Charles Pinot Duclos

Biography

Wire of a rich person hatter of Dinan, Duclos was intended to take again the businesses of his/her father but it was a gifted child of a sharp intelligence and on a great memory and his/her mother, become widowed, decided to send it to complete her studies in Paris. It followed initially the courses of the academy which held, Rue of Charonne, the abbot of Dangeau, then Collège of Harcourt where it undertook the study of the right in order to become lawyer. But it was let go to dissipation, applying especially to the study of the weapons, before deciding to devote itself to the letters. He attended the Procope coffee and the Gradot coffee where one was not long in noticing it for the approval and the prickly one of his conversation.

It was, known as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “ a right and skilful man ”. Besides he had funds of uprightness which returned it inacapable to fold its opinion neither its freedom with any interest nor no policy; and however it was not an obstacle with its advance, because it never offended the self-esteem of the men of letters, and that it could interest in its favor that of influential people already there. ” Duclos had much spirit and a great freedom of speech; one quotes of him number of happy words.

It made its literary beginnings in the collections of jokes published by the men of letters of the company of the count de Caylus under titles such as Étrennes of the saint Jean , Recueil of these Sirs , the Coats , the Shelling machines or the Easter eggs .

Protected from Madam de Pompadour and Madam de Tencin, very widespread in all the philosophical living rooms and the literary coffees, member of the Company of the Vault, it was named with the Académie of the inscriptions and the humanities in 1739 without nothing justifying it. The citizens of Dinan appointed it mayor of their city in 1744 and, in this quality, it took part in the States of Brittany. When those were required by the King, in 1755, Duclos accepted letters of ennoblement.

January 26th 1747, it was accepted with the French Academy whereas it had composed only three novels, a ballet and a historical test, the Histoire of Louis XI (1745). In 1750, it replaced like Historiographe France Voltaire, which left for the Prussia.

It then published in 1751 the Considérations on Manners , whose Louis XV said: “ It is the work of an honest man ”. The Memories to be used for the history of manners of the 18th century , which it gave a little later are like the complement of the Considérations . Benefitting from the advantages of its position of historiographer, it wrote Mémoires secrecies of the reigns of Louis XIV of Louis XV , which appeared only after its death.

Duclos was allowed in 1739 with the Académie of the inscriptions and the humanities, and in 1747 with the French Academy, of which it became in 1755 the perpetual secretary. In this function, it was shown very active and rendered many services to this company, taking a great part with the edition of 1762 of the Dictionnaire , of which it wrote the foreword, and making substitute for the commonplaces of morals which formed the subjects of the price of eloquence of the praises of the great men (1755). He was opposed to the candidatures of large lords when the impétrants did not justify sufficient literary titles, and supported the dignity of the Academy each time he on the occasion of it, showing a great firmness at the time of the election of the count de Clermont, obtaining that he gives up under “Monseigneur”, and of the marshal of Beautiful-Isle, leading it to subject to the obligation visits.

With the Academy, it generally supported the party of the Philosophers, but without forming of it part because excesses of its members irritated it: “ the large arguers and the under-small arguers of our century , said it, will make some and of will say as much as they will finish by me sending to confession. ” Its relations with Voltaire were cold and their correspondence is only academic and of courtesy. It did not have relations with Diderot which one reproached him for having ruined the candidature for the Academy. It was scrambled with D' Alembert and the two men never reconciled themselves entirely. Generally, its authoritative character made its relations often difficult with his/her colleagues.

In 1763, Duclos accepted the pressing recommendation to leave France after it had taken the party of his friend and compatriot Chalotais against the duke of Pivot. He travelled in England (1763). In 1766, having too highly criticized the judgment of Chalotais, it had to go on a journey in Italy and wrote on its return its Considérations on Italy , which was published only after the Révolution. He died in 1772.

Works

The most known work of Duclos is the Considérations on manners of this century (1751) which had much success and was translated into English and German and often republished. Louis XV in said: “ It is the work of an honest man ”. It is a book written with a precise style, pricking, clearly sometimes until the dryness. The painting of the modes and the spirit of time is rather not very alive. The author said besides with accuracy: “ I do not look at all, but what I look at, I see it well; I do not have a color, but I will be read. ”

In this work, the author hardly speaks about the women. Also it made of it the principal subject of another book, the Mémoires to be used for the history of manners of the XVIIIe century (1751), very inferior in style with the precedent.

History of the baroness of Luz, anecdote of the reign of Henri IV , 1741: account of the adventures of a woman who always succumbs and forever wrong.
Confessions of the count of *** , 1742: novel which had a very great success; intrigue lack, it is before a a whole succession of portraits.
Characters of the Madness , ballet in 3 acts, 1743
Mahogany tree and Zirphile , 1744: fairy-like novel, composed following a bet to accompany by the prints already drawn by François Butcher for another text.
History of Louis XI , 1745: in spite of the dry style and often epigrammatic, this test shows an effort of impartiality and is based on serious research.
Considerations on manners of this century , 1751
Memories to be used for the history of manners of the XVIIIe century , 1751
Considerations on Italy , 1791: work of morals and political philosophy
Mémoires secrecies on the reign of Louis XIV, the regency and the reign of Louis XV , 1791: this work lost the essence of its interest since the publication of the Mémoires of Saint-Simon, whose Duclos had had in hands the manuscript and which it had largely taken as a starting point.
Remarks on the Grammar of Port-Royal : in this work, where Duclos shows a great knowledge of grammar, he recommends a spelling reform in conformity with logic and the pronunciation.

Its works were published in 1806, 10 vol. in-8, and in 1820, 9 vol.in-8, and 3 vol. gr. in-8, with a Notice by Mathieu Guillaume Therese Villenave.

External bonds

biographical Card on the site of the French Academy

-----

Random links: