At the end of the article about the art of farting, I said that I believed that the book ''L'art de péter'' was the first mention of the expression ''Pet en l'air''. My historians friends helped me to retrace that expression before 1751. A special thanks to those friends: Joseph Gagné from the Blog Curious New France for looking into his dictonnary ef ethymology and to my boyfriend Michel Thévenin from the Blog Tranchée et Tricorne to help in this research.
First finding: Dictionaries does not always contain all the usable words. I should have guessed that because the word ''pet-en-l'air'' has been retired from the official dictionary of french in 2018, juged too old and not used. See this video of the ''Journal télévisé de13Heures'' of France2 aired in 15th November 2018 .
So the dictionary does not always contains all the words used of the period it is published.
Modern dictionaries seem to have retained that ''pet-en-l'air'' is a short ''paletot'', in other words a kind a loose fit vest, unisex and comfortable. (Traductions of the definitions of the Larousse dictionary, found online)
The research that lead to the writing of this article, I found a dictionary that contains the definition of the ''pet-en-l'air'' dating from the 18th century: Nouveau dictionnaire universel des arts et des sciences, françois, latin et anglois (1756). Weirdly, this definition does not fit the famous one of M. de Garsault who wrote that a ''pet-en-l'air'' is like a dress but only shorter. This 18th century dictionary definition is more alike the one of the modern Larousse dictionary. This 18th century dictionary is edited in Paris, France.
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Page 212
''bedgown that goes only to the knee''
Dictionnaire universel des arts et des sciences, françois, latin et anglois (1756)
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Second finding: My history idiom works: one source is good, two is better.. But plenty is the best! See the article about mantelet to read the first enonciation of my history idiom. Because I wanted to share rapidly my discoveries, I got wrong into the article about the art of farthing: 1751 and the ''Art de péter'' is not the first written place where the expression ''pet en l'air'' is seen.
Third constatation, and a deceptive one for me : the ''Art de péter'' did not influence the fashion to make the name of the feminine piece of clothing described by M. de Garsault in 1769. It was too good to be true.
This is the result of my research to document all the sources mentionning the expression ''pet-en-l'air'' that appeared before 1751, when the ''Art de péter'' was published. Because I thought it was the fisrt mention of the expression.
1631, the first time I found the expression
The earlier I found the ''pet-en-l'air'' expression is in this book from 1631, published in Rouen, France: Histoire générale de Normandie, contenant les choses mémorables (...), par M. Gabriel Du Moulin, Curé de Maneual.
In this book, the expression means gesture of showing the cheek of the bum. is has no relation with clothing. Because the gesture is not further detailed in the book, I want to share my interpretation of it. To make the gesture of a ''pet en l'air'', you have to slip down your breeches, trousers, pants or whatever you wear on your hip to put your bum into the air and then fart as loud as you can.
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| On the top of the roof: five bums making a ''pet-en-l'air'' in place of the canons commanded by the Prince Pet-en-l'Air to welcome the Amazone emissary Extract of Art de péter, edition of 1776. |
1685, second mention of the expression
Between 1631 and 1685, I have not found another mention of the expression. The second time it appears in my research is in a collection of funny and burlesque plays It is called: Recueil des pièces du temps ou divertissement curieux pour chasser la mélancolie & faire passer le temps agréablement, contenant vingt pièces burlesques & facecieuses. This book is published at La Haye, in Holland.
It was not easy to understand the meaning of the sentence. According to my understanding: the character of this play is a noble who has been awoke by a huge fart of his valet in the beginning of the play and the ''pet en l'air'' is the last sentence of the play. I think that it refers to the manner the character was awaken in the beginning of the play but the sentence is so confusing that it could mean another thing. Another way to understand the sentence is no matter your reputation, if you ''pet en l'air'' (fart into the air) your name will be a disgrace. I think that ''pet en l'air'' mentions an action like the first one.
Le Mercure Galant editions of 1728 et 1729, first source of naming a piece of clothing called a ''pet-en-l'air''
In only one year apart, two definitions of a piece of clothing called ''pet-en-l'air'' appears.
The first apparition is in the description of a play and the ''pet-en-l'air'' is a masculine piece of clothing. The character who wears it, '' Lyncée'' is a man. This description appeared into the Mercure de France of July 1728.
The ''Mercure de France'' is edited in Paris, France.
At night, the male character appears on scene with a lantern in his head and a night cap. This context makes thing about a nightgown for man, like the 1756 description of a short nightgown for a ''pet-en-l'air'' into the dictionary.
Next year, 1729, the same magazine talks about another ''pet-en-l'air'' and describe a of clothing for woman like the description of M. de Garsault. If it is a game of who came first, the man banyan ''pet-en-l'air'' came one year before the pretty woman one.
