Gamot, Joseph - Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre

The Club de l'Entresol (, "Mezzanine Club") was a discussion group and early

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental ...

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. ...

, active from 1723 to 1731, created and primarily led by Abbot Pierre-Joseph Alary.

Name and background

The club's name came from the fact that at its inception, Alary lived in the

mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...

(french: entresol) of the of Charles-Jean-François Hénault at 7

place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It ...

, also known as for its original builder in 1708. The club kept its name even as Alary moved to other apartments where the meetings were subsequently held, including when he lived at the Royal Library. The adoption of the word ''club'' was suggested by

Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (; 16 September 1678 – 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically des ...

, who was exiled in Paris and close to Alary in the early 1720s. It ostensibly echoed the English model of clubs for free discussion of political and economic questions, at a time of widespread

Anglophilia An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents. Etymology The word is derived from the Latin word '' Anglii'' and Ancient Greek word φίλος ''philos'', meaning "frie ...

in Paris under the

Régence The ''Régence'' (, ''Regency'') was the period in French history between 1715 and 1723 when King Louis XV was considered a minor and the country was instead governed by Philippe d'Orléans (a nephew of Louis XIV of France) as prince regen ...

. In spite of its English-sounding name, the inspiration for the club was homegrown. Its roots went back to the , a short-lived discussion group led in 1691-1692 by

François-Timoléon de Choisy François Timoléon, abbé de Choisy (; 16 August 1644 – 2 October 1724) was a French cross-dresser, abbé, and author. He wrote numerous works on church history as well as travelogues, memoirs and fiction. Biography De Choisy was born in Pa ...

whose members included such luminaries as François Lefebvre de Caumartin, Louis de Courcillon,

Louis Cousin Louis Cousin, le président Cousin (; 21 August 1627 – 26 February 1707) was a French translator, historian, lawyer, royal censor and president of the cour des monnaies. Cousin was born and died in Paris. He was the third member elected t ...

, Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, Barthélemy d'Herbelot,

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , also , ; 12 January 1628 – 16 May 1703) was an iconic French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales ...

, and Eusèbe Renaudot. The Académie du Luxembourg was well known to Alary from the memories of the brothers Philippe and Louis de Courcillon and of two of Choisy's relatives, the marquis de Balleroy and the marquis d'Argenson. A more recent experience had been the established at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquess of Torcy, which operated from 1712 to 1715 and again from 1717 to 1720 and from which the club's members drew lessons about how best to organize their activities. The main source of information about the club's activity is the memoirs written by René-Louis d'Argenson, who was a leading member of the club together with Alary and the Abbé de Saint-Pierre.

Activity

The club met every Saturday, between 5pm and 8pm, at Alary's apartment. It was frequented by about twenty scholars who can be viewed as forerunners of the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

. Its membership was exclusively male and French, though attendees also included women and foreigners, e.g. Madame du Deffand and the future Madame de Pompadour as well as Bolingbroke at the end of his Parisian stay. The club's activities included readings on current affairs, with emphasis on foreign uncensored sources such as Dutch periodicals in French language. It was more than a mere

literary salon A salon is a gathering of people held by an inspiring host. During the gathering they amuse one another and increase their knowledge through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "ei ...

given its structured program, and differed from most

learned societies A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership may ...

by its emphasis on current affairs and public policy, primarily foreign affairs and economics. Members specialized in specific policy areas: e.g. Alary on Germany, d'Argenson on public law and institutions, Balleroy and Champeaux on peace treaties, Verteillac on mixed-government constitutions, d'Autry on Italy, Plélo on government institutions, Pallu on French financial history, Caraman on commerce, d'Oby on French estates-general and parliaments, Saint-Contest on contemporary history, Bragelongne on sovereign houses, La Fautrière on finance and trade, and Saint-Pierre on multiple topics. The older members: Camilly, Coigny, Lassay, Matignon, Noirmoutiers, Pérelle, Pomponne, and Saint-Contest the elder until his death, acted as a sounding and advisory board for their fellows' work. The latter prepared their contributions in advance of the club's weekly sessions. These texts were not printed let alone published; instead, their manuscripts were kept by Alary. Both the policy focus and structured research program made the club de l'entresol a precursor of more recent

s, even though its output was not in the public domain given the lack of freedom of expression in France at the time. Indeed, publicity is what led to the club's downfall, according to its chronicler the Marquis d'Argenson. D'Alary had to spend more time at the royal court in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

after he was given the role of (teacher of the royal family's children), and that made the Paris-based club more visible there. D'Argenson also cites Abbé de Pomponne as not discreet enough, e.g. on the sensitive matter of French attitudes to the

Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 The Pragmatic Sanction ( la, Sanctio Pragmatica, german: Pragmatische Sanktion) was an edict issued by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, on 19 April 1713 to ensure that the Habsburg hereditary possessions, which included the Archduchy of Austria ...

. France's chief minister

Cardinal Fleury Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, ...

acknowledged the club's value and encouraged its work, but eventually decided on its closure in 1731 after it became an object of court controversy.

Members

In his memoirs, René-Louis d'Argenson listed the members of the club in the following order: * Pierre-Joseph Alary (1689-1770) * Jacques-Claude-Augustin de la Cour, marquis de Balleroy (1694-1773) * François de Franquetot de Coigny (1670-1759) * (1684-1766) *

René Louis de Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson René-Louis de Voyer de Paulmy, Marquis d'Argenson (18 October 169426 January 1757) was a politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from November 1744 to January 1747 and was a friend of Voltaire. His younger brother, Marc-Pierre, C ...

(1694-1757) * Gérard Lévesque de Champeaux (1694-1778) * Thibaut de La Brousse de Verteillac (1684-1778) * Louis-Joseph de Goujon de Thuisy, comte d'Autry (1674-1749) * (1699-1734) * (1692-1758) * François de Riquet, comte de Caraman (1698-1760) *

Andrew Michael Ramsay Andrew Michael Ramsay (9 July 16866 May 1743), commonly called the Chevalier Ramsay, was a Scottish-born writer who lived most of his adult life in France. He was a Baronet in the Jacobite Peerage. Ramsay was born in Ayr, Scotland, the son o ...

(1686-1743) * (1668-1730) * François Dominique de Barberie de Saint-Contest (1701-1754), son of the former * (1688-1744) * , marquis de Lassay (1652-1738) * Antoine François de La Trémoille, duc de Noirmoutier (1652-1733) * Louis Davy de la Fautrière (1700-1756) * (1666-1753) * Antoine-Robert Pérelle (?-1735) * Henri Charles Arnauld de Pomponne (1669-1756) *

Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre Charles-Irénée Castel, abbé de Saint-Pierre (18 February 1658 – 29 April 1743) was a French author whose ideas were novel for his times. His proposal of an international organisation to maintain peace was perhaps the first in history, w ...

(1658-1743) * Pierre François Delatre d'Oby (1696?-1729) D'Argenson also mentions that Abbot Franchini, ambassador of

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, and Nicolas Prosper Bauyn d'Angervilliers sought to become members but were not included, the former for being a foreigner, and the latter because of his appointment to public office; and that Horatio Walpole made a presentation to the club in 1726, at his own request.

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principa ...

participated in the club's activities and gave there a reading of his ''dialogue between Sulla and Eucrates''. Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquess of Torcy was another occasional participant. The mention in some online sources of

Claude Adrien Helvétius Claude Adrien Helvétius (; ; 26 January 1715 – 26 December 1771) was a French philosopher, freemason and ''littérateur''. Life Claude Adrien Helvétius was born in Paris, France, and was descended from a family of physicians, originally s ...

as a member is improbable, given his young age at the time of the club's activity and the fact that he spent much of his youth in

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Sociedad Económica de los Amigos del País *

Coppet group The Coppet group (''Groupe de Coppet''), also known as the Coppet circle, was an informal intellectual and literary gathering centred on Germaine de Staël during the time period between the establishment of the Napoleonic First Empire (1804) a ...

* Saint-Simon Foundation

Notes

{{France-hist-stub 1723 establishments in France 1731 disestablishments in France Entresol Political history of the Ancien Régime Entresol