Jacques Collin de Plancy
Illustration from Diable peint par lui-même (1825) depicting Collin de Plancy, reclining on his bed, having a discussion with the devil
Illustration from Diable peint par lui-même (1825) depicting Collin de Plancy, reclining on his bed, having a discussion with the devil
Born28 January 1793
Plancy-l'Abbaye, France
Died1881 (aged 87-88)
Paris, France
OccupationOccultist, author, demonologist
NationalityFrench
GenreOccultism, Demonology
Literary movementOccultism, Fantastique

Jacques Albin Simon Collin de Plancy (28 January 1793 in Plancy-l'Abbaye – 1881 in Paris) was a French occultist, demonologist and writer. He published several works on occultism and demonology.[1]

Biography

Cover of Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal (1826).

He was born Jacques Albin Simon Collin on 28 (in some sources 30) January 1793 in Plancy (presently Plancy-l'Abbaye), the son of Edme-Aubin Collin and Marie-Anne Danton, the sister of Georges-Jacques Danton who was executed the year after Jacques was born.[2] He later added the aristocratic de Plancy himself – an addition which later caused accusations against his son in his career as a diplomat. He was a free-thinker influenced by Voltaire. He worked as a printer and publisher in Plancy-l'Abbaye and Paris. Between 1830 and 1837, he resided in Brussels, and then in the Netherlands, before he returned to France after having converted to the Catholic religion.

Collin de Plancy followed the tradition of many previous demonologists of cataloguing demons by name and title of nobility, as it happened with grimoires like Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and The Lesser Key of Solomon. In 1818, his best known work, Dictionnaire Infernal, was published. In 1863, some images were added that made it famous: imaginative drawings concerning the appearance of certain demons. In 1822, it was advertised as:

"Anecdotes of the nineteenth new century or historiettes, recent anecdotes, features and words little known, singular adventures, various quotations, bringings together and curious parts, to be used for the history of customs and the spirit of the century when we live compared with the last centuries."

It is considered a major work documenting beings, characters, books, deeds and causes which pertain to the manifestations and magic of trafficking with Hell; divinations, occult sciences, grimoires, marvels, errors, prejudices, traditions, folktales, the various superstitions, and generally all manner of marvellous, surprising, mysterious, and supernatural beliefs.

By the end of 1830, he ostensibly became an enthusiastic Catholic, much to the confusion of his former admirers and detractors. In 1846, he published a two-volume work entitled Dictionnaire Sciences Occultes et des Idées superstitieuses,[3] another listing of demons. The set cost 16 francs.

Jacques Collin de Plancy was the father of Victor Collin de Plancy (1853–1924), who, for nearly a decade, starting in 1884, was French Minister to Korea and whose collected art works and books became part of the core of the Korean collections of the French Bibliothèque Nationale and the Musée Guimet in Paris.[4]

