The French Academy

The man of letters...

who holds in respect or who aspires to the Academy gives hostages to decency.

The Academy

It is not merely a French national institution; it has, to the extent to which the French language is the medium of cosmopolitan intercourse, some claims to have applied to it the term International.

 

About the year 1629, when Louis XIII., was king and Cardinal Richelieu his first minister, a small circle of congenial spirits, to the number of nine: Messieurs Godeau, Gombauld, Chapelain, Philippe Habert, Germain Habert (Abbe de Cerisy), Conrart, Serisay, Malleville, and Giry living in different parts of Paris, agreed to meet once a week at the home of one of their number; but the common rendezvous was usually at Conrart’s, which was centrally situated, and so most convenient for all.

 

At these meetings, which were social and informal, sometimes followed by a collation or a promenade in company, all the news of the day, everything of interest, became the subject of discussion indeed, as all of the friends were men of letters, or interested in literary production, books and their authors naturally received a large share of their attention.



Not only so, but when any of their own number was writing or had written anything, it was the practice to read it before the company for the purpose of benefiting by the criticism of the others. Delightfully informal and unpretentious as were these intellectual feasts, however, it would appear, from a letter written by Chapelain to Godeau in the country, on or about December 8, 1632, that the friends were accustomed to speak very early of themselves as “The Academy.”

 

The first meeting having proved agreeable to all, what more natural than that their continuance should be proposed and adopted?

 

The Initiation

 

It was resolved by the friends that their assemblies, which were indeed contrary to an inquisitorial law of the time, as being held without official permission, should be kept secret; but, by an indiscretion of one of the nine, three other gentlemen Faret, Desmarets, and Boisrobert were apprised of the pleasant weekly reunion, and they too, from policy no doubt, were admitted to it.

 

Of these three, Boisrobert the Abbé Boisrobert, by name Francois le Métel was a friend, or familiar, of Cardinal Richelieu, and found occasion to mention to him the meetings, and what took place at them.

 

This was in February of 1634. Richelieu immediately suggested that the friends become an association under state authority, “and requested Boisrobert to make such a proposal to them”, which he did on the first opportunity.

 

It was received with extreme dissatisfaction by all; two of them especially, who were attached to families unfriendly to the cardinal, advised that the proposition be respectfully declined. But such a course was deemed impolitic.

 

An all powerful minister could not safely be offended, and Boisrobert was authorized to accept in the name of the company the intended honour.

 

The cardinal, so we are told, was much gratified at this decision, and directed Boisrobert to make known to them his desire that they should assemble as usual, and, having associated with themselves as many others as they thought expedient, discuss their plans for the future and the laws by which their Society should be governed.

 

As it was resolved that the new institution should have a membership of forty, its number was almost immediately increased to about thirty by selections from among the friends of members of the embryo association or those of new nominees.

 

The policy of preference for residents of Paris, who could and would assist at conferences of the Academy, was established in making these nominations, and although the rule, eminently proper in the premises, has sometimes been relaxed, notably for the admission of high provincial dignitaries of the Church, it has generally been maintained.

 

By the end of the year 1634 the membership numbered thirty-six, but it was only in 1639, says Pellisson, with the election of Priézac, that the roll of the original Academy was completed. Strictly speaking, however, the full complement of forty was made up in 1636 by the election of Louis Giry, who, although one of the Conrart coterie, was not among the first lot of Academicians enrolled, for the reason that he had latterly withdrawn from the meetings and so perhaps been lost sight of by his former friends when the official organization was begun.

 

The Praise

 

The thirty-ninth in this enumeration was Auger de Mauléon de Granier, who entered the Academy in September, 1635. But in May, 1636, he was excluded at the request of Richelieu for having, it is said, misappropriated certain funds entrusted to him by a religious sisterhood.

 

Granier did not undergo formal expulsion under the rules dealing with such cases. His name appears simply to have been expunged from the rolls by general consent, and it is only by omitting it altogether that Priézac can be looked upon as a member of the Academy of foundation.

 

Most of them were of noble or of good family connection, and the unobtrusive fifteenth article of the Academy’s Statutes established their equality in the Academy.

 

The 50 Rules

 

The rules as adopted, fifty in number, read as follows:

1. No person shall be received into the Academy who shall not be agreeable to Monseigneur the Protector, and of good morals, good reputation, good intelligence, and fitted for academical functions.
2. The Academy shall have a seal, by which shall be sealed in blue wax all acts despatched by its order; in which the face of Monseigneur the Cardinal Duke of Richelieu shall be engraved, with the words roundabout: Armand, cardinal duc de Richelieu, protecteur de l’Academie francoise, etablie l’an mil six cent xxxv, and a counter-seal, on which shall be represented a crown of laurel, with this legend: a l’immortalite; of which seals the impression may never be changed for any reason whatsoever.
3. There shall be three officers: A Director, a Chancellor, and a Secretary, of whom the two first shall be elected every two months, and the other shall not be changed.
4. In making this election, there shall be placed in a box as many white balls as there shall be Academicians in Paris; two of which shall be marked, one with one black spot and the other with two: of these the first shall designate the Director and the second the Chancellor.
5. In the absence of the Director the Chancellor shall preside at all the meetings, ordinary and extraordinary, and in the absence of the Chancellor, the Secretary.
6. The Chancellor shall have in keeping the seals of the Academy, to seal all the acts despatched.
7. The Secretary shall be elected by the votes of the Academicians, assembled to the number of twenty at least. He shall note the resolutions of all the meetings and keep a register of them, sign all the acts which may be granted by the Academy, and keep all the deeds and instruments concerning its institution, its function, and its interests, of which he shall not communicate anything to any person without the permission of the Society.
8. At the beginning of the year there shall be made two lists of all the Academicians, which shall be signed by all the Officers, and carried to the registry offices of the Hotel du Roi and the Requetes du Palais, to be referred to when necessary.
9. If any Academician shall desire to have a testimonial from the Society, as evidence of membership, the Secretary shall furnish him with a certificate signed by him and sealed with the seal of the Academy.
10. The Society may neither receive nor depose an Academician, unless assembled to the number of twenty at least, who shall indicate their opinions by balls, of which each Academician shall have one white and one black; in case of a reception the number of white balls must exceed by four that of black; but, for deposition, the number of black balls must, on the contrary, exceed by four that of white.
11. In all other matters, voting shall be oral and in turn, without interruption or jealousy, without noticing with heat or disrespect the judgment of any one, without saying more than necessary, and without repeating what shall have been said.
12. When the votes shall be equal, the matter shall be postponed for deliberation in another meeting.
13. If one of the Academicians shall commit any action unworthy of a man of honour, he shall be suspended or deposed, according to the importance of his fault.
14. When any one shall be received into the Society, he shall be exhorted, by whoever shall preside, to observe all the statutes of the Academy, and shall sign the act of his reception on the Secretary’s register.
15. Whoever shall preside shall keep good order in the meetings as strictly and as civilly as possible, and in a manner fitting among equals.
16. He shall put all the questions which shall be brought forward in the meetings and announce the result, after having taken the opinions of all those present, in the order in which seated, beginning with whoever may be on his right, himself voting last.
17. The ordinary meetings shall be held every Monday in the places which shall be judged most convenient by the Directors, until it shall please the King to provide one, and shall begin at two o’clock afternoon precisely.
18. Nothing shall be decided in the meetings, unless composed of twelve Academicians at least, and one of the three Officers.
19. No member who may be in Paris shall be dispensed from attendance at the meetings, and especially at those treating of the reception or deposition of an Academician, or the approbation of a work, without legitimate excuse, which shall be made in the Society by one of the members present, at the request of whoever may not have been able to attend.
20. Persons not members of the Academy shall not be admitted to its meetings, ordinary or extraordinary, for any reason or on any pretext whatsoever.
21. There shall not be offered for deliberation any matter concerning religion; nevertheless, inasmuch as, in the works which shall be examined, it is impossible but that some proposition regarding that subject should be met with, as the noblest exercise of eloquence and the most useful discourse of the intelligence, there shall be nothing delivered on maxims of that nature; the Academy submitting always to the laws of the Church, in that which concerns things holy, the opinions and approbations which it shall give as to the terms and the form of the works solely.
22. Matters political and moral shall be treated in the Academy only in conformity with the authority of the Prince, the state of the government, and the laws of the realm.
23. Care shall be taken that there may not be employed in the works which shall be published under the name of the Academy or of an individual in the quality of Academician, any loose or licentious term, open to equivocal or evil interpretation.
24. The principal function of the Academy shall be to labour with all the care and diligence possible to give exact rules to our language and to render it capable of treating the arts and sciences.
25. The best authors of the French language shall be distributed among the Academicians for the purpose of noting the terms and phrases which may serve for general rules and of making a report of them to the Society, which shall judge of their utility and make use of them as necessary.
26. There shall be composed a Dictionary, a Grammar, a treatise on Rhetoric (une Rhetorique), and a treatise on Poesy (une Poetique), after the observations of the Academy.
27. Every day of ordinary meeting, one of the Academicians, in his turn, shall make an oration in prose, of which the delivery, by heart or by lecture, at his option, shall last a quarter of an hour or half an hour at the most, on any subject he may choose, not to begin until three o’clock. The rest of the time shall be employed in examining works which may be presented, or in labouring on the general compositions mentioned in the preceding article.
