The Persian Letters (Lettres persanes) is perhaps the first great popular
work of the European Enlightenment. Conceived around 1717,
it was published anonymously in 1721 and enjoyed immediate
notoriety. The playwright Marivaux was critical of its ‘false
brilliance’ about serious subjects, while the historian and journalist
Denis-François Camusat applauded its brilliance but called the contents
‘dangerous’. A cleric, stung by its critical attitude to religion,
told Montesquieu that his book ‘would sell like hot cakes’. The prediction
was correct, and Montesquieu later noted that booksellers,
eager to cash in, implored members of the public to ‘write them some
Persian Letters’. The original two slim volumes clearly caught the
mood of the moment.