Catharine Macaulay's French connections

Abstract

While in prison, Jeanne-Marie Roland expressed the wish that she might have written a history that would have made her the Tacitus, or more modestly, the Catharine Macaulay of her country. It is clear that she had previously admired Macaulay's republican history of the Stuarts and the English Civil War. Jean-Paul Marat also appreciatively referred to this history, and hints such as these suggest that this work was quite well known in France before the Revolution, although a French translation was not published there until 1791-92. This paper provides an overview of Macaulay's influence in France, examines the origins of the translation of her history, and considers the way it was presented, ..