Louis sebastien mercier biography of christopher

French dramatist and writer (1740–1814)

Louis-Sébastien Mercier (6 June 1740 – 25 April 1814) was a French dramatist and writer, whose 1771 novel L'An 2440 is an example of proto-science fiction.

Early life and education

He was born in Paris to a humble family: his father was a skilled artisan who polished swords and metal arms. Mercier nevertheless received a decent education.

Louis sebastien mercier biography of christopher columbus

Literary career

Mercier began his literary career by writing heroic epistles. Early on, he came to the conclusion that Boileau and Racine had ruined the French language and that the true poet wrote in prose.

He wrote plays, pamphlets, and novels, and published prodigiously. Mercier often recycled passages from one work to another and expanded on essays he had already written.

“A comprehensive exploration of Mercier’s wonderfully entertaining ‘tableaux de Paris’ and his lively, passionate, and multi-faceted commitment to social justice. In this highly informative, highly necessary study, Mulryan demonstrates with great clarity and precision why Mercier is a major late Enlightenment writer.” ~Laurence Mall, author of Emile ou les figures de la fiction

“This original investigation into pre-and post-Revolutionary Paris and its festive, social, and artistic spaces vividly captures Mercier’s journalisme engagé. A fascinating study worthy of this eclectic, pivotal author.” ~Fabienne Moore, author of Prose Poems of the French Enlightenment: Delimiting Genre

“Mulryan’s book might as well be about the unannounced birth of sociology some fifty years before Auguste Comte. Through his reading of the urban space of Paris and his representation of the different strands of Parisian society, Mercier exposed in great detail the existence of inequalities, abuses, and injustices that had hitherto mostly been treated theoretically; and as Mulryan shows quite dexterously, this practical, urban approach allows Mercier to give practical solutions to the woes of France, before and after the Revolution.” ~Fayçal Falaky, author of Social Contract, Masochist Contract: Aesthetics of Freedom and Submission in Rousseau

“Mulryan analyzes the social divisions and the reforming policies that are expressed through the representation of urban space. One of the most important contributions of this book lies in the exploration of unpublished texts and of perspectives little addressed by critics such as the religious anchoring of Mercier's thought.” ~Geneviève Boucher, associate professor of French, University of Ottawa

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Louis Sébastien Mercier’s keen observations about people, society and politics are as relevant today as they were hundreds of years ago, according to Dr. Michael Mulryan, Professor of French and French Literature. In fact, the professor admits he often uses Mercier’s musings and ideas to help him navigate his own life.

“I often refer to Mercier’s work when I’m considering, ‘Am I doing the right thing?’ and ‘Am I speaking out the way I should?’,“ said Mulryan. “Mercier was extremely insightful. He has influenced me in countless ways.”

Although Mercier was born in 1740, Mulryan believes the philosopher’s observations are still applicable and resonate in modern times. Mulryan researched and wrote his new book, Louis Sébastien Mercier: Revolution and Reform in Eighteenth-Century Paris, to appeal to both academics and everyday readers.

“Mercier was way ahead of his time,” Mulryan said.

A prolific writer and astute observer, Mercier lived in Paris and studied social injustice. He would often walk the streets and sit in cafes just to listen to conversations and gauge people’s viewpoints and concerns. His urban chronicles, Tableau de Paris and Le Nouveau Paris, dissected the city from all angles: the educational system, the location of hospitals, the way the poor were treated, and ways to innovate schools.

“He spoke his mind,” Mulryan said. “Skepticism, he believed, was one of the greatest qualities of an enlightened thinker. He also had a very strong moral compass.”

In his classes, Mulryan applies Mercier’s teachings by asking students to write, in English and in French, an urban tableau about an aspect of everyday life on the Christopher Newp

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Michael Mulryan