La femme heroique, ou les heroines comparées avec les heros en toute sorte de vertus...

Overview

La femme heroique, ou les heroines comparées avec les heros en toute sorte de vertus : Et plusieurs reflexions morales à la fin de chaque comparaison is a two volume French book authored by Jacques Du Bosc. The book was published in 1645 by Antoine de Sommaville in Paris, France and currently resides in the University of Pennsylvania’s Kislak Center for Special Collections. This book is premised on the idea that men and women hold equal virtues. It is considered to be one of the greatest feminist literary works of seventeenth century France.

Background

Historical Context

Importantly, La femme heroique was published in the middle of a crisis and transformation within the book industry in France. After the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598), the economy of France destabilized, heavily impacting the book industry. During this time, there was a lack of books being printed. The Postman of the Plantinian Press Théodore Reinsart testified to this when he said that because of the low supply of books he "could not chase the people out of the room where they were books and sometimes there were as many as 50 people there together.”

Additionally, the few books that were being printed were made with cheaper materials. The book-making industry turned to smaller amounts of gelatin and calcium in the paper making process, thinner paper when publishing books, copper engravings for illustrations instead of wood engravings, and even developed a new book format known as the duodecimo, which saved costs due to its smaller size. On top of the cheaper quality, these books were not being circulated outside of their respective regions due to the economic hardship in France. For example, numerous seventeenth century testimonies corroborate that books published in Paris could not be imported for circulation in other parts of France.

That said, the recovery that followed the collapse of the book industry further into the seventeenth century opened possibilities for previously published works like Du Bosc’s to gain new audiences and recognition as the market stabilized. Among the most notable aspects of France’s recovery in the literary sector was the transition from Lyon to Rouen as the second typographic hub of France in the middle of the seventeenth century. Other cities in France also experienced literary transformations like the city of Troyes, which developed the "blue library." Several cities also adopted the designation "official printer to the king." Printers became conduits for the king's speech and authority, while others formed alliances with local bishops, among other affiliations.

Overall, La femme heroique was published during a transformative period in the literary world of France. While it is likely that the success of the book, like many others, was initially limited due to the economic challenges that plagued the industry, the recovery of the book market would eventually allow it to reach a wider audience. This revival and the evolving dynamics of the literary landscape during the seventeenth century highlight the resilience and adaptability of the book industry in France.

Genre History

The book aligns with other feminist literary works published during the seventeenth century. While French feminism and literature is often linked to the French Revolutionin 1789, writers, both male and female, were publishing important works advocating for equality of the sexes prior to the eighteenth century. In alignment with the book’s focus on moral virtue, other feminist writers during the seventeenth century also advocated for equality with a heavy religious underpinning prior to Du Bosc.

The most renowned of these writers was the French feminist writer Marie de Gouray (1565-1645). In her “Equality for Men and Women (1622)” de Gournay argues that men and women are of equal virtue “only by the authority of God himself and of the Fathers who were buttresses of his Church, and of those great philosophers who have enlightened the universe” (55). Additionally, in her “The Ladies’ Complaint (1626)” De Gournay builds on her religious feminist perspective by outlining the inequality that women in French society experience, which she claims strips women of virtues that men are able to obtain with the privileges they are granted. Du Bosc’s La femme heroique fits well into the religious feminist literary works that were being published during the seventeenth century, setting the stage for the plethora of works that would later be published during the French Revolution in the eighteenth century.

Material Analysis

Binding

La Femme Heroique is bound with a leather calfskin cover with mottled treatment and gold tooling. This was a typical binding method used in France during the seventeenth century, as exemplified by other important works published in Paris during this time period like Traité de la comedie et des spectacles : selon la tradition de l'église, tirée des conciles & des saints pères. In La Femme Heroique, gold tooling is used to draw decorative lines on the covers of the book as well as to separate the spine of the book into six sections. The second section on the spine in each volume includes the name of the book, “LA FEMME HEROIQUE”, in gold and the third section includes the volume of the book, either “TO.I” or “TO.II.” The remaining sections on the spine use gold tooling to create a flower-like design. Such a creative bookbinding aligns with seventeenth century efforts in France to make the binding process rich and beautiful.

As was customary during the seventeenth century, the gold tooling for this book was specifically done by a skillful person with several years of experience. This is because gold tooling was a complex process that could easily damage the book or fail if the individual did not have an understanding of the right amount of heat to add to each type of leathered cover. For example, if the heat applied was too hot for a particular leather, the impression would burn the cover of the book. If the heat applied was too cold, the gold would not stick onto the cover, and the gold tooling process would fail. Given that the gold tooling on La femme heroique, whether it be the title on the spine of the book or on the decorative lines on the front and back covers, remains intact with no signs of burns, we know that the book was bound by an experienced and skillful person in the book industry during the seventeenth century.

Navigational Features

La Femme Heroique has several navigational features. First, it has a table of contents, labeled as a “Table de Matieres” to help the readers navigate the lengthy 300+ page two volume book. The Table of Contents is placed at the end of the book, as is common practice in French books. Additionally, the Table of Contents is only located in Volume II of the book. By placing the Table of Contents with chapters from Volume I and Volume II only in Volume II, Du Bosc emphasizes the interdependence of the texts, with the full understanding of the work being achieved only when the readers engage with both texts continuously and simultaneously.

Secondly, the book has a Table of Chapters, labeled as a “Table des Chapitres” before the Table of Contents. Unlike the Table of Contents, the Table of Chapters is broken down into two sections - Book I and Book II for each volume. Each section contains the main argument for each chapter of the book. This navigational feature serves multiple purposes. First, it allows the reader to understand the main idea of the book before diving into the detailed content. Second, it provides the reader with an outline of the logical flow of the text offering a roadmap that summarizes the main arguments of the text. Lastly, it allows for the readers to revisit key arguments by quickly locating important discussions. The location of the Table of Chapters only in Volume II further underscores the interconnectedness of both volumes.

Typography

Volumes I and II of La Femme Heroique include numerous printing mistakes. For example, there are numerous pages with meaningless letters at the bottom, including “ “i i j” or “N n n n i i j” in both volumes. Additionally, there are several instances where similar letters are switched, particularly with the “U” and “V” such as in the word “argument” spelled as “argvment” in both volumes or the words “Brvtvs” and “Conqviesme” in the cover page for Chapter 5 in Volume II, which are supposed be spelled as "Brutus" and "Conquiesme." Lastly, there are incomplete letters due to improper pressing of movable type. This is reflected in incomplete letters like “V” in “ De la Vertev” in the cover page of Chapter 1 in Volume I. Such printing mistakes are explained by the fact that, up until the eighteenth century, European authors were present during the printing process correcting their own work. This often resulted in their work being published with printing errors because authors were “too close to their works to correct them effectively.” That said, European authors during this time period were open to working collaboratively with their readers to correct printing mistakes. For example, authors would request and sometimes compensate readers for pointing out printing mistakes they could correct in future editions, though it is unclear if this was the case with Du Bosc’s La Femme Heroique.

Importantly, although La Femme Heroique does not indicate collaboration with readers to address printing mistakes in future editions, it does include an errata list, cautioning the reader of several printing mistakes they will encounter while reading the book. This was a common book feature in seventeenth century Europe. Given rampant printing mistakes in books, authors sometimes offered apologies or long lists of printing corrections at the end of their work. It is worth noting, however, that the errata list included in La Femme Heroique is short and does not include all of the printing mistakes aforementioned. The errata list is also only included in Volume 1.