28. As soon as each of these orations shall have been delivered in the Academy, whoever presides shall name two Commissioners to examine it, who shall make their report upon it one month thereafter at the latest to the Society, which shall judge of their observations; and, in the month following, the author corrects those places which it shall have indicated, and, having communicated the corrections which it shall have made to its Commissioners, if they shall find them in accordance with the intentions of the Society, he shall place a copy of his oration in the hands of the Secretary, who shall issue to him the approbation thereof.
29. The same order shall be observed in the examination of the other works which shall be submitted to the judgment of the Academy, according to whose length whoever shall preside may name a greater number of Commissioners; and if any one of those he shall appoint alleges sufficient reason why he should be excused, another shall be named in his place.
30. The copy of the work which shall have been proposed for examination in the Academy, after having been read, shall be placed in the hands of the Secretary, for safe keeping; the author shall also deliver a copy to each of the Commissioners; and, when the composition shall have been approved, he shall deliver another, corrected, to the Secretary, who shall restore to him the first when handing him the act of approbation, which copy shall be signed by the Author, the Director, and the Secretary, for the justification of the Academy, if the work should be published in any other form than as approved.
31. The Commissioners shall make their report, within the time prescribed to them, of the work which they shall have examined, unless, for important reasons, they should demand an extension, which shall be accorded or refused, according to the merit of the excuse, at the judgment of the meeting.
32. The Commissioners shall not communicate to any one the compositions with which they shall have been entrusted, nor the observations, and shall not retain a copy of them on pain of deposition.
33. Those who shall have been appointed to examine a composition must, if they leave Paris, deliver it into the hands of the Secretary, with the remarks which they shall have made thereon; and if they should not have made any, the Academy shall name other Commissioners in their stead.
34. The remarks on the faults of a work shall be made with modesty and civility, and their correction suffered in the same spirit.
35. When a work shall have been approved by the Academy, the Secretary shall write the resolution thereof in his register, which shall be signed by the Director and the Chancellor.
36. The approbations which shall be delivered to the authors of works which shall have been examined in the Society shall be written on parchment, signed by the Officers, and sealed with the seal of the Academy.
37. All the approbations shall be given without eulogy, and conformably to the formulary which shall be inserted at the end of the present Statutes.
38. To deliberate on the publication of a work by the Academy, the meeting shall consist of twenty Academicians at least, Officers included; and, if there should not be a majority of four, the question shall not be considered settled, but shall be again discussed in another meeting.
39. The approbations of personal works may be proposed in a meeting of twelve Academicians and one of the Officers, and a majority of one shall suffice to accord them.
40. No one may print the approbation which he shall have received from the Academy; but he may insert at the first or the last page of the printed work, by order of the French Academy. And, if he shall not have had the work examined in the Academy, or shall not have had its approbation, he may not indicate therein his quality of Academician.
41. Those who shall print compositions approved by the Academy may not change anything in them, after the approbation shall have been delivered, without the consent of the Society.
42. If the dedication or the preface of a book be reviewed in the Society without the rest, approbation shall only be given for that which shall have been examined, and the author may not place in the printed work his quality of Academician, although he may have the approbation of the Academy for a part of it.
43. The general rules which shall be made by the Academy, concerning the language, shall be followed by all members of the Society who shall write either in prose or in verse.
44. They shall also follow the rules which shall be made for orthography.
45. The Academy shall only judge the works of those of whom it is composed; and if it should be obliged for any reason to examine those of others, it will only give its opinion, without making any censure and also without giving approbation.
46. Should anything be written against the Academy, no one of the Academicians shall undertake to reply thereto or to publish anything in its defence, without being expressly so charged by the Society, assembled to the number of twenty at least.
47. It is expressly forbidden to all those who shall be received into the Academy to reveal anything concerning the correction, the refusal of approbation, or any other fact of that nature which may be important to the Society in general or to its individual members, under penalty of being expelled in disgrace without the hope of reinstatement.
48. The Academy shall choose a printer, to print the works which shall be published under its name and those of its members which it shall have approved; but as to those which members may desire to publish, without approbation and without the quality of Academician, it shall be open to them to employ any printer they please.
49. The printer shall be elected by the votes of the Academicians and shall make oath of fidelity to the Society before the Director or whoever shall preside.
50. He may not associate any person with him so far as it shall concern the works of the Academy, or those which it shall have approved, of which he shall print nothing but from the copy which shall be delivered to him under the sign manual of the Director or the Secretary, and it shall be forbidden him to change anything therein without the permission of the Society, under penalty of personally answering for the consequences, of reprinting it at his own expense, and of being declared fallen from the favour which shall have been accorded to him by the Academy

