What seems odd to me is that the right and left 'petals' of the knot on the 1713 seem to show the letters P & V, which suggests Payen Veuve, the wife and widow of Jean Payen le Jeune active c 1760 to 1780s (she actually lived until the early 1800s, but according to Chobaut was active as cardmaker between these dates) -
but what would her initials be doing on a 1713 deck? Is it a printing from an old mold adapted by her?
According to Chobaut;
"In 1694, Jean Payen bought the place Saint-Didier, and in 1697, he acquired the paper mill of Trévousc, near Entraigues, that his descendants will preserve until 1774, He died, in a very easy situation, in 1731. His eldest son, Jean (1680-1758) succeeds him at Saint-Didier, then the two sons of the latter, Jean-Pierre 'le cadet' (1708 - 1761), and Pierre Jean 'le jeune' (1719-1764), Pierre-Jean le jeune is succeeded by his widow, Anne-Marie Boujay, and finally, the son of this last, Laurent-Joseph Payen, from 1782 until the Revolution."
On the widow Payen I found this:
From Dictionnaire des journaux 1600-1789:
A Avignon, chez la veuve Payen le Jeune, place Saint-Didier. Imprimeur: Jacques Garrigan jusqu'au n° V, puis J.B. Delorme et F. Guibert à partir du n° VI (19 déc. 1769).
translated by google (tidied up a little) :
After the occupation of Avignon and of Comtat by the troops of Louis XV and the decision to unite these two states to the Crown, the Avignon Courrier was banned from July 1768. Its editor, François Morénas, then asked for authorization to publish in Avignon a sheet of posters, announcements and divers notices comparable to those already existing at Marseilles, Lyon, Toulouse, & c.
The French government granted the requested permission, and Morénas made a notarized agreement, November 19, 1768, with Marie-Anne Boujai, widow of Jean-Pierre Payen called the Younger, paper merchant of Avignon. In the association formed by this contract, Morénas gave the permission he had obtained, while the widow Payen took charge of printing and distribution of a prospectus for the new newspaper and installation of an office to receive the correspondence (in fact, this office was simply established in her shop at Place Saint-Didier).
Subsequently, the supply of paper would fall to her, while Morénas undertook to provide the copy regularly. Other expenses (printing costs, subscription with the post office, etc.) would be deducted from the profits of the company before sharing between the two partners. The first issue appeared on November 21, 1768, and to win the subscribers, they were promised that the term of their subscription would be counted as from January 1, 1769. The benefits of such a sheet probably did not appear obvious, since in a warning published in No. IV (12 Dec. 1768) Morénas felt compelled to justify the interest of his enterprise. But in No. XI (Jan. 30, 1769), the editor triumphed: "The indulgence of the public has manifested itself to us unequivocally; the number of subscribers, surpassing our wishes, matched our expectations. " However, there are no figures to support this beautiful statement.
The departure of Morénas for Monaco, where he would resurrect a Courier (the event is announced in No. VII, Monday, Jan. 2, 1769) would not have had any adverse consequences for the newspaper, which continued its publication under the widow Payen, at least until September 1769 (No. XLIII, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 1769). It is probable that there was an interruption, since the last number known, published under the same title, is presented as "First weekly sheet". It is dated Friday, January 3, 1772. The office is still with the widow Payen, and the printer is Fr. Guibert. No other copy of this new newspaper is known, which must have disappeared soon after.
