Mercure de France

The Mercure de France (French pronunciation: [mɛʁkyʁ də fʁɑ̃s]) was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group.

The gazette was published from 1672 to 1724 (with an interruption in 1674–1677) under the title Mercure galant (sometimes spelled Mercure gallant; 1672–1674) and Nouveau Mercure galant (1677–1724). The title was changed to Mercure de France in 1724. The gazette was briefly suppressed (under Napoleon) from 1811 to 1815 and ceased publication in 1825. The name was revived in 1890 for both a literary review and (in 1894) a publishing house initially linked with the symbolist movement. Since 1995 Mercure de France has been part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group.

The Mercure galant was founded by the writer Jean Donneau de Visé in 1672. He directed the publication until his death in 1710. The name refers to the god Mercury, the messenger of the gods; the title also echos the Mercure françoys which was France's first literary gazette, founded in 1611 by the Paris bookseller J. Richer.

The magazine's goal was to inform elegant society about life in the court and intellectual/artistic debates; the gazette (which appeared irregularly) featured poems, anecdotes, news (marriages, gossip), theatre and art reviews, songs, and fashion reviews, and it became fashionable (and sometimes scandalous) to be mentioned in its pages. Publication stopped in 1674, but began again as a monthly with the name Nouveau Mercure galant in 1677.

The Mercure galant was a significant development in the history of journalism (it was the first gazette to report on the fashion world and played a pivotal role in the dissemination of news about fashion, luxury goods, etiquette and court life under Louis XIV to the provinces and abroad. The newspaper published propaganda intended to bolster Louis XIV and promote his domestic and foreign policies. In the 1670s, articles on the new season's fashions were also accompanied with engravings. The August 1697 edition contains a detailed description of a popular new puzzle, now known as peg solitaire. This article is the earliest known reference to peg solitaire.

The gazette was frequently denigrated by authors of the period. The name Mercure galant was used by the playwright Edmé Boursault for one of his plays critical of social pretensions; when Donneau de Visé complained, Boursault retitled his play Comédie sans titre (Play without a title).

The gazette played an important role in the "Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns", a debate on whether the arts and literature of the 17th century had achieved more than the illustrious writers and artists of antiquity, which would last until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle and the Mercure galant joined the "Moderns". Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux was pushed into the role of champion of the "Anciens", and Jean Racine, Jean de La Fontaine and Jean de La Bruyère (who is famous for a jibe against the gazette: "le Mercure... est immédiatement au dessous de rien" ["the Mercure... is immediately below nothing"]) took his defense.

The periodical eventually became a financial success and it brought Donneau de Visé comfortable revenues. The Mercure de France became the uncontested arbiter of French arts and humanities, and it has been called the most important literary journal in prerevolutionary France.