ÃÂditions du Cerf () is a French publishing house founded in 1929 by the Dominican friar and managed by the Order of Preachers, which still owns it. It specializes in religious, exegetical, historical, and philosophical works.
Under the leadership of since 2013, the publisher has broadened its list toward more media-visible essays and texts.
ÃÂditions du Cerf was founded in 1929 at the request of by the Dominican Marie-Vincent Bernadot (1883âÂÂ1941), whose thinking was close to that of the pontiff. The name âÂÂCerfâ refers to the opening of Psalm 42:
In 1919 Father Bernadot had already founded the journal to return Christian spirituality to its sources: Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the great mystics. In 1928âÂÂsupported by Pope Pius XI, who instructed the Master of the Order to transfer him to ParisâÂÂBernadot founded La Vie intellectuelle with Father ÃÂtienne Lajeunie and other intellectuals such as Jacques Maritain. The aim was to provide an alternative to the influence of Charles Maurras and his movement Action Française, condemned by Rome in 1926, and of which he was âÂÂconvinced of the intrinsically perverse character.âÂÂ
A year after the launch of the journalâÂÂwhich marked a departure within the Order from the highly scholastic Thomism of theologian Réginald Garrigou-LagrangeâÂÂand with capital provided by friends, Bernadot founded the joint-stock company Les ÃÂditions du Cerf on . It shared the ambition to "counter the influence of Action française".
The company set up with a small group of Dominicans in a house in Juvisy-sur-Orge.
From 1934 the publisher brought out , a weekly whose editorial line was close to that of La Vie intellectuelle but aimed at a broader audience. Sept was published in Paris but written in Juvisy. To remedy this, Father Bernadot acquired a building at Boulevard de la Tour-Maubourg in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, which soon housed a Dominican convent as well as the publishing house. He installed the paperâÂÂs headquarters there and moved the team at the turn of 1936âÂÂ1937.
ÃÂditions du Cerf was then above all a âÂÂhouse of journals,â which sometimes published books but for a long time was known mainly for the âÂÂUnam Sanctamâ series, developed from 1937 by the Dominican theologian Yves Congar. The catalogue consisted largely of periodicals; in twenty years Bernadot developed no fewer than eight: to the existing titles were added the supplement to La Vie spirituelle, the Documents de La Vie intellectuelle, and Chrétienté, among others.
Positions taken in Cerf publicationsâÂÂoften seen as nonconformist by Catholic opinion largely marked on the rightâÂÂattracted increasing criticism. Sept was forced by the Holy Office to cease publication in August 1937. In 1939, when the newly elected Pius XII suspended the sanctions against LâÂÂAction française, Bernadot felt disavowed and resigned as publisher and prior in July 1939.
After the declaration of war he resumed the post of his successor, , who was mobilized and then deported to Germany. In poor health and demoralized, Bernadot died at fifty-eight on 25 June 1941. For the rest of the war, teams were dispersed and publications suspended, with the exception of La Vie spirituelle.
In 2011 the headquarters moved to the Couvent Saint-Jacques at .
In 2013 Jean-François Colosimo, after resigning as head of the Centre national du livre, was appointed chair of the management board of ÃÂditions du Cerf, with a mandate to return to break-even after three years of significant losses and to consolidate the editorial line. Part of the former team left the house. The number of employees was reduced from 49 to 15. More importantly, the editorial line shifted toward authors and titles with greater media resonance: notably Adieu Mademoiselle by Eugénie Bastié (2016), Le Porc émissaire: terreur ou contre-révolution by (2018), Vous avez dit conservateur ? by Kévin Boucaud-Victoire (2016), La Guerre des gauches by Mathieu Bock-Côté (2017), and LâÂÂEmpire du politiquement correct (2019). Also LâÂÂErreur de calcul (2014) and Le Nouveau Pouvoir (2017) by Régis Debray, Notre liberté contre leur libéralisme by Clémentine Autain (2018), and Le Désordre idéologique by Gaël Brustier (2017).
In 2016 twenty-seven Dominicans around Henri Burin des Roziers launched a petition against the intrusion of a "perverse right". They said they were saddened to see Colosimo attend the 50th anniversary of Valeurs actuelles, which would break with a progressive tradition âÂÂthat has been the honor of the Dominican Order in France.âÂÂ
According to Joseph Confavreux (Mediapart), this petition did not prevent CerfâÂÂs editorial line from taking a âÂÂreactionaryâ turn, notably with the 2019 publication of LâÂÂÃÂmancipation promise by political scientist Pierre-André Taguieff.
ÃÂditions du Cerf publishes the Bible de Jérusalem, a Catholic translation of the Bible into contemporary formal French. The first edition appeared in 1956, the second in 1977, and the third in 1998.
The main Cerf series, in chronological order: