October 20, 2025, by Chloe

Death of the Author: Newspapers in the French Revolution

Did you know that Manuscripts and Special Collections holds a collection of over 3500 printed works relating to the French Revolution? While there are a range of dates covered by the material, pamphlets from the revolutionary period itself are particularly well represented.

FRC DC137.17 Engraving showing the execution of Marie Antoinette from ‘Procès criminel de Marie-Antoinette de Lorraine, archiduchesse d’Autriche…’ ; 1793.

These publications can give us valuable insights into the unfolding of the revolution: from its intellectual origins to major events such as the storming of the Bastille and the overthrow of the monarchy. Here at MSC, we are fortunate enough to hold many editions of long-running titles such as the ‘Journal de Paris’, France’s first daily newspaper, which successfully weathered the storm and would survive well into the 19^th century. Perhaps buoyed by its relatively light-hearted editorial tone, the ‘Journal’ bears witness to the entire revolutionary period, reflecting the rapidly shifting ideological currents of the era, until – like the nation at large – it eventually came under the influence of Napoleon in the early 19^th century.

Edition of Journal de Paris, detailing the trial and execution of Louis XVI; January 22 1793. FRC DC140.J66

But not all pamphlets were so hardy. As the revolutionary wave fragmented into various factions, publications sprang up to defend one cause or to denigrate another; like the parties they represented, they were variously suppressed, changed names to evade censure; or found their lives cut short by the downfall of their progenitors. The radical newspaper ‘L’Ami du Peuple’ is just one example of these more transient pamphlets held at MSC. It had been produced, under a variety of different titles, by the politician and theorist Jean-Paul Marat since September 1789 as a forum in which to criticise those whom he characterised as ‘enemies of the people’, but suddenly ceased publication on 14 July 1793, the day after Marat was assassinated by a member of an opposing political faction, the Girondins, while in the bathtub.

Cover of ‘Bulletin du Tribunal Criminel Revolutionnaire’; detailing the trial of Murat; 24 April 1793. DA140.B87/17

An even more dramatic reversal of fortunes is evident in the fate of ‘Le Vieux Cordelier’, the journal of revolutionary activist Camille Desmoulins, a friend and former classmate of Maximilien Robespierre. Although Desmoulins has initially supported Robespierre and his allies in their bid for power and had founded his journal with the intention of attacking their detractors, he became disenchanted with the repressive violence being perpetrated by the regime and instead began using his publication to voice this discontent. His publisher soon became wary of reprisal and initially delayed the printing of the sixth edition; perhaps his fears were justified, as only two weeks after its eventual distribution, Desmoulins had been arrested on suspicion of being a counter-revolutionary. We do hold a seventh and final edition of ‘Le Vieux Cordelier’, written just before his arrest, though this would never be published in Desmoulins’ lifetime, as he was executed shortly afterwards.

Portrait of Camille Desmoulins, frontispiece of collected edition of ‘Le vieux cordelier: journal politique’, by Camille Desmoulins; 1825. FRC DC185.0727.D4

While dramatic, these were hardly isolated incidents: many newspapers (and their writers) were swept aside with the frequent changing of the political tide. Robespierre himself, whose own publication, ‘Le Défenseur de la Constitution’, is also held at MSC, would also meet his fate at the guillotine less than four months after Desmoulins: an event which was, unsurprisingly, dissected in considerable detail by the contemporary press.

Frontispiece showing the head of Robespierre, from ‘Vie secrette, politique et curieuse de M. J. Maximilien Robespierre…; 1793. FRC DC146.R6 .D8

If you’re interested in viewing items from the French Revolution Collection for yourself, why not visit the Manuscripts and Special Collections reading room? To book your appointment, please contact us at mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk.

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