Smuggling in volumes: policing and the myth of the book-smuggler in late ancien régime France

Ever since publication of Jean-Paul Belin’s Le Commerce des livres prohibés à Paris, 1750–1789 (1913), the regulation of the late ancien régime French book trade has been considered largely ineffectual. Widespread smuggling, routine pirating of successful titles, haphazard censorship, an endless flurry of regulations, and the connivance of guild members and book trade officials, all supposedly made regular and consistent enforcement impossible. Yet increasing evidence, drawn from the archives and digital projects on the circulation of books, suggests that this picture is misleading. This article examines that evidence and suggests an alternative picture. It shows that moving or smuggling clandestine books in bulk was difficult, risky and prohibitively expensive, as rights over moving, receiving or trading in books were carefully regulated and jealously guarded. Moreover, new regulations from 1777 onwards gave the inspection regime sharper teeth. The article demonstrates the impact of these regulations through both qualitative and quantitative sources.