far as possibl e, the purely prole
tari an cast of the movement ... in order ... nol to lose the working class as a
future ally in the struggle agai nst the July monarchy. Nevertheless, the immediate
ililpressioll produced by the Lyons upri sing was so wholly incommensurable, so
IJainful for cont emporari es, t.hat for this rea80n alone it has already attained a
special place in hi story. The generation whi ch had witllessed the Jul R , .
y evo ubon
: .. was .thought . to have nerves of steel Yet they saw in the LyoDs
IIl surretlon something enbrely new ... , whi ch alarmed them aU the mo . r
re lII80 ar
as the workers of Lyons themselves seemed manifestl y not to see or understand this
E. Tarle, " Der Lyoller ArbeiterauCstand, " in Marx-Engels Ar
ell/V, ed. D. RJazanov, vol. 2 (Frankfurt am Main, 1928), p. 102. [a6a,l ]
Tarle cites a passage from Borne on the Lyons insurrection, in which this writer
vents his indignation over Casimir Perier heeause, a, Tarle writes, " Perier re
joices at the lack of political motive for the upri sing in Lyons, satisfied that thie is
only a war of the poor against the ri ch." The passage-in Ludwig Borne, Guam
Schriften (Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main, 1862), vol. 10, p. 20-nme:
It is said be nothing more than a war of the poor against the rich, of those who
nothing to lose against those who own IOmething! And this terrible truth
whi ch, because it if a truth, ought to have been buried in the deepest of well, the
raises flaunts before all tbe world!" In E. Tarle, "' Ocr
\
Arbe,terauCstand, w Marx-Engels Archil), vol. 2 (Frankfurt am Main, 1928),
p. 112. [a6a,2]
Buret was a student of Sismondi . Charles Andler credi ts him with an influence OD
(AndJer, Le Manifelte communute [Paris. 1901])-somethinr; which Meh
rlllg ("'Eill methodologi sches Problem," Die neue Zeit [Stuttgart] , 20, no. 1,
PI) 450.-4 51) firml y deni es.
{a6a,3]
Influence of Ro ti 1: ' , h
. man cism on poubca p raseology, explaining an att ack on the
CO
l1
gregatlOll s " We are at th b . . r R ..
. . e eg. llnmg 0 orna nbCISIIl , and we clearl y recognize
II by the 111 b h , .
'. a nner 111 w IC It ( ramatlzes everything. A crOS8 W88 set up atop Mount
V
alen en thi s . d d
. . cross ... 18 enounce as symboli zing the ascendancy of reli gious
SOCiet y ov " 1 . , ., J . .
,
er C1VI societ y. Ie eSUlt nOVi tiat e refers to itself onl y as ' the den of
1 10 ntro A b' .
uge. . JU I ee IS announced for 1826, alld already men of the cloth are
:ho
Ught
to be loomillg on all sides." Pierre de III Gorce, La Re5toll ration (Paris
1926- 1928), vol. 2, Charle,X. p. 57. la7, 1]
1
We are nothing but maehine .
Our Uabel$ mount to the 8ky.
Rerrain: Let ue lo.e and. when we can.
Let U8 meet 10 dri nk a round.
Let the cannon fall sil ent or erupl
We drink. we drink. we drink
]
To Ihe independenee of the world!

Pierre Duponl, Le Chant des Ollvrier, ( Paris, 1848). [a7,2]
Last ver se and refrain:
!C, in truth, a deapi eahle mob,
Having: fire and iron in its 8tore,
Wants to shackle the hody and lOul
Of the people, true ehild of Cod,
Reveal to theee depraved,
o Republie, by foiling tbeir plots.
Your great Medu88 faee
Ringed by red lightning!
otUlelar-y Republie,
Do not aaeend to the ekie.,
Ideal inearnated bere on earth
By uni verul euffrage.
From the fourth verse:
Ah! Let no nOClurnal eurprise
Break in on the polle!
Stand guard round the hallot hox:
' TIs the areh of our destiny.
[a7,3}
Pier;e Dupont, Le Chant du vote (Paris, 1850).
In chapters like "Le Vrai Sublime," "Le Flls de Dieu," "Le Sublime des sublimes,"
"Le Marchand de vms" "Le Chansonnier des sublimes," Poulot trea[S of types
intermediate between and apache. The book is refomlist; first published
in 1869. Denis Pou1ot, Qyestion sociaIe: "I.e Sublime," new ed. (Paris). [a7,4]
A proposal from Louis Napoleon's Extinction dll paupiru me (p. 123), cited in
Henry Fougere. Les DcMSlIfions olwrieres /lUX exposition, tmi verse/les .!OIU Ie
Second Empire 1905), p. 23: " All managers of fll ctori es farms, all
entrepreneurs of any kind. wouJd be obli ged by law, as soon a8 they had employed
more than ten workers, to have a n arbitrator who wuuld govern tll eir affairs, and
to whom they would pay a salary double tha i of the simple workers." [a7a, l }
""This peopl e, vict orious, who Slrode bareroot upon gold I Strewn across their path,
and did not succumb" (lJcgcsippe Moreau). Mott o of the neWSll alH: r L 'Aimable
FaubOllrien: JOllrnnl de In c(ltwille, cited in Cllriositel revolution/laires: Le,
Jour/WI/X rougel, by a Giromii sl ( P-ol r is. 1848), p. 26. (a1a,2)
Th('UIy of A. Grani er (Ie Cauagnac. lIiJloire riel cl fl uel olulriere.! et <Ies cifluel
bQ/lrgeoi$es ( Paris, 1838): the prol et arians were de8ceuded rrom thi eves a nd pros
titut es. [a7a.3]
Believe lII e, I he wine of til e burrieres has prest' rvell til e gO"erlllllental framcwork
from lIIall Y a sll ock." Edollard Foucaud, ,J(lris i'llumteur; Pllysiolos ie de {'im/us
trie frrmr;(lise (puris, 1844), p. 10. [a7a,4}
Charras. from the Ecole Polyteclmillue, with reference t o Gener al Lobau, who
had nol wished to sign a proclamati on: ''' I will han: hinl shot. '-'\lilhat are you
Ihinking of?' dema uded M. Mauguin, incensed . ' Have General Lobau shot! A
member of Ihc Pro"isional GOl'ernment !'-'The "ery same.' responded the slu
dent , whil e leading the deputy 10 Ihe window and showing him a hundred men
outside, veter ans of the fi ghting at the barracks in the Babylone distri ct . ' And
wcre I 10 order these brave mcn to shoot the I...ord God, they would do il !'"
G. l)iJl et , lIistoire de {' Ecole IlolytedlllilJue (Pllris, 1887) , p. 158 [ evidently a li t
eral ci tation frOIll Louis Blanc]. [a7a,S}
lkon Guillemill : "There are Iwo sorts of provi dence, ... God and the Ecole
Polytcc:hnique. If Oll e shoul d be found wa nting. the other will be there." In
G. Pinet. p. 161. [a1a,6)
Lamennais and Proudhon want ed to be buried in a mass grave (Delvau, Heures
Pf.ruielllies ( Paris, 1866), pp. 50-51). [a7a,7)
Scene frOIll the February Revolution. The Tuilcri es were plundered. " Neverthe
iess, the crowd had st opped, as a sign of respect . in front of the chapel. A student
look a{h-anl age of thi s momenl 10 steal the sacred vessels, and in the evening he
had them ta ken 10 Ihe Eglise Saint - Rocll. lie chose to carry, by himself, the mag
nificent sculpt ed Christ that found a place on the alt ar; u group of people followed
qui etl y in his steps. Ihei r hals remo.'ed a nd heads bowed . This scene ... was
reproduced on a stump t.hat could be seen, for a long time aft erwa rd, in Ihe
wi ndow, of all the merclUlllts who sell rcl ib>ious icons. The I}olytechnician was
represent ed hol(lill g Ihe Chri st in hi s a1"l1l 5. di spl ayi ng it before a kneeli ng crowll ,
while lIe exciai mCII : ' Here is the master of us nil! ' These words were not actunll y
spoken. hUI they I'onform to the senlimcnt s of the populalion at a time whcn ...
thc d ergy ilself, peri ecut ed by the Voitaireull kill g. greeted the revolution with
ellthllsiasm:' G. Pillet . lIiJfoire de "Ecole polyter/Illil/lle ( Polris. 1887). PI'. 245

The l)olytcc:llll iciIlIlS 'ohservetl the procL"t!tiing.! or the U1aml ui sl c1uL Ihal met ill a
haU on the ground fl oor. where demagogic Oralor s, agi lati ng ror lhe most sinister of
incendiary deeds. spoke already of pulting the Provisional Government on trial:'
G. Pinet . Hi3loire de I'lcok polytechniqlle (Paris, 1887). p. 250. [a8,2}
During the February Revolution, students from the
papers in the Tuileries which to them for the
but which would have had great lllterest for the revolutIOn: declarauons of loy.
alty to Louis Philippe (pinet, p. 254). [a8,3}

Lissagaray, in an essay on Le& !tfuerables, in La Batailk: " One need onl y be in
touch with the people to become r evolutionary" [Victor Hugo devant l'opinion
(Paris, 1885), I)' 129]. [a8,41
" Around 1840, a certain !lUmber of workers formed the resolution to plead their
cause directly before the public .... From that moment , ... communi sm, which
until then had been on the offeU8ive, took prudentl y to the defense." A. Corbon,
Le Secret da peuple de Paris (Paris, 1863), p. 117. In question are the communiat
organ La Fraternite. which began publishing already in 1845, the a nticommuniat
L'Atelier, L'Union, and La Ruche popltlaire, which was the earli est. [a8,51
On the worker : " He is, in general , incapable of understanding practi cal affaire.
The solutions that swt him best are therefore those which seem likely to exempt
him from incessant preoccupation with what he considera the humble sphere , the
drudgeries of life.... Let us take as a virtual certainty, then, that any system
whi ch would tend to rivet . .. our worker ... to the factory-though it promise far
more butter than bread- ... would be r epugnant to him." A. Corbon, pp. 186
187. [a8,61
"The qUC5tioll of worker s, like the question of the l}(JOr. was planted at the
way to the Revolution. Since the children of the families of workera and artisaPl
could not cover the needs of a labor--starved industry. factori es made use of or
phans a& well .... The industrial exploitation of children and women ... is of
the most glorious achievements of philanthropy. Cheap food for Wl . a
. hi! th IC nollon
. . . vi ew to lo .....ering wages, was likewise one of the
r
p an rop Wh n
of the factory owners a nd political economist s of the eight eenth ceutllry. . . . .e
the Jo"rench finally study the Revolution with a cold eye and without class
dice. they will realiJ:e that the ideas which made for its greatneu came from SWlt
. . f . from Geneva
J:erla nd, ..... here the bourgeoisie was already dommant: IR act, It WB8 h
. , I . ch created suc
P Candolle imlwrted the so-called economic SOIl I) W 11
lh.1 A
. . bl" k' Viney
a furor ill the Paris of the Revolution .... Even the dry and UII III III g 0 bl
could not help being moved ' at the sight of this alli ance of men of .respecla e
. . f " - T , .. Paul Wargue,
posi ti on eagerly occupie.-I in 8ul)Crvl Slll g a l)Ot 0 ..... 1 109 80UI) 149.
" Die christli che Liei)c8tii tigkeit ," Die Zeit , 23. nO. I (Stutt ga rt ). pp. 148- II
[a8a,
"Should three men ha plten to be in the street talking togeth<:l r Mhou! wagel. or
. h h ' labor for
should they happen to ask the entrepreneur who has grown n c 0 11 t elr
a raise of oll e sou, then the bourgeois becomes terrified and cries out for strong
measum .... Most of the timc, our govemment4 have exploi ted thi s sad progress
of fear.... Al ii can say here is that ... our grand Terrorists were by no means
men of the IJeople. They were bourgeois and nobl es, men with cultivated, subtl e.
bizarre miud&-8ophists and scholasti cs." J . Mi chelet , Le Pel.lpk (Paris, 1846),
PV' 153- 154.
7
[a8a,2)
Fregier, the author of Cla.ues dongerewel, WB8 head clerk at the prefecture of
police. [a8a,3)
On the description of the February Revolution in Haubert's Etiucahtm Jenhmm
tait'-which needs to be reread-one finds (with reference to Stendhal's descrip
tion of the Battle of Waterloo):1 "Nothing of the general movements, nothing of
the great clashes, but rather a succession of details which can never form a whole.
nus is the model which M. Haubert has imitated in his depiction of the events of
February andJ une 1848; it is a model of description from the standpoint of the
idler, and of politics from the standpoint of the nihilist." J.:J. Nescio, LA Lilliralure
sow les tkux Empires, 1804-1852 (Paris, 1874), <p. 114). [a8a.41
Scene from the Jul y Revolution. A woman donned men'l clothing to fight alongside
the others. and then aft erward, as woman again, nursed the wounded who were
lodged in the Stock Exchange. "Saturday evening, the cannoneers who were trans
ferring the artillery pieces remaining at the Bourse to the Hotel de Ville enthroned
our young heroiue on a cannon crowned with laurels and brought her with them.
This eve.ning, at around ten o'clock. they brought her back in triumph to the
bol1r8e by the light of lorches; she was seated on an a rmchair decorated with
garlands and laurels." C. F. Trieotel, Eaquuae de qlUlqlUs acen.el de l'inteneur de
to BOl.lr5e pendontlea journus dea 28, 29, 30 et 31 jl.lillet dernier: Au profit dea
bleue5 (Paris, 1830), p. 9. [a9,11
Lacenaire composed an "Ode ala guillotine," in which the criminal is cdebrated
in the allegorical figure of a woman, of whom it is said: "1b.is woman laughed
,.
with horrible glee, I As a crowd tearing down a throne will laugh." The ode was
written shortly before Lacenaire's execution- that is, in January 1836. Alfred
Ddvau, Les LionJ du jour (Paris, 1867), p. 87. (a9,21
A chari t y supper at the Hotel de Ville, where unemployed worker&--in winter,
above all conuruction workcrs-gatll ered. "The hour for the public meal has just
souJI(led. And now Little B1uecoat hauds his ivory-tipped cane to one of his aIISis
tani S, l akes from hi.s buttonhole a silver place-setting which is attached there, dips
the 80011 iut o one pot after another, tall tes, pays the servers, preslliC8 the out
Stretched hands of the poor, takes up hi s cane, refastens hi s spoon, Mnd goes
trallquill y' on hi s way .... He is gone. The lIerving o the food begins." Little
Bluecoat was the ni ckliMme of the philanthropist Edme Champion, who had risen
OUt of ver y Diodes! cir cunulances. <See aI2a,1.> The passage from Ch.-L.
Chassin, 1,. du Petit Manteau Bleu, ci ted in Alfred Delvau, l..et LWnt du
jour (Paris. 1867). I)' 283. [il9,3J
The author. in ms pamphlet condemllillg the rural exodus. turns to til e country
girl: " Poor, lovely child! The journeyman 's tour de France, wmch is of question_
able utilit y to your brothers, is always an evil for YOIl . Do not-if need be, until
you are forty-let go of your mother 's apron strings ... j and should you be foolish
enough to set out on your own, aud should you find yourself sll aring your unfur_

ni sbed room with intransigent unemploymeut and hunger, then call (like a virgin I
knew once), call a last guest to your side: CIlOLERA. At least in his fl eshleas arms, at
least on rus ghastl y chest, you will no longer fear for your 1I0nor. It And immedi_
ately following this passage: " You men of conscience who will read this. I implor<tl
you once more, on my hands and knees. to make known, in every way possible, the
substance of thi s IMmuitimate chapter." Emile Croilat , La Malodie d" lacle, ou
Le, Suitel Juneltel du declouement , ocial: Ouvrage h ri' lOUS leI trute. ifllpiro.
tioIU d'un o vocot JOIU cause, d 'un nOloire et d'hn ot/oue safll clientele, d'un
mkdecin sans protiqlWs , d 'un negociant sans capitaw.:, d'un ouvrier lans fravoU
(Bordeaux, 1856). )I . 28. [a9,4)
lnsurreetionist movements under Louis Philippe: " It was then. in 1832, that the
red flag appeared for the first time." Charles Seignobos, lIutoire sincere de 10
(Paris, 1933), p. 418. [a9a, I)
"In 1848, ther e were only four cities with a population above a hundred thousand ___
souls-Lyons, Marseilles, Bordeaux, and Rouen; and onl y three with a population
of seventy-five thousand to a hundred thousand-Nantes, Toulouse. and LiIIe.
Paris alone was a great metropolis with more than a million inhabitants. not count
ing the faubourgs (annexed in 1860). France remained a country of small towru."
Charles Se.ignooos. Hutoire sincere de 10 nationfront;aue (Paris, 1933). pp. 396
397. (a9a,2)
I.n 1840, the pett y bourgeoisie makes a push toward the right to vote, by demand
ing it for the Garde Nationale. [a9a,3)
National Asse.mbl y of 1848. " MJle.-- asks to borrow 600 francs from the Na
tional As&embly to pay her rent. " Histori cal fact. Paru ! OUS la Republique de
1848: Expo!ition de 10 Bibliotlleque et de! Tra vUlu hiJtorilJue! de la Ville de Paris
(1909), p. 41 . [a9a,4-]
" As soon as they heard tell of a battalion of womell , the designers sel about 10 find
them a uniform .. .. Eugenie Niboyet. edit or of La Voix de! femmes ... pro
nounced on the matter : ' The titJe " Vesuvian,'" she writes, 'means that everyone
of these conscripts is harboring. in the core of her heart , a vol cano of revolution
ary firell. ... I-:ugcnie Niboyet t1l cn Slimmolle(1 her to the dOWll8lairs
gall eries of tilt: BOlllle-Nouvell e bUl\uur und 10 the Sail" Taranne." Paris JOUJ to
Republi(JIIe cle 18'#8: EXIJO! ition tie il, Bibliotheqlle et des Travaux historiqlleS de
10 Ville rle Puris ( )909). I). 28. [a9a,5)
Social subjects occupy a very large place in lyric poetry at midcenrury. They take
all possible fomls, from the UUlOCUOUS variety of a Charles Colmance ("La
Chanson des locataires" <The Tenants' Song>, "La Chanson des imprimeurs"
<"111e Printers' Song to the revolutionary lyrics of a Pierre Dupont. Inventions
are a favorite theme of such c/Ul1IJOfIJ, and their social significance is underscored .
Thus was born a "poem in praise of the prudent entrepreneur who first re
nounced the manufacture of a noxious product [white lead] to adopt ' the white of
iIuJocent zinc.''' Paris sous fa Ripub/ique de 1848: ExpositifJn de la Ville de Paris
(1909), p. 44. (.9. ,61
Apropos of Ca bet : " It is toward the end of 1848 that the discovery of the deposits
became known in Paris, and al most immediately companie were formed to facili
tate the enlivation of prospectors. By May )849, fifteen such companieA had
begun to ol.erate. The ' Colllpagnie Parisienne' had the honor of transporting the
fi rst group of t.ravelers, and ... these modern Argonauts entrusted thelllselveA to a
blind Jason who had never evell seen Californi a: one Jacques Arago .. . whose
account .. . of a voyage rOlilld the world was in part developed from another's
notes .... Newspapers were founded: La Cali/ornie, a general-interest paper on
the Pacific Ocean; the 'gold-bearing' Aurifere, monit or of the gold mines; L 'Echo
du Sacramento. Joint -stock com)lanies offered shares of81ock at exceptionally low
prices . only five francs. on the floor of aU tbe stock exchanges. " Many cocottes
make the trip overseas-the colonists ar e eXIJeriell cing a shortage of women. Paris
SOliS la ReJJublifJlle de 1848: Exposition de 10 Ville de Paru ( 1909), p. 32. <On
Jacques Arago, Sl.'"C a12,S. > [aIO,I)
There's a comparison to be drawn bet"\t:een Cabet and the following verse, which
, is, of course, directed against the Saint-Simonians. It comes from A1cide Centy, A
Moruieur de Chateaubriand: Pones tt prruateurs.frallfais-Sab"rt (Paris, 1838), cited
in Carl LocIewijk de Liefde. Le Saint-Simonisme dam fa poisit.franfllist entre 1825
tt 1865 <Haariem, 1927>, p. 171 : "The insinuating Rodrigues will peddle to the
i
Iroquois JBareme and some unsmoked cigarettes." [a IO,2]
DeJphine Gay (Mme. E. de Girardin) shows herself, in her poem "Les Ouvriers
de Lyons" (PoisitJ comp/ettS [Paris, 1856], p. 210), to be a precursor of the philoso
phy of innkcepulg: "The poor man is happy when the rich has his fun." [a 10,3]
Wi th Iwo arms or iron a magnili eenl Irack
Will hegi r(1 my reIOU"'i,,: Peking to Parill.
t\ hundred (Iirrer ent IteOllle . mixing thei r tongues.
Will make one colossa l car Ii Dabcl.
There, " 'ith ... heel of lire. humani ty's coach
Will ... ear 10 Ihc hone the nmll<:le. or the earll, .
From alol' this gleami ng ...I. men. all anlll?.d,
I
WiUlook out on an ocean of eatablet.
The world will become a fi ne china bowl
Filled up for thi! human menagerie;
And the c1ean-, haven globe. without beard or hair-
A monumental pumpkin-will revolve through the . kies.
Alfred de MUllet , Nomouna (Paril), p. 113 ("Dupont et Durand"). [al0,4]
]
Saint-Simonian poetry-Savinien Lapointe, Ihoemaker, " L' Emeute" <The
Riot ):
No. the (uture will dispenNl with barricadet!
You great one while your hand. are buildinl ac.croldl,
Mine are lICa uering ftowerl over the gravel.
To each hU million or hi, painfulta, k:
To the poet. the 10"1; to power, the ax!
Olinde Rodrigues , .oeiole. de. ouvner. (Paria, 1841), pp. 237, 239.

From Alfred de Vigoy."La Maison du berger" <The Shepherd'. HoUle) , treatinc
of the railroad:
May God guide the thunderin& ,team to it. end
'CrOll the mountaina travened by iron railil.
Let an aJllCI be perched on it.loud..eJankin&; boiler
When it head. underground or I'1)Cka bridv-.
Turn away (rom these tracU--tbey laek Vace.
Their iron linea will take you \
With the . peed of an arrow throul h . pace,
Shot whi8tlill(! from bow to bull',-eye.
Thul hurled like a bolt, human beinp
LoNl their bru th, lose their li8ht,
In the , motherinl cloud rent by lightning.
Diltance and time are now conquered by Science,
Which encircl e. the world with it. road ,ad and . traight.
The World iI reduced by our experiment;
The equator i. now but a tight-fiuing hoop.
Alfred de Vigoy, new edition (Paris , 1866), pp. 218, 220-221.
[a10a,l]
To be compared with Cabel: the remarkable, beautiful poem "Le t.'Y
Elise F1eury, embroiderer (Olinde Rodrigues, PoiJi(J Jocia/eJ deJ .[PariS,
1841], p. 9). It describes an ocean steamer, cont:rasting the luxury cabms Wlth the
lower deck. [a10
a
,2]

Rut 1fansnonain, It 15 avril 1834 (Government Reprisal on the Rue Transnonain, April
15, 1834). Lithograph by Honori Oaumicr. Sec ala., l ; al0a,5.
"An opuscule in verse (Les Principes du Pe.i. Manteou Bleu sur Ie sy.teme de la
oommunoute (See a9,3) , by Loreux, conlmunist [Paris, 1847J) is a species of
dialogue between a partisan and an adversary of communism .. .. In order to
allevi ate all , .. suffering, tbe communist Loreux appeals not to envy or to venge
ance, but to kindne.. and generosity." J ean Skerlit ch, L 'Opinion publique en
France d'oprel la poelie poutique et IOCWIe de 1830 a 1848 (Lausanne. 1901).
p. I94. [a IOa,3]
1847, a famine; ma ny poems on the subj ect . [a IOa,4]
August 1834, upri sing of Mutualists in Lyons, nearly contemporaneous with the
uprising on the Rue At Lyons: " The army reported 115 men killed
and 360 'Wounded, a nd the workers reported 200 killed and ,WI) wounded. The
government want ed to grant indemnities, and a t;ommissiun was named, which
proclaimed the following principle: ' Tile government does not want the triumph of
the social order to cost a ny tears or revelS. It knows that time, whi cll gr aduall y
effaces the anguish occasioned by t.he costl iest personal losses, is powerless to
redrcss lhe blows of fortune.' ... The whol e moralit y ofthe Jui y Monarchy can be
roulld in these' words," J ean Skerlit ch, L'Opinion pllbliqlle en France d'opre. W
Poelie polilique et lociole (Lausanne, 190 I), p . 72. (alOa,5)
"I will rouile Ihe l}tlople wilh Ill y unvarni shed I I will proplwsy on eVery
l:orncr. ,. It cgcsipJle Moreau . d iCit in J ea n Skerlit ch, I. 'O/Jinion /Jltblique en
f ' rilll e!! itl/'oC5ie ,W/i1if/ue el 50ciuie de 1830 ii 18,,8. I'. 85. [a ll , I)
" In the lll1 YS ill1l11t."tliulcl y following the Re\olution of 1830, a song made the rounds
ill Paris: ' Ht"tlucte Irun ollnier it lin Juue-Milieu.' Its refrain waa l,articuJari y
ex pressive:

I am hUlI gry!
Well. thell . eat YOllr fi st.
Sa\'e the olher for tomorrow.
And Ihal', m)' n:(rai ll .
... Bll rtlu! lemy ... sayl ... that .. . til e unemployed laborer hali no choice but to
work in ' the ya rd of uphea \' II I. ' ... In Barthelemy's Neme5u ... the pontif Roth
schild. with a multitude of the faithCul , chants the ' Mass of stockj obbing,' l inga the
'psa lm of IInnuit y. '" J ean Skerlit ch, L 'Opinion publique en France d 'opre. to
poesie(LlIusanll e, 190 1), pp. 97-98, 159. [a ll ,2)
" During the day of J\Inc 6, a sea l'eh of t.he sewers iJad been ordered. It was feared
that they would he II sed as a refuge hy the vanqui shed. Prefect Cisquet was to
r ansack the "i lillen I'uri s. whil e General Dugeaud was sweeping the puhli c Paris
a COIlllt'CIttI tlouhl e operat ion whi ch demanded a doubl e strategy on the part of
public power, rcprcscntcd a bove by the army and below by the poli ce. Three
platoons of officers alld sewermcn investi gatC(1 the subterr anean st.ree18 of Pari....

Vi ct or Hugo, Oeuvres compleles. novels, vol. 9 (Paris, 1881). p. 196 (La

Miser(lbles). III [a 11,3}
Unfolding wing>! o( gold.
tl( uli ant,
Tra\'ersefl our (lomai n5
Anel 8eClb Ihe: fi eM$.
The l>f"oJileei at thl" iOund of il. \oi<:e.
ari d lOil tl"l".n_
Anll (or the
It gives I.he "'orM 1.205)
Refrai n: All honor 10 U8. Ihe of ineluslr)'!
Honor. honor to our works!
[n 1I IIII.e II rb "'e: ha ve r.Otl(IUI"f't:(1our rivals-
A",I wuulell,c thl' hope. thl' I.riele. of our counlry. <I" 204)
Cillqll/lflre (.' 11(1111 8 !rulIf; lIis. lyrics by \'al'ious aut hors; set III music, ,with piano
accoml'al1i Ill CI1I , by Hougel de Li sle ( Paris, 1825) [ Dibliothellue Nationale.
Vm7. 4454J . (I. 202 (110. 41) . "Chant (Ies imlustricis." 182 1.1c)( 1 by li e Lisle). In the
sa lli e \ ' 0 Itllll e .
'
" '" urs(' 1 nl 'II '" SC, [all ,4) 110 . :.:. ...
Hevolul.iolllll' Y IlIcti,'s a llli ha ll.lcs on Ihe barricades. according to Le. Mi&erobte,.
The night hcfore the \'arri cade fi ghting: "'The invisihl e pol ice of the erne"'
watched everywhere, and I11l1i llt ained order--that is , night. ... The eye which
mi ght have looked frOI11 ahove illto that l11ass of shadow would have caught a
gl impse in the di stance here and there. perhal)S, of indistinct li ghts, bringing out
brokcli lind fantasti c lines. outlincs of l ingular COlistructions, something like
ghostl y gleams coming a nd goi llg among ruill s; these were the barricades." Oeu
vres compli tes, vol. 8 ( Pari s, 1881). 1'' 522-523.-The foUowill g passage
is from the clla pt er "' Faiu d'o'-' I' histoire sort et que )' hi stoire ignore." "The meet.
ings were sometimes IJerioojc. At some. there were never more than eight or ten,
all1l always the sa me IJerson!. I.n othen, anybody who chose to entered. and the
room was so full that they were forced t o &tand. Some were there from enthusiasm
and passion; otl1en because 'it was on their way to work.' As in the time of the
Re\'oluti on, there were in these wine shops some femal e patriots , who embraced
the ne,,comers. facu came to light . A man entered a drank,
and went out, sayi ng: ' Wine merchant , whatever l owe, the revolution will pay.'
.. , A worker, drinking with a comrade, made him put his hand on him to see how
warm he was; the other felt a pistol under vest .... All this fermentation was
"tlblic, we might almost say tranquil .... No singularity was wanting in this cri
sis-still subterranean, but already per ceptible. Bourgeois talked quietly with
workers about the preparations. They would say, ' How is the uprising coming
along?' in the same tone in which they would have said, 'How is your wife?'" Vic
tor Hugo, Oeltvres completes, novel s, vol. 8 (Paris, 1881), pp. 43, 50-51 (Le,
Miserables). II [a ll a,I)
Barricade fighting in Le, Mueroble5. From the chapter "'Originalite de Paria ...
"'Outside of the insurgent quartiers, nothing is usuaUy more strangely calm than
the physiognomy of during an uprising .... There is firing: at the It reetcor
ners , in an arcade, in a cul -de--sac; ... corpses litter the pavement. A few st reets
away, you can hear the cli cking ofbiUia rd baDs in the cafes.... The carri ages jog
along; people are going out t o dine. Sometimes in the very quar.icr where there is
fighting. In 183 1 a fusillade was to let a wedding party pan by. At the
ti l11e of the insurrecti on of May 12, 1839, on the Rue Saint-Martin, a little infirm
old man, drawi ng a handcart surmounted by a tricolored rag, in which there were
i decant ers filled with Some Ii ' luid, ....ent hack and forth from the barricade to the
troops a lld frOI11 the troops to thc barricade, impartiaUy offering g1asliC8 of <:0
coa. , .. Nothing more st r ange; and the peculia r characteristi c of the
upri sings of Paris . whi ch is not found in all Y other capital. Two things are requi site
for it ; the greatness of and its gaict y. It the city of Voltaire and of
Napol eon. ,. Vi ctor lIugo, Oeuvres compUites, Ilovels. vol. 8 <Paris, 1881 ) ,
Ill'. 429-43 1.'2 [alla,2)
Oil the motif of exutidsm. conjoined wil h Ihat of emanci pation :
. AlI lire: are: op'e: l1 l:d.
The imam iltSJlira lion in wille.
The: Ori enl learn, 10 re:ad.
Barnuh crOMe. lire 1IoCl8l.
Jule. l'o1ercit:r, " L 'Arche de Dieu," in Foi nouvelle: Cha n', e' cha nson, <k Bar.
r(l'llt , Vin{"fl r,' . .. 1831 iJ 1834 (Pari., January I , 1835), book I , p. 28. {aI2,1 J
Forge Ihe libert y of the Orient :
Aery or Woman. on the day of deli verance,
Travels rrom the harem by repeated ho
To break the horrid silence of the West.

Vincard, " l...e Premier Depart pour l' Orient ," in Foi nouvelle: Ch(lnts et charuoru
de Barraull , Vin{ard . .. 1831 Ii 1834 ( Paris, January I , 1835). book 1, p. 48.
[a I2,2]
A strange stanza from "Le Oi:pan," by
Cast off from a universe of serfdom,
The old swaddling cJothc:s
13
and the jargon;
Lt:am the coarse and plain speech of the Ptople,
The light ditty and the oath.
RJi MUlJelle, 1831 a1834 (Paris, j anuary 1, 1835), pp. 89-90. [d2,3[
Our flaghaft loat palience wilh the Iky of France:
Over the minarel8 il now mUl t wave.
Then will they see us, workers adept .
With our ribbon. of iron
Suhduing the desert .andl:
Citiet, like palmB. will spring up everywhere.
F. Maynard , "'A l' Orient ." in Foi nouvelle (Paris. January I , 1835). pp. 85, 68.
{aI2,'l
In jacques Arago's pamphlet of 1848, "Aux juges des
appears as an instrument of colonial expansion. After the author, m
language, has summoned up in tum each of France's wnh
Out finding a single one suited to be the land of deportatIon, on
Patagonia. He gives a very poetical description of the land and Its inhabitants.
"These men, the tallest on eanh; these women, of whom the youngest are so
alluring after an hour's swim; these antelopes, these birds, these fish, these phos
phorescent waters, this sky alive with clouds coursing to and fro like a of
wandering hinds . ..-all this is Patagonia, all this a virgin land rich and tnde
pendent.... Do you fear that England and tell .that you have
right to set foot on this part of the Amencan cantment? ... CItIZens, let EnF
grumble, just let it, ... and if it should arm, . .. then ttanSport to Patagorua the
men whom your laws have smi tten. When the day of battle arrives, those you
have exiled will have become staunch mobile barricades, standing implacable at
the outposts." (aI2,5)
EdDIe Champi on: self-made ma n,14 plilla nthrollist ( 1764- 1852). " Whenever he
had occasion t o go aero.s town. he would never forgel to look inl o t.he morgue"_o
" Cha rles-Loui s Chassin , I ... , U getlde d,j Peti t MClll te11ll I1leu (Pu ri s, ca.
repo,
1860), p. 15. Champi oll had been 1\ goldsmith a nd . during the Revoiutioll . pro
u:eted noble-born former customer8-whi ch endangered hill OWII li fe. {a 12a, l J
Balzac, in EIIghiit Grmu/tl, with reference to the miser' s dreams of the future:
"That future which once awaited us beyond the requiem has been transported
into the present."
15
1bis is still more true with reference to poor people' s fears of
the furore. [a I2a,2)
From an analysis of the situation arol1l1tl 1830, by police prefoct Gi8(luet . At iuue
are the workers: "Unlike the well -to-do c1allllefl of the oourgeoisie. they have no
fear that, through a broader e)( tellllion of liberal principl es. they will be compro
nusing an est abli shed fortune.... Just as the Third Est ate profited from the . up
pression of the nobilit y's privileges ... , the working c1alls would profit today from
. 11 thai the bourgeoisie would lose in itll turn." Cit ed ill Charl es Benoist.
"L' Uomme de 1848." part I , ReVile de5 deux monde5 (July I , 1913). p. 138.
[al2a,3)
"The great mob and the holy rabble I Made a rush at immort ality." From a revo-
lutionary song around 1830. Cited in Charle& Benoist , "L' I-! omme de 1848,"
part 1, ReVile des deux monde5 (July I , 1913). p . 143. [a12a,4)
Rumford. in his economic essays. assembled reci l>Ci designed to lower the cost of
lIoup. kit chen fare by ull ing substitut e ingrediellts. " HilisOUI)S a re not too e)(pen
. ive, seei ng that for 11 francs 16 eentimcs, one hall enough to feed 115 per soDli
twi ce a day. The onl y question is whether they are bei ng prol)Crly fed .... Charl tl
Benoist, "De I'Apologie dll travail a I'apotheose de )'mlvrier.... ReVile des deux
mondes (J anua ry IS, 1913). p. 384. Charit y soups were va ri ously introduced by
FrCll ch industri es at the time of the great Revolution. (al2a,5J
1837-the first banquets for IInivt:rsal suffrage a nd the petition with 240,000 sig.
1I!1IlireS (etluivalent to the !lumber of rcgistert. ..1\'oters at that time). [a12a,6J
Around 1840, suicide is familiar in the mental world of the workers. "People are
about copies of alithograph representing the suicide of an English worker
In despair at not being able to eam a living. At the house of Sue himself, a worker
Comes to commit suicide with this nOte in his hand: 'I am killing myself out of
despair. It seemed to me that death would be easier for me if I died under the roof
of one who loves us and defends us.' The worki ng-class author of a little book
much read by other workers, the typographer Adolphe Boyer, also takes his own
life in despair." Charles Benoist, "I.:Homme de 1848," part 2. Revut des deux
tI10ndes (rebruary I , 19 14), p. 667. {aI2a,71
From Rober t (tlu Var), Histoire de La clane ouvnere <depuill'etcwvejwqu'OV Charles Benoist claims to find in Corhon. Le Secret (1IttJ(!llple de Par is , the proud
proletaire de not jourl) ( 1845-1848): " You have Been it witnessed in thi. hil tory, consciousness of numerical superiorit y over the olher c1assel!. 8enoist . " I.e
o worker ! When, at , hi ve, you embraced the gospel , you beeRDle, unhesitatinpy, '1\I)'the' de la classe ouvricre." RellUe del clell.x morldel (March 1, 1914), I). 99.
a serf; when, 81 serf, you embraced the eighteenth-ccntury philo,aphe" you be [aI3a,2)
J
came a Ilroletari an. Well , today you have ta ken up socialism .... What it to
]
prevent you from becoming a pa rtner ? You are king, pope. and emperor Pamphlets from 1848 are dominated by the concept of organization. la l 3a.3)
your fate. in this regard, is in your own hand.... Cited in Charles Benoitt
" L' Homme de 1848,'" part 2, RevlU! de, deu.x monde, (February I , 19 14), p . 668.' " )n 1867, it was poiSibl e to hold conference8 in whi ch 400 worker delegatefl , be
louy ng to 11 7 profellsions, ... di scussed ... t he organiza tion of Chambers of
[a13,l)
jointl)' uniollized workerll .... UI) until then. however, workers' uni ons had been
ver y rar e--though on the other Ride, allied with the bOl!8es, there had been fort y.
A comment by Tocquevill e on the spirit of the 1840&: " Wealthy proprietor'S liked to
twO Chambers of unionized workers.... Prior to 1867, in the margins and in
re<:all that they had alway, been enemies of the bourgeois clan aDd alway. been
defiance of the law, there had been associations onl y of typographer s (1839), mold
friends of the people. The bourgeoisie themselves recalled with a certain pride that
ers ( 1863), bookbinden ( 1864), a nd hatten ( 1865). Aft er the meetings held in the
their fat hen had been laborer., and if they could not trace their lineage . .. to a
Passage Raoul , ... these syndica tell multiplied." Charles Benoist , " Le ' My the' de
worker ... , they would at least contrive to descend from Bome uncouth penon
la classe ouvriere," ReVile del deux mondes (Ma rch I , 1914), p. III . (a13a,4J
who had made his fortune on his own." Cited in Charles Benoist , " L' Homme de
1848," part 2, Revue des deux mondes (February I , 19(4) , p . 669. [a I3.2)
In 1848, TouS8enel was a member of the Commi ssion of Lahor over which Louis
Blanc presided in Luxembourg. (aI3a,S)
" The question of povert y ... has, in a few years, paued through extremely varied
phases. Toward the end of the Restoration, the debate turns entirely on the uline
To present London in its significance for Barbier and Gavami Gavami's series
tion of mendicancy, and society tries leu to alleviate poverty than to ... forpl it
Ce quon fX)jl gratis aLondm <What Can Be Seen for Free in London>. (aI3a,6]
by relegating it to the shadows. At the time of the July Revolution, the situation iI
reversed by means of polltics. The republlcan pa rty seizes on pauperism aad _
In Der acht:ehnte Brunlaire. Ma rx says of the cooperatives that in them the
transfOrnL8 it int o the proletariat. ... The workers take up the pen.... Tailon,
proletariat " renounccs the revolutionizing of the old world by means of the latter 'lI
shoemaker s, and typographers , who at that time constituted the revolutioD&I'J
own great , combined resourcCll. and seeks . rather, to achieve its salvation behind
trades, nlarch in the ext reme avant-garde.... Around 1835, the debate iI .....
society'& back, in Ilrivate fall hion, within it. limited conditi ons of existence.""
pended in conllequence of the numeroUll defeats dealt the republl cao party.
Cited in E. Fuchs, Die Karikatllr des ellrO/Jiiischen Votker, vol. 2 <Munich, 1921>,
Around 1840, it resumes, ... and bifurcates ... into two schools, culminating, OD
p.472. la l 3a,7)
the one ha nd, in communism and, on the other, in the allioci atioDJ deriving froID
the mutual interests of workers and employers ." Charles Louandre, " Statittique
On Poi,ie, socialel de. ollvriers , edit ed by Rodrigues, La Revue del deux mondes
Ilueraire: De la Production intellectuelle en France dupuis quinze aRll ," Revue "
writes: "You pau from a reminiscence of M. de Beranger to a coarse imitation of
deux mondes (October IS, 1847), p. 279. (al3,3)
l the rh),thms of Lamartine and Victor Hugo" (p. 966). And the class-bound charac
ter of thi& critillue enlerges unabashedl y when its author writes of the worker : " If
The Blamluist Tridon: "0 Might , queen of the barri cades , ... you who fl ash in the
he aims to reconcil e the exercise of hi s profesRion with Iltcrary studi es, he will
lightning and the riot , ... it is towa rd you that prisoners . tretch their manacled
discover how uncongcnial to int ell ectual development physical exhausti on can he"
hand. " Cited in CharieR Benoist, "Le ' My the' de la classe ouvriere," Revue du
(p. 9t?9). III support of his point , the author rehea rses the fate of a worker poet
deux mondes (March I , 19 14), p. 105. [a I3,"}
who was dri ven mad . Lerrninicr. " Dc 18 Litteralurc li es ouvriers," Revue des deux
"'ondes. 28 (Parill, 1841). (aI3a,8]
Against workhouses, and in favor of lowering the lax on the poor: F. M.L.
Navill e, De Ia Charite Ugale et spkialement des maisons de tra vail et de fa pro-
Agricol Perdi brui er's Livre du compagno1llwge st.'t:ks to ma ke use of the medieval
scription de fa mendicite. 2 volumes (Paris. 1836). (al3,5)
guild-forms of alliance betwt.'t: 1I worken for dIe new form of associati on. This
untlert aking is cur tl y di smissed by Le rlll ini cr in " De la l..i u eralUre des ouvriers,"
A coi nage of 1848: "God is a worker."
la l 3a,l] in Revue des deux mundes, 28 (Paris. 184 1), PI). 955 IT. [aI4,1 ]
Adolphe Boyer. De fE'a' des Oll vrjer5 et de "on amelioration par l'organuario,. rather excessive, and certain peopl e became uneaB), on learning that thieves
du 'ra vail ( Paris. 1841 ). The a uthor of Ihi s book was a printer. It was unsucceaa. shot 0 11 the spot. Under such a regime. they Raid 10 themselves, who could be
(ul. lie COll1mi t1l s ui cide 1I 11d (according to Lerminier ) caUs 011 the workers to foUo
w of
hi s own life in the end?" Heinri ch Heine, " Die Februarrevolution."
surf:
his example. The book was published in German in Strasbourg, in 1844. It wal
ver y moderate and sought 10 make usc of COfflpag nonnage for worker auoeia.
J

