Jean Donneau de Visé
Encyclopedia
Jean Donneau de Visé was a French
journalist, royal historian ("historiographe du roi"), playwright and publicist. He was founder of the literary, arts and society gazette "le Mercure galant" (founded in 1672) and was associated with the "Moderns" in the "Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns
".
Donneau de Visé was among the detractors of Molière
during the quarrel over Molière's play "The School for Wives
" (1662, "l’École des femmes"), accusing the author of obscenity and moral licentiousness. But Donneau de Visé eventually became reconciled with the comic playwright and contributed his own plays to Molière's acting troop, starting with la Mère coquette (1665) and (after Molière's death) several "machine" plays ("pièces à machines", i.e. plays with elaborate special scenic effects) written in collaboration with Thomas Corneille
-- Circé (1675) and la Devineresse (1679) -- which were very successful in their runs at the Hôtel Guénégaud.
Donneau de Visé wrote a collection of short novelas: Nouvelles galantes et comiques (1669).
In 1672, Donneau de Visé founded the "Mercure galant", a gazette on the arts, theater and literature, which also included galant songs and society news and gossip. Although frequently denigrated by authors of the period (such as Jean de La Bruyère
), the periodical eventually became a financial success, and brought (along with his plays and his work as royal historian) Donneau de Visé comfortable revenues.
At his death in 1710, Donneau de Visé's "Mercure galant" had become the uncontested arbiter of literary taste and the paper of record for news about the court and court society for subscribers in the provinces.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
journalist, royal historian ("historiographe du roi"), playwright and publicist. He was founder of the literary, arts and society gazette "le Mercure galant" (founded in 1672) and was associated with the "Moderns" in the "Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns
Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns
The quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns was a literary and artistic debate that heated up in the early 1690s and shook the Académie française.-Description:...
".
Donneau de Visé was among the detractors of Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
during the quarrel over Molière's play "The School for Wives
The School for Wives
The School for Wives is a theatrical comedy written by the seventeenth century French playwright Molière and considered by some critics to be one of his finest achievements. It was first staged at the Palais Royal theatre on 26 December 1662 for the brother of the King...
" (1662, "l’École des femmes"), accusing the author of obscenity and moral licentiousness. But Donneau de Visé eventually became reconciled with the comic playwright and contributed his own plays to Molière's acting troop, starting with la Mère coquette (1665) and (after Molière's death) several "machine" plays ("pièces à machines", i.e. plays with elaborate special scenic effects) written in collaboration with Thomas Corneille
Thomas Corneille
Thomas Corneille was a French dramatist.- Personal life :Born in Rouen nearly twenty years after his brother Pierre, the "great Corneille", Thomas's skill as a poet seems to have shown itself early. At the age of fifteen he composed a play in Latin which was performed by his fellow-pupils at the...
-- Circé (1675) and la Devineresse (1679) -- which were very successful in their runs at the Hôtel Guénégaud.
Donneau de Visé wrote a collection of short novelas: Nouvelles galantes et comiques (1669).
In 1672, Donneau de Visé founded the "Mercure galant", a gazette on the arts, theater and literature, which also included galant songs and society news and gossip. Although frequently denigrated by authors of the period (such as Jean de La Bruyère
Jean de La Bruyère
Jean de La Bruyère was a French essayist and moralist.-Ancestry:He was born in Paris, not, as was once thought, at Dourdan in 1645...
), the periodical eventually became a financial success, and brought (along with his plays and his work as royal historian) Donneau de Visé comfortable revenues.
At his death in 1710, Donneau de Visé's "Mercure galant" had become the uncontested arbiter of literary taste and the paper of record for news about the court and court society for subscribers in the provinces.