Novel
Persian Letters
Lettres persanes
Montesquieu · 1721
Opening lines
Nous n'avons séjourné qu'un jour à Com.
We stayed only one day in Qom.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from gutenberg.org
Synopsis
In 1711, two Persians, Usbek and Rica, leave Isfahan for Paris, where they will stay until 1720. In the letters they exchange with their friends who have remained in Persia, they describe with astonishment the France of the end of the reign of Louis XIV and of the Regency: its institutions, its religion, its customs and the speculations of Law's system. Meanwhile, from the seraglio that Usbek has left behind in Isfahan, his wives and the eunuchs who guard them write to him too.
Context
The book appeared anonymously in May 1721 in Amsterdam, from the widow of Jacques Desbordes, under the fictitious address of Pierre Marteau in Cologne, and then contained one hundred and fifty letters. Usbek leaves five wives in Isfahan under the guard of eunuchs, whose letters form a second plot. The posthumous edition of 1758, prepared by the author's son, raised the number of letters to one hundred and sixty-one.
Who it is for
An epistolary novel of medium length, in which the satire of French manners and the intrigue of the seraglio are read side by side.
Prizes and reception
It was an immediate success on its publication in 1721, and has never waned since.
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