"Anyone who considers the harsh and burdensome life which the laboring
classes have to lead remains convinced that, among the workers, the most re
markable men ... are not those who hurry to take up a pen .. " not those who
write, but those who act .... The division of labor that assigns to some men
action and to others thought is thus always in the nature of things." Lcrminier,
"De la Liuerature des ouvriers," Revue des deux 11W1Ilies, 28 (Paris, 1841), p. 975.
And by "action" the author means, first of all , the practice: of working overtime!
[a I4,3]
Worker associa tions deposited their funds in sa vings banks or took out tre.lury
bonds. Lerminier, in " De la Litterature des ouvriers" (Revue des deux monda
[ Paris. 1841] . p. 963). praises them for thi s. Their insurance institutions. he y.
further on, li ghten the load of public assistance. [aI4,4]
Proudhon receives an invita ti on to dinner from the financier l\tillaud. " Proudhoa
managed to extricate himself ... by r eplying that he lived entirely in the boaom 01
hi s famil y and was always in bed by mne P. M. " Finnin Maillard. La Cue da
intellectuel! (Pa ris < 1905, p. 383. [al4,5]
From a poem by Dauheret on Ledru-Rollin:
The red nal! reve,.w by the French everywhere
I. the in which e hritt wa. attired.
Let U8 all render homal!e to hrave Robespicrre,
And Maral who made him admired.
Ci ted in Auguste Lepage. Le, Cafts poutiques et litteraire, de Paris (Paris <1874>.
p. II. [aI4,6]
Georg Herwegh , " Di e Epigollt!n von 1830," Paris, November 1841:
Away. 'Wll), with the Tricolor,
Which witnened Ihe deeds of your falhen,
,\ 1It1 wril e on Ihe gates U II warning:
" Ilere hi Freedom's CaJlua!"
Geor g Uerwegh, Gellichteeines t ebendiBen, vol. 2 (Zuri ch and
p. 15. lal4a, ]
Ucinc on the bourgeoisie during the February Revoluti on: " The everit y with
whi ch the IJe(l pie dealt with ... thieve, who wer e ca ught in the act seemed to lIlad1
Sii mtliche Werke. ed . Wilil eim 8 0lsche (Leil)zig). vol. 5. 1)' 363.17 (a I4a,2]
Alnerica in the Hegeli an phil osophy: " Uegel ... did not give direct expression to
con.st:iousll css of terminating an epoch of history; rather, he gave it indirect
' ,on He ma kes it known by the (act that , in thinking, he casts an eye over
. . .
t.he past in ' its obsolescence of spi ri t,' even as he looks about for a possible discov
er . in the domai n of spirit , aU the whi le expressly rellerving the awareness of sucb
di!cO\'ery. The rare indi catiolls concerning America-which a t this period seemed
the future land of libert y [note: A. Ruge, Awfriiherer Zeit, vol. 4, pp. 72-84.
Fichte had already thought of emi grating to Ameri ca at the time of the coUapse of
old Europe (l ett er to his wife of May 28. 1807). }-and concerning the Slavic world,
ell\'ision the possibilit y, for univenal spirit , of emigration from Europe as a meaDS
of preparing new protagonists of the principl e of spirit that was ... completed
with Hegel. ' Ameri ca is therefor e the land of the future, where. in the ages that lie
before us, the burden of the World's History shaD reveal itself-perhaps in a
contest between North and South Ameri ca.' ... But ' what has taken place in tbe
New World up to the present time is only all echo or the Old World-the expression
or a foreign Life; and a8 a La nd of the Future, it has no interest for us here.... In
regard to Philosophy . .. we have t o do with ... that whi ch is
n
[Hegel , Philos6
phie der Cesehichte. ed. Lasson, p. 200 (and 779?)] .18 Karl LOwith, "'L'Acheve
ment de la philosophie classique par Hegel et sa diu olution chez Marx et
Kierkegaard'" [Recherches philo'Qphique., founded by A. Koyre. H.-Ch . Puecb,
A. Spaier, vol. 4 (Paris, 1934-1935). pp. 246-247]. (a lb,3]
,
Auguste Barbier represented the doleful pendant to Saint-Simonian poetry. He
ctisavows this relationship as little in his works in general as in these closing lines
orIUs prologue:
If my verse is 100 raw, its tongue too uncouth,
Look to the brazen century in which it sounds.
i
Cynicism of manners mwt defile the word,
Alld a harred of evil begets hyperbole.
Thus, I can dery the gaze of the prudt::
My ungentle verse is true blue at heart .
Auguste Barbier, Pobi(s (Paris, 1898), p. 4. (a I5, 1]
Call 1l ea u publishes " Waterloo" (Puris: Au Bureau des Publications [ vadi ellnes .
1843) a noll ),lII olIsly. The pumphlet is Ilellicated t o the apotheosis of Napoleon
"J esus the Christ Abel. Napoleon the Christ-Cain" (p. concludes with the
in\'Ocatioll of "Evadiun Unit y" (p. 15) and Ill e signature: " III the name of the
Cran,l E,udah. in the name of God on Hi gh . Mother and Father .. . . the Mapa h"
(1' . 16). <SeeU I2,7.) [aI5,2]
Ganneau', " Page prophetique" was published for the fi rst time in 1840, and again
Audiganne. is the air of ceremony with which t he inve&ti gators ca rry out their
during the Revolution of 1848. The title page of the seeond edition bean the
"isits to the homes or the worker$: ' If not a single special inquest undertaken
j
foUowing announcement : " Thi, ' Propheti c Page: sei zed on July 14, 1840, Wa,
di scovered by citizen Sobrier. former deput y in the " oli ce DeparlmeuI , in the
dossier of citizen Ganneau (The Mapah).-{The official report is labeled: ' Revolu.
ti onary page, one of 3,500 copies di stributed under carriage entra nces. T' [a I5,3]
]
Canneau', " Bapleme, marisge" inaugurates the era of the Evadah,

on Augusl 15. 1838. The pamphlet is published at 380 Rue Sai nl. Denis, Pau ap
Lemoine. Signed : The Mapah. It proclaims: " Mary ia 110 longer the Mother: III he i.a
the Bride; Jesus Christ is no longer the Son: he is the Bridegroom. The old world
(of compression) is finished; the new world (of expansion) begins!"
female Genesiac unit y" and "Christ-Adam, male Genesiac unit y" appear " under
the name Androgyne Evadam." [a I5,' ]
"The 'Devoir Mutuel' of Lyon8, which played a crucial rol e in the insurrections of
1831 and 1834, marks the transition from the old Mutualite to the Resistance."
PauJ Loui8, Hi!toire de hl claue ouvrwre en France ch hl Revolutwn ano, joun
(paris, 1927), p. 72. [a I5,5]
On May 15, 1848, revolutionary demonst ration of the Paris workerl for the liben
tion of Poland. [a I5,6]
"J esus Christ ... , "'ho gave us no vestige of a political code, left hie work incom
plete." Honore de Balzac, Le Cure de village (letter from Gerard to Grosset&e),
editions Siecle, vol. 17, p. 183.1' [aI5a,ll
The early inquests into workers' circumstances were conducted, for the most part,
by entrepreneurs, thei r agents, factory inspectors, and administrative officiab.
" When the doctors and philanthropists who were conducting the inquest went to
vi sit the famili es of worker s, they were gell erally accompanied hy the entrepreneur
or his representative. Le Play, for example, advises one, when visiting the fami1iel
of workers, ' to utilize the recommendation of a carefull y chosen authority.' He
counsels the adoption of utmost diplomacy in rega rd to individual members of the
famil y, and even the payment of small indemnities or the di stribution of gifts : one
sllOuld ' praise with discretioll the sagacit y of the men, the grace of the women, the
good behavior of the children, a nd, in suit able fashion, di.spense little presentl to
all ' ( I.e! Oltvriers europeens [Paris] , vol. I , p. 223). In til e course of the detailed
cri ti(IUe of inquest procedures which Audi ganne prolilOtes in the discussions of lUI
workers' circle, I..e Play is lipoken of in the following terms: 'Never was a faDer
path marked out , despite the hest int entioll s. It is purdy a (Iuestioll of the sysU:dI.
A mi staken point of vi ew, an inadequat e method of observation give ri lC to
wholl y arbitr ar y train of thought havill g 110 relati on li t all to til e reality of lucielY
and evincing, moreover, an incorripble propensit y for despotism and rigidity'
(Audigalllle, p. 61). A fretluent error in t.he conduct of the inquests. accordan to
during the Second Empire yielded concrete result! of any kind, the blame for this
rests. in large part , 011 the pomp with whi ch the investigators paraded around'
(p. 93). Engels and Marx describe further the methods hy which the worken wer e
induce<! to express themselves on the occasion or these recherche! sociale, and
I: \ ' CII to present petitions against the reduction or their work time." Hilde Weiss,
" Die ' Enquete ouvri ere' von Karl Marx" [Zeit5chrift flir Sozialforschung, ed .
Max Horkhei mer, 5, no. 1 (Paris. 1936), p". 83-84]. Tile passages from Audi
ga llile lire tllken from his book iUbrlOires d'un ouvrierde Pari! (Paris, 1873>.
[a15a,21
In 1854, the affair of the carpenters took pl ace. When the carpenters of Paris
decided to strike, proceedings were instituted against the leaden of the carpenters
ror violati on of the ban on coalitions. They were defended, in the first insta nce and
in the appeal, hy Berryer. From his a rguments before the court of appeals: " It
cannot be thi s sacred resolve, this voluntary decision to abandon one's work
rat her than not deri ve a just income from it , that has been ma rked out for punish
ment by the law. No, it is the determination, instead, to restrain the freedom of
othen; it is the interdiction of work, the hindering of others from going to their
place of work.... In order, then , for there to be a coalition, in the proper sense,
there must be sonIc sort of restraint on the liberty of persons, a violence done to
the freedom of others. And, in fact, if thi s is not the true construction of articles
415 and 416, would there 1I0t be, in our law, a monstrous inequality between the
condition of the workers and that of the entrepreneurs? The Jatter can take coun
lei together to deeide that the cost of labor is too high .... The law ... punishes
the coalition of entrepreneurs only when their concerted action is unjust and
\ abusive. , .. Without reproducing the same set of words, the law reproduces the
same idea with respect to workers. It is by the sound interpretation of these arti
cles that you will consecr ate the e<lualit y of cOlldhion that ought to exist between
these two classes of individuals ." ( Pierre-Antoine) Berryer, OeltVre5: Phlidoyers.
vol. 2, 1836-1856 (Paris. 1876), pp. 245-246. [316,1)
,
of the ca rpent er/!: " M. Berryer concludes hi/! plea by rising to considera
tiOll s ... of the currellt situation, in France, of the lower c1asse8---(!ondemnoo, he
says. to see two-fifths of their member s dying in t.he hospital or laid out in the
m?rgue:" Berryer. Oeuvres: Plidoyers. vol. 2, 1836-1856 (Paris, 1876). I)' 250
he principal8 accused in the tri al were sentenced to three yeurs in prison- a
Jli dgment tll ut was uplleld 0 11 appeaL) [aI6,2]
"Our worker-poe ts of late have been imitating til e rhythms of Lamartine... too
oftcl! sacrifi cing what ever folk originali ty they might have .. . . When thcy write,
Ih,:y ....ca
r a Ii{U1
.,'
allll pllt on
gI I I ' I ..
oves, t IUS oSlll g t. IU 8uperIOnt y that strong hands
II lld Po.....erful arms givc to the people .....hen they kllOw how to use them."
J. Mi chelet , Le l'eupJe, 2nd ed. (Paris. 1846), p. 195. At allothcr point (p . 107).
1
the a uthor accentuates the character of meekne88 and melancholy" at.
taching 10 dus poetry.1(I [a I6,3]
u-uly to defeat him. one would have had to do things which it was impossibl e even
to mention. " CitC(1 ill Abel Bonnard. I.e' Mo</eres, in series enutle(1 Le Drame d.l
present, vol. I (Paris <1936, pp. 314-3 15. [a I6a,41
" 'II Paris ... Engel8 jotted down the 'creed' whi ch the Io<:al branch or til e Conunu_
nill t League had asked him to compose. He obj e<: ted to the term 'creed,' by whicb
Schapper a nd Moll had designated thei r draft , and he decided that the question_
]
and-answer form which was usual in such programs, and to whi ch Considerant
and Cabet had u1timately had recourse as well , was no longer in place
Gust av Mayer, Fridrich Enseu, vol. 1 (Berlin <1933 , p. la16,41
Legislative repression of the working class goes back to the French Revolution.
At. issue arc laws which punished any and unionizing on the part of
workers, any collective demands for higher wages, and any strikes. "The law of
June 17, 1791, and that ofJanuary 12, 1794, contain measures that have proved
sufficient, up through the present, to repress these offenses." Chaptal, De ['Indus
triefiaTlfoise (Paris, 1819), vol. 2, p. 351. [aI6a,l]
"Since Marx was officially exiled from France, Engels decided , in August 1846, to
shift his residence 10 the French capit al 80 Ihat he could meet with the German
proletarians who were living there and recruit them for the cause of revolutionary
communism. As it happened, however, Ihe tailors and cabinetmakers and leather
workers whom Grun W88 trying to convert had nothing in common with the prole
tari an type on whom Engels was counting. .. Paris W88 Ihe headquarters of
fashion and of the arts and crafts; most of tbe German workers who had come
Ihere to better their position in the trade, and then return home as master craft&
men, were 8till deeply imbued with the old spirit of the guild." Gustav Mayer.
Friedrich Ense", vol. I , Friedrich Ense" in .einer Friihzeit , 2nd ed. (Berlin
<1933. pp. 249-250.:1: [al6a.21
Tbe Brussel8 "Communist Correspondence Committee" of Marx and in
1846: " Marx and he ... bad tried in vain to convert Proudhon. Engels now under
took a fruitleu mission to win over old Cabet , t he leader of experimental utopi ..
communism on the continent , ... for participation in the Correspondence Com
th the
I
.. mittee .... It was some months ... before he establi shed closer re allons Wl
Reforme grOUI), with Lows Blanc and particularly with
Gusla v Mayer, Friedrich Ensel$, vol. I , Friedrich EDge" in .einer frllh zell , 2nd
. " A t3 [aI6a.3]
ed. (Berlin (1933 , p.
Gui;(.ot writes afler the February Revolution: " I have long hcen subj ect to a dou
ble suspicion:' one, that the disease is much more serious than we think and say;
. . I h k I Whil e I held
and, two, that our remedIes a re futil e, scar ce y more I. an s III (t."ep.
the reills of nly country and di rectC(1 ilS affairs, thi s double awarelless
. I . . I , 1111 reill aiued In
stronger IIY the tlay; an( I preCise y III proporllon as SUCCeet eu .
power. I ca nle to fed that nei ther my success nor my tellure in offi ce was hav)nl!
Dluch errect , that the defeated enemy was willnin5 out over me, and tiaat , ill order
"If an agitator is to achi eve Jasting result s, he Dlust speak us the represent ative of
body of opinion.... Engels lllust have reaJi:I:ed thi s during his first vi sit to Paris.
his second, he found that the door8 at which he knocked opened more easily.
French socialism still refused to have anythill g to do with political strugglee.
Therefore, he could look for aUies in the cominl! battle only among those demo
cratil conll ected ,,;th W Reforme who advoca ted state socialism in some degree.
Under the leader ship of a Louis Blanc alld a Ferdinand Flocon, these men be
Iiel,ed, as he did, that it was necessa ry to garner political power through democ
racy before a tt empting any social transforma tion. Engels was prepared 10 go hand
in hand with the bourgeoisie whenever it took a confirmed democratic directi on;
he could not refuse to associate himself wi th this part y whose program included
the abolition of hired labor, although he mll st have known to what extent iu
parliamentary leader, Ledru-Rollin, was averse to communism . ... He had
learned from experience; he presented himself to Blanc as ' the official delegate of
the German democrat s in Londoll, in Drun d s, und on the Rhine' and ' the agent of
the Chartist movement. '" Gustav Mayer, Friedrich Engell. vol. I , Friedrich
Ensel$ in seiner Friihzeil (Berlin ( 1933, pp. 280-281 .:4 [a I7, 1]
"Under the Provisional Government it was customary, indeed it was a neceu ily.
combining politics and enthusiasm at once, t o preach to the generous workers who
(as could be read on thousand.!! of official placards) had ' placed three montlu of
'"'-'ery at the dUp01101 of the republre,' that the February Revolution had been
waged in their own interesu, and that the February Revolution was concerned
above all with the interests of lhe worker . But , a fter the opening of the National
Assembly, everyone came down to earth. What was important now wus to bring
'labor back to iu old situation, a8 Mini8ter Trelat said." Karl Marx. " Oem An
denken der Juni-Kampfer " [in Karl Marx all Denker, Mensch lind RevolUlionor,
ed. D. Rj azanov (Vienna alld Berlin <1 928. p. 38; first published in the
i
rheinuche killing, ca. June 28, [a I7,2)
Final sent ence of the essay 0 11 the JUli e combatlints. coming directly after the
description of the measures underlaken by Ihe stal e to honor the memory of those
victims who belouged to the hourgeoisie: " But the pl ebeians are torlured with
hunger ; reviled hy the press; ubuluiolled by doctors; ahust,'{1 hy hOli est men li S
thi e,es , incendiaries, gall ey slaves; their WOlIll!n a nd chillircn thrown into slill
det: l)Cr misery; their best sons deported overseas; uIIII it is Ihe privilege. it is the
rlshl of ,lie democratic fJreu 10 ent,,;ne the laurels r ound their stern and dlreat
eUing brows." Ka rl Marx. "' Oem Alulenken der J uni -Kampfer" [in Karl Marx all
Denker, AJensch ufI(l Reoolutiollur, cd . D. Hjazanov (Vienna and Berlin), p. 40:
flfijl published in I.he Nell e rheinuche Zeit/mg, ca. June 28, 1848).2 [a 17,3]
011 Buret's De la Mi.fer e dell clauell laoorieluell en Anglelerre et en France and
Engels' Lage der arbeilenden Klaue in Englllnd: "Charles AndJer would like us to
see in Engels' book onl y a ' recasting and sharpening' of the book by Buret. In Our
vi ew, hO"'ever, there is grounds for comparison here onl y in the faci that both
hooks .. . partl y draw from the same source material. ... The evaluative criteria
of the writ er rernain all chored in t.he concel)t of natural right ... , while the
German autbor . .. adduces tbe tendencies of economic and social development
... ill his explanations. Whereas Engcls looks to communism as the sole lIHlvation
frolll the wor sening situation of the preseut , Buret places hi s hopes in the complete
1II0biUzati on of lauded "roperty, in a social politics and n constitutional system of
indust ry. " Gustav Mayer, FrU!drich Engel.f , vol. I , Friedrich Engel.f in ' einer
Friih::eil (Berlin <1933, p. 195. [8178,1) -
Engels 0 11 the June Insurrection. " In a diary lIIeant for publication on the literary
page of the Neue rheinillcil e Zeitung, he wrote: ' Between the old Paris and the new
lay the fifteenth of May and the twent y-fifth of June.... Cavaignac's bombshelU
bad effectively burst the invi ncible Parisian gaiet y. " La Marseillaise" and "Le
Chant du depart" ceased to be heard, and onl y the bourgeois still hummed to
themselves their " Mourir pour la patri e,'" while the workers, unemployed and
weaponless, gnashed their teeth ill suppressed rage." Gustav Mayer, Friedrich.
Engel.f, vol. I . Freidrich Engel.f in seiner Frijhzeit (Berlin <1933, p. 317.21
[aI7a,2]
Engels, during the June lIl8urretioll , referred to " Paris East and West as symhole
for the two great enemy camps into which here, for the fi rst time, the whole sociely
splits .... Gustav Mayer. Friedrich Engels. vol. I , FrU!drich Engel.f in seiner
Friih::eit (Berlin <1933. p. 3 12. (aI7a,3]
Marx caUs the r evolution "our brave friend, Robin Goodfellow, the old mole thai
can work in the earth so (ast , tbat worthy pioneer-the Revolution .... In the same
speech, at the concl usion: ""0 avenge the misdeeds of the ruling class, there eJI..
isted in t.he MiddJe Ages ill Germany a secret tribunal called the Vehmgeri cht. If a
red cross was St!ell IIIQrkcd on a house. people knew thai its owner was doomed by
the Vehm. All t he houses o( Eurol)C li re fl OW marked with tile mysteri ous red cross.
Ilistury is the judge; its execnt ioner, the proletarian." Karl Marx, " Die Revolu
I.iollen \'011 18-18 und das Proletari at ." spc!ech del.h-ered on the fourth annivenary
of the fouudati on of n,e {'caple's l'uper. Publislll!d in 1'he People 's Paper, April
u
nov
19, [ill Karl M(lr:c '1/11 Dellker. Mensch I/m/ Revo/utiofliir, cd. D. Rja:
(Vieull u II I1tI Ilcrlin <1928 . pp. 42. 43)' (a17a,4]
Marx defends Cabel against Proudholl as " wort hy of for his practical
altitutle tnward the prol1"l uri at ." Mar x III (J ohallll > Schweit:wr, London, January
24, 1865, in Kurl Murx und Friedri ch ElIgcls, A ,ugewijMl e Brie/e. cd . V. Adoral
ski (Moscow and U:ningr utl. 1934), p. 143. :!'I [aI
8
,1]
Marx on Proudhon: "The February Revolution certainl y clime at a ver-y inconven
iell
t
moment for Proudhon, who had irreful abl y proved onl y a few weeki before
Ihat the 'era of revolutions' ended forever. Hill speech to I.he Nati onal Assem
bly. however little insight it showed int o existing conditions, wu worthy of every
praise. Corning after the June Insurrection, it was an act of great courage. In
addition, it had the fortunate consequence that Thiers--by his reply (which was
then issued .11& a special bookl et), in whi ch he opposed Proudhon's proposal&-
proved to the whole of Europe what an infantile catechism formed the pedestal for
Ihis illielleclual pillar of the French bourgeoisie. Compared with Thiers, Proud
hOIl's slature indeed seemed that of an antediluvian colossus .. . . His attacks on
religi on, the church, and so on were of great merit locally at a time wben the
French socialists thought it desirable to show, by their reUgiosity, bow superior
Ihey were to the bourgeois Vohai reanism of the eighteenth century and the Ger
nl an godJennen of the nineteenth. Just u Peter the Great defeated Russian bar
barism by barbarit y, Proudhon did his best to defeat French phrase-mony: ring by
phrases." Marx to Schweitzer, London , Januar-y 24, 1865, in Karl Man: and Frie
drich Engels. Aw gewahlte B,w/e, ed. V. Ador atski (Moscow and Leninsrad ,
1934), pp. 143-144.- la18,2]
" You' ll be amused by the following: Journal des economute., August of this year,
cont ains, in an article on ... communism, the foll owing: ' M. Marx is a cobbler, as
another German cOlllIQunist , Weitling, is a tailor .... Neither does M. Marx pro
ceed beyond ... abstract formul u, and he takes the greatest care to avoid broach
ing any trul y practical question. According to him [llote the nonsense), the
emancipation of the German people will be the signal for the emancipation of the
human race; philosopby would he the bead of this emancipati on, the proletariat ita
hear!. When all hu been prepared, the Gallic cock will herald the Teutonic resur
rectioll .... Marx say! that a universal proletariat mwt be created in Germany
[ !!] ill order for the philosophical concept of comrnunism to be realized. , .. Engels
to Marx, ca. September 16, IM6, in Karl Mar x and Friedrich Engels , <B,w/wech
.el, > vol. 1, 1844-1853, ed . Marx-Engele-Lenin Institute (Mo&cow, Leningrad,
<and Ziirich,> 1935). pp. 45-46. ]1 [a I8,3]
,
" It is a necessa r y result of every victorious reaction that the causes of the revolu
tion alld eSI)Cciall y of the count er revolution should pass into utt er obUvion."
Engels t o Marx, Manchester, De.:ernber 18. 1868, apropos of Euge.ne Tenot's
hooks o.n the coup d' elat of 1851; in Karl Marx and Friedri ch Engels, Awgewiihlte
Urie/e, ed . V. Atl oratski (Moscow and Leningrad . 1934), p. 209.u [a I8. 4]
On nati onal holidays, cert ain objects could be redeemed gratis from the pawn
shops.
[a I8a,l]
Lartiue ca lls. himseU "a ci ti zeu with possessions." Cited in Abel BOllll urd . Le,
Moderes, ill series entitled Le Drame dll pre,ent , vol. I , (Pari s ( 1936 , p. 79.
[aI8a,2]
" Poetry ... hat 8all cti ont!(J t he greal error of separat ing the force of Labor frora
Art . Alfred de Vi gnys J ellunciation of I.he railroads is succeetled by Verhaeren'.
inn't:live again81 the ' lcnlacll,.'{1 citie8. ' Poel ry has taken Ri ght from the forma of
modern civilizatiuli .... It has not untl erstuotl Illat the clements of art call he
foulIJ in any human acti vit y what8oeVer. ami t hai ils U""1l powers a re diminished
by ils refusal to ent ertain t he possibility of inspirlltioll in the thing!! act uall y SlIr.
ruumlill g it ." Pierre Hamp, " I..a Litt crature, image tie 13 societe:' Encyclopedie
Jram;tli!e. vol. 16. Aru e! litferafltres dtltl s la !ociete cOllteml'or(line, I <Paris,
1935>, p. 64. [aI8a,3)
" From 1852 10 1865, France lellt four anti a half billion francs abroad. ... The
worker s were even more Ji ret: tJ y affeclCd than the bourgeois republicans by cco--
nomic developments. The consequence of the trade treaty with England and the
unemployment in the cotton induslry caused by the Ameri can Civil War inevit ably
made them realize their OWII J epelldence upon the int ernati onal economi c situ.
a lioll ." S. Kracall er, Jucflues Offenbacll lind dtl! I'{lris !einer Zeit (Amaterdam,
1937), pp. 328, 330.
33
[aI8a,4)
Pierre OUPOllt 's hymn t o peace was still sung in the stret:t s during the world
exhibition of 1878.
[a18a,5) ,
In 1852, est ablishment of Credit MobiJier (Pereire) for fina ncing the railroad..
Eal1lhlishmellt of Credit Foncier <laml bank> and of Au Bon Marche. [aI8a,6)
" In 1857, a yea r of crisis, a series of flllancial t r ials st a rted, under the inftueaee
of the opposition to Ihe Saint-Simonian democr alil;ation of credit ; they diAclosed
an enormous amount of corrupliou alltl shady practi ce, !O uch aH fraudulent bank
ruptcies, abuse of cOll6dence, and artifi cial Jriving up of prices. An enormoua
lICnsation was caused by the Irial of Mires , whi ch st arted in 1861 and dragged OD
for yea rs. " S. Kracauer, Ja cques Offenbach und da! Paris sei ner Zeit (Amsler-
dam, 1937), p. 262." [al8a,7)
Louis to Cuizot: " We shall never be a ble t o effect anything in France, and
a day will come when my children will have no "read." S. Kracauer, Jacquu
Offenbach /lnd das Pari! seiner Zeil (AmstcrJam. 1937), p. 139.3.\ [a18a,8)
The manifesto of the Communist party was prece(ied " y mall Y otll ers. ()&' 3: Cop
siti halll 's " Manifeste de la Democralic pI.ICifiqllc ..) [al 9,l)
Fourier speaks of cubblers as " me.n 110 less poLil e t hall ot her s whell the.y gather in
associati on: Fourier. Le Nou veau MamIe illflustriel et socicllIire (Pari8. 1829),
. [aI9,2]
p.221.
III 1822. Fra nce had 0 111 )' I().()()Q l'assi" e and 110,000 aClh'e cleetoN.
Acc'ortling 10 Ihe law uf 181 7. a lIIali WIIS a passi' e eh.'t: tor <cLi gi"le for clt.'t:tiOIi to
the Chamber of Deputies) ifhe had rt:ached the age of forty and paid 1.000 francs
_ ,- ,- I taxation. He was an active e1et: tor <eligible t o vote for deputies > if he had
1111 . ....
.,1 til e age ofthirt y ami paid 300 f rallcs.)<> (Defaulting taxpayers IHld a llIall_
re
aC
",
II BoIJier?_luartercd with thelll , ""hom they haJ 10 maint ain ulltil such time as
they had settled their J ebt. ) [a19,3)
' rolldholl on lIegel: "The anlinomy is not resolved : here is the fundamellt al flaw
of all Hegeli a n philosophy. The two terms of which the antinomy is composed
bil iallceollt .... A balall ce is by no meanB a synthesis ." " Let us not forget ." adds
Clu'illier, " that PrOlldholl was for a long time II bookkeeper." Elsewhere, Prond
hOIl speaks of tbe ideas det ermining hi s own philosophy as " element ary ideas,
COllunOIl to bookkeeping and meta physics alike." Armand CuvilLier, "'Marx et
!' roudhon;' Ala Lumiere du marxi! me, vol. 2 (Paris, 1937), pp. 180-)81.
[aI 9,4)
The foUowing premise o Proudhon's, claims J\larx in Die heilijJe FamiJie <?>. had
been previously advanced by the English economist Sadler in 1830. Proudhon
says: "'This immense l)Ower that result s from the uni on and harmony of lahorer s,
from the convergence and simuJlaneity of their efforts, has 1I 0t been recompensed
by the capitaLi8l.' Thus it is that 200 grenadiers succeeded, within several hours,
in rai8ing the obelisk o Luxor on the Place de la Concorde, whereaa a sinye man
working for 200 days would have obtained no resnlt al aU. 'Separate the laborers
from one anot her, and the amount paid daily to each would perhaps exceed the
value of each individuail}rOOucl , but this is nol what is at issue here. A force of a
tholl 8and men working over a period of twent y days has been pai d whal a single
man would earn in fifty-five years ; bnt thi s force of a thousand has produced, in
twent y Jays, what the power o a singl e man, multiplied across a million centuries ,
\
could not achi eve. Is there equity in the marketpl ace?'" Cit ed in Armand Cuvil
lier, " Marx et Proudhon," A la Lumiere du mtlrxi.lme, vol. 2 (Paris, 1937), p. 196.
I [a19,5)
Unlike SaintSimon and Fourier, Proucihon was not interested in history. "The
i history of property among ancient peoples is, for us, nothing more than a matter
of erudition and curiosity" (cited in Cuvilli er, "Marx et Proucihon," p. 201).
Conservatism bound up with a lack of historical sense is just as petty bourgeois
as conservatism bound up with historical sense is feudal. [a l 9a, I)
PIoutllwll 'S a pology for the coup 11';: tat : 10 be found ill his lett er to Louis Na poleon
of April 2 1. 1858, where it is saill of the dynastic princi pl e " Ihat tlus pri nciple,
Which before '89 was simply the inca rlllltion. ill une choscn family, of J ivill" ri ght
or rcli b';ous tlwlIght , ... is or ca ll I", Ileflll etl today liS the incarllatioll. in olle
c11t18ell fami ly, of humall ri ght or the rationaltlwll ght of the revolution." Cit ed in
Arnl and Cuvi Uier, " Marx et ProudllOn," A la Lumiere clu marxistne. vol. 2. pa rt I
(Paris, 1937), p. 219. [a I9a.2)
Cuvillier presents Proudhon as a precursor of "national socialism" in the fascist
sense. {aI9a,3]
" Proudhon believed that one could abolish surplus val ue, along ""ith unearned
J
income, without transforming t.he organization of production.... Proudhon Con
]
ceived thi 8 prepo8lerou8 dream of 80cializing exchange within a cont ext of nonso
cialized production." A. Cuvillier, " Marx et Proudhon." A la I..umiere du
marxume, vol. 2, part 1 ( Paris, 1937), p. 210. [a I9a,4]

"Value measured by labor ... is ... ,in Proudhon's eyes, the very goa l of pro
p-en. For Marx, it i8 quite otherwise. The det enninalion of value by labor is not
an ideal; it is a fact. It exists in our current sociely." Armand Cuvilli er, " Marx et
Proudhon," Ala Lamikre du morxume, vol. 2, part I ( Pari8, 1937), p. 208.
{a I9a,5]
lYoudhon spoke out extremely maliciously against Fourier, and he spoke no leq
derogatorily of Cabet. This last provoked a reprimand from Marx, who saw in
Cabet, by reason of his political role in the working class, a highly respectable
man. [a I9a,6J
Blamlul '8 exclamation, on ent ering the salon of Mlle. de Montgolfier on the evcnill8
of July 29, 1830: " The Romantics are done for!"JT [aI9a,7]
Be.pnning of the June In8urrection: "'On June 19, the diuoluti on of the national
work8hops was announced 88 imminent ; a crowd gat hered a round the I-lUtel de
Ville. On June 21 , Le Moniteur announced that , the following day, worker8
seventeen to twenty-fi ve would be enwted in the army or conducted to Sologne aDd
other re.pons. It was this last expedient that most exa8perated the Paris worken.
AU these men who were used to doing detailed manual work in front of a work
bench and vise rej ected the idea of going to till the earth and layout roads in
marshland. One of the crie8 of the insurrection was: ' \lfe won' t go! We won ' t go!'"
Gustave Gefroy, L'En/erme (Paris, 1926), vol. I , p. 193. [3.20,1)
Blanqui in Le Liberateur, March 1834: "' He demolishes, by a comparison, the
notorious commonpl ace, ' The rich put the poor to work. ' ' Approximatel y.' he
saY8, ' as plantation owner s put Negroes to work, ""ith the tlifference that the
worker is not ca pital to be hushalllietl like the slave. '" Gustave Geffroy, L 'En
/erme (pari8, 1926), vol. I , p . 69. [a20,2]
Garat 's theme of April 2. 1848: " Establi shment of a corllotl 5(mitflire urotlnd the
dwellings of the rich. who are destinelito die of hungcr." Gusta\'c Geffroy, L'En
f erme (puri8, 1926), vol. I , p. 152. [a20,3]
Hefrll in of 1848: " Ha t in hllnd whcn facing the CUI), I Klu:d tl own Iwfore the
worker! " [a20,41
Fifty thou8and ""orker s in thc June IIIStll' t...: ti,," in Paris. [a20,5)
Proudhon tie/inc,. himself ItS "11 II CW ma n, a man uf Iloll' mi cs ami not of thc " a rl"i
clI,lcs: a ili on who woult! know It o"" to n'al;h goal II y Ililling c\cr)' . Iay with the
of poli ce 111111taking for Ili s 11 111111' Ot la Hoddes of tluo world."
This in 1850. Cit ed in C, ffroy, I.. 'Ellferme (p:lris. 1926). \ ' 0 1. I . pp. 180-18 1.
(a20,6]
"Ulili er the Empire--to its \'cr y end. ill fael- there was a rellc",al li lid de" elop
ment of the ideas of till' eigill ccnth century. . Pcopll!. in those days, readil y
caile,1 themsd \'es athei sts, llIat eri alist8. positil'ists; and th e vaguely reli gious or
lIIanifcstl y Cll tholic republican of IS.UI bt...:amc a ... curiosit y:' Gustave Geffroy,
L'En/erme (paris. 1897). p. 2,n . la20,7]
Blan<fui. ill the proccetlingl> takcn against till' Societe ties Ami s du Peupl e, under
questioning by thc presiding jutJge: "' What is YOllr profcssion'! ' Biamlui: ' Prole
tarian. ' JUllge: ' That is nut II profession. ' Blalltjlli : 'What ! Not a professioll? It i8
the profession of thirty million F'rCliclUllen who li ve by their labor and who are
depri\'ed of politicul right 8.' Judge: ' Well , so be it. Let the c1crk record thai the
accuscd is a prolct arian.'" De/elise till eiloyen LOllis Auguste BlcJ1I(IUi devunl h,
COl'" d'ussises, 1832 (paris, 1832) , p. 4. [a20,8)
Baudelaire on Barhier'8 Rimes heroi"qucs; " 1I1' re, to Sllea k frankly, all the folly of
the ccntury appea rs, resplendent in iu unconscious lIakedness. Under the pret ext
of writill g sonncts in hOll or of great men, Ihe poet has celebratal the Lightning rod
and the automaleli loom. The prOtli gious absurditi es to which this confusion of
ideas and functions could leall us is obviou8.' Baudelai re, L'..1rt romuntique, ed.
Hachell e, \' 01. 3 ( Paris), 1' . 336.:111 [a20a, l )
81allllui, in his De/eli se tlu eita)'e,. l.ouis Auguste Hlllllqlli clellant la cour d'as
SUes, 1832 ( Paris, 1832), fl . 14: " You ha\'e conf....ca ted t he riRes of July- yes. But
tile bullets have been fired . E" er y bullet ofthc workers of Paris is on its way rouud
,. the worl.!. " (a20a,2J
"1'1 .
Ie l1Ian of gClIIlIS n!l'resent s ut 0111'" tl ... gr eatest ,; tn'lI l;llI alld tilt" greatest weak
lI ess of humanit y.... He "11,, til e lIutiuns that till' int en' sts of the weak and tll c
of genill s l'o:l lescl . II UI'lI thai ti lt' one ca nnot lIe cluluugered wit llOut ell
II:ml,;"l"Ing the 011...1", slidl tllUt tl1l: IIltimut c limit of pCdCdihilily ", ill bc reached
olll y wlwlI thc ri ght uf the wi.1l hU\'e rCl'lall.d. lin tilt" thnn\\". the l'i gllt of
Ihc stroll!;cst .' Augusit. OI ullt lui . Critique suciu/e (f':lri 5. 1885) . \101. 2. fmgmellt s
et I/O/IS. p. 46 (" Prlll'l"ietc illll.III.IIIIt'Il' ... 1867---condIl5ion! ). [a20a,3]
0 11 1111" compliments pnitJ hy L:lIIl:lrtirw to II II,1I5..1lilol : lie L:llnurtinc. this
C:l1'tui n Cook of ocea ngoing politi l's , thi " Siullll,1 t Iw Suilo' of 1111' II ,,n
h,r),. . .. tllis 110 less rO\' ill g Ihull UIY88Cs. tlwugh huppi'I. wll o has ta ken
the Sirens to he crew of hi s and aired upon the shores of all the parties the
evcr-vllrictl lIlusic of his cOllvictions, M. de Lamartine, in his nt:vel'-fl.nding OOY8.
sey. hll8 jUlIl gentl y heached his aeoli an hark under t.he porticoes of the Stock
Exchange." Auguste OI al1tlui , Crili(llIe 50ciale (Paris, 1885). vol. 2, I). 100 ("La.
martine et Rothschild ," April 1850). [a20a,4)
Doctrine of Blanqui : "No! No one has access to the secret of the futu re. Scaredy
possibl e for even the most clairvoyant are certain presentiments , rapid a

vague and fugi tive coup d' oeil. The Revoluti on alone. as it clears the terrain, will
reveal the horizon. will remove the veils and open up the road or
rather the multipl e paths. that lead to the Dew order. Those who pretend t o have in
their pocket a complete map of thi s unknown land- they trul y are madmen.-"
Auguste Blanui . Critique 50ciale (Paris. 1885). vol. 2. pp. 115-116 ("Lei Seetes
et la Revolution," October 1866).
[a20a,5)
Parliamellt of 1849: " In a spt.'Cch delivered to the National Assembly on April 14.
M. COll8itlerant . a disci pl e ... of Fourier, had thi s to say: ' The time of obedience
is pa8l : !lien feel that they a rc equal, and they want to be free. They do not be
Iieve any 10llger. alltl they wi sh to enjoy themselves. There you have the lIate
of 8ouls .- 'You mea n the of hrutes!' interrupted M. de La Rocheja'lue-.
Iein. " L. B. Bonjean, Socialisme el sens commun (Paris, May 1849), pp. 28-29.
[02 1,11
" !\t . Dumas (of the Il18titut) exclaims: ' The blinding dust of foolish theories railed
by tile whirlwind of Febr uary has dissipated in the air, and, in the wake of thit
vani shed cloud. the year 1844 reaplH!ars with its shining countenance and iu
sublime doctrine of material int erests . '" Auguste Blanqui , Critique sociale (Paris.
1885). vol. 2, p. 1M ("Discour'S de Lamartine," 1850). [a2I,2)
In 1850, Blalltlui pens a polemic: " Rapport gigantesue de ThieN sur I' assistance
pliblitille." [a2 1,3)
" Will mail er ... assume the form of a single point in the sky? Or he cont ent with.
thousa nd , ten thousa nd, a hundred thousand points that would barely enlarge its
meager domain'! No-its vocation, its law, is infinity. It will not in the least allow
itsclf to be outflanked hy the voitl. Space will not become its dungeon. " A. OIanqui,
t p(lr/es (litre! : IIYIJOl/lese aMrOIlOmi(lue (Paris, 1872). p. 54. [a2 1,4)
At the end of II meding in the early days of the Third Republi c: "Louise Michel
anllolili Cetl that lUi effort would be Inalle 10 cOlltact Ihe wives anti children of
imprisoll ed comrudcs. 'What we ask of you,' she said. 'is 1I0tlin lI et of ehllril Y but
an acl of solidarit y; for t hol!\' who bestow cha ril Y. when they do bestow it , are
proud alltl sclf llati sfiCtJ . hUI we-we arc satisfll"d . Dalli cl Halt': vy. p(lyl
I)llri&iens (paris ( 1932 p. 165. (321,5)
Nouvelle Ntmisis, by Barthelemy (Paris, 1844), contains, in chapter 16 ("The
\l\brkers
n
), a "satire
n
which very emphatically takes up the demands of the
working class. BartM:lemy is already acquainted with the concept of proletarian.
[021,61
Barricades: " At nine o'clock in the evening. on a beautiful summer night . Paris
without streetlights. wi thout shops, without gas. without moving vehicles, pre
sented a unique tableau of desolation. At midnight , with its paving st ones piled
high, its barricades. its walls in ruins, its thousand ca rriages stranded in the mud
its boulevards devastated, its dark streelll deserted. Paris was like nothing eve:
aeen before. Thebes and Her culaneum are less sad. No noises. DO shadows, no
living beings-except the motionleas worker wllo guarded the harricade with his
rifle and pistols . To frame it all : the blood of the day preceding and the uncertainty
of the morrow. " Barthelemy and Mery. L'lnsurrection: Poeme (Paris. 1830),
pp. 52-53 (note). 0 Parisian Antiquity 0 [a2l a, I)
" Who would beli eve it! It is said that, incensed at the hour, I Latter--day Joshuas ,
at the foot of every c1ocktower. I Were firing on clock faces to make the day stand
still. " At this point a note: "This is a uni1lue feature in the history of the insurrec.
tion: it is the only act of vandalism carried out by the people agaiost public monu
ments. And what vandalism! How well it expreues the situation of hearts and
minds on the evening of tile twenty-eighth!:J9 With what rage one watched the
shadows falling and the implacable advance of the needle toward night-just as on
ordinary days! What was most singular about this episode wu that it was ob.
served, a t the very same hour. in different parts of the city. This was the I!Xpres.
sion not of an aberrant notion. an isolated whim, but of a widespread. nearly
general sentiment." Barthelemy and Mery, L 'lnsurrection: Poeme Bwr
Parisiens (Paris, 1830), pp. 22, 52. [a21a,2)
During the July Revolution, for a shon time before the tticolor was raised, the
Hag of the insurgents was black. With it the female <body> was coven=d, presum
ably the same one carried by torchlight through Paris.4G See Barthelemy and
,. Mery, L'Insurrection (Paris, 1830), p. 5 1. [a2 Ia,3)
Railroad poetry:
To a neal.h Ihe e\'erybody is hound.
Wherever Ihe trai n <: rill&cronest he land,
There'l no more twixt humbl e IInri grllnd;
All c1assel are elJulll six ret:! underground.
Ilarthelemy. Nouvelle Neme5is. no. 12, " Lu Vapeur" (Pari8, 1845) <I" 46>.
[a22, I)
? I>e.ning of the preface to 'I'issot 's De hi Mall ie dtl suicide et de i 'espri. de re uoile:
It .
IS Impossible not to be struck by two moral phenomena which are like the
aympt oma of a disease that today, in its own particul ar way, ia ravagi ng the body
ami limbs of aociety: we a re speaki ng of . uicide alld revolt. Impati ent with aU law,
di scont ent etl with all positi on, the individuul r ises lip (:. Iuuli y ugainst human na
ture and against munki ml , against hillUlelf and agaiust societ y . ... The man of Our
tillle. and the "' rend ull an perhapa more than any ot her. having ,'iolently broken
wit h the pust ... alld looked witl. fear toward a futlln! whosc hori :..:on already
to !tim so glOOlllY, kill s himself if he is weak , .. , if he lacks faith in . . . the
betterment of men and, above all, lacks faith in a providence capable of

good from evil ." J . Tissot , De la Manie du SILicide el de l'esprit de reVOile (Paris,
1840) <p. V ), The author claims 1I0t to have known the books by Fregier, ViUerme,
and Degeraude at the ti me he drafted his work. [a22,2)
Concerning Flora Tristan's " Mcphis": "This proletarian name, which now is 80
readily inteUigible , ... sounded ext remely romantic and mysterious in those days.
h marked the pariah, the gaUey slave, the carbonaro, the artist , tbe regenerator,
the adversar y of the J esuit s. From his encounter with a beautiful Spalliard wae
born the inspired woman who must redeem the world. " J ean Cassoll , Quararlte
hui, ( Paris ( 1939 , p. 12. {a22,3}
Wi th regard 10 the exoti c enterprises of Considerant and Cahet, 81anqui speaks of
experimentil carried out " in a corner of the hunl an species." Cited in CU!!Ou,
Qua rante-Ilui" p. 41 . [a22,4}
The uDemploynlent rate in Engla lld between 1850 and 1914 rose only once above 8
pe rcent. (In 1930, it reached 16 1>cn:ellt .) {a22,5]
" The t ypographer Burgy, in hi il book Pre,em et avenir des ollvners, preaches ...
celibacy to his companions: the picture of Ihe proletarian condition would not be
,
complete if one left oul the shadows of resignation and defeati sm, " J ean Cauou,
QlIll ran,e-huil (Paris <1939, p. 77. [a22a,11
Gui1.ot , ill 011 Mouvemelll e! tlu resishlllce en poli lique: " Auy man of above-aver
uge intelli gence who has neither property nor business-that is t o say, who is
unwilling or unable to pay a tribute to the li tate--should be considered dangeroul
from a polil ical si alltipa int. " Citt!.1 ill Cassou, Quarmrte-hllit . p. 152. [a22a,2]
Guizot ill 1837. to the Chamber: " Today- apart from force of law- you have but
one effectivc gt;aruIII{',' against Ihis revolutionary disposition of the poorer classes:
. r k "C I
III
C
nssou, I'p. .
1
0
)-
.,
- ... .
[a22a3]
work, Ihe e'lIIstalit nCt:c.'I81I y 0 ....or , Il c.
1'3
,
U1 all((ui. in his leit er to Maillurd: "T hunk hea vclI there are ilO many bOllrgeoill
the calliI' uf ti m pl'oll'l a riut. It is tllcy .... ho I'eprcsellt the chief st rcll b>1h of
calli I' , or al least illl moSI lusting st rcnglh. They prmitlc it wilh a cUliti ng.ent
Iliminarieil lj ll ch us tht. 1.eol'Ic themselves, unfort unately. "anll ot ycl furnISh. 1
WII S tllC hOllrgeois ... IUI fint rll isc.1 Ihe flag of the prolcillri nt , ...hu formulated,
propagated, ali(I maintained the egalitarian doctrines, and who restored them
uft er Iheir downfuU. Everywher e it is bourgeois who lead the I>cople in their battles
agui nst thc buurgeoisie. ,. A pUilsuge immediutdy following deals with the buurgeoi
sit" iI ellpioit ation of the proletariat ail political shock troopil. Mauri ce Dommanget,
IJlaliqui aHeile-lie (PliriS, 1935) . 1'1' . 176-177. [a22a,4]
"'fhc terrible scourge of poverly, 80 relentless in ils lorments, requires a no less
lerrihle remt.'tl y. and celilJacy apl>ca rs the mosl certain among those pointed oul to
liS hy social sci ence." In connection with Ii reference to Malthus: " In our day the
piti less Marcus [evitlelltly used for " Mahhus"1, unfolding the dismal conl5e(luences
of a limit leils incr ease in l)Opulalion . , , , li as venl ured to propose asphyxiatinr;
those bahi es horn to indigent families that already have t hree children, and then
compensating Ihe mothers for suffering an act of such cr uel necessity, . , . Here we
ha\'e the last ....ord of the economists of England!" [ J uJes Burgy.1 Pre.ent et avenir
des OlllJrier. (Paris, 1847), pp. 30, 32- 33.
[a22a,5]
There e:ltistt on earth an infernal vat
Named Paris; it is one large oven,
1\ "il or wide circumference,
Hinged by bends or a muddy yellow ri ver.
h il a seethinll volcano that never flol18 erupting;
It. shock ...aves t ra\'e!t hrough human mailer.
Auguste Barbier, l ambe. et poemes (Paris , 1845), p. 65 ("La Cuve" <The Vat .
[>23,11
The Paris purebred is this pale guttersnipe,
Stunted growth, yellowed like an old penny,
'Th.is boy hooting. out at all houn
Strolling indolent down unfamiliar lanes,
Routing the: skinny mutU, or, all along the high walls,
Chalking a thousand unchaste figurc:s , whistling the while,
TIm child, believing nothing, who turns up 1m nose at mother;
t lllC: admonition to pray is for him a bad joke.
Auguste Barbier, lambes d ponneJ, p. 68 ("La Cuve"). Hugo had already re
touched these traits in the figure ofGavroche. {a23,2}
b
-
[Daumier]
A paradoxical description of Daumier's art: "Caricature, for him, became a son
of philosophic operation which consisted in separating a man from that which
society had made of him, in order to reveal what he was at bottom, what he
could have been under different circumstances. He extracted, in a word, the
latent self." Edouard Dnunont, UJ HiroJ d Ie; pitre; (Paris <1900, p. 299 ("Dau
mier"). [bl ,l]
On Daumier 's bourgeois: "This Olllified, inert , crystallized waiu for the
omnibus leans on an umbreUa that expres&ee some unutt erable idea of absolute
petrifaction." Edouard Drlllllollt, Les lIeros et U!' pitrea (Paris), p. 304 (" Oau.
mier"). [bl ,21
"Many writers ... acquired fame and fortune by mocking the fault. and infirmi
ties of others. Monnier, 0 11 the other hand. did not have 10 go very Car to find bit
model: he planted himself before the mirror, listened to himself Ihinking .ad
talking, a nd, finding himself highl y ridiculous, he conceived this cruel incarna
tion, tlus prodigious satire of the French bourgeois, whom he named Joseph Prud
homme." Alphonse Daudet , Trente ans de Pam , p. 91.
" Not onl y does cari cature greatly accentuat e the techniques of drawing, .. . but it
has always been the means of introducing new subj ect matter into art. It wu
through Monni er, Ga varni , and Daumier that the bourgeois societ y of this century
was opened up to art. " Eduard Fuchs, Die Kurikutur der eltropiii&chen VOlker.
4th ed. (Munich <1 92 1 , vol. I , p. 16. [b1,4)
""On August 7, 1830, Loui s Philippe was . . . proclaimed . .. king. On
of that same year. the fi n t iu ueof La Curicafure appeared , the journal created Y
PhiliJ>o n." Eduard Fuchs . Dk Kurikatur der ellropiiuchell VOiker'(Mwucb), vol.
I , p. 326. [bI ,5)
11> 1,61
M..i chelet wanted to 8t.'e Oll t' of hi8 wor ks illustra ti!(1 by Da llmi cr.
" Philipoll invenl cd a lIew chll l""ln:ler t ype, . .. whi ch was sa id to havc hrought him
nearly a8 much ... popula.rity 88 hi8 pean: '!tobert Macaire; the type of the
tllIscrl11>u lous slJecuJator and promoter."
1
Eduard Fuel l8. Die Kurikulllr tier
ell ropiiilcil ell VOlker (Mullich). \'01. 1. p. 354. [bI,7)
"TllI' lust issue of IAI CtlriClIf llre. daletl Augusl 27. 1835. ... Il c\'otetl ... to
Iht' pl"olllul ga lion of t he ... Septemhe r Laws ... whi ch ... represent t.'(1 in
tin: f01"1II of pca n." Eduard Fuchs. Die Karika'"r tier ellropii isclu!.II Volker. vol. I ,

Travics , the crca tur of Muycll x; Gavurni . the creat or of Thomas VirclOIIUtl ; DUII
lIlicr, thc (rcat or of Ha lapoil- Ihe UUII Ulla rtist IUlllpenprolct arian. [bI ,9]
0 11 JUIlUUI'Y I, 1856, Phili llon rebaIJt.ize. I.e ) a,, -ou/ po . I.e )
, ur rlre a8 ol/nlt,[
unUMallt .
/b1,101
"" Whenevcr a priest ... exhort ed the gi rl s of II viUage never to go to the dance, or
the IJeaBlI lI ls never to fre<lucnt the t a\'ern, Courier 's epigrams would climb the beU
lo ...er and sound the alarm, proclaiming the advent of die Inquisition in France.
His pampllJels, mcll n ...hil e. would make til e whole country li sten to the sermon."
A1fretl Nctt emelll , Hisloire de la litterafllre!raru;(file sou..! ta Re51UIlr(lli<m ( Paris.
1858), vol.l , p.421. [bh,l )
" Mayeux ... is aClua Uy an i.mit ation. Under Loui s XIV, ... II particular costume
dance cau800 8n uproa r : children made up .118 old me n , a nd s porting enor mOU8
hunchbacks, cJl:et!lIt ed grotesque 6gures. It was known 8 S the "Ma yeux of Brit
tany" dance. The Maycux who was made a memher oftbe Carde Naliolluie in 1830
was merely a very ill bred descendant of these old Mayeux." Edoll ard Fournier
Enigme, tIcs rue, tie Paril (Paris. 1860), I). 35 1. [bl a,2j
,::til Da Ullli cr : ....By 11 0 one more than Daumier li as the bourgeois been known and
IO\etl (afler the fashi on of a rtists)--thc bourgeois. this last vestige of the Middle
Ages. thi, Cothi c r uin that dies 80 ha rd. thi s t yPtl at once 80 commonplace and 80
t.'CCc nl r . "CI I 8 I I .
i
IC. lar es aUf e a ln!, us Deuill s de DlIllmier ( Pari s <1924 . p . 14. 2
[bl a,3)
011 Oa umi el"" " II .. I r 1 I
. Ilj ca rll;aIUl'c las 01"11111 11 Jle lirca dlh. but it is quil e witllOlil bil e
or rUIl CUI. III all Ilis . k ,I . , . r I r .
"' ur II rc IS a Utili( atlOlI 0 deccncy ami honhonnc. \'1i'e
should 1101., Ihat I I r r I I
. . . Ie las 0 tCIi rc to landlc cert ain \'er}' finl' and violcllt
8
11 1
11'1I"1I 1Ihl'lliCS I ., . I, 1 I . . .
It II "HilI , I. ICY cxccIde. llllC IlIIlIt i> of the comlt lultl 1:0111(/
...uUnt/ ll ... fl"eli r I ' r II "CI
. II g80 II" 1' . 0 .... men. lad es n a uddllirc. /--es Deuitu tie Dtw .
"1I1'r ( 1924 ). p. 16 . .1 [bI:JA)
0 " MUlJllil r " nul '1 , " I ..
. . . ... la a grcill S(l urec I. u'sc IInpI_' rlurbaMc cummClll a
t0l"!! rCulai ll ! Balzac look t il " " 'C I 0' r. " .
' 0 e amc... 1. ' 0 I U III 0 111111' ''. a.o; ....cll ll s II ... II11me8
." , I ' 0 . , A I \ I"
.. { esculIl gs. III I nlllo e rUll ce I< HJ k from Ilim the IIl1me ' Mil '
I
1lIlIle llcr '0 ' "I' I d k .
gcn:. JusI a8 lIuuc.r ll& l a ell , wlth a \'cryslighl alt cral.i oll . lli c name
"-
' Monsieur Pep;uchet. .. Marie-J eanne Durry, "De Monnier II Balzac," Vendredi,
March 20. 1936, p. 5. (b la,5]
When does Gavroche first appear? Who are his forebears? Is his first appearance:
in Lei MiIirabfes? Abel Bonnard on the hommtji-tfilli <adulterated man>-"good
only for provoking events he could not control7' "nus type of individual, origi
nating in the nobility, has undergone a descent-and lost all his gilding in the
process-through the whole spectrum of society, to the point where what was
bom in the foam at the surface has come to rest in the slime at the bottom. What
began in persiflage has ended in a sneer. Gavroche is, very simply, the marquis or
the gutter." Abel Bonnard, Lei ModiriJ, in series entitled Le Drame du prisent, vol.
1 (Pan. <1936 , p. 294. [b",6)
" Everyone kntlw Daumier'a mythological cari catures. which, in the words of
Baudelaire, made Achilles, Odysseus, and the reet look like a lot of played-out
tragic actors, inclined to take pinchea of snuff at moments when no one was look
ing. " S. Kracauer, Ja cque, Offenbach wuJ. dm Paris seiner Zeit (Amsterdam,
1937), p. 237.' (b2,1]
Fourier. " Not content with extracting from his works the innumerable amusing:
inventions to be found there, the gazetteers add to them-for example, the btl8i
DCSS oftbe tail with an eye O D ill! tip , supposedly an attribute ofmeD of the future.
He protests vehemently against tIm mali ciow f.brication ." F. Armand and
R. Mallblanc, Fourier (Paru. 1937), vol. I , p. 58. (b2,2]
The Pagan School is opposed not only to the spirit of Christianity but also to the
spirit of modernity. Baudelaire illustrates this, in his essay "UEcoJe paienne," with
the aid of Daumier: "Dawnier did a rc:markable series of lithographs, L'Huloire
anciennt, which was, so to speak, the best paraphrase of the famous saying, ' Who
.will deliver us from the Greeks and Romans?' Daumier pounced brutally upon
antiquity and mythology, and spit on them. The hotheaded Achilles, the prudent
Ulysses, the wise Penelope, that great ninny 1elemachus, the beautiful Helen
( who ruined Troy, the ardent Sappho, patroness of hysterical women-all were
POrtrayed with a farcical homeliness that recalled those old carcasses of classical
who take a pinch of snuff in the wing3." Charles Baudelaire, I.:Art roT1ldn
Honore Daumicr, ca. 1857. PhotO by Nadar. Collection Societe de
hqUt, ed. Haebette (Paris), vol. 3, p. 305.$ (b2,3j
Pho<ognphi' .
Mayeux (Travies), Robert Mac-u ire (Duumier ). Prudhomme (Monnier).
[b' ,' )
d
[Literary History, Hugo]
" Thien
,
a rgue
d h ' , d., .lion was ' the beginning of ease, and l inceeaaewu
1 at , Since
h '" ' "0 should not he within reach of aU. Moreover,
not reserved for all, t en t:\I uca I n
. e8. .... nll ible for the events of June ... and deeta.nd
he held lay Instructors ... r ... - . . '" A Mal t aDd
himlelf ' ready to put the clergy in char ge of all pnmary educabon. . c[dll)
P. Grillet, XIX' Si.le (Paris, 1919). p. 258. ,
25 1848
' "Durin, the afternoon, armed mobs demanded that the red
February . . L tin a.....:l to
' I fl' , Aft er a viol ent debate, anlllr e maD-e"'"
Aag replace
th
e Inco or . . . . d' d h
' I . i.sed address whose conclu IRS wor II ave re
turn them back WIt I an unprov '..,hit 8 r blood
. ed famous: 'I shall repudiate 10 the very death. he cned. t ag 0
mam I F his edftag that youwave be(orew
Ch:::Pd:Marl, loaked tbheblood
1d
o:y: -
Ie in ' 91 and ' 93, wherea8 t he tn
'
co
I
or
fl
a
, has bee

n pa ra cut
..
ewor
alet aad

peop d h libert of the Fatherland. A. M
with the name , the glory, an t. e y [dl,21
P. Grillet , XIX' Sieck (Pari8, 1919), p. 245.
'Le 0 ' t ' Balzac lamented the fall of the
" In an admirable article entitled epar , d th . h of the
80.,bo
D8 whi ch for him meant the death knell of the arts an e. tnumP lci . ,
, . h el I 'chthe ng wa8 depart
......Idlerfl of political n08trum8. Invoking t e vess on n b the stonDI. , ..
....... . I d I '. beyond this bttlc oat are
ing he exclaimed: ' There IS awan oglc, . 1927 233. [dl,3)
J . Lucas-Duhreton. Le CornIe d 'A,-tou. CfuJ,-k, X <Pans, ), p.
k h bear the name of M. Dumas? Does be
b
" Who knows the titles of all the 00 s tat . d " h debits and
d
k P a two-column ref:or Wit of
know them himself? IJ he oes not ee I f those children
I I
f otten more I Hili one 0
credit8 he will no dou)t lave org . . . I If ther His output
f h II latunl falher, or t Ie gOt a .
whom he is the legi t.imat e a t er, or I e I . I . " Paulin Limayra
c

in recent months has amount ed to II Ot less than t1urt y vo ",1111: 8. del 11 no. 3
. " ReVile del (eux mOtl
"Du Roman actuel ct de nos romanClers, [dl ,4]
(Parill, 1845), pp. 953-954.
__. ....allant
I f M ti c Balzll c-to I'rel.u ct a y
1 Olucal ' " What a happy thought un t Ie part o. . . . g in that?
r . ff d r t Whlltuilosurpnsln
n:\'olt and demand the rt.. "Cstahlishment u ell a Ism. 11\1 S )"k wise To eacb
It is lUll idea of socialism. Mme. SlIml has a nother. all( . lie I e
nO\e1ist hi s owu." Palllin Limayrac, " Du Roman actuel et de U08 romaucierfl,"
ReVile del deux nlf.Jllliel, 11 , 110.3 (Paris. 1845), pp. 955-956. [dl .5]
"Citi zen Hugo made his tlebut al the tribune of the National Assembl y. He was
"' hal we expected; a phrasemaker and a gesticulator, full of empt y, high-fl own
oralory. Continui ng along the perfidious a nd sla nderous path of his recent broad_
8ide. he spoke of the ullemployed , of the indigent , of the idlerfl and do--nothinp,
the 8coIlJldrds who are the praetoriaus of the uprising, the cotldoltwri. In a word,
he ran the metaphor ragged to arrive at all attack 011 the national workshops." Le,
HOlllel ,-ollgej: Fellilk till club pacifique des droit, tie l'homme. ed. Petiu, ht
ycar. J line 22-25 [ 1848] ("Faits divers"). [dI a,l]
" It is as though Lamartiue had made it his miu iou to implement Plalo's teaching
on the necessit y of ba ni shiug poets from the r epublic, and one cannot help l miling
as one reads dus a llthor '8 account of the worker who was part of the la rge demon_
stration in frout of the Hotel de Ville, aud who I houted at the speaker: 'You' re
nothing but a lyre! Co sing'''' Friedrich Szarvady, Paris, 1848-1852, vol. 1 (Ber
lin, 1852), p. 333. [dla,2]
Chateauhriand: " He hrings into fashion that vague sadness, ... 'Ie mal du siecle'
<the infi r mity of the century). A. Malet and P. Crillet, Sieck (Paris, 1919),
p, 145.. (d1 a,3)
"' U we couJd have our wish ... ' This desire, this regret- Baudelaire was the firet
to int erpret it , twice giving voice, in L'Art romantiqu.e, to uuexpected praise for a
poet of his day. the author of a "Chant des ouvrierfl," that Pierre Dupont who, he
tells us, ' after 1848 ... attained great glory.' The specification of this revolution
ary date is very important her e. Without this indi cation, we might have troubl e
understalldiug the defense of popuJar poetry, and of an art ' inseparable from
utilil y,'1 on the part of a writ er who couJd Jl an for the chief architect of the
rupture of poetry and a rt with the masses, .. , 1848: that is the hour when the
&treet beneath Baudelaire's wi.ndow begins in ver y truth to tremble, when the
,. theater of the illt eri or fIIUSI yield him up in all magnifi ceuce, to the theater of the
exterior, as SOmeone who incarnates. at the highest level, the concern for human
ernall cipation in a ll its forms . as well as the consciousness, alas, of everything thai
is ridicul ously ineffectuul i.n thi s aspira tiou aloue. whereby the gift of the artist
alit! of t he IIllin hecollies total- Baudelaire's anonymous collaboration on u SOlid
public of f'ehruary 27 lind 28 effectively proviug the IKl int. .... This communion of
the poet, of till: a uthenti c IIrtisl , with a "'asl class ofpeopl c impell ed by their ardent
hllnger for fn...doul . ,' V"n partial fn-cdom. haij every chance of t:mergi ug spont a ue
ousl)' at ti meH of grl'al sociu! ferment . ""hell reservatio"8 call be laid asitle. Rim
bllllt! . in wllolll the d aims of the human tcud. nOIlNhcleu . . , . 10 folio". an iufinite
COUrse. plact>JI , from t he olllsct . Il ll hi.s confidence allli elan vital in the Commune.
M")'llkovsky t o grellt Icnph8 to silence in himliClf- bottUng it up to the l)Di ul
of explosion--t:...erytIaillg horn of indi vidual feeling that nught 110 1 com'uce to the
exclusive glory of the triumphant Boillhevik Revolution." Andre Breton, "1..
Grande Actualite poetique," Minotaure, 2, no. 6 (Winter 1935), p. 61. [d2, 1]
-
"Progrelll il the very fOOtilep of God." Victor Hugo, " Anniversaire de la revolu_
tion de 1848," February 24, 1855 (on Jersey), p. 14. [d2, 2]
" Victor Hugo it the man of the nineteenth century, 81 Voltaire wall the man of the
eighteenth." "The nineteenth century thull comel to a c10le before its end. ItJI poet
it dead." Obituary notice. for Hugo in Le National Republicain th l'Ardeche and
Le Phare de. Charente. [VICtor Hugo devant l'opinwn (Pa ri l, (885), pp. 229,
4]. [<12.3)
Student, or the IJChooh or France,
CheerfuJ voluntf!en ror provell,
Let UI rouo" the people in it, wUdom;
Let u,turn our back. on Malthu and hit decree.!
Let UI up.t up the new road"aYI
Which labor Ihall open;
For lJOCiali, m &oar, on two winp,
The . tudent and the worker.
Pierre Dupont, Le Chant de. itudian'. (Parill, 1849).
A. Michiels, HisJoin des idieJ liJtlraire.s en R-ana au XIX' Jiic/e (Paris, 1863h
vol. 2, provides, in his portrait of Saime'Beuve, an outstanding description of the
reactionary man of letters at midcentury. [d2a,IJ
I cau&ed a revolutionary wind to blow;
I made the old luicon don the inlurtenu' red cap.
No more word., Senator! Commoner, no more!
I raised a ' torm at tbe bottom or the inkweU.
Victor Hugo, cited in Paul Bourget, obituary for Victor Hugo in Le Journal_
dibou [Victor Hugo devant l'opinwn (Paris , (885), p. 93]. [d2a,3)
On Victor Hugo: "He wall ... the poet not of hil own l ufferings ... but of tile
panion, or thOle around him. The nlOurnfui voicel or the victiml or the Terror .
made their way into the Ode . Then the trumpet bl8ltl of the Napoleonic victone.
resounded in other odes.... Later on, he felt obliged to let the tragic cry cl
militant democracy pass through him. And what i8 J.a Ugellde de iede ... it
not the echo of the great turmoil of human hil tory? ... It often seems 88 thouPt be
had coUected the sigh8 of all families in hi8 domestic verse, the breath of aU
in hi8 love poems .... It is for !hill reallon that , ... thanks to some mysteno
lP
quality in him that ill alwaYIL collective and general , Victor Hugo'l poetry
an epic character." Paul Bourget, obituary notice for Victor Hugo in Le Jourrutl
del debatl [Victor IIuso devant "opinion (Paris, 1885), pp. 96-97]. (d2.,.)
,
,
i
Viaor Hugo, ca. 1860. by Etierme Ca!jat. Courtcly, Mweum ofFme Arts,
Rtproduool with pomission. 0 1999 Museum or Fme Arts, Boston.
nghts reserved.
It is worthy of note that the preface to Matkmoi.stlle de Maupitf already seems to
be pointing the way to ['art pour /'ar/. "A stage play is not a railroad train."
[d2i ,5]
Gautier on the prtl8ll : "Charl eij X alone hu understootl the question rightly. III
ordering the suppression of the newspapers. he rendered a greal .erviee to tbe artt
and to civil.ization. Newspapers are akin to courli era and go-betweens. those who
int erlJOSe themsclvell between a rtiliU and the pubUc. betwcell the king and the
peuple .... Theile IJCrpctual yelping! ... crell te such 1111 atmosphere of mi8trutt
thll t ... r OYlih y allli poetry, the two greatest thing/! in the world, become impo8li.
ble. " Cited in A. llistoire des idees liueraires en France au XIX' siecle
(Paris. 1863). vol. 2. 1). 445. Thill attitude earned Gautier the friendship of BalQc.
[<13,1)
"' In the transports of hi. hatred [for the critics1. M. Theophile Gautier dewell aU
progress . especially in the a rea of Utera ture a nd art, as docs his master, Victor
Hugo. " Alfred Histoire des idees lilleraircs en France au XIX' .ieCM
(Paris. 1863), vol. 2, p. 444. [dJ,21
"Steam will conquer cannon. In two hundred yeari-well before. perhaps--g-eat
armies from England. France, and Americil .. . will descend upon old Aliia under
the leadership of their general . Thei r weaponll will con. ist of pickaxes, and their
horse8 will be locomotives. Singing, they will fa ll upon these uncultivated, u.nuaecl
lands.... It is thus, perhaps, that war will be waged, in the future, againJt aD
unproductive nations, by virtue of that a,uom of meebanics which appliet to aD
thingtl: there must be no \o<\' ali ted energy!" Maxime Du Camp, Le, Chonu modema
(Paris, 1855), p. 20 (" Preface"). [d3,3)
In t he )lrt:face to UI Comedw hilt/mine, Balzae declares himself on the of.
B088uet a nd Bonaltl , and affirms: " I write by the failltlight of two eternal ventlel: .
ReUgion and Monarchy." [d3.'1
Bubac on the press, in the preface to the fi rst editi on of Un Grand Hom",:
province aParis: " The public is unawa re of how many evil s beset lit erature lJl.tI
commercial transforma tion .... 1.11 the old days, newspapcrl! ... rctluired a
lain number of copie!! ... Tlus was over a nd above pa yment for articles attracUve
to ... bookseUen-paymellt oft en made without any guarant ee t hat t hese articl:
would aplJCa r ill print . . .. Today, thi s douhle l ax has heen dr ivclI up t
exorbi tant price of adverti ll ing, whi ch costs as much as tl lll at:lUal prociuctJOn
[1[ ' 00 W"t
the hook ... . One ca n olll y conclude that newspal)CrI! a re ala or m ern .
ers:' Cit ed in GeorgclI Bata uh, Le I'ol.tife (Ie 10 ,/emf/gogie: Victor Hugo
1934) . p. 229.
l &l8-J uIiC rcp"cssioll- Victo
r
III thc d.hal e ill t he Cha mber un NO\'cmher 25.
[d3,6)
Hugo vuted against Cavaign ac.
" The nlUhiplica tion of readcrs is the muhjpli cation of loaves. On the day Christ
,lisco\ert...1 titi s !!ymbol, he foreshadow ....1 the printing press." Vi ctor Hugo. Wi1-
/iom cilt...1 ill Bata ult POlltife de UI (/Cmllgogie (Paris, 1934).

