A constitutional priest turned civil servant, he compiled and counted wherever he went. His Almanach du commerce, published every year from 1819, became “le Bottin”, and his name a common noun. He died crippled with debts; the mason carved 1784 instead of 1764.
The story
Sébastien Bottin lies in the thirtieth Division, under a plain stone without ornament, like those around it. His name, though, became a common noun: un bottin is a directory, and the word is still used.
Sébastien Bottin was born in 1764 at Grimonviller, in Lorraine, into a bourgeois family from Vézelise. He took holy orders: the abbé Bottin served as constitutional curé of Favières and took part in the Fête de la Fédération in 1790. The Revolution changed him. He signed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, then gave up the priesthood for good, and served the Republic with the rigour he had brought to his former duties: public prosecutor, receiver of state lands, secretary general of the prefecture of the Nord. Wherever he passed, he compiled, classified and counted.
His passion for the register gave him his great venture. The Almanach du commerce de Paris did not come from him: it had been appearing since 1798, founded by other men. Bottin took it over in 1819 and transformed it — thousands of addresses, names and trades set in tight columns, street by street, trade by trade, out to the principal cities of the world. He published it every year for thirty-four years, until his death, and his name ended by moving in front of the title: people no longer said the Almanach, they said “le Bottin”.
Sébastien Bottin died in 1853, riddled with debt and unnoticed. His heirs sold the almanac to the Didot family, who extended it to the whole of France and turned it into a listed company; in 1903 came the Bottin mondain, the first directory of Parisian society. His first name disappeared, his surname entered ordinary speech. The rue Sébastien-Bottin, in the 7th arrondissement, honoured him from 1929 until it was renamed in 2011 after Gaston Gallimard. What is left is his stone, where the mason got the year wrong: it has him born in 1784, twenty years too late. The man who spent his life counting everyone else is miscounted on his own grave.
The grave
A plain stone, without ornament, like those around it. Nothing signals that the name carved there became a common noun.
On site, do not miss
The very plainness of the stone: without ornament, it is in no way distinguishable from its neighbours in Division 30. Only the carved name signals that it became a common noun.
Visitors' questions
Where is Sébastien Bottin's grave?
In Division 30 of Père-Lachaise. The grave is plain, without ornament, and nothing sets it apart from those around it — only the name carved on it points to one of the commonest words in the French language.
Emmanuel-Joseph SieyèsWhat is “le Bottin”?
The Almanach du commerce de Paris et des principales villes du monde, published every year from 1819: thousands of addresses, names and trades in tight columns. For thirty-four years it was the one tool Paris business could not do without.
Jean-Noël MonrocqWas Sébastien Bottin a priest?
He was. Abbé Bottin served as a constitutional parish priest and took part in the Fête de la Fédération in 1790. He signed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, then gave up the priesthood for good and served the Republic as prosecutor, receiver of state property and secretary-general of the prefecture of the Nord.
Alain ReyWhy did his first name disappear?
Because his surname on its own became a common noun. He died in 1853 riddled with debt and unnoticed; his almanac was taken over by the Didot family, built up and floated on the stock exchange, and the Bottin mondain appeared in 1903. The rue Sébastien-Bottin has honoured him since 1929 — until part of it was renamed for Gaston Gallimard in 2011.
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