The early history of printers in provincial France, 1470-1660 -- The vicissitudes of a royal decree : enforcing the October 1667 Order in Council regulating printers in the provinces -- The royal council takes control : the 1701 inquiry and the Bureau de la Librairie -- The purges : the enforcement of printer quotas in the provinces after 1704 -- Arguments offered by printers in petitions for licences, 1667-1789 -- Patronage and bureaucracy intersect : five case studies in the reign of Louis XVI -- Behind the rhetoric : the social position and politics of provincial printers, 1750-1789 -- Conclusion -- Appendix A. Printers' wealth in the eighteenth century -- Appendix B. Some licensed provincial printers involved in the clandestine book trade, 1750-89, by town
Summary
"Explores the evolution of the idea that the rise of print culture was a threat to the royal government of eighteenth-century France. Argues that French printers did much to foster this view as they negotiated a place in the expanding bureaucratic apparatus of the state"--Provided by publisher
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-292) and index