Louis Petit de Bachaumont

Louis Petit de Bachaumont (pronounced [lwi p(ə)ti də baʃomɔ̃]) (June 2, 1690 – April 29, 1771) was a French writer, whose historical interest has been connected largely to his alleged role in the gossipy Mémoires secrets pour servir à l'histoire de la République des Lettres.

He passed his whole life in Paris, however, as the centre of the salon of Marie Anne Doublet (1677–1771), where criticism of art and literature took the form of malicious gossip.

A sort of register of news was kept in a journal of the salon, starting in 1762, which dealt largely in scandals and contained accounts of books suppressed by the censor.

Bachaumont's name is commonly connected with the first volumes of this register, which was published anonymously, long after Petit de Bachaumont's death,[2] under the title Mémoires secrets pour servir à l'histoire de la République des Lettres, but his exact share in the authorship of those years before his death in 1771 is a matter of controversy.

The register was continued by Pidansat de Mairobert (1707–1779), who may have had a greater hand in it from the start, and by others, until it reached 36 volumes (covering the years 1774-1779).