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Balzac's letter to authors, Paris (1834)
Source: Association pour la conservation et la reproduction photographique de la presse (ACRPP) : Revue de Paris, Nouvelle Série - Année 1834, tome XI
Citation:
Balzac's letter to authors, Paris (1834), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
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[REVUE DE PARIS 63]
interests are tied to those of the French book trade, which is in its death throes. Thus, it has never been
more necessary than now that a voice should raise itself, that someone should speak up for our citta
dolente [it. ‘city of woe’ – from Dante’s evocation of hell in The Divine Comedy], as Beaumarchais
did in his time on behalf of dramatic authors, whose rights were finally secured thanks to him. We
have no other qualification to take the floor in this matter than the very state of necessity in which we
find ourselves. Each one of you will therefore hopefully forgive all the faults committed here out of
haste and look indulgently on the style of this manifesto, which was drawn up hurriedly by a man who
is short of time in which to accomplish all his tasks.
At no other point in history has the artist been protected so little as now. In no other century
have the masses been as intelligent as in ours, at no other time has thought been as powerful as it is
now; and yet never before has the artist counted for so little as is the case now. The French
Revolution, which sprung up so that countless previously ignored rights would be recognized, has
plunged you into a state of subjection to a barbarous law. It declared your works to be public
properties, almost as if it had been foreseeing that literature and the fine arts would emigrate from
France. Of course, there is a great idea at the heart of this law. For it must undoubtedly have been very
charming to see society say to genius: “You will enrich us, and you will remain poor.” That is namely
how things had been for a long time, but, likewise, kings and nations had for many centuries also
allowed themselves ovations and belated honours which the Revolution refused to recognize
altogether for men of superior rank. The triumphs which it assigned as a reward for genius consisted
of the guillotine: as you know, it granted such an accolade to one of France’s greatest poets – to
André Chénier, just as it did to Lavoisier and to Malesherbes. The press, despite enjoying such
freedom at the time, remained silent. A terrible lesson which shows us that peoples are in need not
just of good institutions, but also of morals. “We must have morals!” is Rousseau’s great battle-cry.
Thus, Sirs, you the poets, the musicians, the dramatists, the writers of prose, all those who
live by thought, who work for the glory of the country, who are destined to shape the age we live in;
both those who soar upwards from the lap of misery in order to bask in the sun of glory, and those
who, diffident in their flight, are beset by doubts and perish – poor children encumbered with
illusions! – and those who, full of determination, do triumph – all of you are declared incapable of
leaving behind |
No Transcription available.
Source: Association pour la conservation et la reproduction photographique de la presse (ACRPP) : Revue de Paris, Nouvelle Série - Année 1834, tome XI
Citation:
Balzac's letter to authors, Paris (1834), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
Back | Record | Images | No Commentaries
Translation only | Transcription only | Show all | Bundled images as pdf
interests are tied to those of the French book trade, which is in its death throes. Thus, it has never been
more necessary than now that a voice should raise itself, that someone should speak up for our citta
dolente [it. ‘city of woe’ – from Dante’s evocation of hell in The Divine Comedy], as Beaumarchais
did in his time on behalf of dramatic authors, whose rights were finally secured thanks to him. We
have no other qualification to take the floor in this matter than the very state of necessity in which we
find ourselves. Each one of you will therefore hopefully forgive all the faults committed here out of
haste and look indulgently on the style of this manifesto, which was drawn up hurriedly by a man who
is short of time in which to accomplish all his tasks.
At no other point in history has the artist been protected so little as now. In no other century
have the masses been as intelligent as in ours, at no other time has thought been as powerful as it is
now; and yet never before has the artist counted for so little as is the case now. The French
Revolution, which sprung up so that countless previously ignored rights would be recognized, has
plunged you into a state of subjection to a barbarous law. It declared your works to be public
properties, almost as if it had been foreseeing that literature and the fine arts would emigrate from
France. Of course, there is a great idea at the heart of this law. For it must undoubtedly have been very
charming to see society say to genius: “You will enrich us, and you will remain poor.” That is namely
how things had been for a long time, but, likewise, kings and nations had for many centuries also
allowed themselves ovations and belated honours which the Revolution refused to recognize
altogether for men of superior rank. The triumphs which it assigned as a reward for genius consisted
of the guillotine: as you know, it granted such an accolade to one of France’s greatest poets – to
André Chénier, just as it did to Lavoisier and to Malesherbes. The press, despite enjoying such
freedom at the time, remained silent. A terrible lesson which shows us that peoples are in need not
just of good institutions, but also of morals. “We must have morals!” is Rousseau’s great battle-cry.
Thus, Sirs, you the poets, the musicians, the dramatists, the writers of prose, all those who
live by thought, who work for the glory of the country, who are destined to shape the age we live in;
both those who soar upwards from the lap of misery in order to bask in the sun of glory, and those
who, diffident in their flight, are beset by doubts and perish – poor children encumbered with
illusions! – and those who, full of determination, do triumph – all of you are declared incapable of
leaving behind |
No Transcription available.