Maximc LislJUnlle comment ll. ill t 'Ami du /Jell/,Ie . 011 Victor Hugo's will . Begi nning
alld cOllclusion of tlus stat emeut : "Victor Hugo di vide8 his fortune of 6 million
francs as foll ows: 700,000 fra ncs to the memhers of Ius famil y; 2.5 million francs 10
J eatHIt' II ml Georges, hi s grlllHl childr cn .... Alltl for the revolutionaries who,
siuce 1830, !!lI crifi ced "'ith him for the republic. and who a re 8till in this world. a
Lifetime alllluit y: twenty IIOU!! pe r day!" Cited in Victor IIlIgo devont I'opinion
(I'"aris. 1885), pp. 167- 168. [d3a, IJ
In the debate in th e Chamber on November 25, 1848, Victor Hugo voted against
Cavaignac's repression of theJune revolt. But onJune 20 in the Chamber, during
the discussion of the national workshops, he had coined the phrase: "'The Mon
archy had its idlers; the Republic will have its do-nothings." [d3a,2]
Seigneurial elcments still obtain in nineteenthcentury education. Saim-5imon's
declaration is characteristic: "I used my money to acquire knowledge. Good
food, fine wines, much alaoiry visavis the professors, to whom my purse was
opened-these things procured for me all the opportunities I cou1d desire." Cited
in Maxime Leroy, La Vie umtaiJle du cornie Henri de SaintSirnfJTJ (Paris, 1925),
p.21O. [d3a,3]
As regards the physiognomy of Romanticism, attention might focus , first of all,
on the colored lithograph in the Cabinet des Estampes, Sf. 39, vol. 2, which
undcnakes its allegorical represen tation. [d3a,4]
Engraving from the Restorati olllJCriod , showi ng a crowd gathered before Ihe shop
of a publisher. A placa rd announces that the Album po"r 1816 bas a ppeared.
Caption: " Ev" rything new is beautiful ." Cabinet des Estalll lJes. [d3a.5]
i
Lithogr aph. A poor (Ievi llookll on dolefull y as a young gentleman signs tbe pict ure
"'hi ch the fOrlller has paint ed . Til lc: L'A rtist e et l 'tlmtlteur dll XIX' siecie. Cap
tio
ll
: "" It is liy me. liecing that l li ign il. " Cahinet des Esta mpe.. [d3a.6]
Li t /\ I. r,selltillg a painter walking ll iong and ca rrying un(l er his a rm t wo
10ll g "hUlks, 0 11 each of whicll he has painted va rious garni shes ami ar
a
r nge'lIelils of IIwats. Title: Les Arts et In misere <Povert y and the Art!!). " Oedi
C""'tIt o (\I t'lisiellrs the Purk Butchers." Ca ption: " The lIl an of art in the toil!! of Ius
trade:' CII \'ill et lles ESlampllI. [d3a.7]
J IlCtllt UI tic MireeOtlrl AieX(IIl(l r e 1J,,,mu et Cie, fa briqlle lIe rOllllln"
<Alexa.ulre Dumas 111111 Co. Manufactory of Noveu> (Parill, 1845). (d3a.8)


< .
'Artiste et l'amatnJr du dix-ntUWme JiicJe (The AnUt and the Amateur of the Nineteenth
Cc:nnuy). Courtesy of the Bibliot:heque Nationale de France. Sec d3a,6.
Dumas pere. " In September 1846, Minister Salvandy proposed to him tba'
travel to Algeria and write a book about tbe colony .... Dumas, ... 'who wa:::.,
by five million Frenchmen at tbe very leal t , would give 80mefifty or aixt y tho the
of them 8 talte for colonialism .... Salvandy offered 1O,(M)() franca to cover
C08t of the voyage; Alexandre demalliJed , in addition to this, ... a 8tate VeIIse) ....
Why bad the Ve:Joce. which was charged with picking up freed, in
gone to Cadiz ... ? Memhenl of Parliament .eized on the meldeD!. And M.
CasteUane pointedly que.tioDed the logic of entru. ting a lICienti6c mi88ioD . . to.
journalistic entrepreneur: the French flag had debased iudf in granting ' that
feUow' il a protection; 40,000 franc, had been spent for no reason, and the ridicuJe
was clearly audible on aD sides." The affair ended in Duma.' favor after hU
challenge to a duel was dec::lined by Ca.teDane. J. Luca.-Dubreton, La Yre d 'Alex
(I,wre DumaJ per c (Paris <1928, pp. 146, 143-149. Id4,1]
Alexandre Dumas in 1848. "Hi. proclamations ... are ... a.tonisbing. In one of
them, addrel8ed to the working people of Paris. he cnumeratee bia 'worb for
worken, ' and proves, by citing figures, that in twenty yean he has composed four
hundred novels and thirty-five play., which have enabled him to provide a livins
(or 8, 160 person. , including tYpe!letters, (oremen, machinUtI, wherettes, and
............. .

r
l.'1!0I1I.me tk /art dans l'tmharr4S Jf)/'I mltier (The Man ofAn in the
of His li'ade). Coonesy of the BibliothCque Nationale de France.
d3a,7.
professional applauders. " J. Lucas-Duhreton, La Vw d 'Akxandre Duma$ pere
(Paris), p. 167. [d4,2]
"Tile bohemian of 1840 .. . is dead and gone. Did he really exi st? I have heard it
said that he did not .-Whatever the case may he, you could comb through aU of
Paris at the present moment, and not come upon a single example .... There are
certain neighborhoods, and a very great number of them, where the bohemian has
never pitched his tent . . .. The bohemian flourishes along the boulevards, from
the Rue Montmartre to the Rue de la Pail: .... Less frequently in the Latin Quar
ter, formerly his main abode .. .. Where does the bohemian come from? Is he a
product of the social or the natural order? ... Who is to blame for the develop
ment of this species-nature or society? Without hesitation, I answer: nature! .. .
As long as there are idlers and fops in the world, there will be bohemians. " Gabriel
Guillemot, Le Boheme, in the series entitled PhY$i.onomie$ parisienne$ (Paris,
1869), pp. 11 , 18-19. 111-112. Something similar on the grisettea in this series.
[d4,3[
It would be useful to trace historically the "theses" of bohemia. The attitude of a
Maxime Duchamps <Du Camp?>, who holds success to be a proof of the lack of
artistic quality, stems directly from that which is expressed in the statement,
"There is nothing beautiful but what is forgotten," which occurs in Lurine's
Trritieme ammdwemenl de Paris <Paris, 1850>, p. 190. [d4,4]
The RaIaier s' Club (Cer cle des Rafales) : "No famous names there. Should a mem
ber of the Rafalers ' stoop so low as to make a name for himself-whether in
politics, literature, or the arts-he would be mercilessly struck from the list."
[Taxlle Delord,1 (Paris, 1854), pp. 12-13. [J4.,5]
Victor Hugo's drawings, in his house at 6 Place des Vosges, where he lived from
, 1832 to 1848: Dolmen W/rm tire Voice ofShadow Spoke 10 Me; Ogive; My Destiny (a
giant wave); 1M Sail Recedes, the Rock Remains (gloomy rocky seashore; in the
foreground a sailing ship); Ego Hugo; VH (allegorical monogram); Lawork and
( Specter. A sail with the inscription "Exile" and a tombstone with the inscription
"France" (pendants, serving as homemade frontispieces, to two of his books)j
Alexandre Dumas perc, 1855. PhotO by Nadar. Counesy of the Bibliotheque Nationa1e The Borough ofArigelI; Village irl Moon/ig"t; Practa Sed ImJicta (a wreck) j a break
de France. Water; a fountain in an old village, around which all the stonns on earth seem to
have gathered. [d4a,l ]
;' W
e
have had novels about bandita purified by imprisonment- the tales of Vau
trin and of J ean Valjean; and it was not to stigmatize t.hem ... that the writers
eVoked these melancholy figures .... And it is in a city where 120,000 girls live
seCretl y from vice and 100,000 individuals live off gi.rl s. it is in a city infested with
hardened criminals, cutthroats, housebreaker s, carriage thieves, shop breakers,
shoplifters, rabble rousers, COli men, pickpockets, predators. shakedown artis18,
guardian angels.
3
swindlers, and lockpickers-in a city, I say, where aU the wrec::k
age of di80nlcr alul vi ce rUIi Saground, ulIll where the di ght cst spark call set fire to
the suhli ma tell populucc. it is hcre that thi s corrupting lit cruture-- ... L.e"
iUy3feres de ' Juris. I(OClllllboie. allli u s Miserabies-is IIrulluccd ." Cha rles
LoUlinti re, l .es Idi.'es subver si ves de nOire lemps (Paris. 1872), III). 35-37. [d4a,2}
" The incompl ete copy in tJu: Dihliotha lue Nationale is for us to of
the holdnC8s and novdt y of the I)rojeet cOllcei ved by Balzac .... u f'euiileton de.
journaux politillue" ai med at less than the elimina ti on of booksellers .
Di n:ct sale from publisher to purchuer was the plan ... b)' which everyone would
benefit- the Imblisher ami the a uthor by ma king a profit , the purchaser by
less for books. Tbis a rrangement ... met with no success at all, doubtJc s bec:a uae
t he booksellers were against it ." Louis Lumet , introduction 10 Honore de Bahac,
Critique litteraire (pa ri s, 19 12), p . 10. [d4a,3}
The three short -lived periodicals founded by Babac: u f'euilietoll des joltrnaw:
politiques ( 1830), L.a ChroFlique de Paris (1836-1837), La Revue poriAienne
(1 84<)), [db,4]
" Recollection has value only as pretliction. Thus, Ilistory shouJd be classed as a
scicll ce: practi cal " ppliCalion constantly proves ils utility." Honore-de Bahlac,
Critique lifteraire, intrmJuction b), Louis Lumet (Paris, 1912), p. 117 (r eview or
Les Deux foIlS. by P. L. J acob, bibliophile). (d4a,5]
" It is not by telling the l)(H)r to cease imitating the luxury of the rich that one will
make the lower class happier. It is not by telling girls to stop permitting themselves
to be seduce.1 that one will suppress prostitution. We might III well tell them.
' ... Wben you have 110 bread . you will be so good as to cease being hungry.' Bul
Christi an charit y, it will be said, is there to cure all tbese evils. To whi ch we reply.
Christi a n charit y cures \'ery littJe and pre\'ents nothing at all. " Honore de Baiue,
Critu,ue litteraire, introductioll by Louis Lumet (Paris. 1912), p. 131 (review or fA
Prerre [Pa ris, 1830)). (dS,l ]
" In 1750, no hook- not even ' Esprit des lois '-reacbed more than tbree or four
tholl sand pt.. 'Qple .... In our day, some thirt y t housand copies of La martine', Pre
mieres medilll/iotis ami some sixt), thollsand books by Bcrangcr have been sold
over the past len yl' lIrs. Thirt y thousand volumes of Voltai rc, Monl cStluieu, B.nd
Moli ere IHlve cnli ghl cncil mcn's mblll s." Balzac. Critillll iiI/entire, introductIOn
hy Louis LUlll ct (Paris. 191 2), p. 29 ("Dc l' Etat aclud de III lihruiric" ( On
Currenl Stut c of thc Bookstnrc) , sample from I.e f'cuilleton lIes j OllrnllUX 1'011
titllles, published in t 'Ulli verM: I, Ma rch 22-23. 1830). (d5,2j
d
Vi ctor Ilugo heulkens lo till' inner voice of the cro ...d of hi s a ncestors: "The cro.....
to .... hiell 11Il lish' nell allmiringi), i.n himself. a nd whi ch ht: hea rd as the IJ erald of his
popll.la rit y. inel il ll'd him, ill fact . towanl the exterior crowd- toward the Idolo
Fori, S to .... a nl the inorga nic hody of the masses .... lie searcln.. 'tl in the IIIlIlult or
the sea for the roar of applause." " He spent flrty years draping hi s love of confu
sion--<Jf all confusion, provi{lt:d it wu rhythmic-in hi s love for the pe<l1)le." ikon
Daudet , l.es Oeuvres dalls tfM hommes (Paris, 1922), PI). 4 II. [d5,3)
A saying ofVacquerie's about Vi ctor I-IlIgo: "The towers of Notre Dame were the H
of his name." Cit ed in Leon Da udet , u s Oeuvres dam ies homme" (Paris, 1922),
p.8. [d5,4)
RellOuvier ....rote a book on Victor Hugo's philosophy.
[d5,51
Vi ctor Hugo in a lett er to Baudelaire-with particwar reference to " Les Sept
Vieillards" and " Les Petites Vi eiUes" (both poems were dedi cated to Hugo, and, at
Baudelaire indi cated to Poulet-Malassis, for the second of them Hugo't work
served as the poet 's model): " You have endowed the sky of art with an indescrib
able macabre gleam. You have cr eated a new frisson.''6 Cited in Louis Barthou
AldOllr dc Baudek.ire (Paris, 1917), p. 42 ("Victor Hugo et Baudelaire") . (d5,6j
Maxime Leroy, I.e; Premier; Ami;franfai; de Uilgner, suggests that a revolutionary
impulse played a very large part in Baudelaire's enthusiasm for Wagner; indeed,
Wagner' s works inspired an antifeudal Fronde. The fact that his operas dis.
pensed with ballet infuriated habitues of the Opera. [d5,7)
From Baudelaire's cesay on Pierre Dupont: " We had been waiting so many yean
for some solid, real poetry! Whatever the part y to whieh one belongs, whatever the
prejudices one has inberited, it is inlpossibl e not to he moved by the sight of that
\ sickly throng breathing the dust of the workshops . swallowing lint, becomin, satu
rated with .... hite lead, mer cury, and all lhe poisons nccenary to the creation or
masterpieces, sleeping among vermin in the heart of districts wbere the bumblest
and greatest virtues live side by aide with the most hardened vi ces and with the
from prisons. That sighing and Janguislting throng to whicb the earth owes
.- u, ma rvels, .... hi ch feels flowing in irs vein, an ardent red blood, which looks long
and sadl y at lhe sunshine and shade of the great parks and, for illl only comfort
and consolation , bawb al the top of its voice its song of salvation: Let /.IJ love one
nothe " " Th ' II '
r ... - er e ....' COllie a lime when Ihe accents of thi s workingman's
Marseill ' 11 ' I I' k '
alsc " I clrcu at e I e a Masomc password and .... hen the exiled the aban
'allli the lost , whcther under the devourin'g tropical sky or in 'the snowy
....lltl crll ess, will be able to 8a)" ' ( ha ve nothing more to fea r- I am in France!' a8 he
heurs thi s virile melody perfume the air wi111 its primordial fragrance: 'Nolls dont
la lallll", 1 'f A I ' I '
. e matlll u c alron (u coq se rallume. I Nous tous qll ' un salaire incer
laIn I R, ' I' I ' I' I "--0
" Wh mell e avallt au >e a CII C lime. . . n the "Chant des ouvri ers":
en I heard that wonderful cr y of melall choly and sorrow, I was awed and
"
IIXlIllC .es
P Iilolled
.

lie
d '
Ill "
' ,
ueroy
I
remlers
,
Amis fram;ais de Wagner (Paris
<192- )
;) , pp.51-53,51. [d5a. l J
On Victor HU50: " He placed the ballot box on tur ning tables." Edmond J aloux
"L' Uomme du XIX' siecle,'" u Teml'S, August 9. 1935. (d5a,2]
"Eugene Sue ... was in certain reslH:cts ... simiJar 10 Schill er-not onl y i.n hill
preference for tales of crime, for coll)()rtage , for black-and-white depictions, but
also in his predilecti on for ethi cal and social issues ... . Balzac an(1 Hugo viewed
him as a competitor." Egon FriedeU. Kullurgeschichte der Neuzeit , vol. 3 (Mu
ni ch, 193 1), p. 149. Foreigner s, such as It ellstab, dought out the Rue aux Feves
where w MYlferes de Paris was begun. [d5a,aj
On Vi ctor Hugo: "This Ancient , thi s unique genius, thi s unique pllga n, thi s man of
unparalleled gcnius was r avaged by, at the ver y least, a double poli tician: a politi
cal polltician that made him a democrat , and a literary poli tician that made him a
Romantic. Thi. genius was corrupt ed by talent (I). " Charles Oeuvre. eom_
1873-1914: Oeuvres de prose (Paris, 1916). p. 383 ( .. Victo ....Marie. comte
Hugo"). [d6, l j
Apropos of Victor Hugo, Baudelai re "believed in the coexistence of genius and
foolishness." Loui s Barthou, Aldour de Baudelaire (Paris, 1916), p. 44 ("Victor
, Hugo et Baudelaire"). Similarl y, before the planned banquet for the trcentenary
of Shakespeare's birthday (April 23, 1864). he speaks of the "book by Victor
on Shakespea re, a book whi ch-full of beauti es and 8lupiditi es like all his books.
is almost certain to vex even the most ardent of hi s admirers" (cited in Barthou,
p. SO). And: " Hugo, priestlike, with hi s head always bent- too bent to see any- -
thing except hill navel" (ci ted in Barthou, p. 57).' [d6,2j
The publishers of Balzac's Feuillelon des journaux po/itiques offered certain
books at 10we ....than.oCli cial prices by bypassing book retail er s. Balzac hi.nueli
takes pride in this initiative, which he defends against cri ticisms from without , and
which he expects will create the immediate bond between publisher and public that
was his aim. In a sample i88ue of the newspalH:r, Balzac sketches the history oftbe
book trade and of publishing since the Revol ution of 1789, to concl ude with the
demand: "We must finall y lee to it that a volume is produced exactJ y like a loaf of
bread, and is sold like a loaf of bread, 80 that there would be no intermediary
between an author and a purchaser other than the booksell er. Then this business
will be the most secure of aU .... When a booksell er is requi red to layout .ome
twel ve thousand fr anca for ever y project, he ",,; U no longer engage in any Ihat are
ri sky or ill-conceived. They will realize, then, that inst ructi on i8 a necellsit y of
their profession. A clerk wllO has learnw in whnt year Gut enherg printed the
Bible will no longer imagi ne that being a hookseller is only a mailer of havi ng one',
name wrille.n over a shop." Honore de Balzac, Critique litt eraire, introductiOn by
Louis Lumet (Pari s. 1912). pp. 34--35. [d6,a]
Pelin Jluhli shes the leiter of a publ isher who dedares rea<ly to buy the
mall uscript of an author 0 11 the condition that he can Jlubl ish it under the nallIe of
some otht'r author of his choosing ("on the condi ti on ... Ihat il be signed by
someone whose name would be. according 10 my calculati ons. a spur to , ueee88").
Gabriel PHin, us l..aideurs du beew I'llris (Pari s, 1861). PI', 98-99. [d6,4]
Fees. Victor H ugo 300,000 francs from Lacroix for u; Misb"ahle;, in
exchange for rights to the novd for rn'C!ve years. "It was the first time Victor
Hugo had such a sum. 'In rn'enty-eight years of furious labor: PauJ
Souday has said, 'with an oeuvre of thirty-one volumes ... , he had made a total
of about 553,000 francs.... H e never earned as much as Lamani.ne, Scribe, or
Dumas ....' Lamartine, in the years 1838 to 1851 , made close to five million
francs, of which 600,000 for the Histoire de; Girondin.s. n Edmond Benoit.
Uvy, "u; MiJ&ahles" de Victor Hugo (Paris, 1929), p. 108. Connection between
income and political aspiration. [d6a, IJ
"When Eugene Sue, followill g upon ... us Mysteres de Londre, <by Paul
Ftivah , ... conceived the proj ect of writing u. lUystere. de Paris, he did not at all
propose to arouse the interest of the reader with a descri ption of lIOCiety's under
world. He began by characteri zing his novel aB an histoire fan ttuliq u.e . ... It was
a new. paper article that decided hi s future. La Phamnge praised the beginning of
the novel and opened the author's eyes: ' M. Sue has just set out on the mon
penetrating cri tique of society .... Let us congratulate him for having r ecounted
... the fri ghtful sufferings of the. wor king cia .. and the cruel indifference of soci
ety.' The author of thi s arti cle ... received a visit from Sue; they talked-and that
is how the novel already underway was pointed in a new direction .... Eugene Sue
convinced himself: he took part in the electoral battle and was eJected ...
(1848) .... The tendencies and the far-reaching effects of Sue's novels were such
that M. Alfred Nettement could see in them one of the. determining cau.e. of the
Revolution of 1848." Edmond Benoit-Levy, "us Miserables" de YK: IOr HU80
(Paris, 1929), pp. 18-19. [d6a,2J
A Saint-Simonian I)oem dedicated to Sue as the author of us lUy. ter e. de Poria:
Savinien Lapointe, " De Mon Echoppe" <l\fy Workshop>.' in Une Vou d 'en baJ
(Paris, 1844), pp. 283-296. [d6a,3]
"After 1852, the defenders ofthe educator 's arl are much less numer ous. The most
important is Maxime Du Camp." C. L. de Liefde, u Saint-Simonisme daM m
dharlem, 1927). p. 115. [d6a,4]
" f.Als Jesuite by l'Iti chelct uud Quill et , dates from 1843. (Le luif errant <The
Wandering J ew> apIH:areti in 1844)." Charles 8 r un, u Roman socill l en France
all XIX' siecle (Paris, 1910), p. 102. [d6a,5)
" /
..e CO II Sli! u,iQnnel goi ng from 3,600 subscriLers to more thull 20,000 ... 128,074
\'Oles givi ng Eugene Sue all elector al mandat e 10 become a del)Ut y." Charles Brun.
i.e Roma n social en Frernee au XIX" siecle (Pa ris. 1910), p. 105. (d6a,6)
The novels of George Sand led to an increase in the nwnber of divorces, nearly
all of which were initiated by the wife. The author carried on a large correspon_
dence in which she functioned as an adviser to women. (d6a,7j
Poor, but cleanly-is the philistine echo of a chapter title in UJ MiJ&abltJ: "La
Boue, mais l'i me
n
<Mire, but $oub .
LO
[d7,1]
Balzac: "Mutual education produce8 100-solls pieces made of human flesh. Indi_
viduals disappear in a population leveled by instruction." Ci ted in Charles Brun,
Le Roman , ocial en France a.u XIX' ,iecie (Pari8, 1910). p. 120. (d7,2]
Mjrbeau anti Natanson, Le Foyer <The Hearth> ( 1, 4), Baron Courtin: .. 1t is not
desirable that education should he extended any further. . . . For educati on is the
beginning of ease, and ease is not within ever yoll e's r each." Cited in Charles Brun,
Le Roman social en France all XIX' sieck (Paris, 1910), p. 125. Mirbeau merely
repeat8 here, in satirical vein, a sayill!; of Thien <cited in d I , I >. (d7,3)
" Babao-unbridJed romantic by virtue of the 1yricaltirade8, the bold simplifica
ti on of characters, and the compli cation of plot- is at the same time a reali st by
virtue of the evocation of place and social milieu. and a naturali st by virtue of his
taste for vul garity and his scientifi c pretensions." Charles Br un, Le 80man social
en France au XIX' sieck (Paris, 1910), p. 129. (d7,4]
Napoleon's influence on Babac, the Napoleonic in him. "The spirit and mettle of
the Crande ArmCe in the form of greed , ambition, and debauchery: Grandet,
Nuci ngen, Philippe Bridau, or Savaru8. "11 Charle8 BTlIII . Le Roman social en
France au XIX' ,ieck (Paris, 1910), 1). 151. [d7,5]
"Balzac . . . (Iuotes as authorities ... Geoffroy Sainl-Ililaire and Cuvier," Charlet
Brun, Le Roman social (Pa ris, 1910), p. 154. [d7,6]
Lamartine ami Nupoleon. " In Le! De81inees de la poesU!, in 1834, he speaks of ...
his contempt for thi s age .. . of calcul ati on and power. of and
8word .... It wa8 1.he uge in whi ch Esmenard sang til e praise8 of navIgatIOn, Gudio
of astronomy. Rkard of spheres. Ajme Martin of physics and chemistry....
martine said it very well: ' Number alone is allowed, honored, prote<: ted, aD
recomlJensed . Since number does nOI think, since it is an ... instrument .. . th.at
never asks ... whether it is made to serve Ihe oppre8sion of
d
)........ ,h'" military leudcr of Ihis era wunt ed no oliler ellussar y. J
e Iv.. ran"", . . . ... 19(1)
Skerli tch. L 'Opinioll publique en Fmnce (l'apre, la lwesie (La uS1\nlle, Id7,7j
p. 65.
)' ) , " Romanti cism proclaims the 1 H!rty tI art.
nil y of wonb (all under one entitl emenl
Georges Hcnnnl , I.AI Methode !ciell' ifjqlle
th 0' gcnres and the frat er e etluu , y , ..
as ci tizens of Iile Frcnch language).)
de 1181Q1re .Uenure ar . " , ' " ' ( p. i8 1900,
"
pp. 219-220, ciled in Jean Skerlil cil , L'Opinkm IJublilflle en fi"n,"ce d '(lpre8 m
pot!, ie(La usannc, 1901 ), PI). 19-20. [d7.8)
The magnificent seventh book of the fourth part of UJ MiJir-ahleJ, "I..!Argot,n
winds up its penctrating and audacious analyses with a gloomy reSection: "Since
'89, the entire people has been expanding in the sublimated individual; there is
no poor Illall who, having his rights, has not his ray; the starving man feels
within himself the honor of France; the dignity of the citizen is an interior armor ;
he who is free is scrupulous; he who VOtes reigns.n Victor Hugo, OeuureJ com
pleteJ, novels, vol. 8 (Paris, 1881), p. 306 (UJ Mu&ablu).LI {d7a, l]
i\'ett ellleni on the di gressioll8 ill I.e, Mi,erable!: "These bils of philosophy, of
lIi story, of social ccononl Y are like cold-wal er taps lhat douse the frozen and
di scouraged reader. It is hydrotherapy applied to literature." Alfred NeUement ,
I.e Roman contemporain (paris, 18M), p. 364. [d7a,2J
MM . Sue. ill Le Juif errant , hurls ill l Uh8 at religi on in order 10 serve the
antipathies of Le Con8fitll tionnel . ... 1\1 . Dumas , ill LlI Dame de Momoreau,
heaps scorn 0 11 royalty .. . to accolllmodate the passions of thi s lIame newspa
per, .. . while in La Reine Margot he conforms 10 the taste of the gilded youth at
La Prette for ... ri8tl ue pa intings , ... and . .. in Le Comte de Monte-Cristo he
deifi es money and inveighs against the Restoration to please the world of civil
servants who congregated around I.e JOllrnal de! deoou." Alfred Neuement,
Elude! critique, 'IIr kjeuilietoll -roman , vol. 2 (Paris, 1846), p. 409. [d7a,3]
Victor Hugo: owing to a law of his poetic nature, he has to stamp every thought
with the fonn of an apotheosis. {d7a,4]
A wide-ranging remark by Drwnont : "AlmOSt all the leaders of the movement of
the school of 1830 had the same sort of constitution: high-SbUng, prolific, enam.
ored of the grandiose. Whether it was a matter of reviving the epic on canvas, as
with Delacroix, of portraying a whole society, as with Balzac, or of putting four
l thousand years of the life of Humanity into a novel, like Dumas, all . .. were:
POssessed of shoulders that did nor shrink from the burden.
n
Edouard Drumollt,
UJ HiroJ (/lu pitre.! (Paris <1 900, pp. 107- 108 ("Alexandre Dumas peren).
[d7a,5J
;' J.'or Illtl fift y suill Ooclor Olmurquay to Dumas fil s one day, ' all our
IlI orilJlUld plilicnt s luuc di cd with one of YOll r falher's novds under their pillow. '"
E:douard DTlIIIIOII I, I.e, Heros et ie, pitre, (Paris < 19(}(} , p. 106 C'Ale): alldre
OUlll as l>erc'). [d7a,6)
) I
n t Ie preface to I.e, PO)"8l1l1,. HuhlUC reproachfull y of the year 1830,
...... Ili ch Ili{lnOI remelllber Ill al NUll olcon hud preferred ttl ri sk failure rat hcr thun
arm the massell. " CiI L't1 in CII . Culillpe. Balzac: Ses Idees sodale, (ltdllls and
Puris (1906 . p . 94.
(d7a,7]
" Bourget has relllurkcd that Balzac's characters . . appcured in reul life even
more fret:(uentl y ufter til(' death of the novelist : ' Balzac,' lI e 'SL't! ms lesa to
have observed til e aociet y of hill age thun to have contribut ed to the fornlution of
a n age. Certain of his char acten were more true-to-life in 1860 t.han in 1835.'
Nothing more just: Balzac deserves to be c1a!sed among antici patol"8 of the first
order.... Thirty yean later, reality arrived 0 11 the terrain t hat his intuition had
al ready crossed in a single bound. " H. Clouzot and R.-H. Va lcnsi, Le Pa ris de la
Comedie humai,l e (Paris, 1926), p. 5 ("Balzac et SC8 fournisseurs" ). [d8,1]
Orumont , too, inclines to the vi ew Ihat Balzac's gi ft was a prophetic one. Occa
sionall y, however, he reverieS tbe terms of the equation: " The pt.'Ople of the Secolld
Empi re wa nt ed to be characters from Balzac. " Edouard Orllmont , Fie"re, ck
011 shltlles de " eise (Paris (1900, p. 48 ("Balzac" ). [d8,2]
Balzac, speaking through hi s coulltry doctor: "The proletarians seem to me to be
the minors of t he nat ion. a nd should always remain ill a II tat e uf tutel age."" 's Ci ted
in Abbe Cllllrlcs Calippc, HU/zll c: Ses Idees soci(l le, (Reims and Paris <1906 ,
p . 50. [dB,'[
Balzac Oike Le Play) was opposed to the parceling out of large estates : "My God,
how could anyone fail [0 realize that the wonders of art art impossible in a
-
country without great fortunes! " (cited in Charles Calippe, p. 36). Balzac likewise
draws attention to the disadvantages that result when peasants and petty b0ur
geois hoard their money, and ca1culates how many billions art in this way with
drawn from circulation. On the other hand, the only remedy he can recommend
is for the individual, by hard work and wise economy, to become a landed
proprietor himself. H e thus moves within contradictions. [d8,4)
George Sand bei:a llle aCI(uaint ed with Agri col Perdiguier in 1840. She sayl: " I wal
struck by the moral illlportance of the topi c, a nd I wrote the 1I 0Vel Le CompoSnon
<III tOllr de Fmnte out of sincerely progressive ideas." Cited ill Charles Senoilt,
'"' L' Honunt: ti e 1848," plnt 2, ReVile des deux mo"de" (February I , 19 14), pp.
66&-<>66. [dB,5[
Olllllas pere occupi ed almost simult aneously, with thn'C uf hi s novels. the feujlJe
ton secti ons of IAI Presse, I-e Constillltiollllel, and l.e JOIIl"fwl de5 (/ebll/$. [d8,6)
Nell clll cnt un Ihe st yle uf Oumas perc; " It is usuall y natura l ami relatively rapid,
but it lacks fon:e beclI Ll se Ihe I hought it eXIJl"esses does not go ver y llecJI . It i8 to the
st yle of grell t wrilers what lit hography is to engraving." AU rCII Nctt clllcnt . lJillOire
de III liuernturejrutl(;ui,e "0' /.1 Ie GOllvernement de JI/illet (Paris. 1859). vol. 2,
PI" 306-307. [d8,l )
Sue, compared wit.h George Sand: "Once again we have a protest against the state
of society, bUI , thi s time. a collecti ve protest .. . undertaken in the name of the
plIssions and int ere8ts of the largest ciassea of societ y." Alfred Nettement . Hiltoire
lie la litteraturejmll(;(li,e SOli' Ie COlI lJerllement de JlliUet (Paris, 1859), vol. 2,
p.322. [d8a,I)
Neltement (>oints out that Sue' s novell, which sought to undermine the July Mon
archy. ""ere published in newspapers, (i.e Journal des deoot, and Le COllltitut ion_
nel) that were on its side. [d8a,2)
Regular customers at the brasserie on til e Rue des Ma rt yrs:
Oelvau, MUl'ger,
Dupont , Malassis, Baudelaire, Cuys.
[d8a,3)
Jules Bertaut sees Bauac's import a nce in terms of the action of significant figures
in a mili eu determined by the t YI)es ofthat day's society- wbich is to say, in terms
of character study lK!rmeated by the study of manners. Apropos of the latter, he
writes! "One need ollly peruse the innumerable physiolosies ... to lee how far this
literar y vogue has come. From the Schoolboy to the Stockbroker, and taking
account of the Dry Nurse, the Sergeant , and the Sell er of Countermarkl in be
tween, it is an endlell8 lI uccession of petit, portraits . ... Bauac knowil the genre
well ; he has cultivated it. Small wonder, then, Ihat he leeks to give UI , through
these means, the picture of an entire societ y." Jul ea Bertaut , "i.e Pere Corio' " de
Bahac(Ami ens, 1928), pp. 11 7- 118. (d8a,4]
"' Victor Hugo,' sayl Eugene Spull er, ' had gone along with the viewl of the reac
tionaries .. . . He had consilllentiy voted on the right .' ... AI for the question of
the nati onal workshops , on June 20, 1848, he declares them a doubleerror-from
a political as well as a financiai ll ta ndpoint .. .. In the Legislative Alsembly, on the
other hand, he turns to the left , bei:oming one of ill ... most aggressive orators. Is
thU because of an evolution . .. , or il it due to wounded pride and personal
bittem ess against Louill Napoleon, under whom he supposedly wiahed--even ex
pected-to become minilller or public instruction?" E. Meyer, YlCtor Huso a fa.
,. tribulle (Chambiry, 1927), pp. 2, 5, 7; cited in Eugene Spuller, Hillo;re parlemen.
tuire de la Secollde Repllblique. pp. 111 , 266. [d8a,5)
"1\ di Scussion having opened between Le BOIl -Selll and La Preue over the ques
tioll of Girardin' s forty-franc newspalJers. i.e NlI tiollal int ervened . Because La
Preue had taken this opportunit y to mOllnt a l)Crsonal attack on M .. Carrel, all
enCOUnter took place bctwcenlhe latt er a nd the editor-in-chief of La Preue. "-"It
was the political press dl at fell , ir.1 the l)Crson of Carrel, before the industrial
Ilress: ' AJfred Netlement . Ili!loire de I I I tilterlltllre jran{lIile 5011., Ie COli verne
merit de Jlliller (Paris, 1859). vol. I . p. 254. [d8a.6]
.. . that .. . logi c of democr acy. is already boldl y attacking society
In its moral assumptions. whence it is evident tha t the proletarian Samson, grown
prudent , will henceforth sap the "illars of society in the ceDa r, instead of sha killfl:
them in the banquet hall ." Balzac.1A1 PaYl onl;" (ci ted in Abbe Charles Calippe,
Bohac: Sel ldeell ,oci(Jie, (Heim, and Paris (1906 . p. 108. [d9, 1]
Travel lit erature: .. It is France that fi rst ... reinforced it s armies with a brigade of
geographers. naturali sts, a nd archaeologists. The grea t achievements in Egypt ...
marked the advent of an order of works previously unknown .... The Expedition
scientifique de la lUorb? and the Exp/,orolion ,cientifique de I'Algerie are worthy
additions to this great line .... Whethcr scientific in spirit, serious or light, ...
accounta by travelcrs ... have, in our time, found a considerablc vogue. Alons
with novels, they form the staple fare in reading rooms, numberi ng, on average,
some eight y works per year, or twelve hundred publications in fifteen yean."
Thill, on aver age, is not much more tha n in other fields of natural science. Charle.
Louandre, "Stati sti'lue litteraire: De la Production intellectueUe en France depllis
quinze an8," Revue del deux monde, (November I , 1847), pp. 425-426. [d9,2]
From 1835 on, the n erage number of novels produced annuall y is 21O---approxi_
mat ely the lIame al the number of vaudeville productions. [d9,3]
Travel lit erature. It fmdll an unexlJeCted application during the Chamber 'a debate
on del)Qrtations (April 4. 1849). " Far conet , who was the first to oppose the proj
ect , brought up the question of the salubrit y of the Manluesas Islands.... The
member who had present ed the report replied by reading some t rave1 accounlt
whi ch depicted the Marquesas as ... a veritable par adise .... This. in turn, drew
... the angry response: ' To offer idylls and bucolics on a subj ect so grave i.
ridi culous.'" E. Meyer, Victor HUlJo ii la tribune (Chambery. 1927). p . 60. [d9,4)
The idea for La Ccmldie humaiM came to Balzac in 1833 (the year in which Ie
Mititcin tit campagne was published). The influence of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire',
theory of types was decisive. To this was added, on the literary side, the inBuencc:
of Scott's and Cooper's cycles of novels. [d9,5]
In its 8econd year of publi cati on, in 1851, the "Alnaanach des re!ormateurl .. .
in whi ch the government is pre8ented as a necessar y evil , bring8 together the
expose of communi8t doctrine with verse translations of Martial and Horace, witb
sideli ghtll on astronomy and medicine. and with all sort s of useful tips." Charles
Benoist . "Le ' My the' de la classe ouvri er e," Revue del deux monciel (March 1,
1914), p. 91. [d9,6}
Derivation of the feuilleton novel, whose appearance in newspapers iJ.nmediate1y
entailed dangerous competition for periodicals and a marked decline in the pro
duction of li terary criticism. The periodicals, in tum, had to decide whether to
publish novels in installments. The first to do so wen: La Revut tit Paris (edited by
Yeron?) and La RtlJut dts dtux montlts. "Under the old state of affairs, a joumal
with a subscription rate exceeding eighty francs was supported by those whose
political convictions it .... Under the new arrangements, a j ournal had
to live by advertisements, ... and in order to have lots of advertisements, the
fourth page, which had become a publicity display, had to pass befon: the eyes of
a great many subscribers. In order to have lots of subscri bers, some bait had to be
found that would speak to all opini ons at the same timc, and that would substi
rule, for politica1 interest, an item of generaJ interest. ... lb.is is how, by starting
from the fOr1)'-franc newspaper and proceeding 011 to the advertisement, we
arrive, almost inevitably, at the serial nove!.n A1fred Nettement, Histoirt de fa
littiraturejranfaise sou.s It Goulltf7ltmenl dt JUlllet (paris, 1859), vol. 1, pp. 301
302. [d9a,l ]
Sometimes. in 1111blishing a novel in scrial form, one would leave out part of the
work in order t o get the public to buy the hook. [d9a,21
In the editor's preface toJ oumet's Poisies et chants hannoniens, Uncle Tom's Gahin,
by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is quite appropriately placed on an equal footing with
Les Mysteres tit Paris and us Misirahles. [d9a,31
" From tillle to tillie, one could read, in 1. Journal d es debats, by
M. !'IUchel Chevalier or M. Philar ete Chaslell, ... articles of a socially progre88ive
tendency ... , The progressive articles in the Debatl were cust omaril y published
during the fortnight preceding subscri ption renewals, whi ch occurred every four
months. On the eve of large renewals . Le Journal des debau could be found
fli rti ng with radicali sm. This helps to expl ai n how Le Journal del debats cou1d
undertake the bold publication of Le, My"eres de Parill ...-but this time. that
imprudent newspaper had gone further than it r ealized . As a consequence, ma ny
wealthy banker s withdrew their support for the Debatl ... in order t o found a
ne"," palH! r, ... Le Globe. This worthy predeceilsor of L'Epoqll.e ... W88 aimed at
doi ng justi ce to the inccndiary theories of M. Eugene Sue and of La Democratie
p(l cifique." A. Toussenel , l.el Juifi, rou de l 'epoqlle, cd . Conet (Parill ( 1886.
vol.' 2. pp. 23-24. [d9a,4)
The boheme. " With Un Prince de la boheme (1840), Balzac wanted to l)Qrtray a
... characteristic of thi s nascent boheme. T ile amorous preoccupations ... of
HlIsti coli de la Palferine are onl y II Ba lzacian expansion upon the triumphs of
Marcel and whi ch would soon foli o",".... Thill novel cont ai ns a gr an
dilOt:luent defi nit ion of bohcmianism ... the first ... ; ' The bolleme-what
sholl li;! be call ed the doct rine of the Bouleva rd des of young
pcople, ... all men of gCllius in thcir way, mell as yct little known. but soon to
bccome known .... Here one meets writ ers. udmini stratoril. soilliers. journalists,
art ists! If the empe ror of Rusilia purchase(l this hohemi a for twent y million
fra ll CS, ... and if it ","ere ubseqllcnti y tl eportc!1 to O,lcilsa, t.hen ill a yea r Odessa
Would be ... During t.hi s sa me pt:"iod , Goorge Sund ... Mil d Alpholl se
Ka rr ... initiatc,l hohcmi all ci rcicil.... But wcre imagi na ry hoil ellli a8; and
that of Ba lzac ","ail entirely fa nt astic_ The boil emi ani SIll of Theophile Gauti er, on
the other hand, a nd that of Murger, have been t alked aoout 80 much ... thai
today we can get a n idea of what they were. To teU the truth, Gautier and hit
friend! ... did not realize right away, in 1833, that they were bohemian!. they
wer e content wi th calling themselves ' J eune France' <Young France> .... Their
poverty wal merely relative .... This bohemianism ... was the boheme gaian'e; it
could just as well be called gi lded bohemianism, the boheme doree . ... Ten or
fifteen years later, a round 1843, there wal a new bohemia ... , the true boheme.
Theophile Gautier, Gerard de Nerval, Arsene Houssaye were then
forty ; Murger and his friendl were not yet twenty-6ve. This t ime, it wal a genuine
intellectual proletariat. Murger was the liOn of a concierge tailor; Champfleury's
father was a secretary at the town hall in Laon ; ... Delvau'8 father was a tanner in
the Faubourg Saint-Marcel; Courbet'a family were quasi-peaaants.... Champ
fl eury and Chintreuil wrapped packages in a hookttore; Bonvin was a working_
e1att typogr apher. " Pierre Martino, Le Roman reamte lOW Ie Second Empire
(Paris, 1913), pp. 6-9. (dIO,I]
In the early )840s. there was a copying procells known as the Rageneau preaa,
evidently hased on lithography. (dIO,2J
Firmin Maillard, La Cite des intellectueu (Paris <1905, pp. 92-99, offen an
abundance of infonnation aoout author '8 fees. [dlO,3]
" Balzac ... compared his critique of Parisian j ournalism to Moliere'. attaclu OD
6oancien, marquis, and doctort." Ernst Robert CuMius, Balzac (Bonn, 1923),
pp. 354-355. (dIO.f]

