Radical Customs: Maréchal’s Critique of Religion and Politics in Serial Works on Distant Civilizations

In French intellectual and cultural history, the 1780s are a liminal period in which the plural cultures of the Revolution were formed in many of their basic elements before their exponents knew they would, or could, actually be revolutionary. Much attention has rightly been paid by historians to the role of clandestine and unauthorized publications and their circulation in the origins of revolutionary attitudes. The focus here instead is on a particular author’s veiled uses of commercial and authorized media to convey anti-religious and politically radical contents. A materialist and pastoral poet, Sylvain Maréchal (1750-1803) was quite well-known in his time; in 1789 he would passionately adhere to the Revolution, becoming an influential radical journalist and playwright. The focus of this article is on his writings on commission of the 1780s. Two serial illustrated works printed with a privilege, approved by the king’s censor and responding to cultural demands of the general public of the time are examined; in particular: the Antiquités d’Herculanum, published by the engraver F.-A. David, and the Costumes civils actuels de tous les peuples connus, an enterprise launched by J. Grasset de Saint-Sauveur and then sold to others.