Bibliography

Original nameTranslatedDateSize/other
Dictionnaire InfernalInfernal Dictionary1818582 pages
Le Diable Peint par Lui-Même; ou, Galerie de petits romans, de contes bizarres, d'anecdotes prodigieuses sur les aventures des demons, les traits qui les caracterisent, leurs bonnes qualités et leurs infortunes; les bons mots et les reponses singulieres qu'on leur attribue; leurs amours, et les services qu'ils out pu rendre aux mortels, etc., etc., etc.The Devil Painted by Himself, or, a Gallery of small novels, bizarre tales, prodigious anecdotes about the adventures of demons, the traits that characterize their good qualities and their misfortunes, the right words and the answers that singular their attributes, their loves, and the services they have rendered out to mortals, etc., etc., etc.1819318 pages
Dictionnaire féodal ou recherches et anecdotes sur les Dimes et les droits féodaux, les fiefs et les bénéfices, les privilèges etc. et sur tout ce qui tient à la Féodalité.Feudal Dictionary, or, Research and Anecdotes on the Feudal Dimes and Rights, Strongholds and Benefices, Preferences etc. and on Everything Pertaining to Feudalism.1819-
Dictionnaire critique des reliques et des images miraculeusesCritical Dictionary of Relics and Miraculous Images18213 books, 450, 470 and 416 pages
Voyage au centre de la TerreVoyage to the Centre of the Earth1821-
Traité des reliques de Jean CalvinTreatise on the Relics by Jean Calvin1822-
Histoire du Manneken Pis racontée par lui-mêmeHistory of Manneken Pis told by Himself1824Lacrosse, Bruxelles
Biographie pittoresque des Jésuites ou Notices abrégées théologiques et historiques sur les jésuites célèbresA Picturesque Biography on the Jesuits or Theological and Historical Shortened Notes on the famous Jesuits1826110 pages
Fastes militaires des BelgesMilitary Record of the Belgians1835–18364 volumes
Légendes de l'histoire de France IILegends of French History II1850-
Godefroid de Bouillon, chroniques et légendes du temps des deux premières croisades, 1095-1180Godfrey de Bouillon, chronicles and legends of the time of the first two Crusades, 1095–11801842479 pages
Légendes de la Sainte ViergeLegends of the Blessed Virgin1845392 pages
Légendes de l'Histoire de FranceLegends of French History1846386 pages
La chronique de Godefroid de Bouillon et du royaume de Jérusalem. Première et deuxième croisade (1080-1187) avec l'histoire de Charles-le-Bon...The Chronicle of Godfrey de Bouillon, and the kingdom of Jerusalem. First and Second Crusades (1080–1187) with the history of Charles the Good...1848-
La Reine Berthe au grand piedQueen Bertha with the Large Foot1854274 pages
Légendes des commandements de l'EgliseLegends of the Church's Commandments1860396 pages
Légendes des sacrementsLegends of the Sacraments1860396 pages
Légendes des femmes dans la vie réelleLegends of Women in Real Life1861412 pages, Henri Plon, Paris
Légendes de l'ancien testament, recueillies des apocryphes, des rabins et des légendaires, distinguées avec soin des textes sacrésLegends of the Old Testament, collected apocryphal books, Rabbinical and legendary ones, distinguished carefully from the crowned texts1861396 pages
Légendes Infernales, relations et pactes des hôtes de l'enfer avec l'espèce humaine.Infernal legends, tales and pacts of the hosts of Hell with the mankind.1861-
Légendes de l'autre monde, pour servir à l'histoire du paradis, du purgatoire et de l'enfer, avec quelques esquisses de personnages peu soucieux de leur âmeLegends of the other world, to serve as a history of Paradise, Purgatory and Hell, with some drafts of characters unconcerned with their soul1862396 pages
La Vie et les légendes intimes des deux empereurs Napoléon Ier et Napoléon II jusqu'à l'avénement de Napoléon IIIThe Intimate Life and the Legends of the two Emperors Napoleon I and Napoleon II until the coming of Napoleon III1863411 pages
Légendes du calendrierLegends of the Calendar1863396 pages
Légendes du juif errant et des seize reines de MunsterLegends of the wandering Jew and the sixteen queens of Munster1866393 pages
Légendes des commandements de DieuLegends of the Commandments of God1864396 pages
Légendes des sept péchés capitauxLegends of the Seven deadly sins1864396 pages
Légendes des douze convives du chanoine de ToursLegends of the twelve guests of the chanoine de Tours1864396 pages
Taxes des parties casuelles de la boutique du pape pour la remise, moyennant argent, de tous les crimes et pêchés-187182 pages
La fin des temps, confirmée par des prophéties authentiques nouvellement recueilliesEnd of time, confirmed by authentic prophecies lately collected1871211 pages
La vie du cure J. Meslier d'après VoltaireLife of the Curate J. Meslier according to Voltaire1871-
Recherches sur l'alimentation des reptiles et des batraciens de FranceResearch on the food of the reptiles and the batrachians of France1876-
Catalogue des reptiles et batraciens du département de l'Aube et étude sur la distribution géographique des reptiles et batraciens de l'est de la FranceCatalogue of reptiles and batrachians of the department of Aube and study on the geographical distribution of the reptiles and batrachians of the east of France187844 pages
Légendes des esprits et des démons qui circulent autour de nousLegends of the spirits and the demons which circulate around us-396 pages
Le docteur PéperkoukDoctor Péperkouk--
Légendes des originesLegends of Origins-412 pages
Légendes des vertus théologales et des vertus cardinalesLegends of the theological virtues and the cardinal virtues-396 pages
Traditions populaires et anecdotes insolites : Légendes infernalesPopular traditions and strange anecdotes: Infernal legends--
Légendes du Moyen ÂgeLegends of the Middle Ages-396 pages

References

  1. ↑ J Stouff, Les Mille et un jours (2010) biblioweb.hypotheses.org "C'est sans doute la raison pour laquelle, il fut demandé à Jacques Collin de Plancy (1793-1881) qui ne connaissait par l'Orient, mais était expert en esprits et démons de toute sorte, d'en rédiger une introduction."
    - Françoise Lavocat, Pierre Kapitaniak, and Marianne Closson, eds. "Fictions du diable: Littérature et démonologie de saint Augustin à Léo Taxil". Françoise Lavocat, H Kallendorf - Renaissance Quarterly, 2008 - JSTOR "... Finally, Jean Céard examines the lingering hold that the demonology of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries exerted upon the imaginations of the later Romantics, as exemplified by authors such as Jacques Collin de Plancy, who "rediscovered" earlier demonologists. ..."
  2. ↑ Léon Frémont, Revue de Champagne et de Brie: Histoire, biographie, archaéologie. Georges Hérelle, 1880: "Jacques Collin, connu en littérature sous le nom de Collin de Plancy, naquit à Plancy, le 30 janvier 1794. Il était fils de Edme-Aubin Collin et de Marie-Anne Danton, et par cette dernière neveu du fameux Danton. Il commença ses études chez…"
  3. ↑ "Téléchargements". Esoterika.org. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  4. ↑ François Roudaut: Le Fonds Collin de Plancy à la Bibliothèque de Troyes. Slatkine, 1994; Max Milner: Romantisme, 1995 (persee.fr): "Le fonds Collin de Plancy est constitué par les livres et documents donnés en 1923 à la Bibliothèque municipale de Troyes, en exécution du legs de Victor Collin de Plancy, orientaliste et diplomate, fils du polygraphe Jacques Collin de Plancy, qui est surtout connu comme…"

Further reading


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