Censorship in the Ancien Régime

Under the French Ancien Régime, royal censorship was the task of censors appointed by the chancellor to judge the editorial legitimacy of a manuscript and to authorize its publication by an approval they signed.

At the same time, a privilege in the form of letters patent granted in the King's Council, most often to the bookseller, guaranteed not the content, but the property of the publication against the counterfeiters. This renewable privilege was for three years, or even without limitation for certain basic works (Fathers of the Church, etc.).

Brochures of up to 48 pages in-12 were the subject of a simple permission granted by the lieutenant general of police of the place.