The Persian Letters (Lettres persanes) is perhaps the first great popularwork of the European Enlightenment. Conceived around 1717,it was published anonymously in 1721 and enjoyed immediatenotoriety. The playwright Marivaux was critical of its ‘falsebrilliance’ about serious subjects, while the historian and journalistDenis-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 predictionwas correct, and Montesquieu later noted that booksellers,eager to cash in, implored members of the public to ‘write them somePersian Letters’. The original two slim volumes clearly caught themood of the moment.

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