Guillaume de La Perrière (1499/1503 in
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
– 1565) was one of the earliest French writers of
emblem book
An emblem book is a book collecting emblems (allegorical illustrations) with accompanying explanatory text, typically morals or poems. This category of books was popular in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Emblem books are collection ...
s. His work is often associated with the
French Renaissance
The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define ...
. La Perrière chronicled events in his home city of Toulouse. His best known work is ''Le Théâtre des bons engins'', published in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1539, and was edited in later editions, published in 1540 and 1585. More recently, La Perrière's ''Le miroir politique'' (1555) has received attention, thanks to the work of
Michel Foucault
Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...
. Foucault identifies the work of La Perriere as belonging to
Early Modern France
The Kingdom of France in the early modern period, from the French Renaissance, Renaissance () to the French Revolution, Revolution (1789–1804), was a monarchy ruled by the House of Bourbon (a Capetian dynasty, Capetian cadet branch). This corr ...
and foreshadowing discourses of
governmentality
Governmentality is a theory of power developed by French philosopher Michel Foucault, which analyses ''governmental" power through both the power states have over the population and the means by which subjects govern themselves.
As a form of pow ...
.
Images from ''Le Théâtre des Bons Engins''
Six pages from the 1545 edition.
Image:Guillaume de La Perrière - Le Théâtre des bons engins XVI.jpg, XVI. ''Difficile est de voir femme sans tête.''
Image:Guillaume de La Perrière - Le Théâtre des bons engins XLVII.jpg, XLVIII. ''Châtier faut les enfants en jeune âge.''
Image:Guillaume de La Perrière - Le Théâtre des bons engins LX.jpg, LX. ''Un homme hardi point ne craint les menaces.''
Image:Guillaume de La Perrière - Le Théâtre des bons engins LXXXV.jpg, LXXXV. ''L'homme discret n'entreprend l'impossible.''
Image:Guillaume de La Perrière - Le Théâtre des bons engins XCVIII.jpg, XCVIII. ''Le bon savoir se trouve en le cherchant.''
Image:Guillaume de La Perrière - Le Théâtre des bons engins XCVI.jpg, XCVI. ''Difficile est de dompter une femme.''
Works
*''Le Theatre des bons engins, auquel sont contenus cent emblemes'' (Denis Janot, 1539
*"Les annalles de Foix" (Nicolas Vieillard, Toulouse, 1539)
*''Les Considerations des quatre mondes'' (Macé Bonhomme, 1552)
*''La Morosophie'' (Macé Bonhomme, 1553)
*''Le miroir politique, contenant diverses manieres de gouverner & policer les republiques, qui sont, & ont está par cy deuant: ocuure...,'' Paris: Pur V. Norment, & I. Bruneau; 1567.
Further reading
*Alison Adams, Stephen Rawles, Alison Saunders, ''A Bibliography of French Emblem Books'', 2 volumes, Droz, Genève, 1999–2002, pp. 364–381.
*
Michel Foucault
Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...
. "
Governmentality
Governmentality is a theory of power developed by French philosopher Michel Foucault, which analyses ''governmental" power through both the power states have over the population and the means by which subjects govern themselves.
As a form of pow ...
."
* Guillaume de la Perrière, ''Le Théâtre des bons engins'', introduction d'Alison Saunders, Scolar Press, 1973.
*Guillaume de la Perrière, ''Le Théâtre des bons engins''; ''La Morosophie'', introduction d'Alison Saunders, Scolar Press, 1993.
* Stephen Rawles, « The earliest editions of Guillaume de la Perrière’s Theatre des bons engins » in ''Emblematica'', 2.2, 1987, pp. 381–6.
*Alison Saunders, « The Theatre des bons engins through English eyes » in ''Revue de littérature comparée'', 64.4, 1990, pp. 653–73.
*Géraldine Cazals, ''Guillaume de La Perrière (1499-1554) - Un humaniste à l’étude du politique'', thèse de doctorat d’histoire du droit, Université des Sciences sociales, Toulouse I, 2003.
External links
Biographie et reproduction en fac-simile du ''Théâtre des bons engins''*
Glasgow University Emblem Websiteincluding French and Italian emblem books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perriere, Guillaume de La
16th-century French philosophers
16th-century French male writers
French Renaissance humanists
16th-century French writers
Writers from Toulouse
Year of birth uncertain
1565 deaths
French male writers