LOUIS

See also:

• PETIT, SIR DINSHAW MANECKJI, BART

PETIT DE

See also:

• LOUIS PETIT DE BACHAUMONT (169o-1771)

BACHAUMONT (169o-1771)  , French litterateur, was of noble family and was brought up at the court of Versailles . He passed his whole life in Paris as the centre of the salon of Madame Doublet de Persan (1677—1771), where criticism of art and literature took the form of malicious gossip . A sort of register of news was kept in a journal of the salon, which dealt largely in scandals and contained accounts of books suppressed by the censor . Bachaumont's name is commonly connected with the first volumes of this register, which was published anonymously under the title Memoires secrets pour servir d l'histoire de la Republique des Lettres, but his exact share in the authorship is a matter of controversy . It was continued by Pidansat de Mairobert (1707—1779) and others, until it reached 36 volumes (1774—1779) . It is of some value as a historical source, especially for prohibited literature . Extracts were published by P . Lacroix in one volume, 1859 . An incomplete edition (4 vols.) was undertaken in 1830 by Ravenal . See, in addition to the memoirs of the time, especially the Correspondance litteraire of Grimm, Diderot, d'Alembert and others (new ed., Paris, 1878, 17 Vols.); Ch . Aubertin, L'Esprit public au X 1'III' siecle (Paris, 1872) .