 

Biographical List of Members of the French Academy

 

The chief biographical data in the list that follows includes the early dated members of the Academy pertaining to Francis Bacon’s era, from 1560 to 1626. The figures immediately following the name give the years of birth and death and the year of election, the number in brackets, after this last date, preceded by A. (Academician), being the Academician’s fauteuil or place number. In some instances in which the exact date of either election or reception is not ascertainable, it has been assumed that the known year for either is the same for both.

 

Ablancourt, Nicolas Perrot d’: 1606-1664; A. 1637 [2]. Translator of Greek and Latin classics chiefly historical.

 

Balzac, Jean Louis Guez de: 1594(7)-1654; A. 1634 [19]. One of the fathers of modern French prose. Balzac’s literary fame, great among contemporary men of letters, was founded largely on Letters (to Conrart, Chapelain, and others) and Dissertations (ethical, critical, and political). These were published in 2 volumes, in 1665 at the instance of Conrart.

 

Bardin, Pierre: 1590-1637; A. 1634 [1]. Chief work: Le grand chambellan de France.

 

Baro, Balthasar: d.1649 (?); A. 1634 [15]. Poet, dramatic author, and romance writer.

 

Baudouin (Baudoin), Jean: 1590(?)-1650; A. 1634 [16]. A voluminous writer, most of whose works are mediocre translations of ancient authors. Still consulted are: Iconologie (1636); Recueil d’emblemes (1638).

 

Bautru de Serrant (Seran), Guillaume: 1588-1665; A. 1634 [27]. Satirist and occasional poet.

 

Bazin de Bezons, Claude: 1617-1684; A. 1643 [7]. Dignitary of state. No literary record. Took the place of Chancellor Siguier in the Academy when the Chancellor became its protector.

 

Benserade, Isaac de: 1612(?)-1691; A. 1674 [37]. Dramatic author and poet. Translator, in rondeaux, of Ovid’s Metamorphoses a failure. In high favour and repute at court, where for thirty years he composed verses for the King’s ballets.

 

Boileau, Gilles: 1631-1669; 1659 [23]. Poet and translator. Brother of Despreaux. His work in prose included a translation of Epictetus and of Diogenes Laertius’s Lives of the Philosophers; in poetry, his productions are preserved, or lost, in contemporary collections.

 

Boisrobert, Francois le Metel, Abbe de: 1592-1662; A. 1634 [26]. Author of theatrical pieces, poems, and romances. In the comedy La belle plaideuse he utilized the extraordinary incident of President de Bercy and his spendthrift son meeting each other as usurer and would-be borrower, thus anticipating Moliere’s l’Avare on the same theme.

