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Founded in 1913 by writers Paul Budry and Edmond Gilliard, the Cahiers vaudois were published from 1914 to 1920. The cover illustration, a woodcut by Henry Bischoff, features a hand squeezing a bunch of grapes whose juice fills a glass, all encircled by the motto: “J’exprime” (“I express”).

The Cahiers vaudois set out to renew intellectual life in French-speaking Switzerland generally, and to take up a position in the cultural avant-garde. Initially a monthly arts magazine, the imprint became a publisher of unique works, especially by Ramuz. The leader of a whole generation of writers and artists, he was the author of the manifesto published in the first issue, titled Raison d’être (1914). More than one in every four issues of the Cahiers was devoted to Ramuz. Indeed, between 1914 and 1920 he relied almost exclusively on the magazine to publish his major texts. Most of the French-language magazines founded in the 20th century in Switzerland followed in the footsteps of the Cahiers vaudois, or reacted to their positioning.