Antoine-Augustin Renouard (21 September 1765 – 15 December 1853) was an industrialist and political activist in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

at the time of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

who became a

book dealer Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is '' bibliophilia'', and some ...

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

and

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

Life

Renouard was born in

in 1765. His father, Jacques-Augustin Renouard (1736-1806) was a merchant and manufacturer, originally from

Guise Guise (; nl, Wieze) is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. The city was the birthplace of the noble family of Guise, Dukes of Guise, who later became Princes of Joinville. Population Sights The remains ...

, who specialised in

Gauze Gauze is a thin, translucent fabric with a loose open weave. In technical terms "gauze" is a weave structure in which the weft yarns are arranged in pairs and are crossed before and after each warp yarn keeping the weft firmly in place. ...

and

Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

from premises in the centre of Paris. In 1781 Antoine-Augustin followed his father into the

and

businesses, father and son working together from premises in the "rue Sainte-Apolline", in what would later become the city's 2nd arrondissement. Antoine-Augustin Renouard was an active participant during the early years of the

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, joining the

Jacobin , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = Pa ...

s, and serving as a member of the Paris Commune General Council and, in 1793, a Civil Commissioner. He embarked in a career as a book dealer and publisher in 1792, while at the same time continuing to work in the

and

businesses until approximately 1797. His early publications were of works in both Latin and the French vernacular, and were noteworthy for their elegance and precision. Many were enhanced with engravings by artists including

Jean-Michel Moreau Jean-Michel Moreau (26 March 1741 – 30 November 1814), also called Moreau le Jeune ("the younger"), was a French draughtsman, illustrator and engraver. Biography Moreau le Jeune, as he is usually called, was born in Paris. He was the pupil of t ...

, Alexandre-Joseph Desenne and

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (, 4 April 1758 – 16 February 16, 1823) was a French Romantic Painting, painter and drawing, draughtsman best known for his allegorical paintings and portraits such as ''Madame Georges Anthony and Her Two Sons'' (1796). He ...

. For his publishing business Renouard used as a trademark the patriotic image of a

cockerel The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...

above an

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

. His business career was interrupted by the Thermidore coup d'état in July 1794 which led to the execution of the revolutionary leader

Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

before the end of the month and the imprisonment of most of the members of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

, including Renouard. He had recently married and his eldest son was born while he was still in prison. He was released on 3 December 1794, after which he seems to have concentrated on his book business, to the exclusion of high-profile political activism, till 1830. After the 1830 revolution had put an end, for a second time, to the

Bourbon monarchy The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, memb ...

in France, Renouard returned to front-line politics, becoming mayor of the

11th arrondissement of Paris The 11th arrondissement of Paris (''XIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''onzième''. The arrondissement, called Popincourt, is situated on ...

. He was rewarded with the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

in 1831. In 1834 he was able to acquire the Abbey of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, which had previously been a royal property, but was then declared a national asset and nationalised during the revolution, before being sold off to bolster state finances.

Publications

As a publisher, Renouard's output included the following volumes: *''Coup-d'oeil sur les monnoies, sur leur administration et sur le ministre des contributions publiques'', Paris : Garnery : Desenne, 1793 *''Catalogue de la bibliothèque d'un amateur'', 1819 *''Annales de l'imprimerie des Alde, ou Histoire des trois Manuce et de leurs éditions'', Paris, 1803-1812; 2nd edition Paris, 1825 * ''Annales de l'imprimerie des Alde, ou l'histoire des trois Manuce et de leurs éditions''; 3rd} edition. *''Annales de l'imprimerie des Estienne'', 1837 & 1843. *''Recueil de 123 fables en 5 livres, imitées d'Ésope. - Complété par l'"Appendix Perottina", contenant 30 ou 32 fables et le "Phaedrus solutus", contenant 30 autres fables'' *''Sorte de journal, écrit en grec, divisé actuellement en 12 livres, méditations sur la vanité des choses terrestres'', Pensées : Antoine-Augustin Renouard (1765-1853) as éditeur scientifique

Family

In 1794 Renouard married Catherine de Saintes (1772-1858), the illegitimate daughter of The Marquis of Beauchamps and the Countess Ferdinanda Louise de Horion (at the time of Ferdiandna Louise's birth the widowed third wife of Maximilian of Arberg). Renouard's five recorded children were: * (1794-1878), magistrate, moralist and politician * Eugénie Renouard (1795-1871) * Jules Renouard (1794-1854), book dealer-editor * Paul Renouard (1803-1871), consul and painter * Hippolyte Renouard (1808-1871), squadron leader Renouard's grandchildren included :* Albert Ricot (1826-1902), iron master and politician :* Léopold Renouard (1833-1910), financier and deputy governor of the Bank of France :* Georges Renouard (1843-1897) who became son-in-law to city planner

Baron Haussmann Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

:* Lucie Renouard who married the populist politician

Général Boulanger Georges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger (29 April 1837 – 30 September 1891), nicknamed Général Revanche ("General Revenge"), was a French general and politician. An enormously popular public figure during the second decade of the Third Repub ...

References

External links

Antoine-Augustin Renouard
on data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Renouard, Antoine-Augustin French booksellers French bibliographers Publishing companies of France Businesspeople from Paris 1765 births 1853 deaths