Wednesday primary source #17 - Jacobins in Marseille

Ricord, Alexandre. Journal Des Départemens Méridionaux Et Des Débats Des Amis De La Constitution De Marseille. Marseille: [s.n.], 1792-1793.

This is a recent acquisition of an important journal documenting the French Revolution in Marseille. It includes 183 (of a total of 184) issues of the journal of the Jacobins of Marseille and its surrounding area. Following the lead of the Observateur marseillais, which folded in 1790, the Journal des départemens méridionaux appeared three times a week in 1792-1793. In addition to Marseille, it counted subscribers among Jacobin clubs in neighboring cities as well as in Paris. The Journal contained reports of the clubs' debates, news from the Revolution, including a section on what was happening Martinique, popular songs and poems, as well as reviews of plays and books. It would be great source material for anyone looking to work on how the French Revolution was experienced in the provinces. And complete runs, as this almost is, do not exist, even in France. For an overview of French Revolution journals in Marseille, see this article.

Ricord, Alexandre. Journal Des Départemens Méridionaux Et Des Débats Des Amis De La Constitution De Marseille. Marseille: [s.n.], 1792-1793.

 Physical Description: v. ; In-4.
     Volume/date range: N° 1 (6 mars 1792)-n° 184 (7 mai 1793)-
                  Note: Interrompu par le mouvement fédéraliste en mai 1793
                        à Marseille.
                  Note: Organe du club des Amis de la Constitution de
                        Marseille.
                  Note: Devient : = ISSN 2021-5215.
          Added author: Ricord, Alexandre, dit Alexandre Ricord fils ou Pavot
                        Ricord fils puis Alexandre Ricord aîné.
         Related title: 

SPEC-COLL CALL NUMBER      1)XX(8667604.1) 

French cultural outings

Well this first one is a stretch, but I had the good fortune to go to see Bill Irwin's adaptation of Molière's play Les fourberies de Scapin, entitled Scapin at ACT in San Francisco last night, and highly recommend it if you aren't afraid of physical comedy, clowns, and modern adaptations of 17th century French drama. As someone who grew up seeing Bill Irwin (Scapin) and Geoff Hoyle (Geronte), in the Pickle Family Circus in the 1970s and 80s, it is always a treat to see them perform (and to live across from their original rehearsal space!). It is playing through October 17 at the Geary Theater.

Also coming up in late October is French Cinema Now, a weeklong festival of new French film sponsored by the SF Film Society. Tickets are on sale now, and the films featured include:
Two in the Wave (2009) about Truffaut and Godard

Copie conforme (2010) by Abbas Kiarostami with Juliette Binoche

 and
Copacabana (2010) by Marc Fitoussi with Isabelle Huppert

all photos taken from the SFIFF webpage.

Tickets for both Scapin and French Cinema Now will probably sell out, so get them now!

What I did on my summer vacation

I returned last week from a few weeks in Europe, where a highlight was a week-long class on material/physical bibliography at the Institut d'histoire du Livre in Lyon, taught by Dominique Varry. It was an intense and very useful course held at the ENS-Lyon, with sessions at the Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon, which is the second-biggest library in France after the BnF, the ENSSIB, the French national library school, and the Musée de l'Imprimerie.

There were other courses on the history of typography, paper and watermarks, and ephemera taught to a very international and diverse group of students, including librarians, literary scholars, book artists, and rare books dealers.

One highlight was an evening at the Musée de l'Imprimerie, where Nelly Gable, the punch cutter at the Imprimerie nationale, showed how she replicates types from old punches.

Afterward, off to meet my family and eat some gelato!
(photos to come...)