Abstract
Progress in the distribution of print and reading, the development of public opinion and the multiplication of forms of communication made French society, on the eve of the Revolution of 1789, an area of intense circulation of writings of opinion. Polemical writings are invading the field of communication and politics. Beaumarchais is doubly exposed to this type of writing: on the one hand, he is responsible, at the end of the reign of Louis XV and during the reign of Louis XVI, of diplomatic missions intended to put an end to the circulation of defamatory libels against the king and his family; on the other hand, involved himself in several legal cases, he enters into a process of publicized communication to manage his commercial and literary affairs, to attack his adversaries or to defend himself. What writing and distribution practices does he adopt precisely? We have chosen to focus on a corpus of occasional writings linked to the publishing business of the complete works of Voltaire, for which Beaumarchais founded a Typographical Literary Society in 1779. How does he communicate to disseminate his editorial project, driven by philosophical ideals? How does he respond to the numerous attacks from anti-philosophers, whether parliamentarians, journalists or theologians? Between satirical writing, judicial rhetoric and comic verve, Beaumarchais uses all the dramaturgical resources of which he is the master.