Féret, the most comprehensive encyclopedia in the world on the Bordeaux vineyard.
Since its first edition in 1850, it has been a reference guide and is still regarded today as the largest source of information in the world on Bordeaux wines.
This guide to the Place de Bordeaux is a reliable and exhaustive source of information: the work is a benchmark of authenticity, often presented before administrative and legal departments.
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Éditions Féret, a long history
Originally from Servigny, a small commune near Coutances in the Manche, Jean-Baptiste Féret set up a bookshop in Bordeaux. As the bookseller’s licence was a privilege, Jean-Baptiste acquired it the following year.
Edouard Féret
On 23 October 1844, Édouard Féret was born, son of Michel-Édouard Féret, at 2 place Saint-Rémi in Bordeaux. After a classical education at the lycée, in 1862 he began a long apprenticeship in the family business. In 1865 he spent a year at a Parisian publishing house to complete his training as a publisher. Back in Bordeaux in 1866, he was entrusted by his father with updating Bordeaux et ses Vins, the second edition of which appeared in 1868. Édouard Féret had a talent for adaptation. Relieved of the management of the bookshop by his brother Émile (born in 1846), Édouard, besides his own publishing work on history, agriculture and viticulture, took an interest in every subject. He was President of the Syndicat des libraires du Sud-Ouest, a founding member of the Société archéologique de Bordeaux and of the Revue historique de Bordeaux et du Sud-Ouest, and of course led the Société des bibliophiles de Guyenne.
The first “Féret”
The year 1850 was to leave a deep mark on the Féret house and on its future in the publishing world. It saw the publication of Le Guide de l’étranger à Bordeaux et dans la Gironde. Bordeaux, ses environs et ses vins classés par ordre de mérite: the first “Féret”. It ran to 316 pages.
Development of Éditions Féret
Claude placed the bookshop under a management lease (it was to close in 1983) but kept the publishing house. In 1986 the two entities were reunited, but the bookshop could not reopen. In April 1989, a stroke kept him out of the world for four months. He improved, but suffered a relapse at the beginning of 1990. He died in 1995. His stepson, Marc-Henry Lemay, who had worked since 1960 on the preparation of the books, and in particular on the compilation of the “Férets”, took over. The family entrusted him with the task of ensuring the continuity of the publishing house. In 1992 Marc-Henry created the SARL Éditions Féret, which took over from Claude Féret’s sole-proprietor business in order to carry on the work of five generations of Férets. He surrounded himself with enthusiasts and passed on the “Féret” know-how. In some twenty years, more than 200 titles were published. His successors have in turn committed themselves to securing a bright future for this house, which forms part of the DNA of Bordeaux.
The digital shift
Éditions Féret is making a necessary digital shift, while continuing its historic activity in keeping with the values of the oldest independent publishing house in France. This development is part of a gradual transformation, driven by the desire to showcase the Bordeaux vineyard and its players more effectively. It involves the whole team, fully committed to this change and united around the same objectives: strengthening the visibility of content, supporting estates and continuing to promote the Bordeaux vineyard.