On Balzac: " What enables UI to say that he W 88 perhap! not very truthful alter
1820 is the often expreued vi ew that he wondrously painted in advance. and
prophell ied, the society of the Second Empi re." Edmond J aloux, "Les Roma ncien
et Ie temps," Le Temps. December 27, 1935. [dIO,5)
From Lamartine' s "Leure en vers aM. Alphonse Karr":
Every man can proudly 8e11 the aweat of hi8 brow;
I tell my bunch or grapt'8 as you do your Rowe".
Ibppy when its nectar. under the cnleh of my loot.
flows in amber etreaml throush an my ...orkll .
Producinlil for its master, drunk with its big. price.
Much [Sold with which to buy much freedom!
Fate has reduced IU to counting our wagu;
Day-wagea you, night-wage. me: two mercenari ea.
But bread well earned i. bread well broken. too:
o the glory ollree men beholden 10 none for t hei r u lt !
Veuillot. who ci tes this text , haa thia t o say: "Until now, it waa felt that tbe fr eedom
that can be purcha8ed wi th money is not the sort that mell of conlcience are in the
lIabit o(pursuing .... What! ... You don' t know that the way to be free is to heap
Icorn on gold? To lecure thil freedom aC(luired through gold. .. you produce
your bookl ill the same mercena.ry (ashion 88 you prOtluce vegetablet and wine.
You wiu delll and of your facultiel a double or a triple Il arvest ; you will start to
nl arket your ea rl y produce; t he IIlUle will no longer vi&it vol unt aril y, but win toil
ni ght and day like a drudge.... And in the morning, you will cau before the
publi c 11 page scri bbled over in the course of you r nocturnal Jueubl"lltions; you wiu
not even bother rereadjllg the rubbish that coven it , though you will certainl y
have count ed the number of lines it cont ainl." Louis Veuinot, Pagel chouies. 00.
Antoine Albalat (Lyons and Pa ri&, 19(6). pp. 28, 31-32. (Karr sold Rowen grown
on his est ate nea r Nice.) (dIOa, l ]
" Ill vain Sainte-Beuve aUow! h.imseLf, out of a deep-root ed alltipathy, to fl y into a
rage agaillst the author of La Comedie lIunwine. But he is right to observe that ' the
vogue for serial publication, which rC(lui red, with each new chapter, that the
reader be struck a hearty bl ow, had driven the atyliuic effects of the novel to an
ext.remeand desper ate pitch . '" Cit ed in Fernand Baldensperger, " Le Raffermisse
ment des techniques <dans la litt erature occidenta le de> 1840," Revue de liuera
ture comparee, 15, no. I (January-March 1935), p. 82. (dIOa,2]
In reaction to the seriaJ novel, there arose-around 1840-novcl1as (Merimee)
and regional novels Barbey> (dIOa,3]
Eugene de I'tli recourt , us Vrau Muerablell (Paris, 1862), recalla Lamartine's lIu
Loire des Girondim and surmises that Hugo wanted to prepare his political career
with his novel as Lamartine had done with hil popular history. [dlOa,4]
Apropos of Lamartine and Hugo: " Instead of fostering the notion ... that people
should follow devotedly in the steps or these sincere souls, we should inYe8tigate
the undenide of all sincerity. But bourgeois culture and democracy are too greatl y
in Jreetl of thi s value! The democrat is a man who wears his heart OD his sleeve; his
heart is an excuse, a testimoni al , a subterfuge. He il profe88ionally heartwarming,
so he can di s)H!ll se with being truthrul. " N. Guterman and H. Lefebvre, La Con.
f 'cience myslif,.ee (Paril < 1936 . p. 151 ("Le Chantage et la sincerite" <Blackmail
and Sincerit y). [dll ,l ]
On Lamartine: "The ratui ty of the poet is indescr ibable. Lamartine dt.'ClIIs himse)(
a statt!Sman in the mol(1 or Mirabeau , and he boasts (another Turgot!) of having
Illhored twenty ytl urs ill the study of politi cal economy. An eminent thinker, he'l
convi nced that he draws up from thtl depths of his 80 111 ideas that he actuall y
catches 0 11 the wing and clothes in hjs OW" image." Emil e Barrauh, " La ma rtine,"
extract from U i\'utionul of March 27, 1869 (Paris, 1869), p. 10. [dll ,2J
Alrred ( 1825-- 1867): " li e Wil l a child or til e qll(lrtier MOllf(etard.... In
184a, he beeume I)rivate secreta r y 10 Led r ll -Rollin , who then millil ter of the
interior. Even16 havi ng hru!t(luei y removed him from active politics. he devoted
himseU to letters, making hi s {Ielmt wi lh several newspaper articles ... . In Le
jOllrrwl (rml/stlnt. Le. fi8f1ro, IIml some olher jou"nals, he published articl es deal.
ing mainly with Purisian customs alld practices. For some lime. al Le. Siecle. his
special assignment was the Paris town counci l. " During the second half of the
1850s, he was in exile ill Uelgium, where he had fl ed to escape a prison sentence
incurred while he was editor of I.e Rubelo;.,. Later. he would endure prosecutions
for plagiarism. Infomlation in Pierre Larousse, GnHld Dictimlnuire IIni ver'el du
XIXtiecle. vol. 6 (Paris, 1870), p. 385 (arlicle: " Delvau"). [dll,3]
During the reign of Napoleon III . Benj ami n Gastineau had already been twice
deported toAJgeria. "Under the Pa ris Commune, M. Gani neau was named inspec:_
tor of communal libraries. The twentieth council of war. charged with trying his
case, could filld no evi dence of a ny breach of common law. He was neverthele81
condemned to deportation in a fortified cell ." Pierre Larousse, Grand Diction
noire universel dll XIX' sieck, vol. 8 (Puris , 1872). p. 1062.-Gastineau had be
gun his career as a t ypesetter. [dll ,4]
Pierre Dupont: "The poet, as he says in one of his little poems, 'listens, by turns,
to the forests and the crowd.' And in fact it is the great rustic symphonies, me
voices through which nature in its entirety speaks, as well as the clamor, me
grids, the aspirations and lamentations of the crowd, that make for his double
inspiration. The song such as our fathers knew it ... , the drinking song or even
the simple ballad, is utterly foreign to him." Pierre Larousse, <Grand> Dictionnaire
uniumei du XIX' Jiede, vol. 6 (Paris, 1870), p. 1413 (article: "Dupont"). Hence,
with Baudelaire, hatred for Beranger is an element of his love for Dupont
[dlla,l)
Gustave Simon describes Ihe scellcs thai took place in front of Paguerre's book
shop when the socond antllhird parts of l.es Mi.terablct were delivered: " 'On MIlY
15. 1862,' he writ es, ' a little before 6:00 ill the morning, a dense crowd was gather
ingon the Ruc de Sei ne hefore a shop Ihal was still closed . The crowd kept growins
larger and, impatient with wailing, became 1I0isy, even riotous .... The pavement
wall obstructed by an impassable jumble of delivery carts. pri,' at e carri ages, cabs,
ca rioles, and even wlu.:dbarrows. People had empt y baskets 011 thei r backs.... It
was nol yel 6:30 when the crowd, becoming more unruly by the minut e, started
pushing against Ihe sho"frol1t , whil e those in the vanguard knocked with redou
ble{1 force on ti le door. Suddelll y, II window was opened on the second floor ; a lady
appeared and exhortetllhe assembled cilizens to be more patient. ... '{he shop to
whi ch they were preparing to lay siege was quit e inoffensi\'e; only hooks ....ere sold
there. It was Paguerre's hookshop. The people hurling themselves lit Ihe building
were bookstore clerks. agent s. llUyers, a mi hrokers . The lady who spoke from be
r
secoml-floor windo"" was Madame Paguerre. ,,, Albert de Besancourt , Pam
phlets corltre Victor III1So (Pa l'is), pp. 227-228; cil CiI in Gustave Simon, "w
Origine. des Miserable,," in Lo Revue de Pom, and in letters about the book
""hich Simon published in Lo ReVile). [dlla,2)
Perrot de ChezeUes. in his pamphlet " Examen du livre des Miserables de 1't1 . Victor
Hugo" (Paris, 1863), makes tltis more general contri hution to the
of Victor Hugo: " In his dramas and novels he takes for his heroes a lackey like Ruy
lJias, a oourtesan like Marion Delorme, physicaUy deformed beings like Triboulet
and Quasilllodo, a prostitut e like Fantinc. a convict like J ean Valjean. " '6 Cited in
Albert de Besancourt , Let Pomphleu cont re Y.H. (Paris), p. 243. [dlla,3)
Les Muirabfes depends, for its principal facts, on actual events. Underlying the
condemnation ofJ ean Valjean is a case in which a man who had stolen a loaf of
bread for his sister' s children was condemned to five years' penal seJVitude.
Hugo documented such things with great exactitude. [dI2,1]
A detailed representation o( Lamartine's behavior during the February Revolu
tion is provided by Pokrowski in lin IIrticle that ba&ell itself, in part , on diplomatic
reports by Kisseliov, the Russian ambassador to Paris at that time. These reports
are cited in Ihe course of the article. "' Lamartine ... admitted, ' Kineliov writetl ,
' that , for the time being, France found iuelf in a . ituation that always tends to
arise when one government has just fallen and the other is not yet firmly in place.
He added, however, thai the population had given proof of so much good sense, of
such reslHlC::t for family and property, thllt lawful order in PliriS would be pre
served through the momentum of things in themselves and through the good will of
the manes.... In eight or ten days, continued Lamartine, a national guard of
200,000 men would be organized, in addition to which there were 15.000 mounted
police, wh08e spirits were exceUent , and 20,000 front-Line troops, who already had
encircled Paris and were to march on the city.' Here we must pause (or a moment .
It is weU known that the pretext for recalling the troops, which since February had
been' stationed at a distance (rom Paris , WIIS the workers' demonstration of April
16; the conversation between Lamartine and K.isseliov, however, took place on
April 6. How brilllantly, therefore, Marx divined (in Die Klauenkiimpfe in Frank
, reich) that the demonstration was I)rovoked solely in order to be able to call back
into the capi tal the most ' reliable' part of the 'forces of order. ' ... But let u. go
further. ' These masses . says Lamartine [that is. the bourgeois national guard, the
hlohile guard, and the line infantry-I't1.N. P.1, will keep in check the club fanati ca,
who depend Oil a few thousand hooli gans and criminal elements (!), and will nip
ever y excess ... in Ihe bud.'" M. N. Pokrowski, Hutoruche Auf,at:e (Vi enna a nd
Ilerlin 1928, pp. 108-109 ("Lamartine, Cavaignac und Nikolaus I"). [dI2,2)
011 Ihe sixl ll of April , a directive went out from NesseLrode ill Petersburg to K.i s
8diov:" and his chancellor did not conceal from their agent the fact that
they needL't1 the alliance wilh France against Gemlauy- againsl the new red Ger
Illany that was beginning, with its revolutionary colors . to outshine the France
which had already come r ather far on the r oad 10 reason." M. N. Pokrowski ,
Iclters . is always hawking hi s opi nions and his COli scienoo.. Ili$tori,.,cl! e AUf$iit:::e (Vienna a. nd Berlin). p. 11 2.
. Thc worM as
[dl2,3)
paili lcd by M. tie Oalzac is ... a cesspool. " J (ae<lu(.lI) Chaml cs-Aigues, l..es Ecri
Mi chelel on Lamartine: " He glides on his grea.t wing, rapid a mi oblivious." Cited
!il, i,u mOllenl es de III Fnmce (Puri s, 1841). p. 227.
[dI3,IJ
in J acque. Boulenger, " le Magie de Le Temps, Ma)' 15, 1936. Id12a, l}
"Nowllilays, so llIany allested alltl autil elllicalt:d fact s hu ve emerged from the
" A shrewd observer remarked , one day, that fascist h aly was bei ng run like a large
occult .ciences tha t the time wi ll come when these liciences will be ta ught at muver
sili cs j ll st ll S chemistry and astronomy a re. Just now, when 80 many professorial
new. paper and, moreover, by a great j ournalist : one idea per day, with sideligbta
.. hairs are bei ng sel ul' in Paris----ehairs in Slavoni c, in Manchuri an studi es, and in
and sensati ons, and with an adroit and insistent orientation of the reader toward
\iterulUres so .mprojessllbk as thost: of far northern lands; chairs which , instead
cert ain iuordina tely eul ar ged aspects of social life-a syltemati c deformation or
of offering instruction, sta nd in neetl of it themselves ...- is it not a mail er of
the understanding of the reader for cert ai n practical ends. The long and the . hon
surprise that , uuder the name of anthropology, the teaching of occult philosophy,
of it is that fascist regimes a re Jlublicit y regi mes." J ean de L.i gnier es, "I.e CeD
teuaire de La Preue," Vendredi , June 1936.
one of the glories of the oid-tillle universi ty, has not been re8tored? I.n thi s respect ,
[d12a,2]
Gerlllan)' ... is a step ahead of France." I'Ionon! de Babac, Le COlUin Pom, l? in
OeulJre$ completes, vol. 18, La Comedic humlline: Scenes de la vic parisienne, 6
" Baluc was one of the collaborators on La Preue ... , and Girardin was for bim
(Paris, 1914), p. 13 1. 0 Physiologies 0
one of the best guides to the society in which the great man lived." J ean de Lis
(d I3,2]
weres, "Le Centenaire de Lo Preue," Vendredi, June 1936.
[dI2..,3]
On Lamartine: " He iSlhe most feminine of Ill en in a century whi ch has seen a great
" In gener al, the various currents of I\ eali sm between 1850 and 1860, that of
many such men, several of whom seem to announce themselves by the very article
ChampAeury like that of F1a ubert, are considered ' the school of Balzac.
preceding their numes: Lafayette, La mennais, Lacordaire, Lamartine.... There
' " Enut
Robert Curtill s, Bauac (Bonn, 1923), p. 487.
are very good reasons for thinking that he had prepared for the red the same
[dI2a,4]
81>Ce<: h he delivered for the tri color fl ag." Abel Bonnard , Le, ftfoder es, in the series
" Modern ma88 production destroys the sense of art, and the sense of work, in
entitled Le Dmme du pre,ent , vol. I (Paris ( 1936, Pl' . 232-233. [dI3,3)
labor: ' We have product.; we no longer have works.''' Ernst Robert CUrtilD,
"The novel ... is no longer onl y a ""ay of telling a story but has beconle an Ba/:::oc (Bonn, 1923), p . 260; ci tation from Beotrix ( Baluc edition in La CoUce
investigation, a continual discovery.... Balzac stands at the limit of the litera ture ti01I Mk hel-Uvy (Paris, 1891- 1899. p. 3.
(dI2a,5]
of imagi nation and of the lit erature of ellactitude. He has books in which the spirit
of inquiry is ri gor ous, like Eusenie Gmndet or Ce$or Biroueau; othere in whi ch '"The or ganizati on of intelli gence i. Balzac's goal. In this he sometimes, like !be
the ullreal is blended with the real, like VI Femme de trenfe 011$; and still others, Sai nt -Simonian8, enterta ins notions of corporation such as marked the Middle
like Le Chef-d'oeulJre inconnu, coml)()sed of elements drawn from a variet y of j ewt Age. At these times , he returns to the idea ... of a n incorporation of inteUectuai .
d'
labor int o the modern system of credit . The idea of the state'B remunerating intel
esI' r it. " Pierre Hamp, " La L.itterature, illlage de la societe," Encyclopedic
! ram;oue, vol. 16, Arts et litteratures dllll.! la societe conremporai ne. I , p. M. lectual producti on also surfaces here and there." Ernst Robert Curtiw, BoUGe
(Bonn, 1923), p . 256.
[d 13,')
(dI2a,61
"
"Oy I862, the yea r in which Victor Ilugo IHlhlishes I.e. Muer(Jbfe., the number of " Int elli gential workers"-a coinage of Balzac'B. Sec E. 1\ . Curlill s, B(I/:::ac (Bonn,
1923), p. 263.
(dI2a,1]
iUiterates has cOllsider llhly diminished in France.... In proportion as an edu
til te,l popuillee hegi ll s to patronize bookshops . authors befooln choosi ng their he
roes .from the crowd, allIl the one ill wholll thi s phenomenon of sociali 7.ation can d .-A.) Chaptal, De l 'lndwtricfron{(lue , vol. 2 (Pari s, 1819), p. 198, estim
atet
best be Sl utlic<1is Hugo himself, the first great pool who gave to hi Hliter ary works that the number of books published anll uall y is 3,090.
(d I2a,8J conullunplace titleij: Le. lIIi$erublc$. I.e. 'I'rU lJuiIlCllr. de It I mer." Picrre Uamp,
" L
a
Litl i!rutllrc, image lie la socicti! ," eflcyciollcdie f mtl{llise. vol. 16. ArB et From the unfavorahl e " M. de Balzac," by Chaudes-Aigues: " Dullg
eon
" li tterutllres d f1tl$ la societe cOfltcmlJOrflill e. I , p . 64). 6"

brothels . and prisolls would be asylums of vlrlue ... compared to the c

ivilized
(d I3a, I]
cit.ies of M. de Oalzac. ... The banker is a llIan who has ellriched himself throup
embezzl ement alld II sur)' ; t he politi cian ... owes hi s stature ... to cumul ati ve acU
These remarks on Scott mi ght be applied to Victor Hugo: "He regarded rhetoric,
the an of the orator, as the munediate weapon of the oppressed.. .. And it is odd of t reacher y; the maJl ufacturer is a pru<lellt and skillful swindler ; ... t he man 01 to reflect thal he was, as an author, giving free speech to fi ctitious rebels while he
was, as a srupid politician, denying it to real ones?' G. K. Chesterton, Dickn.s,
trans. Laurent and Martin-Dupont (Paris, 1927), p. 175.
11
[dI 3a,2]
The same holds for Victor Hugo as for Dickens: "Dickens stands first as a defiant
monument of what happens when a great literary genius has a literary taste akin
to that of the community. For this kinship was deep and spirirual. Dickens waa
not like our ordinary demagogues and joumalists. Dickens did not write what
the people wanted. Dickens wanted what the people wanted .... He died in
1870; and the whole nation mourned him as no public man has ever been
moumed; for prime ministers and princes were private persons compared with
Dickens. He had been a great popular king, like a king of some more primal age
whom his people could come and see, giving judgment Wlder an oak tree." G. K..
Chesterton, DicAeru, trans. Laurent and Martin-Dupont (Paris, 1927), pp. 72,
168." [dI3a,3]
Le Nain jaune is founded by Aure.lien Scholl ; La Vie Parisienne, by Marcelin, a
friend of Worth's. L'Etnlnement founded in 1865 by Vdleme88ant , with the partici
pation of Rochefort. lola. and others in Ihe opposition. [d13a,4)
" Mires and the Pereire brothers . following the example of the Rothschilds. would
from time 10 time cause an unexpected shower, nol of gold but o( 8eCuritietl , to
descend on well -known poets, journalists, and playwrights. without involving any
direct obligation in ret urn." S. Kracauer, Jacque, Offenbach und dw Pon.. .eiM,.
-
Zeit (Amll terdam, 1937), p. 252.:10 [d14,I)
" A single one of the new sciences-that o( analogy.-,ught to yield authors a profit
o( fi ve million to six million (rancs (or a sixteen-page installment." Charlet
Fourier, Le Nouveau Montle indwtrielet ,ocUltai,.e (Paris, 1829), p. 35. [d14,2]
Number o( Paris newspaper subscribers: in 1824, ca. 47,000; in 1836, ca. 70 ,000;
in 1846, ca. 200,000. (Details (or 1824: 15,000 (or the government papen Jounaal
de Poru , Etoile, Gazette, Moniteur, Drapeau blanc, Pilote; 32,000 (or the opposi
tion paper s Journal de. debGt" Con,uitutwnnel, Quotidienne. CourMe r M Pom.
Journal du Commerce, A,.utarque. ) [d14,3]
With the increase: in public advertising, newspapers turned against the annonuJ
diguisies <advertisements in disguise), which no doubt had brought in more for
journalists than for the administration. [dI4,4)
Aroulld Le Globe gathe,.ed, 88 edilors, the m01l 1 importanl o( the lal er OrleaoisU;
thill edit orial sta(( included Cousin. Vul emain. Gui zot . In 1829. Blanqui ent ered
the offIce aSlItenographe,., parti cul arl y a8 parli ament ary stenographe,.. [d14,5)
The journalistic strain in the novels of Dumas: the first chapter of La Mohicans de
Paris already provides infonnation about what impost must be paid, in the event
one is arrested. for the privilege of an individual cc.ll; where the Paris executioner
lives; and what the best-known apache pubs of Paris arc. (dI4,6)
A young man (rom SI. Petersburg call ed I.e. Myste,.e, de fhru "the foremost book
uft e,. t he Bible." J . Eckardt , Die bulfi$chell I'rovillzcn Ru.ui<lnd, (Leipzig, 1869),

