title page of Marc Michel Rey's 1755 edition of "Discours sur l’origine et les fondemens de l’inégalité parmi les hommes" byJean-Jacques Rousseau.
Marc-Michel Rey (French:[ʁɛ]; 5 May 1720 – 8 June 1780) was an influential publisher in theUnited Provinces, who published many of the works of theFrenchphilosophes, includingJean-Jacques Rousseau.[1]In his day, he was the largest and most important publisher in the French language in the United Provinces.[2]
Rey was born inGeneva,Republic of Geneva in 1720, son ofFrenchHuguenot parents.[1]He later wrote that he had little schooling.[3]He was an apprentice to aGenevan bookseller Marc-Michel Bosquet from 1733 to 1744.After moving toAmsterdam in 1744, he purchased citizenship and opened a publishing business.
In 1746, he married Elisabeth Bernard, daughter of the bookseller J. F. Bernard, who brought her father's stock with her. The business flourished as a result.[1]
Rey never became fluent inDutch, but entertained himself lavishly within theFrench-speaking social circle. He published mainly in French, and most of his sales were inFrance, although his books were sold inRussia and in the Dutch overseas colonies. Although he was a member of the localWalloon church, he published material that was offensive to the church, includingVoltaire's attacks on the priestly order. He wasRousseau's main publisher and also published the works ofDiderot. These authors praised him for publishing their books but also accused him of taking most of the profits.[1]
Rey had to deal with pressure from the French, Dutch and Genevan authorities and pastors, but continued to publish controversial books such as Rousseau'sEmile and all the works ofBaron d'Holbach.[1]D'Holbach, a prolific atheist, said that Rey profited by his books both financially and from his pleasure in their subject.[4]He publishedJean-Paul Marat'sDe L'Homme.At different times, Rey employedMirabeau and theencyclopedist AbbéClaude Yvon.[1]
Jeroom Vercruysse,Marc-Michel Rey, libraire des lumières. In :Histoire de l'édition française. II, Le livre triomphant : 1660- 1830, Paris, Promodis, 1984. P. 322-323.
Jeroom Vercruysse,Typologie de Marc-Michel Rey, Wolfenbütteler Schriften zur Geschichte des Buchwesens, IV, 1981, pp. 167–185.
Jeroom Vercruysse,Marc-Michel Rey et le livre philosophique. In : Literaturgeschichte als geschichtlicher Auftrag : in memoriam Werner Krauss, Berlin, Akademie-Verlag, 1978, nr 5. pp. 149–156.
Correspondence of Marc-Michel Rey : 1747-1778. Amsterdam, the Netherlands : Bibliotheek van de Koninklijke Vereniging van het Boekenvak, 1999 (11 microfiches).
Jeroom Vercruysse,Voltaire et Marc Michel Rey. In : Studies on Voltaire and the eighteenth century; 58 Vol. 2 (1967) p. 1707-1763. Transactions of the international congress on the Enlightenment = Compte rendu du congrès international sur le siècle des Lumières
K.R. Gallas,Autour de Marc-Michel Rey et de Rousseau. In : Annales de la Société Jean-Jacques Rousseau, vol. 17 (1926) pp. 73–90.
