Being a male author in the 18th Century: Legal Background
Needless to say, the word “male” was added to the title purely to make a distinction between the women’s authorship, as being a male author in the 18th Century France was the standard. To have access to education, high literary circles of the century (such as ones during the Enlightenment period) and connections, a lot of male authors came from wealthy or influent backgrounds. Montesquieu, or his real name « Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu » is a good example of an author from the nobility. However, it was still possible to come from a more modest background and still be an author and a great philosopher. Jean Jacques Rousseau was indeed the son of a modest Swiss clockmaker.
During the Old Regime:
Due to the lack of nationalized legal system before the revolution, one of the only laws to abide by in order to publish one’s work is to obtain a “Privilège du Roi” (can be translated as “privilege of the king”). This was a legal and royal right that granted exclusive publishing rights for specific works and for a specific amount of time (usually 5-10 years). This kind of royal patent allowed the king and the monarchy to have control over which pieces of works were published and which ideas were spread. This royal right was part of the larger framework of censorship.
Therefore, to be an author and publish in France during the Old Regime, one’s content had to be approved by the King and its administration
However, to avoid the censorship and potential problems with the content of their works (imprisonment or death), some authors chose to print and publish their works in neighboring countries under a false label (i.g: Pierre Marteau) and smuggle their books in France. Here is an example: Scan
After the Revolution:
After the French revolution, during the years 1789 to 1793, the National Assembly abolished the system of Privileges from the Old Regime broke apart the publishing industry to liberate thought and spread enlightenment. This had terrible consequence for the publishing economy as well as for the well as for the whole book market, as everybody was free to write and publish.
In July 1793, a law distributed by the National Assembly proclaimed the declaration of “the rights of genius” allowing the author (an individual) of the texts to claim property rights upon his works. As Claire Hesse explains: “The author is an individual and the text is a property”. Male authors could claim the rights of publishing for their lifetime and did not need to worry about the “privilege” ripping them away from their rights.
In Conclusion: Being a male author recognized in France had decent obstacles depending on the content of your works or your social background, but it became more and more possible to publish one’s work freely and eventually claim rights to the property of the work to earn a good living.