Valer )', in his introducti on to Les Flcurs du mul (Pa,.is, 1928). 11 . xv, a ll Hugo: " For
more than sixty yea rs, this extraordinary mall was at his desk ever y day (,.om five
o'clock ill the morning until noon! He unremittingl y call ed up new combinations o(
lall b'lJage, willed them, wai ted (or them, 1I 11t1 hatl the satisfaction of hearing them
respond to hi s call . He wrote one or two hundred thousand lines o( poetry and
acqui red . by that uninterrupted ext: rci se, a curi ous manner o( thinking which
superfi cial criti cs have judged as best they could.":l [dI4,8)
For nearly all the Romantics, the archetype of the hero is the bohemian; for
H ugo, it is the beggar. In this regard, one should not lose sight of the fact that
Hugo as writer made a fortune. (dI4a,I)
Hugo in Post-sc,.ipturn de rna vie: L'Esprit ; Ta.s de pierre. p. 1 (cited in Maria
LeyDeutiCh, Le Gueux chez VlCtO,. Hugo, seriell entitled Bibliotheque de la FOil
dation Victor Hugo, vol. 4 [Paris , 1936], p . 435); " Do you want a measure o( the
civilizing power o( a rt ... ? Look in the prisonll (or a man who knows o( Mozart,
Vi rgil , and Raphael, who can quote Horace from memory, who is moved by 0,.
phee and Der Freuchiitz . ... Look for such a man ... , and you will not find
him ." [dl48,2)
Regill Me8sac speak, o( an "epic period" which the (euilleton under Louis Philippe
enj oys. before it becomes a mass item in the Se.:ond Empire. The novels o( Gabriel
Feny belong to the beginning oftbe latter era, as tlo those o( Paul Feval. (d14a,3)
One can speak, in cc.nain respects, of a contribution made by the physiologies to
,' detective fiction. Only, it must be borne in mind that the combinative procc:dure
of the detective stands opposed here to an empirical approach that is modded on
the methods of Vidocq, and that betrays its relation to the physiologies precisdy
through theJ ackal in UJ MohicaTIJ de Paris (cited in Messac <u "Detective .NOfJ(1"
t t I'itiffuenu de fa pensie srienhjique [Paris. 1929]>, p. 434), of whom it is said:
look at the ripped-open shutter, at the broken pane, at the knife slash was
enough: 'Oh hot' he said, ' I recognize thist It is the modus operandi of one 0/
them.'" [dI4a,4)
Veron pays 100,000 francs for Le Juije,.runt a line hil S!.teen penned.
[dI4a,5)
"E
Ver y time a seri al novel threatened to carry 0(( the prize. Balzac redoubled hi s
efrortll with Vaulrin. It wall in 18F-I838 thai Les du dwble seemed to be
dominating t il e 8eri al format , and it was just at that point tll8t the seri es entitled
S/Jle1Uleur$e' mi"ere" rle" COllrti"lHU!" began, In 1842- 1843, 1.$ MY"'ere$ de Pan.,
a ppeared . and Balzac respondetl wi th A Corllbie" l 'Amour revient mIX vieillardt .
In 1&14 MOIlt e-CriMo. and in 1846 u. Closerie (/es Celi e",; the latt er year saw the
publi clIli on of Ba lzac', Oli miment les mauvau chemills; the ycar after that, to
Dernicre incarllation de Va utrin. %Z If tlus di alogue ... did not cont inue any fur.
ther, it is lH!(:ause Balzac ... died shortl y afterward. " Regis Mt.'8sac, Le "Detecti ve
Novef' et "influence de Ie. IJe Il"&! scientifique ( Pa ris. 1929), pp. 403-1().1..
[dl h,6]
Under the Second Republic, an amendment to the law of July 16-19, 1850,
designed "to strike out against an industry that dishonors the press and that is
detrimental to the business of the bookstores." So declaims de Riancey, the
author of the amendment. The law imposes on each feuilleton a tax of one
centime per copy. The provision was arutulled by the new and mon: seven: press
laws of February 1852, through which the feuilleton gained in importance.
(d15, I(
Nettement draws attention to the particular significance which the period for
subscription n:newal had for the newspapers. There was a tendency, at such
times, to begin publishing a new novel in the feuilletons even befon: the old one
had finished its run. In this same period of development, the reaction of readers
to the novels started to make itself felt mon: immediately. Publishers took note of
this tendency and gauged their speculations beforehand according to the tide of _
the new novel. (dI5,2)
The novel published in installments can be seen as a precunor of the newspaper
feuilleton. In 1836, a periodical of KarT's for the first time undenook to publish
such installments-which later could be gathered under one cover-as a supple
ment for its readers. [dI5,3)
Politi cal attitude of Romanti cism, according to Baudelaire's conception in " PetnP
Borel" : " If the Restoration bad turned into a lH!riod of glor y, Romanticism would
not IUn'e parted company with royalty. " " Later on, ... a mi santhropic republi
ca ni sm joined the new school , and Petrus Borel was the ... most paradoxical
ex pressioll of the spirit of the BOllSingots . ... Thi.s spirit . . . contrary to the
democrati c and bourgeois passion which later so cruell y oppressed us. was exci ted
both by an ari stocr a ti c ha tred ... for kings and t.he bourgeoisie, ami by a general
sympa thy ... for 11 11 that ... was ... pessimistic II I1tI Byroni c." Chllrle& Baude
lai re, t 'Arl romlUltie/"e. t.'ti. lI uc hett c, ,'oJ. 3 ( Paris). PI" 354. 353-354..
23
[d 15,4)
" We i.1I 1'lIri H have ... St.'1! 11 the evolut ion of Romanticism fa"ored hy the n101
18
""
chy, whilt' ulIIl republ icull s alike remai nt!(1obstifllliely wedded 10 the rou
tilles of t.lml litl'ratlli"1' "ull,'d c1ussical. ' Baudelaire. I, 'A rl romulItie/ lle (Pan.),
p. 220 ('" Ui cluml Wagner ct 7hllllliiillser").: [dI
5
,5]
Three forms of hohemiani. m: "Thai of Theophile Gautier. Anent! Houssaye,
Ce
rard
de Nerval. Nestor Rotlueplun, Camill e Rogier, Lassailly, Edouard Our
Iiuc-
a
voluntary boheme . .. where onc played at poverty ... a bastard sciOli of
tbe ol d Romanticism . .. ; thul of 1848, of Murger. ChampReury, Barba ra, Nadar,
J ea n Wllllon. Schunne--trul y needy. thill boheme. but as quickl y relieved, tbanks
to all intellect ual camaraderie ... ; and that finall y of 1852, our boheme. not
"Ohlntary at all ... but cruell y grounded in privation." Jules LevaUois , l'ttiliell de
iIIemoire' d 'un crit.. ue(Paris <1895 .1'1' 90-91. [dl 5a, l j
$ I ... .
Balzac sees human beings magnified through the mists of the future behind
which they move. On the other hand, the Paris he is that of his own
time; measured against the stature of its inhabitants, it is a provincial Paris.
[d I5a,2]
"What I have in mind here will become sufficientl y clear if I say that 1 find in
Balzac no interior life of any kind. but rather a devouring and wholly external
curiosity. whi ch ta kes the form of movement without passing through thought."
Alain, Avec Balzac (Pari. <1937, p. 120. [dl 5a,3j
Laforgue on La Fill de Satan: ". remember a pbrase by M. Mallarme: Each morn
ing. on rising from his bed. Hugo would go to the organ-like the great Bach . wbo
piled up score upon score without concern for other consequences." Earlier. on
the same page: "'(' he organ continues as long as the score of the visible world lies
open before hill eager eye., and as long as there i. wind for tbe pipes ." Julea
Laforgue, Melall8es posthume$ (Pari. , 1903), pp. 130-131. [dl 5a,4j
" It has often been asked whether Vi ctor Hugo bad an easy time composing. It is
clear that he wa. not endowed. or afRi cted, with that . trange facility in improvisa
tion thanks to which Lamartine never cro.ted out a word. The iron pen of the
laut; r sped rapidly along, barely touching the satiny paper it covered with liplt
marks.... Vi ctor Hugo makes the paper cry out under his pen, which itself cries
out. He reRec18 on each word; be weigh! every expression; he comes to rest on
periods, as one might sit upon a milest one--to contemplate the finished sentence,
along with the open apace in which the next sentence will begin." Louis Ulhach , Le,
Contemporains (Pa ri s, 1883); cited in Raymond Escholier, Victor raconte
pur ceux qui l'ont VII (Paris. 193 1). p. 353. [dI5a,5]
of the lett ers whi ch reached him were addressed simpl y: Victor lIugo,
Oce(m ." Ra ymond Escholi cr. Victor H"8o racollle par ceux qui l'on' VII ( Paris.
1931). p. 273 ("Autornnc"). [d15a,6]
An early, highl y characteristic specimen of the feuilleton style in the letlre
parisirnne of January 12, 1839, from the pen of the vicomte de Launais (Madame
de Girardin): "There is a great deal of excitement over M. Daguerre' s invention,
and nothing is more amusing tlwt the explanations of this marvel that are offered
in all seriousness by our salon savants. M. Daguerre can rest easy, however, for
no one is going to steal his secret. . .. Truly, it is an admirable discovery, but We
understand nothing at all about it: there has been too much explanation." MIn
de Girardin, Oeu!lt'tJ comple/e;, vol. 4, pp. 289-290; cited in Gist.le Freund
Pn%grapnit en Frana au X/X, Jiecit (Paris. 1936). p. 36. (d;6,1]
Baudelai re menti ons "an immortal feuiUeton" by Nestor Roqueplan, "OU Vont lee
chi ens?" <Wher e Do Dogs Go?" in Le Spleen de Pari&, ed. R. Simon (Pari.), p. 83
(" I.es Bons Chi ens"). u [dI6,2]
On Lamartine, I-Iugo, Mi chelet: "There is lacking to these men so rich in taleot_
as to their predecessors in the eight eenth century-that secret part of study
whereby one forgets one'. cont emporari es in the sea rch for truths. for that which
afterward one can lay before them." Abel Bonnard, Les Modere,. in the aene.
ent itl ed Le Drame du present , vol. I (Paris (1936,) , p. 235. (dI 6,3)
Dickens: "There was a great deal of the actual and unbroken tradition of the
Revolutioll itself in hi s early radical indictments; in his denunciations of the Fleet
Prison there was a great deal of the capture of the Bastille. There was, above aU,.
certain reasonable impatience which was the essence of the old Republican, .Dd
which is uite unknown to the Revolutionist in modern Europe. The old R.dical
did not feel ex:actl y that he was ' in revolt '; he felt if anything that a number of
idiotic instituti ons had revolted against reason and against him." G. K. Cheeter
ton, Dickens, trans. Laurent and Martin-Dupont (Paris, 1927), pp. 164-165."
[dI6,4)
Gustave Ceffroy (L'Enferme <Paris, 1926" vol. I , pp. 155-156) poinll out thai
Balzac never described the unrest of the Parisian population in his day. , the dub
life, the 81reetcorner prophets , and so on-with the pon ible exception of Z. M.,....
cas, that slave of Lows Phili ppe'& regime. (dI6,5]
During the Jul y Revoluti on, Charles X had handwri tt en appeals distributed
among the insurgent s by his troops. See Gustave Geffroy, L'Enferme. vol. I, p. SO.
[dI6,6)
..It is ... important to conceive of the possibility of reori enting aestheti c...
toward influences operating on man thanks to r eprescnt ations engendered by the
morphology of society itself. .. It is still more important to demonstrate that
phenomena of this kind occur witll til e advent of universal li teracy [that is to eay,
with the instiltJti on of compulsory primary school education. whi ch was estab
liehed at precisely the same time that the myth of Paris was formed (_Note)]."
Roger CaiJloi s, " Paris, my the moderne;' Nouvelle Revuefram;aise. 25, no. 284
(May I , 1937). p. 699. (dI6a.l}
Caulier. ill his " Vi ctor Hugo." on the red waistcoats at t.he premi ere of Herna";":
"'To avoid the infamouJI red of '93, we had added a slight amount of purple 10 0Ul'
tillt. We di,l nol wi.s h to have any political motive att ributed to us." Cited in
Ra ymond Escholier, Victor Hugo rtl collte par cenx (1(li 1'0111 VII (Paris. 1931),
p. 162. [d16a,2J
1852: "The reputation of the author of Hemflni had I)asseti , by the peculiar con
duit s of bohemerie and utopianism. from the Latin Quarter to tbe faubourgs or
PariS. Then, suudenl y, the grea tmctaphorist had had the r evelation of the dogma
of the sovcreign people .... This revelati on encompassed, at the same time, the
proj ects of Michelet and Quinet and many another writer of lesser ability, such as
Considirant ." LeOIi Daudel , lA. Tragit/ue Existence de Victor Hugo (Paris
<1937,), p. 98.-Around trul time, Hugo made a speech to the troops . Id16a,3]
Hugo: " It was during one of those desolate excursiolll that the sight of a ship run
agrounu 011 a namcless r ock, its keel in the air, gave Hugo the idea for a new
Robinson Cr wDe, whi ch he would call Les Tm vaiUeurs de to mer <The Toiler s of
the Sea" labor and the sea comprising the two poles of his exile .... Whereas in
. . . Les Contemplations he hatllulled hil agonb:ing regret for the loss of his eldest
daughter to the sea, he went on, in the prose of Les Tra vailleurs. to soothe the
sadness he felt for the daughtel' who had 8ai led away. This marine element, tben,
was decidedJy linked, by chains of black, to hi s destiny." Leon Daudet , La
Tragique Existence de Victor Hugo (Paris), pp. 202-203. [dI6a,4]
Juliette Drouet: " It is likely ... that , beyond the question of former lovers and of
debts, this propensit y for ancillary amours , wruch attended the poet ... from his
thirtieth year until the c.nd of rus life, made him want to reduce his pretty actress
to a subordinate position, to the position of begga r woman, ... and the famous
expiation might well have been onl y a metamorphosis of desire." Leon Daudet , La
Tragique Exi&tence de ViClor Hugo (Paris), pp. 61-62. (d I7,1]
Leon Daudet maintains that the failure of Le Roi s'amwe in 1832 turned Hugo
llgainst the monarchy. (dI7,2]
Hugo's panegyrics to wuis Na poleon were published in L Evenement. [d17,3)
From the record of the spiritualist sessions on Jersey (cited in Albert Beguin,
romantiqut tt It relit (Marseilles, 1937], vol. 2), to which Beguin appends the
JUSt remark (p. 397): "Hugo transports all that he takes up-and which could
pure foolishness wcre reason alone to judge-into his mythology, a little
like the primitive savage initiated into the beauties of free and compulsory public
education. But his vengeance (and his destiny as well) will be to become, himsclf,
the myth of an age devoid of all mythic meaning." Hence, Hugo tranSported
spiri tualism into his worl d. "Every great spirit carnes on in his life twO works: the
work of the Ii vi.ng person and the work of the phantom.... Whereas the living
perfoons the first work, the pensive phantom- at night, amid the universal
Silence-awakes within the man. 0 terror! 'What,' says the human being, ' that is
llot all?'-'No: replies the ' Get up! Up! There is a gmt wind abroad, the
hounds and the foxes are yelping, darkness is everywhen, and nature shudders
and trembles under the whipcord of God.' .. . The writer-specter sees the phan.
tom ideas: take fright, shiver, ... the windowpane grows dim,
the lamp IS afratd.... Take care, livmg man, 0 man of a century, 0 proscript of
a terrestrial idea! For this is madness, this is the tomb, this is the infinite-this is a
phantom idea" (p. 390). The "great spirit," in the same contat: "He encountcn
certitude sometimes as an obstacle on his path, and clarity sometimes as a fear"
(p. 391).-From Prut-Scriptum tit ma vie: "There exists a hilarity of shadOWs.
Noctumallaughtcr Soats in the air. There are merry specters" (p.396). (dI7,4]
Hugo famously intoxicates himself- and not only in William Shakespeare--with
long lists of the names of great geniuses. In this regard, one should recall the
poet' s passion for imagining his own name writ large; we know he read an HiD.
the towers of Notte Dame. Another aspect of the matter is disclosed by his
spiritualistic experiences. The great geniuses whose names he tirelessly rehearses,
always in a different order, are his "avatars," incarnations of his own ego, and the
more present for being ranged so before it. [dI7a,l )
Just as, during the ",,"ling of NotreDame de Paris, Hugo every evening would
visit one of the towers of the cathedral, so on Guernsey Uersey?) he sought out
the rocher des prrucrits <exiles' rock>, &om which every afternoon he would c0n
template the ocean. [dI7a,2]
TIlls decisive passage, which explodes the status of consciousness within the __
century, &om "Ce que dit Ia Bouche d'ombre" :
VW:ep for the unclean spider, for the worm,
For the slug whose back. is wet as winter,
For the vile lowe that hangs upon the leaf,
For the hideous crab, and the appalling ccruipcde,
For the dreadful tOad, poor monster with p ue eyes,
Who is always gazing at the mysterious sky.
The last line should be compared with that of Baudelairr:'s "Les Avcugles."27
[dI7a,3)
Sainte-Beuve on Lamartine's role in 1848: " What he did 1I 0t foresee is that he
would be the Orpheus who later, for a time, would di rect alld goverll , with hd
golden lyre, this invasioll of barbarians." C. A. Sainte-Beuve. Le, COrl,olarioru:
Perl$ee, d 'aolit , poems, IJa rt 2 (Paris, 1863), p . 118. [dI7a,4]
"'One remembers that the china alld the tables began to dall ce, while the rest of tbe
world seemed to be standing Still- ill order to ell courage the others." Karl Mars,
Kapitai ( vol. I >, ed . Korsch (Berlill <1932 <p. 83 >. i!II [dI
7a
,5]
III a note ill Oru Kopilal (ed. Korsch. p. 541). Mar x speaks of " Bab ac, who sO
thoroughl y studi ed ever y shade of avarice.>1'0 IdI 7a,6)
Le Boli eme-was, a t fi rst, the or,; all of the proletarianizetl inteileetuaJIJ of Del
Villi 'S gcncr ati oll. [dla,l ]
Bourget 0 11 lJal:wc: "Cert ain of his characters were 11101'1' Iruc-to-lifc in 1860 than
in 1835: ,\ . CerfLerr a nd J . Ch.ristophe. RelJerl Oire de i ( 1 Com lie lillmcline
(Paris. 1887), p. v (illlr()(luClion hy Pa u] Bourgct). <See {IS. I. > [d I8,2]
Taking a cue from Hofmanns thal (VerJuch iiber Vic/or Hugo <Munich, 1925>,
pp. 23-25), onc could provide an account of thc binh of the newspaper from the
spirit of rhetoric,:JO and emphasize how the spirit of representative political dis
course has confomlcd to that of empty chattcr and civic gossip. [dI 8,3l
011 the feu.ill etoll : " Avid for gain, the edit ors of the bi g newspapers have not
waut ed 10 demand that their feuill etonists writ e criticism fOlWded 011 convictioll
and 011 truth. Their cOlivictiOIi Shave too often changed. " This the judgmellt of the
Fouri erisl press. H. J. Hullt , Le Socilliisme et /e romcmtn me en France: Etude de
fa preue , ocia/isle (Ie 1830 a1848 (Oxford, 1935) <po L42>. (dI 8,4]
Lamartine's politico-poeti c program, mOlh:1 for fascist programs of today: "The
ignor ance and limitl it y of governlll ent s . . . has the effect, within all the parties, of
disgusting one by Oll e those men endowed with breadth of vision and generosity of
heart . EaciJ , in his turn, di sencha nt ed with the mendacious symbols that no longer
represent tiJem, these men are going to congregat e arowld ideas alone .... It is to
hel p bring forth cOllvicti on, to add one voi ce mor e to this political group, that I
tenllHJ ruily fC. nounce my solitude." Lamartine, " Des Deslinees de la lKt&ie" [sec
ond prefll ce to Le, Meditations] , in Le5 Cr(Jtld de la France: La
marti'le . vol. 2 (Paris, 1915), pp. 422-423. {dI8,5j
On the serial novel in Sue's day; " The need to whi eh these fa ntasies respond is that
of discovering some relation IIlIIong eveli ls that appear 10 be utter ly r andom. Ob
scurel y, the imagililltion per suades itself t.hnt aU these inequalities of social exist
ence, thelie downfall s li nd ascent s, constitut e one ancllile ,ame great
other words, tha t they prO(.'eed from a si ngle cause a mi a re connected one to
anothcr. Tilt: tl c\'e!opmcnt of Ill e scrial novel pa rallel s the creati on of the social
Cassoll . Q,W I'{Ulle-Jlllil (Pll ri s <1939 . p. 15. [d 18,6]
Cassou on t he "dcmocr ll tic lyricism of Lalll al'tiJlt:'; " We t1.iIiCO\er in thi li a secret
thouglll : our POSIiCIi8ioIl S. II10nl; wilh all II'ain uf spiritual delight s, accom
\lany liS tu the \'er y thl'eshuld uf imlll ortalit y. Ilarlll y bwaehetl in Milly. 0 11 la terre
fl u/(. Ie. this theme hursts forth ill UI Visne et In mui$Oll . expressing Lama rtill e's
sUprellle . Iesire-thll t of living u ll in a realm of physical immort alit y where e\'er y
object it!! perfc.t <llId 8uvury rCllli t y. This jschut ol" gy. no .Iou"t . differs
a lill ie fl'ulII the PUI'{' spiritualism uf l.a Mort de Socrrr tc. wit h its Plaluni c inspi ra
tion .... Uut it revcal s the prUfOlilltlllll tu.re of t his IIristOl' r atic lalltl OI'Oucr." J ea ll
Cassou. Qunl'{lntehuit (Pa ris), I)' 173. [d I8a, I]
The gargoyles of Notre Dame must be jwt about contemporary with Victor
Hugo's noYd. "Here VioUetle-Ouc., ... whose work was so sharply criticized,
has ac.complished something remarkable. These devils and monsters are ac.tua1ly
of the created in the Ages the possessed imagi.
t--------
nabon, everywhere seemg demons, really scemg them." Fn tz Stahl, Paris (Berlin
<1929 , p. 72. meet with the anaJogous phenomenon, it seems, in Hugo. At
stake here, perhaps, is a question, one that coincides lVith the question: Why is
the nineteenth century the century of spirirualism? {d18a,2]
An important relation bet,,:ttn information and feuilleton is indicated by LaVtt.
dam (this, at any rate, is how the signet "Lm" is read by Hunt, Le SociaJisrTk et Ie
romantisme (II France [Oxford, 1935]) : "The distressing disputes ... between Ger.
many and France, the war inAfrica-do not such facts deserve as much attention
as skillfully told stories of fornler times or of individual misfortunes? lbis being
the case, if the public ... reads these great national novels chapter by chapta;
why do you wish to impose on it, all at one time, your tale or your doctrine? ...
Division 0/lahar and ;hort ;ith'ngs: such are the requirements of the reader." Lm,
"Revue critique du feuilleton," La Phalange, July 18, 1841; in La Phalange. 3rd
series, vol. 3 (Paris, 1841), p. 540. [d18a,3]
" Victor Hugo, ... according to a description by Theophile Gautier. would mD
together on the same plate a cutl et , beans in oil , a ha m omelette, and Brie eh_.
and would drink cafe au Jai t seasoned with a dash of vinegar and a spot of mu.
tard." R. 8[runet] . " La Cuisine rigionale," Le Temps, April 4. 1940. [dI9] ___
[The Stock Exchange, Economic History]
';Napoleon N!1)r Csented the last onsl aught of revoluti onary terror against the
bourgeois societ y which had been proclaimed by this same Revolution. and against
its policy. Napoleon. of coune, already discerned the euenee oftbe modern state;
he undentood that it is based on the unhampered development of bourgeois soci
ety. on the free movement of private interest , and so fortb.... Yet , at the same
time, he still rega rded the state as an end in illielf and civil life onl y as a pune
bearer.... He perfected the Terror by substituting permanent war for permanent
revolution .... If he despoticaUy suppressed the liber alism of bourgeois society-
the political idealism of its daily practi ce--he sbowed no more consideration for its
essential material interests, trade and industry. whenever tbey conRieted with his
political interests. His scorn for indust rial homme. d 'a/Jaire. was the complement
to his scorn for ideologues .... Just as the li.beral bourgeoisie was opposed once
more by revolutionary terror in the person of Nal)oleon, so it was opposed once
more by counterrevolution during the Restoration, in the penon of the Bourbons.
Finall y, in 1830, the bourgeoisie put int o effect its wishes of the year 1789, the onl y
difference being that illl political enlightenment was now complete, tha t it DO
longer considered the constitutional representative state as a means for achievinr;
tbe ideal of the state, the welfare of the world, and universal huroan aims but, on
the contra ry, had acknowledged it as the official expreu ion of iu own excl usive
power and the political recognition of its own special int erests." Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels . Die heilise Familie; cited in Die lIelie Zeit, 3 (Stuttgart. 1885),
PI>. 388-389.
1
{gl , l]
A schema from Edgar Quinet's De la Revolut ion et de 10. phiuuophie: "The devel
0llmellt of German philosophy ... a sort of theory of the French political revol u
tion. Kallt is the COll stitucnt Assembly. Fichte the Convention, ScheUing the
Empire (i n li ght of hi s veneratioll of physical force). and I-Iegel appears as the
lind the Holy AUiall cc." <Eduard> Sehmidt-Weissenfels, Portraiu
au.s Frankreich (Berlin, 1881). p. 120 (" Edgar Quinet uDd der fran.r:osische Na
tionalhaO" <Edga r Quinet alld Frcnch ' ational Hatred>). {g1.2]
Cuizot "Corrupting the electoral colleges WIi S a si mple mail er. These
Coll eges gcnerall y compri sed few eleclon; many cont ained less than 200. among
which were government bureaucrats. The Istt er obeyed the orders they were
given ; ss to ordinary e1ec;tors. one could lill y them hy givi ng their dependents snd
favorites things likctohacco shops or or by giving the el ector himself
somc impo rt s nt administrative post. III Ihe Chumber, as in the electoral
government bureMucrMls were 'Iuite numerous: more than a third of the
( 1M out of 459, in 1846) wertl prefects. magistrates. offi ciuls. The minister Con.
trolled them by fueling their hopes for s dvancement .... To reach a maj ority
thirty or forty deputies were needed. Gui zot 101'011 them with concessions for tar
stat e projects (this was in the early days of rai lroad construction) or by giv!
them a share of die contract for suppli es to the stat e. Corruption was thus built u
into a systcm of government , Mnd the numerous scandMls Mt I.he end of the
make glaringly elear that the underl ingtl worked the system just as well as the
prime minister." A. Malet and P. Grillet, Siecle (Paris, 1919), pp. 95, 97.
Lamartintl81)Oke, at thi s tinle, of the danger of an "electoral aristocracy" (1847).
[gla. l ]
"On Jul y 2S, 1831 , a Parisian man displays his portrait together with that of Low.
Philippe. providing them with the foll owing caption: ' There is no distance separal.
iug Philippe from me. He is the citizcn. kiug; I am the king-citizen,''' Gi.&e1a
Freund, " La Photographie au point de vue sociologique
n
(manuscript . p. 31).
citing J ean J aures, HiJtoiresociamte: Le Reglle de umu-Philippe. p. 49. [gla,21
''' Paris is as sad as l)I)ssible; wrote the author of Colomba at the height or the
exhibition. ' Everyoll e is afraid withoul kllowing why. It is a sensation akin to tbal
produced by the music of Mozart wheu the COllllllelidatore is about 10 enter.! ...
The leasl little incident is awaited like a catastrophe.'" Adolphe Oemy. E" oi
hu torique ,ur les exposition, univer, elle, de Paru (Paris, 1907), pp. 173- 174.
[gla,3]
Some li ght on Nal)Oleon's relatioll to the bourgeoisie around 1814. "The emperor
hod evince,1 the greutest relucta nce Itt the prospect of armi ng the PariSI)Opulation.
Fearing the revoluti onary spirit, he had refused the services of 50,000 workers,
most of thtlm forrner 8oldi ers; he had wanted to organize companies ... made up
solel y of citizens of the IUllll tl hourgeoisie--thal is to tllose who were inclined
10 regard the allies MS lihera tors.... Pt-,opl e cur!llld Napoleon's naille. Witnen.
leiter t o Colonel Grei ner, se.:olld ill COlllmand at the Ecule ... : ' April II . IS14. J
Cowa rdl y slave of all equall y cowardl y Ill aster! Give me hack my son! lJIoodthiral
il-, r evell than the tyrallt , you have outdolle him in cruelt y by delivering up to
enemy fire the chiMren we entrusted to your carc--we who Ldie' e in the law that
guarant et:d their educati on. Where are they? Yuu will answer for thi s with your
1\I:ad! All the 1I10tllel's IIIe nUI/'ching against you, and I mysel f, I promi se you, will
"
wring your m . .-c k wilh Ill )' own two hallli ll if III )' SOli does nut reappear soon.
G. Pinet . Jli.stoi,.e de rEcofe IJo f)tecllfliqll e (Paris. 1887) . PI' . 73-74.80-81. The
I,lt cl' is from the futher of Enflllliin. {g2,I]
" Protesta ntism ... did away with the saints in heaven 80 118 10 be able to aboli sh
their feaBt days 011 earth. The Revolution of 1789 underslOOII still hetl er what it
\O.IIS allOut. The reforll1ed reii giou had held 0 11 to Sunday; Lut for the revolution
IIr)' bourgeois . Ihat ontl day of rest coming every seven days was t oo much , and
the). therefore substitut ed fur the se" en-day week the ten. day week <it. decode),
so that the day of rest recurred but ever)' tell tlays. Alld in order to bury all
memory of the ecclesiastical holy days ... , they replaced the Dames of saints, in
the repuhli can calendar, with the names of metals . planu, and animals." Paul
Lafargue, " Die christliche Liehestatigkei t" (Die neue Zeit, 23, no. 1 (Stuttgart ).

" 1.11 the fi rst days of the Revolution, tilC (Iuestion of the poor assumed ... a very
distinct and urgent character. Baill)" who initiall y had been elected mayor of Paris
for the express purpose of alleviating the misery of the ... workers, I)acked them
into masseS and cooped them up--!lome IS.(M)() peoplc--like wild animal8, 011 the
hill of Montmartre. Those who stormed the Ba8tille had workers with cannons
emplaced there, lighted match in hand .... Had the war not drawn the unem
ployed a lld destitut e laborers from town and countryside ... into the army, and
shuttled them off to the borders ... a popular uprising would have spread across
the whole of France:' Paul Lafargue. " Die christliche Liebe3tatigkeit
n
[Die neue
Zeit. 23, no. 1 (Stuufl:a rt), p. 147]. [g2,3]
" Our century, in which the sovereign is everywhere except on the throne. " Babac,
I Preface to Un Grand Homme de province aPa,.u ; ci ted in Georges Batault. I.e
Pontife de la demagogic: Victor Hugo ( Paris, 1934). pp. 230-231. [g2a, l ]
On the writings of Napoleon 111 : "A !Illt of commonplaces developed with sustained
solemnity ... a perpetual claslLing of antitheses, and then suddenly a striking
formulation that captivates by its air of gra ndeur or seduces by its generosity ...
along with ideas ..... hich are so confused that one can no longer disti nguish them in
the depths where they' re apparentl y Luried, but which. at the very moment one
despai rs of ever finding them, burst forth with the sound of trumpets ." Pierre de
la Gorce, Nupoieon III et sa pofitique (Paris), pp. 4. 5; cited in Batauh. Le Pontife
to delllugogie. pp. 33-34. {g2a,2]
Transiti on from the Napoleonic milit a ry regi me to the lH!acetime regi me of the
Engravings titl ed 1'he Soldier-Labo,.e,., The Sofdier-Reaper,. Gener
osi'J of(I french SoMier. TIl e Tomb of,lie Bru tie. Cabi net des Estampes. [g2a,3]
'WIIt!n . around 1829. M. de Saillt Cricq . director of CII 8tOIlIS, alinOUIi Ced the
('ollimercial shutd"wlI .........e were incletiuiouij. It ..... as so serious t.iUlt it ca used
the Jul )' Hevolutioll . On the eve of Fehruary 1848. dur ing tile hardl wint er t.hat
)Irt'cetletl ii, the shutdown returned , alltl with it UIl ClII llhJ)ment . Twent y yea rs
later. ill 1869, here it is again. No one has an)' desire for ellterprise. The current
goverllJll Clll , with its Cri:dit Mohilier and other eompalli tlll, II ll 60 advanLageou8 to
the Stock Exchange, diverted for len years the agricultural and indul lnal capital
that earne comparatively littl e interett . Its free-trade trea ty, opening France to
industry in 1860, ... utter ruin (rom the oulaet . Nonnaody '.y.
It caonot r ecover. Much lell the Ironworks of the North," J . Michelet, No.flU
(Paris. 1879). pp. 300-301. [g2a,4)
A copper engraving of 1818: Xenomenia Impugned, or It ,No Disgrace To Be
French. On the right, a column inscribed with the names of fa moul battlea .. weD
as famous works of art and literature. Under" it, a young man with the honor roll of
industry; hi. foot r estll OD a . beet bearing the lnIK: ription, " Productt of Foreip
Manufacture," Facing him, another Frenchman, who proudly pointa toward the
column. In the background, an English civilian debates with a French . oldier. AD
four perIODSprovided with caption8. Floating above in the sky and blowin into a
trumpet, the 6gure-eharply r educed in scale---of an angel. From hil horn banp
..
a tablet with the words : " To Immortalit y." Cabinet del El tampes. [g2a,5j
" If you pau in front of the Stock Exchange at noon, you will see a 10I13line . . .
This line is composed of men from all walks of life--bourgeois , penMonen,
keepers , porter a, errand bOYl, postmen, artis18 and acton-who come there to PI
a place in the 6rel row, around the circular enclosure.... Positioned dOle to tbe
floor, next to the public crier, they pun::hase sharel of Itock which they aelI 011
during the aame &euion. That old while-haired fellow who offers a pinch of uudf
to the guard passing by is the dean of these speculaton.... From the seneralblk
of the trading on the 800r and off, and from the faces of the etockbroken, be iI
able to divine. with a marvelous instinct , the rise or the fall of stock$. " [Tadle
Delord,) Parn-80ursier (Paris, 1854), pp. 44.-46 ("Le. Petiu Parifl"). [ga,l)
On the Stock Exchange: ""The Boune dates only from the time of M. de V1IWe.
There was more initiative and more Saint-Simonianil m in the mind of thit minider
from Toulouse than is generall y believed .... Under hi, administration, the poei
tion of stockbroker was sold for up to one million francs. The 6rst word. 01
speculation, though, were harely a lisp; the meager four billion in French debt, the
several million in Spanish and ... Neapoli tan debt, were the alphabet by which it
learned to read .... One put one'a faith in the far m, in t he hou&e.... Of. rich
man it was said: he h88 land in the SUD and a house in town! ... It was not until
1832, after the ... sennonl of Saint-Simonianism, ... that the country found
iuelf . .. suddenly ripe for its great Mancial destiny. In 1837, an irrelistible force
could be observed attracting attention to the Bourse; the creation of the raiJroad
added new momentum to this force.... The petite-couliu:e in the colonnade (&ee
Convol ute 0 , note 9> does the bUl iness of the petty bourgeoisie, just beyond, the
contre-petite-couliue handles the capital of the proletariat . The one operatel for
the porters, cookl, coachmen , grill.room proprietor haberdashers, aDd waite";
Ihe other descend. a nOlch in the locial hierar chy. One day we said to our&dVel:
' The cobhler. the match seller, the boiler cleaner, and the fried-I)Otalo vendor
know how 10 put their capilal 10 use; let'. make the greal market of the Bount'
H ;
L'Elrangrmumie blam, ou D'Efrt Franrau it nJapas d'aifrrmt
(Xcnomania bnpugned, or It's No Oi5grace to Be Fre:nch).
Counesy of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. See g2a,5.
to thenl.... Thus, we OIK!ned up the contre-/Je' i'e-couli.ue. tradin be
Yond Ihe tllCter nal market . We sold sha res at a fi xed rate of 3 francs, 50 centinl es,
and made a profit of one centime. Business was boomiog ill this ma rket when the
debacle of la8t lIIonlh occurred.'" [TalCile Delord,) I'(lris-Holl rsier (Paris, 1854),
1
1
11.6-8.56.....')7 (" Les Petits Paris"). (g3,2]
Conullert'ial crisis of 1857 all cause of the Ii ali an campaign.
[g3.31
"Enfantin elChorts hi:8 lwlhi cal comrades ... 10 establish. in addition to Ihe ' i,lllu8
trial Crt:llil already ill elCistence, .111 illlcllL..: tuul credit ... Thi s ill 1863! C. L.
de Liefde, 1..e Suint-Simonis me dlJlu h1 Iwetl icjru'I(;(lise, 1825-1865 dluarlclII ,
19
27), p. 113. [g3a, I]
Bau ac'j portrait of the specul ator Dia rd in Le$ Marcma : " He demanded th,"_
and-$uch percent 0 11 the purcll ose of futeen legislative votes, which passed. , in the
space of one n.ight , from the bell chel of the I...eft t o those of the Right . That 80rt of
thing is 110 longer robbery, or any 10rt of cri me; it is l inlpl y carrying on the
government , becoming a silent partner in the nati onal industry. " Cited in Ahbe
Charl es CaLippe, 8(1iz(lc: Se$ idee$ $ociale$ (Reillli alltl Par il ( 1906, p. 100.5
[gO.,'}
" It Wil.l in ... 1838 that tbe government , in the perlOn of M. Martin from Nord
had the good idea of bringing before the Chamben the project of a p-eat network
of !la ti oll al railways-a giganti c undertaking whi ch t.he sta te alone would carry
oul. . .. Agai nst this untoward governmental project Le Journal del debal'
launched a devastating attack, from which the project didllot recover. Two yean
later, the conce88ion for the two principal lines of the West and tbe South was
granted by t he sta te to two large COnllJanies .. . . Five years later, . .. Pere Enlao_
tin was IICCretary of the administra tive council of the Lyonl railr oad, ... and the
pact between Saint-Simon a nd Judea. . was sealed forever . ... All this wal the
work of the .' a ther (see U14a. 1> . . . . Too many J ewi sh names appea r 00 the
membership roll s of the Saint -Simonian church for us t o be surprised at the fact
that the system of financial feudalism was el tablished by the discipl es of Saint
Simoll ." A. Toussell el, I.e! l uif$, rou de J'epoquB (Panl <1886 , ed. Gonet.
pp. 130--133. fg3a,3}
"It was 1I 0t the Frell ch bourgeoisie as such that r ul ed under the bourgeoil kinI,
but merely . . . the fmancial aristocr acy. The entire industrial corps, on the other
hand, was in the opposition." Eduard Fuchs, Die Karikatur der europauchera
VOlker (Muni ch <1 92 1 , vol. I , p. 365. [g3a,4}
"Before 1830, large-scale agriculture held /i way over publi c policy; after 1830, the
manufacturer s t ook its pl ace, but their reign had already devel oped under the .
regime whi ch had been overthrowlI by t.he harricades . . .. Whereas 15 factories
had bei:n e(luipped with machines in 1814, there were 65 in 1820 and 625 in 1830."
Paul Louis, IJiJloire de w cwu e ouvriere en France, de la Revolution ano! joun
(Par il, 1927). I.P. 48-49. [g3a,5]
"'The ensla\'ement of governments is 011 the incr ealC, and the inlIuence of speeula
tors has grown to such an extellt thai the gandlling dell of the Boun e hal
the compan of puhlic opini on ." Cit ed in f: Armand and R. J\taubianc, FoulU
r
(Pa ris , 1937), vol. 2, p. 32. [g4,l j
Fourier's Bourse: " There is much more animatioll and illtrigue at the Stock Ex
change of a Phalanx than t1l cre is a t the stock exchangell of Londoll alld Amster
dam. For every individual lII ust go to the E"c1lange to a rrange his work and
pleasure SC!jllionll ror t he foll owing daYIl . .. . Assuming thai 1,200 indivi duals are
1I1111111at ellch one has twcnt y II cssion8 to this means that , in ,be
meeting 11.1 a whole, there are 24, 000 transacti oDs to be concl uded. Each of these
IrailSaCti OIll! ca n involve twent y, fort y, or a hUlidred illdividuals, who must be
consulted and illtngued with or against. ... Negoti ations a re carried on quietly,
by means of l iptals. Each negoti alOr holds up the escut cheons of the grolllJ' or
phalanxes whi ch he reprelCntS, aud by certain prea rranged signs he indi cates the
approJ( imatc number of members he has recruited ." Publication de$ nlelnl/lerit!
de Fourier (Pa ris, 1851- (858), 4 vola. , Year 1851. pp. 191- 192. 6 {g4,2)
The term Bour!e de tra vaiJ <Labor E"change) Was coined by Fourier, or a Foun
erist. [g' ,3}
In 1816 there were lIeven li stingB on the Stock Exchange; in 1847, more than two
hundred.
[" ,' }
In 1825, according to Marx,' the fi rst crisis of modern indul t ry-that is, the 6n t
crisis of capitalism. {g4,5)
I

-
[Reproduction Technology, Lithography1
"The social philosophy of the art of lithography at its beginnings ... Mter tbe
image maker, of the Napolt:onic legend, after the lit erar y artisu of Romonticiam,
came the chronicl ers of the dail y life of the French. The flrll group I1Ilwittinly
paved the way for political upheavals, the second hu tened the evolution of litera
ture, a nd the third contribut ed to the profound demarcation between the aritto(:_
racy and the people." Henri BOIiChol , La Lithographie (Paris <1895, pp. 112,
114. [il ,l]
Pigal portrays the people; Monnier, the petty bourgeoisie; Lallli, the aristocracy.
[;1,21
The important contribution of amateurs can be observed in the early days or-
lithography, exactly as it can later in photography. [i l,3)
"The contest bell. ..een lithography ami stipple-engraving accelerates from d.y to
day. bllt , since til e eud of 1817, the victory has belonged to lithography, thanks 10
the existence of ca ri cature." Henri 8 0ll chot , La Lithographie (Pan. <1895)),
[il ,fl .
p. 50.
&uchot looks on lithographs produced before 1817 as the oflithog
raphy. From 1818 to 1825, lithographic production in France steadily
Polilica1 circumstances made this upsurge much more visible there than m other
countries. I ts decline, too, is in part conditioned by politics: it coincides with the:
rise of Napoleon III "The fact is ... that, of illustrious number present un;;
the reign of Louis Philippe, there remained, m the early years of ,
barely four or five exhausted, disoriented survivors." Henri Bouchot, La
raphit (Paris), p. 182. I
'''S 11 1.... worked
Lithogra phy towanl the cluj of til e 5econd Emplre: 0 man y III .....
agaiml it! The ncwl y revived etching, the nascent lu liogrnphi c proceslw.8. al.ld
!lomc eXlent 1111: hllrin. Materiall y, il fOllndere(1 undcr the diffi cult ies a!l!OC
lat
with print.ing- thc encumiJra nee of those very stones. wllieh the edilO
rI
" ' I ' I ' h h' (I' ') p 193.
refu!ietl to warcllOu,.e as beforc. Il enn 8 0uc lOt . IAI "" ogr(fp Ie ans, '. 61
[11 ,
Raffet undertook lithogra phic reportage in the Crimea.
[iI ,7)
1835- 1845: .. It should ... not he tJlllt the opera
, ,I II tllllit lilli e was IlJUl erwa)" in wood engr avlllg ver y (IUlckly ... led to
1.10 11" I ", ,
_ , odUCtiOIl tecimi1lll e8. A woodcutt er wouJd make onJy the head8 or figures
.
. wor k whil e a nother Jess skill ed. or an apprentice, would make the acceuo
III a , d' , , f I b c ,_ ' fi d
' _ ,I b.- kgroulltl s and so on. Out of such a IVIIIIOIi 0 a or notlllJlg Ullt e
Ie... ,
emerge" Eduard Fuci18, lIonore Dtlumier : llolzschnitte. 1833-1870
couII I . . . .
(MulI.ich <1918, p. 16. [il ,8]
The first atl empt at introducing lithography into France, undertaken by Selle
fei !ler-8 associate Andre d'Offcnbach, was a complete failll re. " He had ... moved
10 France solei)" with til e intention of selling musical 8cores printed by means of
lithography. The pa tent had beell t aken out in ILis name in 1802, and he had
opened a 8hop, ... little suspecting: : . what Was in store the di8oovery.... :-s
a mallcr of fact , it was not an ausplclOliS moment for the nunor arts of transcnp
tiOIl . The mast er David expressed olil y the haughtiest disdain for engraving; at
most , he had a few kind words for the copper-plate technique. Andre's enterprise
was very 80011 in jeopardy. " Henri 80llChot , La Lilhographie (Pari8 ( 1895)),
W-
On Oore's contributions to Le J OUrrlcrl illuJtre and Le Journal pour tow: " These
publicati ons that sol d ror two sous-Le JOllrnal pour 1011.1, Le Journal iUwl re. Le
Tour du monde-where Dore gave of himself with stupefying prodigality and
verve, served him. above aU, B8 a laboratory for his researches. Indeed, in the
grande, edilion, Imld in bookshops. produced at high cost (ror those days) by
Uachette or Garnier, lhe imagination, the fantasy, the energy of Gustave Oore
were ... to a certain ext ent . disci plined and cont ained by the requirements of a
deluxe edi tion.... Roger Devigne, "'Gustave Dori, illustrateur de jOllrnaux i dew:
sous et rel)() rt er du crayon," Arts et Melierl grophiqucs, 50 (December 15, 1935).

