Marc-Michel Rey

Marc-Michel Rey (1720–1780) was an influential publisher in the United Provinces, who published many of the works of the French philosophes, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In his day, he was the largest and most important publisher in the French language in the United Provinces.

Rey was born in Geneva in 1720, son of French Huguenot parents. He later wrote that he had little schooling. He was an apprentice to a Genevan bookseller Marc-Michel Bosquet from 1733 to 1744. After moving to Amsterdam in 1744, he purchased citizenship and opened a publishing business.

In 1746 he married Elisabeth Bernard, daughter of the bookseller J.F. Bernard, who brought her father's stock with her. The business flourished as a result.

Rey never became fluent in Dutch, but entertained himself lavishly within the French-speaking social circle. He published mainly in French, and most of his sales were in France, although his books were sold in Russia and in the Dutch overseas colonies. Although he was a member of the local Walloon church, he published material that was offensive to the church, including Voltaire's attacks on the priestly order. He was Rousseau's main publisher and also published the works of Diderot. These authors praised him for publishing their books but also accused him of taking most of the profits.

Rey had to deal with pressure from the French, Dutch and Genevan authorities and pastors, but continued to publish controversial books such as Rousseau's Emile and all the works of Baron d'Holbach. D'Holbach, a prolific atheist, said that Rey profited by his books both financially and from his pleasure in their subject. He published Jean-Paul Marat's De L'Homme. At different times, Rey employed Mirabeau and the encyclopedist Abbé Claude Yvon.

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