Clandestine philosophical manuscripts
Of the corpus of clandestine philosophical manuscripts itemised in 1912 by Gustave Lanson, the Mazarine has kept 80 works, bound in nearly 40 volumes. With a few exceptions, the works were selected from the book depots by the Mazarine's curator, Michel Leblond, after 1798. Most manuscripts came from the great monasteries (Saint Victor in Paris, Seminary of Saint Sulpice...) or from aristocratic libraries (duke of Penthièvre).
Almost all the commonest texts of clandestine literature are represented. Some are kept in several copies, such as Le Ciel ouvert à tous les hommes by Pierre Cuppé; others are known through a single copy, such as Dialogues sur l'âme (dialogues between a Sadducee and Pharisee, between a Christian and a philosopher) or Les caractères de la religion chrétienne. Although some works can be attributed to specific authors (Robert Challe, Naigeon, d'Holbach, Boulainvilliers, or Nicolas Fréret), many remain anonymous.
The entire collection of clandestine philosophical manuscripts has been described in Calames, and is the subject of a research project conducted by the Mazarine Library in partnership with Centre d'Étude de la Langue et de la Littérature Françaises des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (CELLF 17-18) under the direction of Geneviève Artigas-Menant.
G. Lanson, « Questions diverses sur l’histoire de l’esprit philosophique en France avant 1750 », Revue d’histoire littéraire de la France, 1912, 19, p. 1-29, 293-317.
I. O. Wade, The clandestine Organization and diffusion of philosophic ideas in France from 1700 to 1750, Princeton, 1938, rééd. New York, 1967.
A. Adam, Le mouvement philosophique dans la première moitié du XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 1967.
F. Moureau, De bonne main : la communication manuscrite au XVIIIe siècle, Paris ; Oxford, 1993.
G. Artigas-Menant (dir.), Inventaire des manuscrits philosophiques clandestins, 1995, 2 t. dactyl.
M. Benitez, La face cachée des Lumières : Recherches sur les manuscrits philosophiques clandestins de l’âge classique, Paris ; Oxford, 1996.
G. Artigas-Menant, Du secret des clandestins à la propagande voltairienne, Paris Honoré Champion, 2001.
La Lettre clandestine, Paris, PUPS, 1992→.