Publier la poésie : vers manuscrits copiés, lus et compilés comme stratégies sociales pour le littérateur des Lumières

Abstract

François-Antoine Devaux is today best known for his poetic practice, having printed only prose plays. Most of his poems remained handwritten for more than two centuries, with the notable exception of a dedication to the last duke of Lorraine. This does not mean these works were to remain within an intimate circle, since they have been made public in many ways. Devaux's correspondence and his work of compiling verses in manuscript collections shed a light to the multiple ways in which his poetic practice was published, allowing him to gradually become an poet known as such. Cross-referencing the handwritten traces left by Devaux allows us to better understand the ways in which poetry was published in what he called the "Republic of Letters" but also close to the ducal power. The focus here is on Devaux's poetic practice insofar as it constituted the necessary milestones for his inclusion in the elite society and in the literary field of the 18th century.

Keywords

• poetry
• manuscript
• correspondence
• social strategy
• first literary field
• enlightenment