Rare Bibliothèque Bleue Imprint, No Copies Traced in OCLC

[WOMEN / COLPORTAGE].

LETOURMY, Jean-Baptiste (printer).

Histoire de la Belle Héleine, de Constantinople, mère de Saint Martin de Tours en Touraine, & de Saint Brice, son frère.

Se vend à Orleans, Chez Letourmy, libraire, place du Martroi, [ca. 1780s].

Octavo (17.3 x 10.8 cm). 90 pp., woodcut vignette on title-page. Bound in publisher’s block-printed paper (papier dominoté). Light browning throughout, especially along margins; a few small closed tears and chips on the block-printed wrappers. Generally very good.

A rare survival of the bibliothèque bleue, popular and ephemeral published in early modern France, no copies traced in OCLC/WorldCat. Colportage in France was a significant method of distributing printed materials from the 17^th century to the early 19^th century, particularly to rural populations with limited access to urban centers and bookstores. Colporteurs, acting as traveling peddlers, carried a variety of inexpensive books, pamphlets, and almanacs. These publications covered a wide range of topics, from religious texts and practical advice to tales and popular literature, playing a crucial role in disseminating information and shaping popular culture during this period. While facing regulations and sometimes associated with the spread of controversial or forbidden texts, colportage remained a vital link between urban printing presses and the reading public in the French countryside.

Eighteenth-century Orléans was a key center for producing both papiers dominotés (block-printed papers) and popular woodcut prints, which were hand-stenciled after printing. Jean-Baptiste Letourmy (1747–1800) excelled as both a dominotier—a leading producer of patterned papers—and an imagier, creating numerous religious and traditional images, even reflecting revolutionary events. As a bookseller and distributor of colportage literature, Letourmy commanded a vast network of over 100 chapmen across about 60 French towns and cities, including Tours, Blois, Paris, Avignon, and Lille, dispatching large quantities of prints—sometimes 40,000 to 50,000 at once—through the commercial efforts of his brothers and a robust sales system. His block-printing business thrived, making his name widely known throughout France.

The story recounted in this publication by Letourmy is that of La Belle Hélène of Constantinople, originally a 14^th-century French chanson de geste that survives in both verse and prose versions. In extant accounts, the Belle Hélène of Constantinople typically recounts tales of a strikingly beautiful woman from Constantinople who often finds herself at the center of dramatic or romantic events. These narratives vary, but common threads include her exceptional beauty causing admiration and sometimes conflict, her potential involvement in courtly intrigue or affairs of state, and her journey or impact on different regions. In the version published here, the Belle Hélène’s two sons, Lion and Brac, are baptised by an archbishop of Tours named Martin and christened Martin and Brice.

* Simon Beatty, “Jean-Baptiste Letourmy (1747–1800): block-cutter and businessman,” his blog, 20 March 2024 (https://simonbeattie.co.uk/blog/archives/5159/; accessed 4/30/2025).

Price: $775.00