The

[

], the first published work by the French Enlightenment philosopher and political theorist Montesquieu, appeared in Amsterdam in 1721. That the work was published anonymously outside France and without the official authorisation of the French censors is a mark of its subversive and controversial content, much of which is, however, masked by the author’s masterful use of wit, irony and allusion. The

is an epistolary novel which in its final edition includes 161 letters (the first edition contained 150). These make up the correspondence of two Persian travellers, Usbek and Rica, who leave their home in Ispahan in 1711 and journey to France, where they stay until 1720. Usbek and Rica’s letters to each other and to Persian friends and…

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Citation: Ursula, Haskins Gonthier. "Lettres persanes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 March 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3978, accessed 22 November 2024.]