French Literature Reviews - 2026

É. Rajchenbach, Mais devant tous est le Lyon marchant. Construction littéraire d'un milieu éditorial et livres de poésie française à Lyon (1536-1551)
Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Bibliographic reference: Élise Rajchenbach, "Mais devant tous est le Lyon marchant." Construction littéraire d'un milieu éditorial et livres de poésie française à Lyon (1536-1551), Droz, collection "Travaux d'Humanisme et Renaissance", 2016. EAN13: 9782600018821.

Élise Rajchenbach

"Mais devant tous est le Lyon marchant."

Construction littéraire d'un milieu éditorial et livres de poésie française à Lyon (1536-1551).

Geneva, Droz, THR, 600 pages, €72.80.

In the second third of the 16th century, French literature sought to attain a legitimacy comparable to that of the Ancients and the Italians, against the backdrop of broader European political ambitions. As a premier literary and publishing center and a European crossroads, Lyon brought together figures who placed this endeavor at the heart of their poetic activity. Examining the creation and publication of vernacular poetry, this book questions the very notion of "Lyonese poetry." It ventures into printing workshops (those of Juste, Dolet, De Tournes, Rouillé, etc.) and analyzes the composition of poetry collections through the study of both minor and major authors such as Marot, Saint-Gelais, and Scève. It explores the birth of the French canzoniere, the flourishing of emblem books, the vitality of collective anthologies, and the rise of women's poetry. Ultimately, it reveals how a few individuals built a distinct Lyonese publishing identity and forged the image of a new French Iliad.

Table of Contents:

PART ONE
PROMOTING THE VERNACULAR POETRY BOOK IN LYON: PROMOTING A LANGUAGE

Introduction to Part One

Chapter I. Renewing Vernacular Poetry: Etienne Dolet’s Reflections in the Late 1530s

• “Lumen Doletus universæ Galliæ”
• From Recueil de vers latins et vulgaires to L’Avant-Naissance: Around the Figure of Maurice Scève (1536–1540)
• The Deeds of Etienne Dolet of Orléans and the Contribution of Charles de Sainte-Marthe
• Translation as a Vehicle for Poetic Invention: Proof by Example
• 1539–1542: The Conversion of a Ciceronian as the Foundation of Group Identity

Chapter II. Establishing a Place: A Meeting Point for the Vernacular at François Juste’s and Pierre de Tournes’s

• François Juste, a Vernacular Counterpart to Sébastien Gryphe
• Making a Name: An Uncourteous Courtier—Mellin de Saint-Gelais as Collaborator or Figurehead?
• A Gateway to Lyon: The Early Steps of Charles Fontaine
• The Translator is (also) the Poet: Inside Pierre de Tournes’s Workshop
• Mellin de Saint-Gelais in 1547 as Poet and Translator: Figurehead of a Floundering Publishing Policy
• A Joyous Carnival: Le Triumphe de treshaulte, et puissante Dame Verolle (François Juste, 1539), a Friendly Prelude to La Louenge des femmes (Jean de Tournes, 1551)

Chapter III. “Per stampar poêti”: An Entrepreneur of French Poetry Books—Jean de Tournes

• “The Printer to the Printers”: The Foundational Gesture of a Vernacular Printer
• Luigi Alamanni, or the Defense and Illustration of the Vernacular Language: The Tuscan Model in France
• Crafting the Book as an Object
• The Collaboration Between Printer and Publisher: Jean de Tournes and Antoine Du Moulin
• Chapter IV. Guillaume Rouillé, Under the Sign of the Venetian Shield
• “Che non hanno molti altri impressori”: Guillaume Rouillé Versus Jean de Tournes
• The Translations of Luc’Antonio Ridolfi: The Humanist Conduit for Italian Literature
• From Florence to Lyon: Importing Linguistic Stakes
• Italian as a Medium for Developing a French Culture: Denis Sauvage’s Translation of Leone Ebreo

Conclusion of Part One

PART TWO
THE INVENTION OF A LITERARY FIELD IN LYON

Introduction to Part Two

Chapter V. The Power of Coherence: Staging a Lyonese Group
Representing a sodalitium: The Foundation of a Literary and Cultural Myth

• Clément Marot the Lyonese: A Lyonese Appropriation
• To “Restore to Full Purity”: The Project of Complete Works—Jean Lemaire de Belges’s Illustrations de Gaule (1549)

Chapter VI. A Constructed yet Threatened Coherence

• The Publication of Délie and the Construction of Coherence
• Promoting Délie: Pernette Du Guillet and Il Petrarca
• Scève’s Disinterest: Author and Printer, Poet and Genre—Conflicting Interests
• A Work and an Ethos Escaping the Author: The Editor's Labor and Reclaiming the Scèvean Model

Chapter VII. The Poetry Book: For the Political and Cultural Promotion of Lyon

• Marguerite de Navarre and Her Entry into Poetry
• To the Ladies of Lyon: A Lyonese Specificity as a Cultural Conduit
• Political Functions: The Foundation of a translatio imperii—The Political Dream of the canzoniere Around the Representations of Catherine de' Medici

Conclusion of Part Two

PART THREE
OUTLINES OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE LYONNAIS POETRY BOOK

Introduction to Part Three

Chapter VIII. Parisian-Lyonnais Rivalries

• The Querelle des Amyes: From Court to Love, from Quarrel to Complicity
• 1545–1546, "From the Saône to the Seine": A Conservative Reading of Lyonnais Innovations
• A Promotional Venture: The Deploration de Venus sur la mort du bel Adonis
• Promoting the "Lyonnais Climate"

Chapter IX. Parisian Imports or Appropriations in Lyon

• Gilles Corrozet, or Parisian Influence on Generic Variety
• Alciati in Lyon: The Beautiful Emblem Book
• Balthazar Arnoullet and "Para-Emblematic" Works: The Pioneering Printer
• The Case of Ephemera: Limited Lyonnais Involvement

Chapter X. Toulouse Round Trips: The Circulation of Men and Books, with Preference Given to Lyon

• From Guyon Boudeville to Jean de Tournes: The Lyonnais Preference
• Jean Rus’s Description de L’histoire du beau Narcissus: The Vitality of Toulouse Poetry Recognized in Lyon?
• A Collaboration Between Toulouse and Lyon: Around Guillaume de La Perrière

Conclusion of Part Three

General Conclusion

• What is Authorship?
• Reconsidering Composite Collections: Poetic Context and Literary Collection
• Symbolic Constructions: The Foundation of a Lyonnais Myth
• What is "Lyonnais Poetry"?

During the mid-16th century, Lyon served as a vital European crossroads for humanistic inquiry and the development of the French language. The period was characterized by a concerted effort to elevate vernacular literature to the prestige of classical and Italian models. This intellectual climate fostered the rise of the French canzoniere and the popularization of emblem books. In "Mais devant tous est le Lyon marchant." Construction littéraire d'un milieu éditorial et livres de poésie française à Lyon (1536-1551), the author examines the contributions of printers such as Juste, Dolet, and De Tournes and their role in poetic production and translation.

The book examines the construction of a literary field through the collaboration between authors like Maurice Scève and Clément Marot and their respective publishers. It addresses the formation of collective anthologies and the role of women's poetry within the Lyonese milieu. By analyzing the tensions between Parisian and Lyonese publishing interests, the study illustrates how a regional identity was crafted. Readers interested in the history of the book and the evolution of 16th-century French poetry may find this examination of editorial practices and literary myths relevant.