"The Paris worker ill revolt appears, ill hooks and in illustrations, as a veteran of
the street wars. a seasoned revolutionary. going about half naked with a cartridge
belt and saiJer crisscrossed over his shirt , with a headdress like an Mrican chi ef
laill_ a gold-hraid!:11 kcpi or a plumed hat- pennil ess , worn Ollt, magnanimous.
:blackcnetl with powder anll SWt' li ting from the Slln, ostelltaliollsly calling for water
"'ll en he is offen!tl a gllllJS of ....ine. installing himself comfortabl y on the IIl'hol
stt' rctlt llrOll e in the Illllllller or the $CI/I $ clIlotl cs of ' 93, e)"ei ng his companions at
til l' exit to tilt: ro)"al llpurtlll cnlS. shooting ully thieve,.. Take a look al drawings hy
Chll rlet and hy HaffcI; rcud t.hc account s, in til e form of glorifi cations that were
80it!. a fe.... tia)"s aft er II hUlll e_ for the iJenefit of widows, orphans. and the
"OundL'tI ..' Custllve Gerrroy. L'Ellferme (Puris, 1926). "01. 1. p. 5 1. [ila,3)
Cer1aill pamphlcts iJ )" Marx were litil ograpllt!il. (According t o Cassou, Quarante
huil ( Pa ris, 1939>, 1" I,m.) [i2)
k
,erved as pretexts. This type of ' theatrical' presentation completely defied all
et/ ntrol. "-" When revol uti on. hreak Ollt , one often hears admissions that can be
[The Commune1
"The hislory of the Paris Commune has become a touchstone of great importance
for the queuion: How sbouJd the r evolutionary working clan organi ze its laelict
and st r ategy in order 10 achieve ultimate victor y? With the fall of the Commune
the lasl traditi ons of the old revoluti onary legend have likewise fallen forever ; ...:
favorable turn of circumstances, no her oic spirit . DO mart yrdom can take the
place of the proletari at', clear insight into ... the indispensable conditions of ill
emancipation. What holds for the revolutions that ",'ere car ried out by nUnoritiet ,
aDd in the interests of minorities, no longer holds for the proletariaD revol....
tion .... In the histor y of the Commune. the germs of this r evolution were effec
ti vely stifled by the creeping pl ants that, growing out of the bourgeois revolution of
the eighteenth century, over ran the revolutionary workers' movement of the aiDe-
tee-nth century. Missing in the Commune were the fi rm organiza tion of the prole
ta ri at 8S 8 c1asll and the fundament al clarit y al to its world-histori cal millllioo; oa
these grounds alone it had to succumb." [F. Mehring,] " Zum Cediichtnis der Par
iser Kommune," Die neue Zeit. 14, no. 1 (Stuttgart, 1896), pp. 739-740. [kI,I)
" We will say but two words about t he lecture-present atioll s t ha t have multiplied io
recent years.. . . M. Ball ande, who fi rst thought of devoting Sunday afternoooa to
the inexpenllive performance of masterpieces or the exhibition of cert ain monu
ments of a rt , preceded by a hi stori cal Mild literar y explica lioll of the work, had hit
upon a happy and rewarding idea.... But success breeds imit ati on, and it is rare
that t he imitati ons do not bring out the troublesome aspects of the things they
copy. This is indeed what happened. Dail y present ati ons were organized at the
Chutelet a nd the Ambi gu . In these performa nces, questi ons of artist ry were rele
gated to a poll ition of secondary import ance; politics predomi nated. SOllleo
ne
fet ched up Agne, de Mera nie; another exhumed Co la5 a nd Chorie, lx. 0 11 L 'Ecole,
de, rois.
'
... From here. things could onl y go downhill ; I.he m08t beni gn of works,
by II strange inJl ecti on of the I)oliticalmadness. provided material ... for the most
het crugeneoll s decla mMtions on the Mffairs of t he day. Moliere anti Louis XJV
would certa iltl y have I>&;, n sur prised, at times, hy t he att ack ... for whi ch they
highl y illst ructhe. Here is what wa. sa id in Le Mot c/ 'orc/reof May 17, 187 1, on the
of the ci tizenship cards: : ' The overly assi{l uous rea {ling of Le Cll evfliier de
!lIclisofl-RolIse and other novels by Alexandre Dumas cert ainl y inspired the mem
of the Commune to come up wi th this decree. We regret having to inform them
thut is nol made by reading Vict or Hall ays-Dabot . La CemlUre
tl rtmwtilJue et Ie theatre, 1850-1870 <Pa ri s, 187h , Pl" 68-69, 55. [L..e Mot
d 'ortl re iSll reli umably an organ of Rochefort .] [kl ,2]
The Commune felt itself to be, in all respects, the heir of 1793.
[kl .3]
The passage in HallaysDabot, p. 55 <cited in k l ,2>, is very imponant for the
connection between colportage and revolution. [k1,4)
"AI several intersectionB, our pa th opened out unexpectedly into vast ar ched
domes . . .. Surely, each of these clandestine col os&eums would provide a useful
Itronghoid for the concent rati on of for ces in certain eventualities, just as the
infinit y of subtcrranean networks, with its thousand galleries running under every
comer of the capit al. provides a ready-made sap from whi ch t o attack the cit y
from below .... The lightning bolt that annihil ated the Empire did not leave it
time to act on this conception. It is harder to fi gure out why the leaden of the
Commune, ... so resolute in evcr ything, did not make use of this formidable
\ means of destruction when faced with tbe appearance of troops." Nadar, Quand
j'etais pholographe (Paris ( 1900 , p. 121 (" Paris souterrain"). Refen 10 the
"Letter from N- (Pa ris) to Louill Bla nc (Ver sailles), 1\Iay 1871," which voices just
8uch an [kIa, I]
" if Rimbaud is in fact admirable, it is not for having fallen silent but for having
spoken. Hhe fell silent , it was doubtless for lack of a true audience. It was because
the societ y in whi ch he li ved could not offer him this audience. One ought 10 keep
in mind the ver y simple fact that Arthur Rimbaud came to Paris in 1871, quite
natur all y, to join the a rmy of the Commune.. .. In the barracks of the Chateau
d'Ea u, the young Rimhaud did not yet question the utilit y of writing aud singing
aboul the hands of the Wench, of the J eanne-Marie of the fa ubourgs, who is not
the pl aster Mar ianne of the t own halls:
They are the hamb nOI o( a cousin
Hut o( worlci ng women with large foreheads
Hurned. in wOQ(I8 slinking of a faclory.
II)' a aun drunk on lar.
They have paled. marvdo" l ,
Under Ihe great sun (ull o{loo'e,
On Ihe hronze of machine
Throughout insurllent
Then, in the Ancmblies of the Commune ... , side by lI ide with the worken at
... with the warriors of lIocialism, one could til t:: poet of the Interna.
j
ti oll al , Poti er ; the lIuthor of L'lmurse, Jules Valles; the paint er of L'Enlcrreme,.,
(l Onwn$. Courbet ; and the brilliant r esearcher into the physiology of the cerebel.
lum, the great floureD,," <Louis) Aragon, " D' AJIred tie Vigny a Avdee.nk ..
0,
Commune. 2 (April 20, 1935), PI' . 810,815. {k.1a,2]

.. "The Commune. whi ch accorded seats only to those el ected from the worker.'
distrielll . w aR formed of II coalition of revolutionaries without II common pros;r . .....
Of the sevent y-eight members. only II score were intent on projects of social re.
form; the maj orit y were Jacobin democrats in the traditi on of 1793 {Delescluae)."
A. Malet, P. Crillel , Siecle (Paris, 1919), pp. 481-482. [kla,3]
Within the Commune emerged the project of a Monument to the Accursed, which
was supposed t o be raised in the corner of a public square whose cent er would be
occupi ed by a war memori al. All the official personalities of the Second Empire
(according to the draft of the project) were to be listed OD it . Even Haus8mana',
Dame is there. In this way, an " infernal history" of the r egime was to be launched,
although the int ention was t o go back to Napoleon I, " the villain of Brumaire--tbe
chi ef of this accursed race of crowned bohemians vomited forth to U8 by Conica,
thi s fatal line of bastards 80 degenerated they would be 108t in their own oati,."
land." The proj ect , in the fonn of a printed placard, is dated April 15, 1871.
(Exhibition entitled " La Commune de Paris," Municipal Office, of Saint-Venit.)
(>.2,11
"There are your fruit s, bloodthirsty Commune; I Yes, ... you wanted to annihi
late Pa ris." The lau line is the r efrain of a poem, "Lea Ruinea de Paris ," printed ..
a pamphlet (Exhibition hy t.he Munici palit y of Saint-Denis) . (U,21
A lithograph by Le Depart de m Commune. published by Deforet d
Cesa r Editeurs, showa a woman (?) riding aD animal that is half-naS aDd balt
hyena, wrapped in a giant shroud, and brandiahing til e tatt ered, dirt y red 0.,.
whil e leaving behind her a murky aUey filled with the amoke a nd fl amea ofburninl
houaes. (Exhibition, Municipalit y of Saint-Denia.) [k2,31
Mter the taking of Paris, L '/llull lration pubLisheil a drawing entitl ed ChCUll6 Ii
l'homme dnull les cUf(l combes <Manliullt in the Ca tacombs>. In fact , the cata
combs were scarched olle day for fugitives. Those found were The troop'
entered at the Place Dellfert-Hochereau, while the outlets of the catacomba toward
the plain of Mont souri s were guarded. (Exhibition.) (k2,4]
A COlllmunard pamphl et puhlishes a drawillg captioned LeJ C(I(lu vres decouvert.
daTil! lell JouterrClillJ de rEgliJe Sai flt -Laurent <The Cadavers ill the
Vault s of the Church of Saint-Laurent >. It was claimed that female coq)SCS had
))eell di scovered alliJia underground site--hodi ee which could 1I0t have been ther e
loll ger thall a coupl e of years, and whose thighs were forced open and hands
bOUlld. (Exhibition.) [k2.5J
l..cafll.t: lithograph. She. The rcpublic 88 a beautiful woman wrapped around hy a
s.na ke. whose fea tures a re those of Thiers. The woman haa a mirror high over her
heuI!. Bcneath. a ,erse: " Many the ways you can take her- I She is for rent. but
110 1 for sale. " [k2,6]
The illusions that still underlay the Commune are given striking expression in
Proudhon's formula, his appeal to the bourgeoisie: "Save tlK: people and save
yourselves-as your fathers did-by the Revolution." Max Raphael, Proudhon,
Marx, Pic(lJ.lo (Paris (1933), p. 118. [Ua, l )
Remember the words of Chevalier: "Glory to us! have entered into the
treasury of kings, escorted by poverty and hunger; we have walked amid the
purple, gold, and diamonds; when we came out, our companions were hunger
and poverty." "Religion Saint-Simonienne: La Marseillaise" (Excerpt from L'Or
ganisateur of September 11, 1830) (author Michel Chevalier, according to the
Cata10gue de la Bibliotheque Nationalej, p. 2. [Ua,2]
One of the COlllmune's laat centera of resist ance: the Place de la Bastille. [k2a,3]
\ Charles Louandre, us Jdies subumiueJ tU nom Imps (Paris, 1872), is a charac
teristic example of the reactionary pamphlets that followed in the wake of the
Commune. [k2a,4]
A caricature of Courbet : the painter standing on a broken column. Beneath, the
caption: "Actualit y." Cabinet del Esta mpea, kc 164 a [Ua,S]
"Louise Mi chel, recounting, in her memoira, a conversati on she had with Gustave
Courbet, sho ....s us the great Communard painter enraptured on the t opic of the
futu re, losing himself ill vi sions which , though they are redolent of their own
nUleteenth century, are despite this----or perhaps because of it- marked by a WOII
alii! t ouching grulu!cur. 'Since e\'cryone will be able t o give himself ovcr,
unfet tered , 10 hj s OWl! specia l gcniU!J.' prophesied Courbet , ' Paris wiU double in
import ance. And illlcr-national cit y win he ahle to offer to the arts, to
indUstry. 10 comnU!l"ce, 10 of 1111 kinds, and to vi sitors from all landa
an illlped slillble (lnler : tilt' ci ti zen-crent eil ortier, which cannot be di srupt ed by
thc pretexts of pretenders . ' It is II I!ream ingenuous as the world exhibi
ti ull S, hut one whi ch nUll cthdeu implies prufollllil realit.i es-ahove all, the certi
hltle that a unanimous ortler will he fuullt!ed , ' the ci tizell -crea ted order. ,., J ean
CIl IiSOU. L.a Semaim: lIeru/redi, May 22, 1936. (k2a,6)
..
ACTUALITE
.--'
,.....

..._... .,...
... ' -''
Actualj/i (Acrual.ity), a caricature of the painter Cowbct.
Courtesy of BibliothCqut: Nacionale de France. Stt k2a,5.
In France', First Empire, and especially its Second. Engels &eel Itatel that could
appear 8. a court of media tion between an equally 81ro08 and prole
larial. See C. 1ttayer, Friedrich Engeb , vol. 2 (Berlin <1933 . p. 441 . {k2a,l]
The deslJerale struggle of the Commune: " Delescluze then issued hi' famous proc
lamation: ' Enough ofthil militarism! No more of these officers dripping gold braid
and embroidery! Make way (or the people. for bare-armed fight er.! The hour of
revolution has atruck .... ' An impatient enthusiasm awake. in aU hearl., and oae
will go off to get oneself kill ed, 8 S the Polish strategi sts intend,S Each man will
return t o hifl ll eighborhood, hi. native turf, to the I treetcorner where it is good to
live and bravely di e-the traditional barricade! This proclamation is the lasl cry
of Blanqui am, the supreme leap of the ninet eenth century. One still waoU to be
Li eve. To beli eve ill the mystery, the miracle, the feuiJleton, the magi c power of the
epi C. One has Ilot yet undeutood that the other clan has organized it8e1f
tificaUy, bas ent r usted itself to impl acable anniee. Its leadeu have long since
,)uired a clear visioll of the situati on. Not for nothing had Haussmann built broad,
l}erfectl y straight avenues to break up the swa rming, tortuous Ileighborhoods , the
bret-oding grounds for mystery and for the feuilleton, the secret gardens of popular
cOlispiracy." J ean Cauou, "La Semaine sanglante," Vendredi. May 22, 1936.
[k3, 1]
Engels and the Commune: " As long as the committee of the Garde
ale was directiug the military operations, he remained hopeful. It was doubtless he
who gave tbe which Marx transmitted to Pam: ' to fortify the northern
slopes of Montmartre, the Pruu ian side.' He feared that , otherwise, the uprising
' would land in a mousetrap.' But the Commune failed to beed this warning and, as
Engels regretfuUy confirmed, let tbe right moment for the offeDllive slip past. ...
InitiaUy, Engels beUeved that the struggle would drag on.... In the General
Council, he emphasized ... that the Parisiao workeu were better organized
tarily than in any earlier rebellion; that tile street widening undertaken during the
administration of Napoleon III would neceuarily work to their advaotage, should
the assault on the city succeed; that for the fiut time, the barricades would be
defended by cannons and regularly organized troops." Gustav Mayer, Friedrit:h
Engels , vol. 2, Engels lind der AU/ltieg der Arbeiterbewegung in Europa (Berlin
[k3,2]
In 1884, Engels "admitted to Bernstein tbat Marx 'had upgraded the unconscious
\ tendencies of the Commune into more or leu conscious projecta. ' and be added
that this improvement had heen ' justified, even nece81ary, in the circUDl8lances.'
... The majorit y of the participanu in the uprill ing had been Blanquillt&-that is
to say, nati onalistic r evolutiona rieB who placed their hopeti on immediate political
action and the authorit arian di cta torship of a few resolute individuals. Ooly a
minority had belonged to the (First> Int ernational , which at that time Wall still
dominated by the spirit of Proudhon, and they could tberefore not be described all
social revolutionari es, let alone Marxists. That did not prevent the f\:0vernmenu
li nd the bourgeoisie throughout Europe from rega rding this insurrection ... as a
conspiracy ha tched by the General Council of the Int ernational. " Gustav Mayer,
Friedrich Engeu , vol. 2, Engeu ,HId der AU/lltieg der Arbeiterbewegung in
(Europa (Berlin), p. 228. [k3a, 1]
The first comnlllllio: the city. "The German emperor s-Frederick I and Frederick
II , for ilistunee--iSSll cd these comnllwiones [communities]. conspi
rfll ione, .... quile in til e spirit of t ile German Federal Diet . ... It is qu.ite amusing
that the word conlllilmio was used as a term of abuse, just 8S 'communism' is
loday. The pa rSOIi Cuibert ofNogellt writes, for illstallce: 'Communio is a new and
extremel y. had word. ' There i8 fre<lucntJy something rather dramatic about the
Way ill whi ch the philistines of the twelfth century invite the peasanU to fl ee 10 the
cities, 10 the commllnio jurCl,a (sworn communes)." Marx to Ellgels, July 27,
Genuan race with the seal of predestination? ... Let us defend ourseivel. It is the
ferocit y of Odin , magnified by the ferocit y of Moloch. that advances against our
d ties; it is the harbarity of the Vandal and the barbarit y of the Semite." Cited in
Gusta\'e Geffroy, L 'Enferme (Pari.ll. 1897). p. 304. [k4,2]
Georges Laronze in hi8 f1u foire de la Commune de 1871 (Paris, 1928), p. 143, 00
the shooting of the hostages: " by the time the hostages fell, the Commune had lost
power. But it r emained accountable. "II [k4,3]
The Parisian administrati on during the Commune: " It pre;;erved intact the entire
organism, animated, al it was, by a keen desire to set its sJ4htest cogwbeels rolling
a,;ain and to augment further-in good bourgeois fashioo--the number of middle
clan fupctionari eB. " Georges Larooze. f1 u roire de la Commune de 1871 (Paris,
1928). 1)450. [k4,4]
Military formationB in the Commune: "A company little inclined to go beyond the
city'll ramparts, pr eferring, to combat in open country, the battle atmo.llpbere of
illl own quartier, the fever of public meetinge , the cl ubs, the police oper atioD.II ,
and, if necellary, death behind the heaped-up paving stones of a Pari. street."
A barricade of the Paris Commune, Rue &sfroi (II' March 18, 1871. Ph0togra Georges Laronze, Hu toire de la Commune de 1871 (Paris, 1928), p. 532. [k4,5]
pher unknown. Sec: k4,5.
Courbet took sidell with several other Communard.ll against Protot, to protect
1854, from Londoo (Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel!!, Awgewiihlte BrM/., ed.
Thien'.II collectionl from destruction . I! (k4,6]
V. Adoratsk, (Moscow and Leningrad , 1934), pp. 60--61]. ' [k3.,ij
\ The membel'1l of the International got themllelvell elected, on the advice of Varlin ,
to tbe Central Committee of the Carde Nationale. (k4,7)
Ibsen saw further than many of the leaders of the Commune in France. OD
December 20, 1870, he writes to Brandes: "Up till now, we have been living 00
nothing but aumbs from the revolutionary table of wt century, and I think we
'"This orgy of power, wine, women, aod blood known all the Commune." Charles
Louandre, Les I cUe. subversil.le' de notre temp. (Paris, 1872). p. 92. (k4,8]
have been chewing on that stuff long enough.... Liberty, equality, and
are no longer what they were in the days of the late-lamented guillotine. nus_
what the politicians will not understand; and that is why I hate them." Heruik
Ibsen, samtliche Wer..te, vol. 10 <Berlin, 1905>, p. 156.' [k.3a.3)
II was the Proudhooist Beslay who, as delegate of the Commune, aUowed bimIdf
to be persuaded 00 March 30, by de Ploeuc, deput y governor of the Banque de
Fr ance, to leave untouched, in the inter ests of France, the two billion franc,
" the true hostages." With the support of the Proudhoni8ts on the council , hi. view
prevailed. (k4,1]
Blanqui, in La Patrie en danger, the newspaper he l)Ublished the sieg::
I

" It is Berlin that supposedly will be the hol y city of the future. the radiance thai
enli ghten. the world. Pari s is the usurping and corrupted Babylon, the great pr,*
titute whi ch God's emissary, the exterminating angel. with Bible in hand, will wipe
from the face of the earth. You mean you don't know that the Lord has ma rked the
I
-
[The Seine, the Oldest Paris]
. Around 1830: "The quartier was full of those gardens which Hugo has de8crihed ill
<his p6em of 1839> 'ee qui Ie pR88ait aux: Feuillantlnes. The Luxembourg, rather
more grand than it is totlay, was bordered directly by houses; the proprietors each
had a key t o the garden and could walk up aDd down there all night Dubeeb
and d' Espezel. Hu roire de Pari.! (Paris, (926), p. 367. [11 ,1)
" Rambut ea u had two r ows of l rt:e s planted"-on the Boulevards Saint-Denie and
Bonne-Nouvelle-"ta replace those old and beautiful trees which had gone into
the barricades of 1830." Duhech and d' Espezel, Histoire de Paris. p. 382. [11 ,21
"Housewives go to draw their water from the Seine; the more distant neapbor-_
hoods ar e suppli ed by water carriers." Dubech and d' Espe7:el , Histoire lh Poris,
pp. 388-389 (sect ion 011 the Jul y Monarchy). [U,3)
Before Hauu mann: " Prior to his day, the old atlueducts were capable ofbri..nAiDI
water only as high Ri the seond stor y!' Dubech and d' Elpezel , Hu toire de Poris,
p.418. [11 ,4)
" Anglomania ... has had an iufluence on ideas since the Revolution, on fashiorY
since Wa terloo. Just as the Constituents copied EngJand's politi cal institution. ,
the archi lets copied the pa rks and squares of Lolldon." Dubeb and d' El pesd,

"The rOllt e or the Sei.ne. as all est l!(i in Sirabo, bega n tu be used and appreciated.
Lutelia hecame the cenl er of an associali oll of navigators or mariners, who. durin
the r eign of Tiberius. raised to the emperor a nti to Jupit er the fall!ous altar thaI
was discovered under NOi re Dame in 1711. " Dubech aud d' Espezel. p. 18. [11 ,61
' '"The wiuler here i6 not severe. You can iiee vineyanl8 and e\'en fi g trees, swce
care
is taken to cover them wilh straw." Juli an in the MUol'ogofl ; cit ed in Dubecb aDd
d' Espezel , p. 25. [I1 ,lJ
"The Sei ne seems to exhale the air of Paris all the way to its moulh." Friedrich
Engels. " Von Paris nach Bern," Die nelle Zeit , 17, no. 1 (Stutt gart , 1899). p . 11 .
111 ,8]
" If reudiug iu the publi c gardcns is now perm..illcd. smoking there is not- liberty
(as pt:opl e are begi nning 10 say) nol being Ihe sallie as license!' Nadar, Quand
j 'ewis pllOwgrufJhe (Pari8 ( 1900, p. 284 ("1830 et environs"). [11 ,91
"Not long ago we witncssed Ihe eretion of the obelisk brought back from Luxor by
the princc de J oinville. L We were made a bit nervous by noise1l that mUl l not have
heel! reassuring tu the engineer LebK8, supervisor of the operation: tbe EngJish,
always so j ealoll s, ... wer c supposed to have paid a trait or to cut tbe insides of the
cables. Oh, those English! " Natl ar. Quulld j'etuu I'llOtographe (Paris), p. 291
("1830 et environs"). [11 ,10J
Liberty trees--poplars (peuplier, J-were planted in Paris in 1848. Thierl: " Peo
ple. you will grow t all ." They were cut down in 1850 by order of the prefect of
police, Carlier, [11 ,l1J
Afl er the Jul y Revolulion: "Tlltl endl eu number of felled trees OD the r oad to
Neuill y, on Ihe Cbamps-Elysees, on the bouleva rds. Not a single tree hal been left
standing on the Boulevard des itauens." Friedrich von Raumer, Brrefe 01" Pam
und Frunkreich im Jahre 1830 (Leipzig, 1831), vol. 2, pp. 146-147. [11 ,12J
"Oue sees ga rdens measuring only a few square feet , which offer nonethelell a bit
of greencry in whi ch to read a hook; here and there, even a bird is chirping.-But
the Place Sa inl-Georgcs is an alt ogether charming spot. Rustic and urban t asles
are blended here. It is surrounded by buildings that look towa rd the ci ty on ODe
aide and toward the country on Ihe other." Add to thi. fountains, terraces, green
houses. flower beds. L. ReUst ab. Pa m im Friihjahr- 1843: Brre/e, Berichte und
Schildenmgen (Leip7.ig, 1844). vol. I , I)P' 55--56. [l1a,I)
"!'aris is hetween two layers , a layer of water and a layer of air. The Jayerofwater,
lyillg a l a eonsi{l erahle depth underground... is furnished by Ihe bed of greeD
SlI nti st Olle lyi ng belween the chalk and I.he Jura!lsic li me&tone. Thi. bed can be
,representl!(l by a disk with a r adius of sevent y mil es. A mu.ltilude of rivers and
hrouks filt er int o it : we drink the Seille, the Marnc. the Yunll e, the Oise, t he A.iSll e,
the Clt er. II1\' Viellnc, anti the Loire in a singlc glass of wat er from the well of
Crl:ncll e. Tile laYI' L' of water is salubrious; it comes fi rst rrom heavell , then from
the l:artIL . The layer of air is IIl1wliOleioLllc, it cOllies from the sewers." Vi ctor
Hugo, Oelll:rel completes, \ ' 1.1 1. 9 (Paris, 1881). p. 182 ( I.es Miler-abies). :
[11 &,2)
A. I Ihe of t he nineteent h century. there werc Hill truins de bou (timbe r
rart s?) guing Ilown Ihe Seine; a nd Cil . F. Vie! funis fllult . ill hi!! work De l'lmpui,
..anee de .. mathfl matique.. pour au urer la ..olidite de .. ootiment.. , with the piefl of
the Pont du Louvre. on whi ch such rafts a re dashed to pieceB. [Ha,3]
On the " netB of Saint-Cloud" we have the teBtimony of Mercier (Tableau de Pan.
[Amsterdam, 1782]. vol. 3. I)' 197), among othe ... ; " The bodies of tho8e unfortu_
nates who have drowned are pulled up (except when the river is iced over) by the
nett of Saint -Cloud," There are many, such as Dulaure, who speak of these net..

otbe... , Like Gozlan and Touchard-LafOS8e. deny they ever existed, The archives of
the Seine make no mention of them. Tradition maintains t hat they nopped beins
used in 1810, This according to Firmin Maillard, Recherche .. hi.storiques et cri
tiques sur la MorBue (Paris, 1860). The last chapter of this book (p. 137): "Le.
Filets de Saint-Cloud," (lh,4]
-
On "an underground river in Paris," which was, in large pa rt , covered over at the
beginninr; of the seventeenth century: "The st ream thus ... descended gradually
along the slope, all the way to the house which, as early as the fifteenth century.
had two salmon on its signboard, and which would be r eplaced by the PauJl8C dll
Saumon. There, bavinr; swelled with the added flow of water colllin&: from Lee
HaUes, it plunged underground at the site where the Rue Mandar begin. today,
and where the entrance of the greal sewer, which had long stood open, save wa)'
, , . , after Thennidor .. , ,10 busts of ~ 1 a r a t and Saint-Fargeau... , The . trea.
di.sappeared ... in t he current.1! of t he Seine, well below the city .... It was quite
enough that this filthy strea m cr eated a stench in the districts it crolled, which
bappened to be among the most populous in Paris.... When the PlaPle broke oat-
her e, its first manifestati ons were in tho&e streets which the stream, by ill in
fec:Lious contiguit y, had already made a center of disease." Edouard Fournier.
Enigmes des rues de Paris (Pa ris, 1860). pp. 18-19,21- 22 ("Une Riviere souter
rain da ns Paris"). (!2, l j
" We recall the divine lamp with the silver burner, shining ' white like an eleetric
light ,' as it pasSel, in Les Chants de ft1aldoror, slowly down the Seine tbrouP'
Paris. Later, a t the other exl.reme of the Cycle, in Fantomas , the Seine will also
come to know, nea r the Quai de J avel, " inexplicable fl ashes of Light in iu deptbl ."
Roger Caillois " Paris mythe moderne," Nouvelle Revuefran(aise, 25, no. 284
, , (12,2]
(May 1, 1937), p , 687.
"The quays of the Seine Likewise owe their realizaLion to Haussmann. It was only
in his day that the walkways were COlIHtructed up above and the trees planted
. uI t the form of
down below. al ong the banks; and these are w hat serve to arbC a e .
. . . h ' " Fnts
that great thoroughfare, With Its avenuel and boulevards, that 18 t e nver.
Sta hl , Paris (Berlin < 1929. 1" 177. {12,3j
" 1 Luteti a wall not yet in direct communi catioll with the great cities of northern
lands, it was lI everthel ess 0 11 the commercial rout e thai ran overl alld beside tbe
river.. , , It Willi the grell t Roman way along the Right Bank which became the Rue
Saint-Martin. At t he crOSBroads ofehateau-Landon, a fJeCond route branched off,
that of Senli s. A third, the Melun road , a pa thway cut through a trock marsh near
the Bastille, came int o exi stence perhaps, at t he height of the empire, . , ; this
"" ould bec:ome the Rue Saint-Antoine. " Dubech a nd d' Espezel, Histoire de Paris
(Paris. 1926), 1) 19, [12,4)
'"Tur ning oCf from the boulevards . let us go down the Rue de Rougemont. You will
notice t hai the Compt oir d' Escompte <Discount Bank> occupi es the bottom of a
marked depression: you are in the earliest bed of the Seine." Dubet:h and
d' Espezel, Histoire de Paris (Paris, 1926). p. 14. [l2a, l ]
"The bourgeois cent er, Paris Ville, sharply distingui shed from Paris Cite, grew up
on the Right Bank and on the bridges which. at thai time, were erected every
where. The most influential segment of the popul ation conl isted of the merchanlJ;
here again, the hanse <merchants' guild> did its part to steer business to the water.
The mosl important marketplace a rose on a 8pOt near the Church of Saint
Eustache, wbere the streel by whi ch ocean fis h a rrived crossed the street on whi ch
the marsh farmers of tbe region brougbt their vegetablet to town. It is the same
,
spot on which, today, the central market halls stand," Fritz Stahl , Pari! (Berlin
<l929, p.67. [l2a,2]
Bi/am tkr preuJJiscl!en Revo/uh'on, in GeJammeite &I!rfften oon Karl Marx und nud
m
ricl! Enge/;, vol. 3 (Stuttgart, 1902]. p. 1mIa, I]
In the figure of the dandy. Baudelaire seeks to find some usc for idleness, JUSt as
-
[Idleness1
Notewonhy conjunction: in ancient Greece, practical labor is branded and pro
scribed. A1though essentially left in the hands of slaves, it is condemned not least
because it betrays a base aspiration for eanhly goods (riches). This view after.
ward plays a pan in the denigration of the b'adesman as the servant of Mammon:
"Plato, in the lAws (VIII, 846), decrees that no citizen shall engage in a mechani
cal trade; the word banausOJ, signifying ' artisan; becomes synonymous with 'con
temptible' ... ; everything relating to tradespeople or to handwork carries a
stigma, and defonns the soul together with the body. In general, those who
practice these professions ... are busy satisfying ... this 'passion for wea1th . , .
which leaves none of us an hour's leisure.'! Aristotle, for his part, opposes the
excess of the chrematistic to ... the prudence of domestic economy.... In this
way, the scorn Cdt for the artisan is extended to the merchant: in comparison co
the liberal life, as absorbed in srudious leisure (Jdwli, otium), the affairs of trade
(neg-otium, tJJenolitJj, 'business affairs: have mostly a negative value." Pierre
Maxime Schuhl, Macllinume et plli/ruopllie (Paris, 1938), pp. 11- 12. [ml ,l]
Whoever enjoys leisure escapes Fortuna; whoever embraces idleness falls under
her power. The Fortuna awaiting a person in idleness, however, is a lesser g0d
dess than the one that the person of leisUl"e has Bed. This Fortuna is no longer at
home in the vita activaj her headquarters is the world at "The artists of the
Middle Ages depict those men who pursue an active life as bound to the wheel of
fortune, ascending or descending according to the direction in which it rums,
while the contemplative man remains immobile at the center.
n
P.-M. Schuhl.
Macll inisme et pllilruopllie (paris, 1938), p. 30. [ml ,2)
He the characterization of leisllre. Saint e-Relive, in hill essay on Joubert : ''''1'0
converse and 10 seek t o know-it was in this above allill at, accordi hg 10 Plato. the:
happi neu of private life consisled. This cl ass of conlloi sscurs and amatcurs ...
haa practically disappeared in France. now that everyone here has a trade:' Cor
N!:$ponclance de Jouber! (Paris, 1924), p. xcix. [ml ,3)
In bourgeois society, indolence- to take up Marx' s word-has ceased to be
"heroic." (Marx speaks of the "victory ... of industry over a heroic indolcnc:c-'"
leisure once had a use. The vila conlemplativa is replaced by something that could
be called the vila conlemplilJtl. (Compare part 3 of my manuscript <"Das Paris des
Second Empire bei Baudelaire
n
). ) [mla,2)
Experience is the outcome of work; immediate experience is the phantasmagoria
of the idler! Imh,3]
In place of the force field that is lost to humanity with the devaluation of expcri
ence, a new field of force opens up in the fonn of planning. The mass of un
known unifonnities is mobilized against the confinned multiplicity of the
traditional. To "plan
n
is hencefonh possible only on a large scale. No longer on
an individual scale-and this means neitherfor the individual nor by the individ
ual. Valery therefore says, with reason: "The longhatched enterprises, the pro
,
found designs of a Machiavelli or a Richelieu, would today have the reliability
and value of a good lip em tile StOtA Exchange." Paul Valery, Oeuvre; completeJ,
J<(Paris, 1938), p. 30>. [m",' )
The intentional correlate of "immediate experience" has not always remained the
same. In the nineteenth cenrury, it was "adventure." In our day, it appears as
"fate," &l!icAulI. In fate is concealed the concept of the "total experience" that is
fatal from the outset. War is its unsurpassed prefiguration. ("I am born German;
it is for this I dien_the trauma of birth already contains the shock that is mortal.
1bis coincidence <Koimidmv defines "fate., [mh .S)
\r\buld it be empathy with exchange value that first qualifies the human being for
a "total experience"? [mia,6]
With the trace (SpU'f) , a new dimension acoues to "immediate experience." It is
no tied to the expectation of "advenrure
n
; the one who undergoes an
expenence can follow the trace that leads there. follows traces must not:
pay attention; above all, he must have given heed already to a great many
,things. (!be hunter must know about the hoof of the animal whose trail he is on;
he must know the hour when that animal goes to drink' he must know the course
ofth L'ch' '
e nver to Will It rums, and the location of the ford by which he himself can
get.across.) In this way there comes into play the peculiar configuration by dint of
which long experience appears ttanslated into the language of immediate experi
ence J Ex' . r .
. pcnences can, m lact, prove mvaluable to one who follows a trace-but
particular son . The hunt is the one type of work in which they
nCllon Jntnnslcally. And the hunt is, as work, very primitive, The experiences
of one who attends to a trace result only very remotely from any
Work activity. or are CUt off from such a procedure altogether, (Not for nothing do
speak or"fomlOe They have no sequence and no system. They are
I
a. of chance, and them the essential intenninability tbit
dlSnngUlshes the preferred obligations of the idler. The fundamentally unfiniab.
J
able collcc?on of things worth knowing, whose utility depends on chance, has ita
prototype m study. [m2, I]
Idleness has little about it that is representative, though it is far more widely
exlubited than leisure: The man of the middle class has hl=gun to be ashamed of
labor. He to whom lwure no longer means anything in itself is happy to put his
idleness on display. [m2.2]
The intimate association between the concept of idleness and the concept of
study was embodied in the notion ofstudio. Especially for the bachdor, the studio
became a son of pendant to the boudoir. (012,3]
Student and hunter. The text is a forest in which the reader is hunter. Rustling in
the underbrush-the idea, skittish prey, the citation-another piece "in the bag."
(Not every reader encounters the idea.) [m2a. IJ
There are two social institutions of which idleness forms an integral part: the
news service and nightlife. They require a specific form of work-preparedncu,
This specific fonn is idleness. [mla.2)
News service and idleness. Feuilletonist, reporter, photographer constitute a gra
dation in which waiting around, the "Get ready" succeeded by the "Shooc.:.
becomes ever more important visavis other activities. [m2a,3)
What distinguishes long experience from immediate experience is that the f0r
mer is inseparable from the representation of a continuity, a sequence. The
accent that falls on inunediate experience will be the more weighty in proportioo
as its substrate is remote from the work of the one having the experience-froID
the work distinguished by the fact that it draws on long experience precisdy
where, for an outsider, it is at most an immediate experience that arises. [m2a,')
In feudal society, leisure-freedom from labor-was a recognized privilege. In
bourgeois society, it is no longer so. What distinguishes leisure, as feudalism
understands it, is that it communicates with two socially important types of
behavior. Religious contemplation and coun life represented, as it were, the
matrices through which the leisure of the grand Jeignr.ur, of the preJate, of the
warrior could be molded. These attirudes-that of piety no less than that of
representation-were advantageous to the poet. His work in IUrn
them, at least indirectly, insofar as it maintained contact with both the
and the life at coun. (Voltaire was the first of the great literati to break with
church; so much the less did he disdain to secure a place at the coun of FredeOc:k
the Creat.) In feudal society, the leisure of the poet is a recognized privilege. It IS
only in bourgeois society that the poet becomes an idler. [rn2
a
,5]
Idleness seeks to avoid any son of tie to the idler's line of work, and ultimately to
the labor process in general. That distinguishes it from leisure. (m3, 1]
" All re.ligiou!!, metaphysica l. hiSlOri cal idell8 are, in the last analysis. merely
,reparations derived from the great experiences of the past-representations of
:he eXI,erience." Wilhelm Dilthey, Deu Erlebnu und die Dichtung (Leipzig and
Berlin. 1929), p. 198. (m3,2]
Closely cOimected with the shattering of long experience is the shattering of
juridical certirudes. "In the liberalist period, economic was gener
ally associated with legal ownership of the means of production.... But after the
development of technology in the last cenrury had led to a rapidly increasing
concentration .. . of capital, the legal owners largely excluded from ...
management.... Once the legal owners are cut off from the real productive
process ... , their horizon narrows; ... and 6nally the share which they still have
in industry due to ownership ... comes to seem socially useless .... The idea of
a right with a fixed content, and independent of society at large, loses its impor'
tance." "\\t 6nally arrive at "the loss of all rights with a determined content, a loss
... given its fullest form in the authoritarian state." Max Horkheimer, "Traru.
tionelle und Kritische Theorie," <:,eit.ullnfl for no. 2 (1937),
pp. 285-287. Compare Horkheimer, "Bemerkungen zur philosophischen An
thropologie," <:,eil.scllriflfor SoziaJfimchung, no. 1 (1935), p. 12.' [m3,3]
"The authentic held of operations for the vivid chronicle of what is happening is
the documentary account of immediate experience, reportage. It is directly aimed
at the event , and it holds fast to the experience. This presupposes that the event
also becomes an immediate experience for the journalist reporting on it.... The
capacity for having an experience is therefore a precondition ... of good ...
professional work." <Emil > Dovifat , " Formen und Wirkungsgesetze del Stila in
der Zeitllng," Deutsche Presse, July 22, 1939 (Berlin), p. 285. (m3,4]
Apropos of the idler: the archaic image of ships in Baudelaire. [m3,S)
The stringent work ethic and moral doctrine of Calvinism, it may be said, is most
\intimate1y related to the development of the "ila umttmplativa. It sought to build
a dam to stem the melting of time into idleness, once such time was frozen in
COntemplation. (m3a, l]
On the fcuilleton. It was a matter of injecting experience-as it were, intrave
nously_ with the poison of sensation; that is to say, highlighting within ordinary
experience the character of immediate experience.
7
To this end, the experience of
the bigcity dweller presented itself. The feuilletonist rums this to account. He
renders the ciry strange to its inhabitants. He is thus one of the first technicians
caJ.J.ed up by the heightened need for immediate experiences. (!be same need is
I
evinced in the theory of "modem beauty" expounded by Poe, Baudelaire, and
Berlioz. In this type of beauty, surprise is a ruling element. ) [m3a,2)
The process of the atrophy of experience is already underway within manufac_
ruring. In other words, it coincides, in its beginnings, with the beginnings of
commodity production. (Compare Marx, Da.s Kapilal <vol. I>, cd. Korsch <Ber
lin, 1932), p. 336.)8 [rn3a,3]
PhantaSmagoria is the intentional correlate of inunediate experience.
[m3a,4)
Just as the industrial labor process separates off from handicraft, so the form of
communication corresponding to this labor process-information-separates off
from the form of communication corresponding to the artisanal process of labor,
which is storytelling. (See <Walter Benjamin,) "Der Erz1ih.Ier," <Orient und Occi
drol, new series, no. 3 (October 1936) p. 21 , par. 3 through p. 22, par. 1, line 3;
p. 22, par. 3, line 1 through the end of the Valery citation.)9 This connection mwt
be kept in mind if one is to fonn an idea of the explosive force contained within
information. This force is liberated in sensation. With the sensation, whatever
still resembles wisdom, oral tradition, or the epic side of truth is razed to the
ground. [m3a,5)
ror the relations which the idler loves to enter into with the demimonde, "srudy"
is an alibi. It may be asserted of the boheme, in particular, that throughout its___
existence it studies its own milieu. [m3a,6]
Idleness can be considered an early form of distraction or amusement. It consists
in the readiness to savor, on one's own, an arbitrary succession of sensations. But
as soon as the production process began to draw large masses of people into the
field those who "had the time" came to feel a need to distinguish themselves en
,
masse from laborers. It was to this need that the entertainment industry an:
swered; and it inunediately encountered specific problems of its own. Before very
long, Saint-Marc Girardin was forced to conclude that "man is amusable only a
small part of the time." (The idler does not tire as quickly as the man who amuses
himself.) [014,1]
The true "salaried Baueur" (Henri Beraud's term) is the sandwich man. [014,2)
The idler's imilatio de;: as flaueur, he is omnipresent; as gambler, he is omnipo
tent and as student, he is omniscient. This type of idler was first incarnated
, th d' [ro4,3)
among e}eunelJe oru .
"Empathy" comes into being through a di clie, a kind of gearing action. it.
the inner life derives a pendant to the element of shock in sense perc.epDon.
(Empathy is a synchronization,!! in the intimate sense.) [1U4 ,41
Habits are the annature of connected experiences. 1bis is assailed by
individual experiences. [m4,5)
God has the Creation behind him; he rests from it. It is this God of the seventh
day that the bourgeois has taken as the model for his idleness. In Bauerie, he has
the omnipresence of God; in gambling, the omnipotence; and in study, it is God's
omniscience that is his. - This trinity is at the origin of the satanism in Baude
laire.-The idler' s resemblance to God indicates that the old Protestant saying,
"\>\brk is the burgher's ornament," has begun to lose its validity. [m4,6)
The world exhibitions were training schools in which the masses, barred from
consuming, learned empathy with exchange value. "Look at everything; touch
nothing." [m4,7]
The classic description of idleness in Rousseau. This passage indicates, at one
and the same time, that the existence of the idler has something godlike about it,
and that solitude is a condition essential to the idler. In the last book of UJ
Confim'onJ, we read that "the age for romantic plans was past. I had found the
incense of vainglory stupefying rather than Battering. So the last hope I had left
was to live ... eternally at leisure. Such is the life of the blessed in the other
world, and henceforth I thought of it as my supreme felicity in this. ! Those who
reproach me for my many inconsistencies will not fail to reproach me for this
one, too. I have said that the idleness of society made it unbearable to me; and
here I am, seeking for solitude solely in order to give myself up to idleness....
The idleness of society is deadly because it is obligatory; the idleness of solitude
is delightful because it is free and voluntary." Jean:Jacques Rousseau, us OmfiJ
JionJ, ed. Hilsum (Paris <1931 , vol. 4, p. [014a, l )
Among the conditions of idleness, particular importance attaches to solitude. It is
solitude, in fact, that first emancipates-virtually-individual experience from
every event, however trivial or impoverished: it offers to the individual experi
ence, on the high road of empathy, any passerby whatsoever as its substrate.
Empathy is possible only to the solitary; solitude, is a precondition of
authentic idleness. [014a,2)
When all lines are broken and no sail appears on the blank honzon, when no
' Wave of immediate experience surges and crests, then there remains to the iso
lated subject in the grip of laedium vitae one last thing- and that is empathy.
[m4a,3)
may leave the question undecided as to whether, and in what sense, leisure is
also determined by the order of production which makes it possible. we should,
however, try to show how deeply idleness is marked by features of the capitalist
order in which it Bourishes.- On the other side, idleness, in the bour
geoIS society that knows no leisure, is a precondition of artistic production. And,
l
often, idleness is the very thing which StampS that production with the trait! that
make it! rdation to the cconomic production process so drastic. [m4a,4)
The student "never stops leaming"; thc gambler "never has enough"; for the
Baneur, "there is always something more to see." Idleness has in view an unlim

ited duration, which fundamentally distinguishes it from simple sensuous pleas
of whatever variety. (Is it correct to say that the "bad infinity" that prevaili in
Idleness appears in Hegel as the signature of bourgeois society?) [mS.l )
The spontaneity the student, to the gamblet! to the BantuI' is perhaps
that of the hunter-which 1$ to say, that of the oldest type of work, which may be.
intertwined closest of all with idleness. [mS,2)
Flauben' s "Few will suspect how depressed one had to be to undertake the
revival of Carthage" makes the cOtulection between study and melt1lColia <sic>
transparent. (!be lauer no doubt threatens not only this fonn of leisure but aD
CornlS of idleness.) Compare "My soul is sad and I have read all the books"
(Mallanne); "Spleen n " and "La Voix" (Baudelaire); "Here stand I, alas, Philoso
phy I behind me" (Goethe).13 [m5,3)
Again and again in Baudelaire, the specifically modem is there to be recognized
as complement of the specifically archaic. In the person of the Bineur, whoec:
idleness carries him through an imaginary city of arcades, the poet is confronted
by the dandy (who weaves his way through the crowd without taking notice of
the jolts to which he is exposed). Yet also in the Baneur a long-extinct crea.nm -
opens a dreamy eye, casts a look that goes to the hean of the poet. It is the "SOIl
of the wildemess"-the man who, once upon a rime, was betrothed, by a gener
ous nature, to leisure. Dandyism is the last glimmer of the heroic in times of
dicadena. Baudelaire is delighted to find in Chateaubriand a reference to Ameri
can Indian dandies-testinlony to the fonner golden age of these tribes. [mS,4)
On the hunter type in the lIi neur: "The mass of tenant8 and lodgers begi nl to 8tr.,.
from shelter to Ihelter in this sea of houses, like the hunten and Ihepherdt 01
prehi8tory. The intellectual education of the nomad il now complete." OlwUd
SIH!ngler, Le Deciin de l'Occw ent <tran8. M. Tazerout> , vol. 2. part I (Pam,
1933), p. 140.
11
[mS.5]
" Man a8 civilized heing, as intellectual nomad, is again wholl y mi cr ocosmic,
wholl y homelell, as Cree int ellectually as bunter lind herdsmun were free sensU
all y. " Spengler, vol. 2, p. 125.15 . [m5,6)
p
[Anthropological Materialism, History of Sects]
GUStav: bot[om i5 ... divine!"
Berdoa: immortal as well, I hope."
Gustav:
Berdoa: "Nothing."
-Grabbe, HalO, 1"kJ(}r' /lOll Golhkuul
l
The grandiose lacJu:rmose de Cllodruc-Dudru, edited byJ. Arago
and Ed?uard Goum 1843), Ul two volumes, are occasionally interesting as
the rudiment! of a phYSiology of the beggar. The long preface is unsigned and
says nothing about the manuscript. The memoirs could be apocryphal. read
at one point: "Let there be no mistake about it : it is not the refusal that humiliates
so much as the almsgiving .... I never sttetched out my hand in supplication. 1
\ more quickly than the man who was going to accede to my request;
passmg him, I would open my right hand, and he would slip something into it"
(v.ol. 2, pp. At another point : "Water is sustaining! ... 1 gorged myself
WIth water, smce I had no bread" (vol. 2, p. 19). (P1, I )
S.cene. in the dormitory of a pnl on at the of the 1830s. The pauage i,
clledm
D
- ' , ' h . d' . f h "
. OCOOl8 WIt out In Icabon 0 aut or : In the evening, with the dormit ory
an uproar, ' the republiean workers, before to bed, performed La Revolu
tion de 1830, a theatri cal charade they had conlpDsed. It reproduced all the 8ceoe,
of the glorious week, from the de<:isioll of Charles X and hi8 ministers to sign the
july Ordinances. to the triumllh of the people. The battle on the barricade8 was
represented by a battle with hoillers carried 011 behind a lofty pile of beds and
At til e end , victors and va nqui shed joined forces to sing " La Mar
seill aise '"'' Ch lB ' ,,
. ares enOl st , Lll onlllle de I848," partl , RelJuedesdeuxmondes
(Jul ), I , 1913), p. 147. The passage cit cil presumabl y comes from Chat eauhrialld.
[P I,' )
Gallneau "Th" I
wh . e" apa I ... appears to 118 under Ihe aspect of the perfect dandy,
. 0 loves horiles, adores women, and lUll a taste for the hi gh life but is enlirely
Imr>Cc uniol1s. This lack offullds he makc8up for through gambliog; he is a habitue
or aU the ga mhl ing den8 of the Palail-Royal .... li e believes himself de8tined 10 be
t.he redeemer of bell er half, and ... takes the title of Mapah, a nahaecl
formed frolll Ihe first syllablcs of the two words ' mama' and 'p.". ' H
. e g008 On to
slly thai all proper names should be modifi ed in thi.s manner : YOII should no IOIl8er
bear Ihe name of your rather, but rather should use the first syllable f
'.d " your
h en name combllled Wllh the first syllable of your r. th, ' mOl. er I mal
r I name. Ahd
10 mark the more clearly that he forever renounces his own former name.
. h If ' H h , be
signs IIIIM! : . e W 0 was Ganneau. , ... He distribut es hit pamphlettl a llheexit3 of
thealer s or Icnds them through the mail; he even tri ed to persuade Vi ctor H
. h d . JIB ..
patronu:e 18 octrme. II es ertaut, Le Mupah... Le TempI, September 2
1935. I,

Charles Louandre on the phYl iologies, whi ch he charges with corruption of mor
als: "This drear y genre ... has very qui ckl y run its course. The physioloK)' ..
produced in 32mo format suitable to be sold ... to those out walking or it
repre8e.nted in 1836, in the BiblWg raphie de la France. by two volume,, ; in 1838
there are eight VOlume." listed; in 1841 there are seventy.six; in 1842, forty. four;
..
fifteen the year foUowlDg; and hardly more than three or four in the two yean
since then. From the physiology of individuals, one moved to the physiolOl)' 01
cities. There was Paru la nuit; Paris a. table; Paris dan$ l'ea,,; Pan. achevol;
Paru piltore$(IUe; Paru bohemiell ; Paru liueraire; Paris marik. Then came the
phYlL iology of peoples: Les Frarn;au ; Le5 Anglau peint5 par eux..meme . Thete
wer e followed by the physiology of animals: Le$ Animaw: peint. par ew::meme,,,
deuine, par d 'OIdres. Having finally run out of subj ects, ... the authors .. .
turned in the end to portraying themselves, and gave us the La Phy,iolop da .....
phy,iowgUte,." Charl es Louandre, " Statistique liueraire: De la Productioo iDtel
lectuell e en France depuis quinze aos," Revue de. deux monde. (November 15.
1847). pp. 686-687. (p1a, 1)
Theses of Touuenel: " That the happinetl! of individualll ill in di red proportion to
female a uthorit y"; " that the rank of the species is in direct proportion to female
authority." A. Tous8e.nel, I.e Monde de, oueaux, vol. 1 (Parit, 1853), p. 485. The .
first is the "formula of the gyrfalcon" (p . 39). [p1a,2]
Tous8e.nel on hi s Monde des oueaw::: "The wor ld of birdll is only its incidental
subject , whereas the world of men is its principal subj ect ." Vol. I , p. 2 (prefaCfl by
the a uthor). [p1a,3]
Toussellel ill hi s preface to Le Monde des oi,eau,x: " He (the author] has soughlto
underline the import allce of the culinary side of his suhj ect hy according the item
" roast meat" a more prominent place than it usually occupies in worke. "
Vol. I. p. 2. [p1a,4]
" We admire the bird . .. hecause with the hird, as in all well -orga ni:r.ed politic.,
... it is gaUallt ry that determines r ank.... We feel instincti vely that the woman,
who came from the Creator's hand aft er the man, was made to comnllUll1 the latter,
just as he WII S hor n to commllnd the beal is who came before him" <I.e Monde de,
oise(w,x. vol. I , p. 38>. [pla,5]
According to TOll8llenel, t.ite races t.hat most look up 10 the woman stand highest : at
times the Germall s, but ahove all the French a.nd the Greeks. " As the Athenian
ami til e Frenchman are dell oted by the falcon, so a re the Roman and the Eliglish.
plan hy the eagle." (The eagle. however. "docs 1101 rally to the service of human .
it y:' ) A. TOll uencl . Le Monde des oueQlU", vol . I (Paris, (853), p. 125. (pla,6]
Coptic physiologies: Mli&ee pollr rire; iUlUee Philipon ; MlUee or Magasin com.
iqlle; Musee Pori,ien; Les Metamorphose, dujour. [P2, 1]
Series of drawings . 1, Vemviennes, by Beaumont: twenty prints. Daumier 's
ri es Le5 DilJorcelUe, <Divorced Women >. A seri es (by whom?) titled Le$ Bas.blew
<The Blueslockings). ! (P2,2)
Ri se of the physiologies: " The burning political struggle of the years 1830-1835
had formed an army of draft>l Dlen ... and this a rmy ... waR completely knocked
out , politicall y speaking, by the SePlember Laws. At a time, that is, when they had
fathomed all the secrets of their art , they wer e suddenly restricted to a l ingl e
theater of operations: the description of bourgeois life.... This is the circum
stance that expl ai ns the colou al revue of bourgeois life inaugurated around the
middle of the L830s in .' rance . ... Everything came into the picture: . .. happy
days and sad days, work and recreation, marri age customs and bachelor habits,
famil y, house, child, school. societ y, theater, types, professions." Eduard Fuchs,
Die Karikafur der europauchen Votker, 4th ed. (Munich <1921 , vol. I , p. 362.
[P2,3]
What sordidness once again, at the: end of the century, in the representation of
physiological affairs! Characteristic of this is a description of impotence in Mail
book on the history of women's emancipation, which in its overall han
dling of the matter lays bare, in drastic fashion, the reaction of the established
bourgeoisie to anthropological materialism. In connection with the presentation
of Claire Demar's doctrine, one finds that "she ... speaks of the deceptions that
can .result from that strange and enormous sacrifice. at the risk of which. under a
,tornd Italian sky, more than one young man tries his luck at becoming a famous
chanteur. " Finnin Maillard, La Ligrode de la/nnme inwncipee (Paris), p. 98.
[P2,' ]
A key passage from tlt e ma nifesto of Claire Demar : "The uni on of the sexes in the
fUture will have to he the resllh of ... tlCCll ly meditat ed sympat hi es . .. : this wiD
1"It the case even wher e the existence of an intimate, ami mysteri ous rapport
l"ltlwccll two 1I0uis has been recognized .... AlI sll ch relations could ver y well come
to not hing ill the face of one 1l1li 1. illdill lH!nsable. and deci.s ive test: the rF.sr of
,'CAfTER by ,'CArTF.R , the ASSA" of Fl.ESII hy FI.F.5I1 !!! .. Often enough. on the ver y
threshold of the bedroom, a devouring flame has come to be edi"gui&hed; oftet!
enough . for more than Oll e grand pasBion, the llerfllmetl bedsheets have bollle.
demh . hrolld. More than one persOIl . .. who will rCBd the8e lincs has ent ered
night . int o the bed of Hymen.JJuipita tins with de.ire, ancl emotions. onl . :'
. th . " d ' "CI ' 0 ' . Y 0
awa
k
en In e mornmg COK a n Ky. Bl re emu r, Mll W. d a venir (Parls
1834), pp. 36-37. {p2,Sj
Re anthropological materi ali sm. Conclusion of Claire Dtl mur's Ma Loj d'. .
ven,,
<My Law of the Future>: "No morc motherhood , 110 more law of bl ood . I say: bo
more motherhood. And, in fact . the woman emanci ll81ed ... from the man, who
t hen no longer pays her the price of her body, ... will owe her ex.i ..t\: nce ... to her
works alone. For this it is necessa r y thai the woman pursue some work, fulfill
function. And how can she do thi s if she is always condemned to give up a more or
lell large pa rt of her life to t he care and education of one or more children? ...
You want to emancipate the lComan? Well , then, ta ke the newborn child from the
breast of the blood-mother a nd pve it int o the arms of the social mother, a nurH
empl oyed by the stat e, and the child will be better raised.... T hen, and then only,
will man, woman, and child be freed from the law of blood, from the exploitation
of humanity by humanit y." Claire Demar, Ma Loi d 'uvenir: Ouvruge posthwne
publik par Suzanne ( Paris. 1834), PI' . 58-59. [p2a, l ]
" What! Beeause a woman would rather not t ake the I)ublic inl o her confidence
concerning her feelings as a woma n; because, from among all the men who would
lavish thei r attentions upon her, ... onl y she could say which one she prefer&-- __
... is she then ... 10 beconle ... t he slave of one man? ... What! In such cues .
woman is exploited.... For if she were not afraid of seeing them t ear themse1ves to
pieces, ... she could give satisfaction to sever al men al once in their love.... I
beli eve. with M. James de Laurence, in the need ... for a freedom without .. .
Limit s, ... a freedom founded on mystery, which for me is t he basis of the new
mora lit y. n Claire Demar, Ma Loi d 'avenir (Paris, 1834), PI' . 31-32. [p2a,2]
The demand for "mystery"- as opposed to "publicity"-in sexuaJ rdations is
closely connected, in Demar, with the demand for more or less extended trial
periods. Of course, the traditional fonn of marriage would in general be sup
planted by this more 8exible fonn. It is logical, funhennore, that these concep
tions should give rise to the demand for matriarchy. [p2a,3]
From the arguments directed aga inst patriarchy: ;'Ah, il is wil h It huge pile or
parricidal daggers at my side IIial , amid widespread groa ns of la menlalion at the
very menti on of the words ' fll ill er ' and ' mother,' I venture 10 raise Ill y voice ...
IIgll in8t t he IlIw of blood, the law of generati on!" Claire J)c.lll il r. Mu Loi d'cwenir
(pans, 1834), PI). 5<a-55. [p2a,4]
Caricature plays a considerable role in the development of the caption. It is
characteristic that Henri Bouchot, La Lithographie (Paris ( 1895)) <p. 114>, re
proaches Daumier with the length and indisperu;ability of his captions. [p2a,5]
l:Ienri Bouellot , La UtllogrUIJhie ( Pans), p. 138, compares the producti vity of
[)even a with Ihat of Ba lzac a nd [p2a,6]
Several passages from C laire 06nar's work Ma Lo,- d'alK1lirmay be cited by way
of characterizing her relation to J anlcs de Laurence. The first comes from the
foreword written by Suzanne and has its point of departure in Claire
refusal to contribute to La Tribune deJjemmu: "Up until the seventeenth issue,
she had consistently refused, saying that the tone of this periodical was too
moderate.... When this issue appeared, there was a passage in an article by me
which, by its foml and its moderation, exasperated Clt,ire.-She wrote to me that
she was going to respond to it.-But ... her response became a pamphlet, which
she then decided to publish on its own, outside the framework of the peri.
odical.... Here, then, is the fragment of the article of which Claire has cited only
a few lines. 'There is still in the world a man who interprets ... Christianity ... in
a manner ... favorable to our sex: I mean M. ]ameJ de Laurnla, the author of a
pamphlet entitled UJ Enfant.s de dietl, ou La Religjon de ]iJw.... The author is
no Saint-Simonian; ... he postulates ... an inheritance through the mother.
Certainly this system ... is highly advantageous to us; I am convinced that some
,
part of it will have a place ... in the religion of the future, and that the principle
of motherhood will become one of the fundamenta1 laws of the state'" (Claire
Demar, Ma fo; d'auenir: Ouurage pruthume publii par Suzanne [Paris, 1834], pp. 14
16). In the text of her manifesto, Claire Demar makes common cause with
Laurence against the reproaches leveled at him by La Tnbune des jemmeJ, which
had claimed that he was advocating a form of "moral liberty ... without rules or
\ boundaries," something "which ... would surdy land us in a coarse and disgust
ing disorder." The blame for this is said to reside in the fact that in these things
Laurence propounds mystery as a principle; on the strength of such mystery, we
would have to render account in these things to a mystical God aJone. La Tribune
de; Femme;, on the contrary, believes that "the Society of the Future will be
founded not on mystery but on trust; for mystery merely prolongs the exploita
tion of our sex." C laire Demar replies: "Certainly, Mesdames, if, like you, I
confused trust with publicity, and considered mystery as prolonging the exploita
tion of our sex, I would be bound to give my blessings to the times in which we
live." She goes on to describe the brutality of the customs of these times : "Before
the mayor and before the priest, ... a man and a woman have: assembled a long
tt;ain of witnesses.... Voila! ... The union is called legitimate, and the woman
may now without blushing afIinn: 'On such and such a day, at such and such an
hour, I shaJl receive a man into my JIIO.lfAH'S BED/!!' . Contracted in the presence
of the crowd, the marriage drags aJong, across an orgy of \-vines and dances,
the nuptiaJ bed, which has become the bed of debauchery and prostitu
tion, inviting the delirious imagination of the guests to follow ... all the details
. of the lubricious drama enacted in the na.me of thc ,,*dding Dayl If the
practice ".:hich thus converts a young bride: ... into the object of impudent
glances ... , and which prostitutes her to unrestrained desires, ... does not
appear to you a horrible exploitation, ... then I know not what to say" (Ma /...oi
d' .
abrnrr, pp. 29-30). [p3. 1)
Publication date of the fin' i.uue of Le Charivari: December I, 1832.
Lesbian confe.uion of a Saint-Simonienne: " I began to love my feDow woman ..
much a. my fellow man .... I left to the man his physical strength and hi8 brand cl
intelligence in order to exalt at hil aide, and with equal right , the physical be...
of the woman and her diatinctiveiy spiritual gifts." Cited without indication:
source or author in Firmin Maillard, La Legende de Ia emanciph (Paril).

Empre.u Eugenie all IUCce8sor to the Mother:
Sholl1d you with, 0 bleaaed one,
The whol., of humankind with j oy
Will hail itt EUCENUi
Archangd guidin!; UI to port!!!
jean Joumet, L'Ere de lafemme, ouLe Regne de l'hannonie univer,eUe (Jua&rJ
1857), p. 8. <See U14a,4 and Ul7a,2.> [p3a,2J
Maxim8 from Jamea de Laurence, LeJ Enfants de dUu, ou La Reli&ion de J...
reconciUee avec Ia philo.ophie (Paris, June 1831): " It iH more reasonable to"
that all children are made by Cod than to 8ay that all married couplet are joiMll
together by Cod" (p. 14). The fact that jel uH does not condemn the WOIIW:II
in adultery leads Laurence to conclude lbat he did not approve of marriap:
pardoned her because be conllidered adultery the natural consequence 01 __.
riage. and he would have accepted it were it to be found amolllJ: his dUcip&e.
As long as marriage exilts, an adulterow woman will be found
. he burdenl her hU8band with the children of othen. Jesw could not te
an injul tice; hi, sylltem is logical: he wanted children to belOIllJ: to the ......
Whence lbose remarkable worda: 'Call no man your father on earth, for 'ou .....
one Father. who it in heaven'''' (p. 13). "The children of Cod, a8 de&eellded Ina
one woman. form a single family ... The religion of the Jew. was th.t of"...
nitr, under which the patriarch!! exerci8ed their domeetic authority. The
of Jesu8 i, lbat of maternity, whoae symhol is a mother holding a child in her.,..;
and thill mother ill caDed the Virgin because. while fulfilling the dutiee of a mother.
Ihe had not reoounced the independence of a virgin" (pp. 13-14). [p3a,S]
"Some leell ... , during the fir8t centuriell of the church. lleem to have divined ....
intentione of Jell u8; the Simonians, the Nicolaitana. the Carpocratiaru, the
Ba8ilidians. the Marcionites. and others ... not only had abolished bid
had established the community of women." James de Laurence, Le. Enfa
nu

dieu , Olt La Religion de Je,w reconciUee avec In philosophie (Paris. june 1831).
p.8. [p3,,')
The interpretation of the miracle at Carla4 whichJames de Laurence offers, in lSI
effort to his thesis thatJesus stood opposed to marriage. is wholly in
style of the early Middle Ages: "Seeing the wedded pair make a sacrifice
fuuricrist miMionaryJeanJoumet, ca. 1858. Photo by Nadar. Courtesy of the Bib
liotheque Nationale de France. See p3a,2.
'.
libeny, he changed the water into wine 50 as to demonstrate that marriage was a
fOOlhardy venture undertaken only by people whose brains are addl ed by l'Iine."
de Laurence, Us EnfantJ de dieu, ou La Religion de Jesus ric01Idfiie avec fa
Ph'/ruOPhi, (Paris,june 1831), p. 8. [p4,I)
"The Holy Spirit , or tile loul of nature, descended UpOII the Virgio in the form of a
dove; and since the dove il the .ymhol of love, this sigoifiee that the mother of
J ell ua had yielded to the natural inclinati on for love." James de Laurence, "
En/anu de dieu (Parill, June 183 1), p. 5. (p4,2J
Some of Laurence'a theoreti cal motifs are already evident in hi s four.vohune
novel, Le Punoruma de, boudoir3. ou L'Empire de3 Nair3 (Pa ria, 1817). which
wall published earli er in Germa ny and of whi ch a fr apent had appeared in 1793
in Wieland'il Deutsche Merkur. Laurence (Lawrence) was Engl iah . [p4,3J
" Balzac hall described the physiognomy of the Pa risian in unforgettable fashion:
the faces drawn taut . tor ment ed. li vid, ' the almost infernal conlplexion of ParUlaa
physiognomi es';s not faces but masks. " Ernst Robert Curtiu8, Balzac (Borm,
1923) , p . 243. (Citation from La Fille aur yellX d 'or.) [p4,4J
" Balzac's interest in longe\ity is one of the things he hal in common v'1lh the
eight eenth centur y. The naturalislII, the philosophers, the cha rlatans of that ..
arc agreed on this point. ... Condorcet expected from the future era, which be
.. painted in glowing colors, a n infinite prolongation of the life li pan. Count Saint.
Germain dispensed a ' tea of life,' CagLiostro an ' elixir of life'; others promoted
'sider eal salts,' ' tincture of gold, ' ' magnetic beds. ,,, Ernlit Robert CurtiulI, Babae
(Bonn, 1923), p. 101. [p4,5)
In Fourier (Nouutau MfJTUk <Paris, 1829-1830>, p. 275) there are outaies againIt
wedding rites that recall the pronouncements of Claire Demar. [p4,fi]
Note of Bianqui'l from the I pring of 1846, when he wali imprisoned in the HOIIpitai
of Tours: " On Communion daya, the siliters of the hOlpice of Toun are wa.ap
proachabl e, fer ocious. They have eatcn Cod. They are churning with the pride J.
this wvine digestion. These vessels of holinen become fl asks of vitriol ." <Cited in>
Gustave Geffroy, L'Enferme (Paris, 1926), vol. I , p. 133. [p4,7J
Apropos of the wedding at Cana. 1848: "A banquet for the poor was planned; it
was to offer, for twent y-fi ve centimes, bread, cheese, and wine, which would be
eaten and drunk on the pl ain of Saint-Denis. It did not take pl ace (initiaUy ached-
ul ed for June I . it was post poned to JUlie 18, then to July 14) ; but the. preparatory
meetill gs that were held , the subscripti ons that were coll ected , and the
. ubLi c op'"
ments-...hi ch had mount ed, by June 8, to 165.532-ser ve d to sbr up p
iOIl ." Gustn e Geffroy, L 'Eriferme (Pa ris. 1926), vol. I , p. 192. [p4a, l ]
"In 1848, ill the room of J enny the worker , there were portraits of
Nal)Oleon, and the Madonna pinned 10 t.he wall . People felt certain the re1i5
. r ' 48 Among the
iOIl of Huma nit y was al)Out 10 emerge. J esus I S a great mall 0 ,
malilies, there were indi cati onli of a faith ill omens .... The Alm(Jn(Jch prophetlll
lllt
of 1849 allli ounced Ihe retur n of the comel of 12&1--lhe war r ior comet, produced
by Ihe influence of Mars." Gustave Geffroy, L' f;n/erme (Pari s, 1926), vol. I }'
[p4' ,2
p. 156.
Babick, deput y of the tenth arrondiu ement. Pole, worker, then tail or, lhen l)Cr
fulil cr. " He was .. . a member of the Internati onal a nd of lhe Central Committee,
aud althe same time an a politl e of the fusionist cult-a reli gion of recent inspira
tion, illtended for the use of brains like hili. Formed by a cert ain M. de Toureil , it
cornbi ned ... several cults . to which Babick had conj oined spiritualism. All a
){'riumer, he had created for it a language which, for lack of other meri lll , was
of drugs and oinlments. He would writ e at the top of hi s lett ers ' Parili
Jerusalem,' date them with a year of the fusionist era, and sign them ' Babick.
child of t he Kingdom of God, and perfumer.'" Georges LarOD%e, lIu toire de la
Commune de 1871 (Pa ri s, 1928), pp. 168-169. (p4a,3]
''The whilllsical idea conceived by the colonel of the twelfth legion was no more
felici toua. It entail ed forming a company of female citizen volunteeu who were
charged, for the greater shame of lawbrea kers. with securing their a rrest ,"
Georges Laroll ze. Hu toire de la Commune de 1871 (Pa ris , 1928), p. 501 . (p4a,4]
f usionu me begins itll reckoning of time with December 30, 1845. [p4.,5}
MaJ(ime Du Camp, in his Souvenir5 liuer-aires, makeli a play on words with
" Evadia nli" and "evadeu." <See a 15,2-4. > [p4.6}
From the constitution of the Vesuvi ennes: " Female citizens ought to do their part
to 8er ve the armi es of land and sea .. .. The enli sted will fonn an army to be
designated as reserve. It will be divided into three contingentll: the COrpli of women
\ worken. the corps of vivandierel, and the corps of charit y.... Since ma rri age il
an associati on, each of the two SI)OUSCS must share in all the work. Any husband
reCusing to l)Crform his por tion of domestic duti es will be condemned . . . to as
8ume responsibility for the service of his wife in the Garde Civique. in place of his
own ser vice in the Garde National e." Finnin MaWard, La U geruh de lafemme
ema ncipee (Parili) , pp. 179, 181 . [pS, I]
"The feelings Hegel stir red up among the members of oung Germa ny, and which
Ructuated belween st rong attracti on and even !tr onger repulsion. are refl ected
most vividl y in Gusta v Kuhne's Quarantiine im Irrenhawe <Quara ntine in the
Illsalle AsylulII ) . . .. Because the members of Young Germall Y placed the accent
nlore 0 11 8ubj ecti\'e voliti on than on objecti ve freedom, the Young Hegelia nli
hl!fl ped scorn upon the ' unprinci pled meandering' of t heir ' bell et risti c ego
ism' .... Although the fea r arose, within the r anks of oung Germany, that the
ill cscapa IJl c lli alecti c of Hegeli an doct r ine might Il epri ve Youth of the strength ...
to act , this concern proved unj ustifi ed ." Quite the cont rary: once tit ese young
Cernl aliS " were forced to recognize. aft er the han on their .... was imposed .
that they t hem.selves had burned the hands by whose dili gent labor s they had
hUlled to )j.ve Like good bourgeoili, their enthusiasm qui ckl y vani shed." Gusta v
M
llyer
, f' riedrich Engeu. vol. I. friedricll EnSeu in seiner friih; eit (Berlin
( 1933, pp. 37-39." [p5.2]
n
Around the time that "physiologies first appeared, historians like Thierry,
Mignet, Guaot "'ere laying emphasis on the analysis of "bourgeois life." (p5,3]
Engels on the Wuppertal region: " Excellenl soil (or OUf principlf's is being pre
pared here; and once we are able to sct in motiOIl our wild, hot -1eml)Cred dye-rot
li nd bleachers. you won't recognize Wupperlal. Even as it i8. the workers durins
the pasl few years have reached the fmal stage of the old civilization; the rapid
increase in crimes, robberies. and murders is their protest agaillst the old social
organization. At night the streets are unsafe, the bourgeois are beatcn up, knifed,
and robbed. If the local proleta rians develop according to the l a me laws 8S the
English prolelarians, they will 800n realize thai it is useless to protett againtt the
social system in thi, ma nner ... and will protest in their general capacity, ..
human by means of communism." Engels to Marx, October 1844, froDi
Barmen [Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Briefwech$el, ed.
Institut , vol . I Zurich > 1935), PII. 4-5]. r [p5,4)
..
The heroic ideal in Baudelaire is androgynous. This does not prevent him from
writing: have known the philanthropist "...oman author, the systematic priest
ess of love, the republican poetess, the poetess of the future, Fourierist or Saint
Simonian; and our eyes ... have never succeeded in becoming accustomed to aD
this srudied ugliness." Baudelaire, !:Art romanhque, ed. Hacheue, vol. 3 (Paris),
p. 340 ("Marceline Desbordes-Valmore").' (p5a,11
One of the later sectarian developments of the nineteenth century is the fusionia

religion. It was propagated by L.J. B. Toureil (born in Year VIII, died 1863 [or
1868?]). The Fourierist in.8uence can be felt in his periodization of history; &om
Saint'-Simon comes the idea of the Trinity as a unity of Mother-Father to whicb
Sister-Brother or Androgyne is joined. The universal substance is determined in
its working by three processes, in the definition of which the inferior basis of
doctrine comes to light. These processes are: "Emanation, ... the property which
the universal substance possesses of expanding infinitely beyond itself; ...
sorption, ... the property which the universal substance possesses of rummg
back infinitely upon itself; . .. Assimilation, ... the property which the universal
substance possesses of being intimately penneated with itself' (p. i).-A charac
teristic passage from the aphorism "PaUVTeS, riches" <Rich Men, .Ibor Men>,
which addresses itself to the rich and speaks of the poor: "Moreover, ifyou refuse
to elevate them to your level and scorn to involve yourselves with them, why
then do you breathe the same air, inhabit the sanle aunosphere? In order not to
breathe in and assimilate their em.anation .. . , it will be necessary for you
leave this world to breathe a different air and live in a different aqnosphere
(p.267).-The dead are "multifonn" and exist in many places on the earth at the
same time. For this reason, people must very seriously concern themselves,
ing their lifetime, with the beuennent of the earth (p. 307). Ultimately, all
in a series of suns, which in the end, after they have passed through the 0"
one li ght (unilmniire) , realize the "universal light" in the "universalizing reglon.
Rtligitm juJionienne. ou Docln'ne de /'unilKrJolisah'on rialuanl Ie ural cQlholici.Jme
(Paris, 1902). [p5a.2]
" Me: Is there SOni C particula r facet of your reli gious cult thlll you could comnl ent
OIl ? M. (Ie Toureil : We pray ofl cn, and our praycrs ordinurily begin willi the
"'ords: ' 0 Map supreme and eternal. ' Me: Whal is the meuning of thi s sound
' Mop'? M. de Toureil : It is a sacred sound .... hi ch combines the m signifying mere
(mother). the p signifying pere (father ), and the a signifying amour (love) ....
These 1I1 rt.'e lelt en ,Iesignate the great eterllal God." AJexandre Erdan [A. A.
J acoh], La "' ranee mi$tique, 2 vols. ( Paris. 1855), vol. 2, p. 632 [continuous )Iugi
nUlion)' Ip6.1]
Fiuionume aims not at a syncretism but at the fusion of human beings with one
another and with God. [P6,2]
"There will be no hapl'inen for hunl anity until the day the r epublic sends the son
of God back 10 the carpenter 's shop of Monsieur his father." This sent ence is put
into the mouth ofCourbet , in a pamphlet thai present s the heroes of the February
Revolution to the Jlubli c. (P6,3]