 

Boissat, Pierre de: 1603-1662; A. 1634 [25]. Poet, historian, moralist.

 

Bourzeys (Bourzeis), Abbe Amable de: 1606-1671; A. 1634 [35]. Voluminous writer on matters pertaining to the Catholic Church and faith.

 

Boyer, Abbe Claude: 1618-1698; A. 1666 [28]. Dramatic author. One of a group dubbed by Furetiere Academiciens jetonniers, sans nom et sans autorite.

 

Cauvigny-Colomby, Frangois de; 1588-1648; A. 1634 [11]. Poet and prose writer. Translator, in part, of Tacitus’ Annals.

 

Chapelain, Jean: 1595-1674; A. 1634 [37]. Author, poet, critic, of varied erudition. His name will be associated for all time with the early French Academy, which in the critical years of its infancy he did much to keep alive. One of the four original members of the Academy of Inscriptions. Works: La Pucelle (first 12 cantos published in 1666; last 12, at the hands of an enterprising bookseller, in 1882); Lettres (correspondence with the chief savants and men of letters of his time, preserved in the Bibliotheque National): etc.

 

Colbert, Jean Baptiste: 1619-1683; A. 1667 [30]. Louis XIV’s great minister. Patron of all the royal academies and creator of three of them: Inscriptions, Sciences, Architecture.

 

Colletet, Guillaume: 1598-1659; A. 1634 [23]. Poet and dramatist; one of 'the Five Authors, so called, collaborators on occasion with Richelieu.

 

Conrart, Valentin: 1603-1675; A. 1634 [38]. The French Academy’s first permanent secretary. A man of letters, who, however, published little, so giving occasion for Boileau’s malicious line, J’imite de Conrart le silence prudent; but he left many volumes of MSS., portions of which have been given to the world. Conrart’s most memorable literary production was the charter of the French Academy.

 

Cordemoy, Geraud de: 1620-1684; A. 1675 [10]. Historian and philosopher; author of works on the early history of France, on the system of Descartes, on metaphysics, etc.

 

Corneille, Pierre: 1606-1684; A. 1647 [9]. Dramatic author and poet. Besides being one of the quintette whom Richelieu employed to turn his scenarios into verse, he was known as the author of several comedies before the tragedy of Le Cid (1636) raised him to the heights of fame. Its phenomenal success, more than reputed oppression, probably made him cautious, for it is not until 1640 that he reappears on the scene with Horace and Cinna. There being some uncertainty as to the exact year of production of his next pieces, until 1646, it is with this understanding that the dates are appended to them in the following list of his subsequent works: Polyeucte (1642); Pompee (1643); le Menteur (comedy, 1643); Theodore (1645); Suite du Menteur (comedy, 1645); Rodogune (1646); Heraclius (1647); Don Sanche d’Aragon (tragi-comedy, 1650); Nicomede (1651); (Edipe (1659); Sertorius (1662); Sophonisbe (1663); Othon (1664); Attila (1667); etc. Brunetiere, alluding to the wonderful flexibility of mind which enabled Corneille to apply himself by turns to comedy and severe tragedy, speaks of Le Menteur and Suite du Menteur as masterpieces.

 

Desmarets (de Saint Sorlin), Jean: 1595-1676; A. 1634 [39]. A conventional poet and play writer until 1645, when his productions took on a marked religious tone. His Comparaison de la langue et de la poesie frangaise avec la grecque et la latine, et des poetes grecs, latins et frangais (1670), in which he asserted the superiority of the French language and of the Christian social organization over the ancient tongues and polities, is said to have started the long quarrel between the Ancients and Moderns.

 

Estoile (Etoile), Claude de l’: 1597-1651; A. 1634 [17]. Dramatic author and poet; one of the quintette of poets, called specifically the Five Authors, who collaborated on occasion with Richelieu.

 

Faret, Nicolas: 1596-1646; A. 1634 [8]. Historian, moralist, poet, translator. Works: Histoire chronologique des Ottomans (1621); Histoire romaine (1626, trans, of Eutropius): l’Honnâte homme, ou l’Art de plaire (1630); etc.

