Guillaume Vandive
Guillaume Vandive | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age Paris, France |
| Died | 1706 |
| Occupation(s) | Printer, bookseller |
| Known for | Printer and bookseller under the patronage of the Dauphin of France; publications on Jansenist theology, commerce, and travel literature |
Guillaume Vandive (also known as Vandivout and Van Dievoet; born 22 November 1680, died 1706) was a French printer and bookseller who operated under the patronage of the Dauphin of France. His establishment was situated on Paris’s rue Saint-Jacques and identified by the emblem of the "Crowned Dolphin." Vandive’s publications, primarily in French and Latin, concentrated on Jansenist theology, commerce, and travel literature. Following his untimely death at age 26, his enterprise was taken over by Nicolas Simart, who married Vandive’s widow, a transition that sparked familial conflicts and legal disputes.
Personal history
Guillaume Vandive entered the world on 22 November 1680 in Paris as the eldest son of Philippe Van Dievoet (1654–1738), a goldsmith originally from Brussels and royal counsellor serving both the King and the Dauphin under the trade name "Vandive." He was also related to Peter Van Dievoet (1661–1729), a sculptor from Brussels.
In 1705, Guillaume wed Eléonore Le Prieur, with whom he had a daughter named Charlotte-Eléonore. Guillaume passed away in 1706; later that same year, Eléonore remarried to printer Nicolas Simart.
Education
Between April 1697 and April 1701, Vandive completed his apprenticeship under Jean Boudot (circa 1651–1706), who was the official printer for the King and the Royal Academy of Sciences as well as director of the printing house of Louis Auguste, Prince of Dombes. On 20 December 1701, Vandive attained the status of Master printer upon recommendation from Monseigneur the Grand Dauphin Louis.
Production
Vandive’s workshop was located on rue Saint-Jacques across from rue de la Parcheminerie. He issued catalogues in 1701, 1704, and 1706 listing books printed by his press alongside those published throughout France and abroad.
His printer’s emblem paid tribute to the Dauphin, displaying three dolphins swimming beneath a fleur-de-lis crown, flanked by two cornucopias. A banner featured the motto "hoc duce tuta salus" ("with this dolphin as guide, your safety is assured"), inspired by poet Arion.
Coignard
Vandive worked in partnership with Louis Coignard (1680–1738), whose own shop on rue Saint-Jacques bore the "Gold Eagle" mark. Coignard was incarcerated in 1737 for issuing Jansenist literature and died shortly after being transferred to Meung-sur-Loire. He was brother to Elie Jean-Baptiste Coignart, publisher of the first edition of Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise dedié au Roy (1694), and son of Jean-Baptiste Ier Coignart, royal printer-bookseller to both the King and French Academy.
A joint catalogue from 1703 documented books produced by both Vandive and Coignard, including Jean-Pierre Camus's L'Aviosinement des protestants vers l'Eglise romaine, a revised edition with additions by Oratorian Richard Simon.
Published works
Vandive’s output consisted mainly of French titles with some Latin works, emphasizing Jansenist theology alongside subjects related to commerce and travel.
His catalogues featured publications aimed at new converts such as Charles-Joachim Colbert de Croissy’s Instructions générales en forme de catéchisme, Bishop of Montpellier, as well as Nicolas Feuillet’s Histoire abrégée de la Conversion de Monsieur Chanteau. Other authors published included Henry de Barillon, Jean-Pierre Camus, Vincent Houdry, Etienne Lochon; he also issued new editions like Jacques Savary’s Le Parfait Négociant and Traité des Lettres de Change.
The Royal Library of Brussels holds Vandive’s two-volume Voyage du Sieur Paul Lucas au Levant (1704), bound in red morocco leather and adorned with plates featuring Cosimo III de' Medici’s coat of arms. Paul Lucas served as antiquaire du Roi on missions to the Levant to gather artifacts for Louis XIV; his works printed by Vandive are recognized for their vivid narratives.
Nicolas Simart
Nicolas Simart took over from Vandive by marrying his widow and maintaining the enterprise at the same location, continuing to operate under the identical trademark as the "printer and ordinary bookseller of Monseigneur the Dauphin."
In 1727, Simart initiated legal action against Philippe Vandive and Balthazar Philippe Vandive concerning the costs associated with the care and education of his stepdaughter, Charlotte Eléonore. Additionally, he published a report regarding the indictment of the Vandive family, which is preserved in the National Library of Paris.
Simart issued a "newly reviewed and corrected edition" of the Voyage du Sieur Paul Lucas au Levant in 1731; however, this edition was essentially a faithful reproduction of Vandive’s original publication.
By 1748, Simart found himself imprisoned for unpaid debts at the Caretaker's Lodge prison in Paris, where he remained confined into early 1749, according to inspector Hémery’s "Historique of Booksellers."
Bibliography
- Stephanus Axters, La spiritualite des Pays-Bas: l'evolution d'un doctrine mystique, Louvain, 1948, p.168.
- Baron (procureur), Mémoire pour Nicolas Simart... tuteurs de damoiselle Charlotte-Eléonore Vandive, Paris, 1727.
- Hélène Cavalié née d'Escayrac-Lauture, Pierre Germain dit le Romain (1703-1783)..., École des Chartes thesis, 2007, pp.209, 210, 345, 350, 429, 447.
- Etienne Charavay, Revue des documents historiques, Paris, 1880, p.68.
- Paul Delalain, Les libraires et imprimeurs de l'Académie française de 1634 à 1793, Paris, 1907.
- J. B. Denisart, Collection de décisions nouvelles et notes relatives à la jurisprudence, vol. I & IX, Paris, 1771 & 1790.
- A. Van Dievoet, "Quand le savoir-faire des orfèvres bruxellois brillait à Versailles", in Cahiers bruxellois, vol. 37 (1999–2003), Brussels, 2004, pp.32–35.
- Isabella Henriette van Eeghen, Jean Louis de Lorme, De Amsterdamse boekhandel 1680-1725, 1961, p.468.
- A. M. Lottin l'aîné, Catalogue chronologique des libraires-imprimeurs de Paris, Paris, 1789, p.161.
- Maurepas, Mémoires du comte de Maurepas, 1792, p.327.
- Jean-Dominique Mellot & Élisabeth Queval, Répertoire d'imprimeurs/libraires (vers 1500-vers 1810), BnF Paris, 2004, p.92.
- Alfred Détrez, "Aristocrates et joailliers sous l'ancien régime", in La Revue (ancienne Revue des Revues), vol.78, Paris, 1908, p.471.