Background
Jean-Louis de Boubers, born in Lille, was the son of Henri-Louis de Boubers de Corbeville, Captain in the Maillé Infantry Regiment and of Marie-Catherine Gavois.
Jean-Louis de Boubers, born in Lille, was the son of Henri-Louis de Boubers de Corbeville, Captain in the Maillé Infantry Regiment and of Marie-Catherine Gavois.
He became royal printer for the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels. He was the brother of Claude-René-Denis de Boubers, named Denis de Boubers, "one of the most remarkable typographer of France", and of Henri-François de Boubers, printer. Printer and bookseller in Dunkerque in 1748, there is strong evidence to indicate that he got another address registration in Liège.
"Liège was actually a duty-free country where printing was developing in the eighteenth century because of equally free counterfeiting practices." In 1759, Jean-Louis de Boubers had allegedly been involved in the conflict between Pierre Rousseau (fr) and Liege authorities: he was ordered "to migrate from the city within three times twenty four hours".
In 1760, he wished to go to Lille to replace Charles-Joseph Panckoucke but was blocked by the town councillor. However in 1761, he obtained the Liege Bourgeois diploma.
Then he migrated to Brussels where he got authorization to establish as printer in 1768. Six years later he was responsible of the most prestigious editions of the Jean-Jacques Rousseau complete works in 12 volumes at a London address.
Granted the privilege of Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie bookseller, he published plays and opéras comiques performed from 1777 to 1799.
Freemason, he joined the Brussels Lodge Les Vrais Amis de la Justice. He printed the journal de Bruxelles. Jean-Louis de Boubers died in Brussels in 1804.