Into the end of the piece description there is another mention of a ''pet-en-l'air'':
The main character is a woman. She wakes up to realize that someone cut her dress and transformed it into a ''pet-en-l'air. 1729 is, according to my humble research, the first mention of the feminine ''pet-en-l'air'' as described by M. de Garsault into the Art du Tailleur of 1769.
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| Extract of L'Art du Tailleur, 1769 François-Alexandre-Pierre de Garsault This is the most reported written description to claim what is a ''pet-en-l'air'' |
1728 à 1751: Different clothing for both sexes
From now, I regroup the mentions of ''pet-en l'air'' by the gender who wears it. I finished my search around 1751 because it is the date I thought it was the first mention of a ''pet-en-l'air'' before that search.
Let's begin with menswear:
The first man mention has been seen above, in the ''Mercure de France'' of 1728. Here are the other findings:
-1741 into a fairytale called Le prince Courtebotte et la princesse Zibeline, from Fééries Nouvelles of the writer Anne Claude Philippe de Tubières de Lévis Comte de Caylus. This book is published in La Haye, Holland.
Little fun fact about that book. the author clearly claims that he did steal the fairytales he publish to explain why the last one is not finished. Editing world is a fascinating one, even almost 300 years ago!
The king of the story when the queen is finally giving birth to their child in the middle of the night just put on a ''pet-en-l'air'' and slippers. and went to the queen's appartement. But He could not make it in time.
-1745 in another fairytale called La princesse Azerole ou l'excès de la constance, into the book called Cinq contes de Fées. The place of printing is unknown.
Turlupin is a man character depicted as the fool of the castle, He wears a ''pet-en-l'air'' made in a fabric that has been dyed many times. It is more plausible that the guy wears a man's clothes designed for night during the day than a woman's day dress. Travesty was not an acceptable thing back then.
Now the mentions that designed woman's clothing:
-1731 a woman ''pet-en-l'air'' appears into the play Arlequin Bellerophon from Nouveau Théâtre Italien from an author collective. It is printed in Paris, France.
One of freshly captured Amazons says about another woman that if she conquered the heart of the man that captures them only wearing a ''pet-en-l'air'', she must be redoutable when fully armed!
This mention is not very descriptive as the one of the Mercure de France in 1729. It is only associate with a woman. I assume that the piece of clothing is supposed to be seen in public.
-1742, another ''pet-en-l'air'' for woman appears into a litterature review. It talks about the queen of bees wearing a different piece of clothing that the workers bees or the flys. Found into the Bibliothèque Françoise ou Histoire Littéraire, tome 35, seconde partie. That book is published in Amsterdam, Holland.
The queen of bees wear a ''juste'' or one of those short piece of clothing that Ladys called a ''pet-en-l'air''. Why insects are wearing human clothes, I did not read enough to understand. But that description from Holland is more descriptive, classing the ''pet-en-l'air'' into the same category of the ''juste''.
-1749 , the woman ''pet-en-l'air'' appears in the second scene of the tragic play called: Les deux biscuits. The editing place is not mentioned but it is sold at Astracan.
The context of the play is simple. Abubef, a noble Lady, is requiring pieces of clothing to her domestics and asks for a ''pet-en-l'air''.
- 1752, it is one year after the timeframe I gave myself but the mention of the ''pet-en-l'air'' of that book is too cool to not talk about it, It appears int the Réflexions critiques sur les différentes écoles de peinture written by M. le Marquis D'argens, Jean-Baptiste Boyer. The book is published in Paris, France.
One mention is in between the two above description
To make people more confused about the different piece of clothing, in the previously mentionned Nouveau Théâtre Italien of 1731, another play uses the word ''pet-en-l'air''. In the play Méchante Femme, the ''pet-en-l'air'' is a synonym of a ''manteau-de-lit'', an indoor piece of clothing for woman. A kind of woman banyan if you like.
Conclusion
In the 17th century, ''pet en l'air'' is reffering to an action and not to a piece of clothing. All sources are from France and Holland.
In 18th century, no action mentions. The first piece of clothing described by the name ''pet-en-l'air'' in 1728 is the man banyan type. The description that fits the one made by M. de Garsault in his Art du Tailleur (in 1769) appears one year after. Even if the word appears in the books I mentioned above, they are few. It tend to prove that the word ''pet-en-l'air'' was not a very popular one in the first half of the century.
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| The resume of my pet-en-l'air findings in ancient books |
From the 1760's and after, the mentions of a feminine ''pet-en-l'air'' are really more frequent. I wanted to document the early apparition of the word until the half of the century so I did not keep the later mentions. All the books in this article comes from an European context, mostly from France. but some from Holland.
From my perspective, dictionary will preserve the banyan description of the word and fashion will preserve the woman piece of clothing described by M. de Garsault.
I think I proved my history idiom: one source is good, two is better.. But plenty is the best!
Thank you to have read me until the end!
Mlle Canadienne
A special thank you to my friend Cathrine Davis to help me with my English sentences.
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