17

Donneau de Visé’s Mercure galant profoundly transformed the writing, circulation, and conservation of genealogy in France. A vital historiographical tool of the monarchy during the reign of Louis XIV and a fashionable cultural publication capable of attracting a large and variegated public, the Mercure galant disseminated individual achievements far more effectively than other contemporary genealogical publications. The periodical facilitated access to genealogical information, given its monthly publication and call for contributions from readers on the one hand, and because it put the military and cultural achievements of the country on an equal footing, on the other. Its materiality, as a printed book, the long-term preservation of genealogical information, which it made available for the writing of future histories of kin and kingdom. In a France troubled by the powers of the nobility, the Mercure galant offered families a new way of publishing, while ultimately serving Louis XIV’s politics of centralizing and domesticating France’s nobility. The appearance of such a support obviously aroused strong resistance, in both private and public spheres, and especially in literature. By focusing on genealogy in the Mercure galant, this article illustrates the liveliness and urgency of media issues under the Old Regime: taking into account the contributions of the Mercure galant allows us to redraw the genealogical and historiographical landscape of the “Grand siècle.”