Vie de Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duc d'Orléans: Traduit de l'Anglois, par M.R.D.W.

1789 Subjects: Libel and slander Forms: Biographies, Pamphlets Paratext Forms: False imprint Translation Status: Pseudo-translation, Source-text French London, Paris URL

Contributions

M.R.D.W. (François-Rodolphe de Weiss)

author

False (logic) Imprimerie du Palais Saint-James

publisher

Related resources

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Vie de Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duc d'Orléans. Nouvelle édition, revue, corrigée & augmentée, avec l'histoire de son voyage à Londres, de ses intrigues politiques & des ses complots contre la patrie. Traduit de l'anglois par M.R.D.W has paratext

has paratext

Vie de Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duc d'Orléans: Traduit de l'Anglois, par M.R.D.W. paratext

Notes

The pamphlet, which may have been commissioned by La Fayette, was probably written around October 1789, following the Duke's widely perceived involvement behind the October Days March on Versailles. It formed part of a wider campaign that led to his forced exile to London from January to July 1790. A second edition with extra material was printed in 1789.

The claim that the work is a translation from the English is a fiction on the part of the author and inscribes the work in the tradition of French libelers working from England, who exploited its press freedoms at the time. See Robert Darnton, 'Devil in the Holy Water', pp.314-39.

The author pretends to be an Englishman who knew the Duc d'Orléans in London. Maurice Tourneux indicates M.R.D.W. to be M. Rodolphe de Weiss. Its use of crude and violent language has also seen it attributed to Thévenau de Morande by Barbier and to Pelleport by Darnton (p.351). Worldcat indicates the title was probably printed in Paris and only records two holdings, one in the IHRF, suggesting a rare text. See Tourneux, 'Bibliographie de l’Histoire de Paris pendant la Révolution française', 5 vols (1890-1913, Imprimerie Nouvelle (Association Ouvriere).

The 'biography' , which follows the well-established tradition of libels on public figures, is in fact a violent denunciation of the Duc d'Orléans, who was widely suspected of aspiring to the throne. The frontispiece portrait carries the sarcastic motto, "La liberté, voilà mon dieu" and the bawdy acrostic poem, which prefaces this 'Biography', adopts the genre that characterizes such 'Private lives', while transforming its tone into one of horror and outrage. Its suppression in later editions may suggest that the poetic genre was no longer viewed as suitable for capturing the revulsion felt towards the subject.

It begins by tracing the rotten Orléans' lineage, starting with the failed regicide attempted by his great-grandfather, the Regent, who, it claims, tried to poison Louis XV but ended up poisoning himself after the cups were switched. The author uses this episode to foreshadow the threat posed by the Orléans family as political usurpers. Much of the pamphlet is devoted to the Duke's political manoeuvres and plots; his secret liaisons with Bailly, Mirabeau and Necker; and how he used his money to get elected to the Estates-General, to corrupt numerous deputies and journalists, and to foment rebellion. Its aim throughout is to show how from his early years, the Duke's guiding motivation has been a strong desire to capture the throne of France.

Linking the corruption of Orléans’ body by venereal disease to the gangrene of his soul, the author regrets that the Duke never succumbed to his sickness, “Alors la nation française serait délivrée du plus insidieux de ses persécuteurs, et le monarque n’aurait plus à redouter les pièges que l’ambition politique de ce prince perfide n’a point cessé de lui tendre pour parvenir aux moyens de le faire périr et d’usurper sa couronne”.

The author, while occasionally critical towards the monarchy, establishes Orléans as the counterpoint to the goodness of the king, portraying him as a debauched and corrupt monster whose unnatural ambition threatens France by attempting to manipulate the events of the Revolution. While the larger target here is the aristocracy, the Duke's willingness to encourage political violence demonstrates the urgency of his threat. Moreover, the wide variety of names by which Orléans is referred to throughout the text suggest the scale of this menace by multiplying the signs and codes of nobility: Orléans, the Duc d’Orléans, Louis-Philippe de Chartres and the Duc de Chartres.

For a more detailed analysis, see Rebecca Sopchik, 'Deadly Speech: Denunciation and the Radicalization of Discourse during the French Revolution' (PhD, 2015, University of Columbia), pp.101ff.

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