author
Claude-François-Xavier Mercier de Compiègne
1763–1800
A lively French writer, editor, and compiler of the late 18th century, remembered for satirical and libertine works that mixed wit with provocation. His career moved through bookselling, publishing, and translation, giving his writing a wide-ranging, curious energy.
2 Audiobooks
Éloge du sein des femmes Ouvrage curieux
by Claude-François-Xavier Mercier de Compiègne
Éloge du pet
by Claude-François-Xavier Mercier de Compiègne
About the author
Born in Compiègne on August 1, 1763, Claude-François-Xavier Mercier de Compiègne became part of the busy literary world of revolutionary-era France. Sources describe him as a writer, editor, compiler, translator, and bookseller or printer-bookseller, roles that suggest how closely he lived among texts and the trade that circulated them.
Early in life, he served as secretary to the chevalier de Jaucourt. After Jaucourt's death, he worked in the offices of the French Navy, and during the Revolution he turned more fully toward publishing and bookselling in Paris. He is especially associated with satirical and libertine writing, and bibliographic records also note his work as an editor and author of erotic tales and poems.
Mercier de Compiègne died in Paris in 1800. Though not a household name today, he remains an intriguing figure from the end of the Enlightenment: a man who moved between administration, print culture, and sharp-edged literary experiment, leaving behind works that still catch readers' attention for their humor and audacity.