In c. 1658 the Jesuit Menestrier drew up a ‘“virtual library'”– a booklist entitled “Bibliothèque de l'honeste homme”– for his Lyon sodalitas of artisans. It demonstrates how, in the 17th c., Catholic reformers attempted to advance a Christianised Humanism, using reading to form their (devout) kind of honnête homme. The books recommended reflect actual libraries in the city: those of the town college and the Archbishop, Camille de Neufville. These “virtual libraries” thus imply not only the level of artisan literacy but also the range of books accessible to such men at that time. 

In 1704, in his Bibliothèque curieuse et instructive, Menestrier developed this booklist for a different audience, Parisians of a higher social class.

My paper analyses Menestrier's “virtual libraries” so as to explain how protagonists of Catholic Reform selected from the vast output of publications available in order to mould a new kind of Christian Humanism.