 

Furetiere, Antoine, Abbe de Chalivoy: 1619-1688; A. 1662 [25]. Writer and lexicographer; author of romances, poems, fables. His famous Dictionary, the cause of his expulsion from the Academy (1685), was not published until after his death.

 

Giry, Louis: 1596-1666; A. 1636 [28]. Author and translator.

 

Godeau, Antoine: 1605-1672; A. 1634 [34]. Bishop of Grasse and Vence. Author in prose and verse, whose earlier literary essays were read before the Conrart coterie, the germ of the French Academy.

 

Gombauld, Jean Ogier de: 1567-1666; A. 1634 [29]. Poet and prose writer. Works included romances, poems, sonnets, plays, letters, epigrams.

 

Gomberville, Marin Le Roy de: 1600-1674; A. 1634 [36]. Man of letters. Singular works from a youthful pen were: Tableau du bonheur de la vieillesse (1614); Discours des vertus et des vices de l’histoire (1620) together with Traite de l’origine des Francois. Among works of his maturity were: Polexandre (1638-41, 5 vols. romance); La Cythérée (1640, 4 vols. romance); Doctrine de mœurs (1646).

 

Granier, Auger de Mauleon de: A. 1635 [5]. An ecclesiastic, dropped from the Academy’s rolls in May, 1636, for malversation.

 

Habert, Germain, Abbe de Censy: 1615-1654; A. 1634 [21]. Poet and prose writer. Author of an essay (1636) on the multiplicity of languages, of which the purpose was to illustrate the utility of a universal language.

 

Habert, Philippe: 1605-1637; A. 1634 [3]. Poet and prose writer. Chief work: Le temple de la mort (1637).

 

Hay du Chastelet, Daniel, Abbe de Chambon: 1596-1671; A. 1635 [33]. Literary amateur.

 

Hay du Chastelet, Paul: 1592-1636; A. 1634 [2]. Historian and publicist.

 

La Chambre, Marin Cureaude: 1594(?)-1669; A. 1635 [31]. Physician to the King and writer. Chief literary work: Characteres des passions (1640-1662).

 

La Fontaine, Jean de: 1621-1695; A. 1684 [30]. Poet. Works: Contes (1655); Fables (1669); Adonis (1671); Psyche (1671); etc.

 

Méziriac, Claude Gaspard Bachet de: 1581-1638; A. 1634 [4]. Of considerable contemporary reputation as a linguist, mathematician, and poet hardly sustained by his published works.

 

Porcheres, Frangois d’Arbaud de: 1590-1640; A. 1634 [6]. Poet and prose writer. So little is known of the two Porcheres that they are sometimes confounded.

 

Porcheres, Honorat Laugier de: d. 1653; A. 1634 [20]. Poet.

 

Priézac, Daniel de: 1590-1662; A. 1639 [5]. Man of letters. Protege of Chancellor Seguier, by whom he was called to Paris from Bordeaux, where he was a doctor of law.

 

Saint Amant, Antoine Girard de: 1594-1661; A. 1634 [24]. Poet. A complete edition of his works was published in 1855 for Charles Livet.

 

Seguier, Pierre: 1588-1672; A. 1635 [7]. Keeper of the Seals and Chancellor of France; surrendered his place in the Academy at the end of 1642 to become Richelieu’s successor as protector.

 

Serisay (Serizay), Jacques de: 1590-1653; A. 1634 [18]. A member of the Conrart coterie.

 

Servien, Abel: 1593-1659; A. 1634 [22]. Diplomatist and politician.

 

Silhon, Jean de: 1600(?)-1667; A. 1634 [30]. Writer on the immortality of the soul, human knowledge, politics, etc.

 

Sirmond, Jacques: 1559-1651; A. 1634 [13]. Writer; appointed King’s historiographer by Richelieu in recognition of literary services of a controversial character.

 

Vaugelas, Claude Favre de: 1585-1650; A. 1634 [14]. According to Gaston Boissier Revue des Deux Mondes, 15th July, 1909, art. Chamfort et l’Academie Franchise), the most illustrious of French grammarians. Works: Remarques sur la langue francoise (1647); etc.

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