Clandestine E-Texts

From the Eighteenth Century

Edited byGianluca Mori

Clandestine E-Texts is based at the University of Turin-Vercelli -- Updated: December 1999 --

French clandestine manuscripts are one of the most interesting phenomena of early Enlightenment. A great number of texts have been discovered and studied since Gustave Lanson's (1912) and Ira O. Wade's (1938) pioneer studies. The most famous and widely spread manuscripts are the Traité des trois imposteurs, the Mémoire by Jean Meslier, Du Marsais' Examen de la religion and Fréret's Lettre de Thrasybule à Leucippe. The philosophical inspiration of these treatises is not always the same. They only share an anti-christian attitude, leading sometimes either to a deist (Examen de la religion) or to an atheist position (Meslier's Mémoire, Fréret's Lettre de Thrasybule à Leucippe). Some critical editions of these texts are already available, and a collection entirely devoted to clandestine philosophical texts is directed by Antony McKenna at the Voltaire Foundation in Oxford. We offer here a limited but representative selection of texts, hoping to increase for the future the extent and quality of our electronic corpus.

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E-Texts

Le Philosophe (ed. by G. Mori)

By César Chesneau Du Marsais. Composed around 1720, this text is generally considered as a manifesto of French Enlightenment. It appeared inside a printed recueil of clandestine texts (the Nouvelles libertés de penser) in 1743. An abridged version was included in Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie.

Traité des trois imposteurs (ed. by G. Mori)

Author unknown. The Traité des trois imposteurs is one of the most famous French clandestine manuscripts. First edited in 1719 under the title L'Esprit de Spinosa. This is a late edition (1768). A critical edition (by Fr. Charles-Daubert) of several manuscript and printed versions is available at The Voltaire Foundation, Oxford.

Lettre de Thrasybule à Leucippe (ed. by S. Landucci)

By Nicolas Fréret. Maybe the best example of a philosophical clandestine work. This atheist treatise was composed around 1720 by the famous historien Nicolas Fréret, and published under his name in 1765 (six years after Fréret's death). The attribution to Fréret has been confirmed by Sergio Landucci, whose critical edition is based on all existing copies of the text. For more details, and for the editor's thorough introduction, see the printed version: N. Fréret, Lettre de Thrasybule à Leucippe, Firenze, L.S. Olschki, 1986.

Sermon des cinquante (ed. by J.P. Lee)

By Voltaire. Text taken from the Recueil nécessaire avec l'Evangile de la raison (1776). It is the last edition of the text before Voltaire died and represents the most complete version, containing cumulatively several pages lacking in the Kehl/Moland/Pléiade version. It will serve as the basic text for the critical edition being prepared by J. Patrick Lee for the Oxford edition of the "Complete Works".

Examen de la religion - Chapitre I (ed. by G. Mori)

By César Chesneau Du Marsais. This is the first chapter of the so-called "11 chapters-version", which is one of the two main versions of Du Marsais' Examen (written around 1705). Text taken from the recent critical edition by G. Mori, which is based on the whole corpus of available manuscripts and printings (Oxford, The Voltaire Foundation, 1998; coll. «Libre pensée et littérature clandestine», dir. by Antony McKenna).

Recherches sur l'origine du despotisme oriental (ed. by M.-A. Bernier)

By Nicolas-Antoine Boulanger. Les Recherches sur l'origine du despotisme oriental was written by Nicolas-Antoine Boulanger (1722-1759) in 1755 and first published in 1761 by the baron d'Holbach. In 1988, Paul Sadrin proposed a critical edition based upon the five known manuscripts; the text of this edition is taken from a recently discovered manuscript which the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières has just acquired.

Jordanus Brunus redivivus (ed. by G. Mori)

Author unknown. A late text (ca. 1770) which is based on different sources. The most important one are Charles Sorel's works. In its final part, it deals with the problem of evil, which is considered by the anonymous author as an insurmountable objection against theology.

Difficultés sur la religion - Cahier I (ed. by Fr. Deloffre and Fr. Moureau)

By Robert Challe. This version is taken from the best manuscript currently available, and contains the first "Cahier", which introduces the main themes of Challe's deism. A truncated version of the Difficultés was published by d'Holbach and Naigeon under the title "Le militaire philosophe" in 1768.

Lettre sur les difficultés de l'étude de l'Ecriture (ed. by A. McKenna)

By Francis Hare. We present here the French translation of a letter published in 1714 by Francis Hare, bishop of Chichester, under the title The Difficulties and Discouragements which attend the Study of Scripture. The text reflects an important moment in political and theological debate among Latitudinarians in England. The French translation is an excellent example of "cultural transfer", in so far as it could be read in France as confirmation of the failure of controversy between Catholics and Protestants, a failure which greatly favoured the emergence of freethought.

Extrait du Discours sur les miracles (ed. by William Trapnell)

By Emilie du Châtelet (?) The manuscript "Voltaire 8o 221" of the National Library of Saint-Petersbourg contains this French abridged version of Woolston's Six Discourses on the Miracles of Our Savior (1727-1729), with a commentary of the translator (probably the marquise E. Du Châtelet).

Traité de la liberté (ed. by G. Mori)

By Fontenelle. The most famous clandestine work from Fontenelle. First edited in the Nouvelles libertés de penser (1743), then reprinted in many posthumous editions of Fontenelle's works.

Infaillibilité du jugement humain (ed. by A. McKenna)

By William Lyons. A plea for religious toleration from a representative of the radical wing of English Protestantism. This text is a French translation of Lyons' The Infallibility, dignity and excellency of humane judgement; being a new art of reasoning and discovering truth (London 1719).

Sentimens des philosophes sur la nature de l'âme (ed. by G. Mori)

By Benoit de Maillet. This text was also included in the Nouvelles libertés de penser (1743) and then in the Recueil philosophique, edited by Naigeon in 1771. The attribution to Maillet has recently been proposed by G. Mori. See "La Lettre clandestine", 4.

Histoire de Caléjava Livre VI (ed. by G. Mori)

By Claude Gilbert. The Histoire de Caléjava never circulated as a manuscript. It was published in 1700 but the whole edition was burnt, with the only exception of a small number of exemplars, one of which is now at the Bibliothèque Nationale, in Paris.

Origine des êtres et espèces (ed. by G. Mori)

By Henri de Boulainviller. This short text (1705-1710 ?) is contained in Boulainviller Extraits de lecture. It is devoted to an audacious analysis of the origins of life on earth.

Essais sur la recherche de la vérité (ed. by Sergio Landucci)

Author unknown. An early atheist treatise, written around 1730 by an unknown writer who tries to refute the most common arguments of Christian theologians for the immortality of the soul and the existence of God. Never published before 1984.

Réflexions sur l'existence de l'âme et de Dieu (ed. by G. Mori)

Author unknown. Also included in the Nouvelles libertés de penser (1743). It is sometimes attributed to Du Marsais.

From other servers:

Opinions des anciens philosophes sur le monde (from CHSPM - Univ. de Paris I)

"Edition établie en 1999 dans le cadre du séminaire de DEA "littérature philosophique clandestine", dir. Olivier Bloch, à l'Université de Paris I."

La religion chrétienne analysée (from CHSPM - Univ. de Paris I)

"Edition établie en 1999 dans le cadre du séminaire de DEA "littérature philosophique clandestine", dir. Olivier Bloch, à l'Université de Paris I."

L'âme matérielle [CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE]

Ed. by Alain Niderst. Text in PDF format from The Voltaire Foundation, Oxford.

The Tree Impostors

English translation (from "The Secular Web") of the Traité des trois imposteurs, same version as above.

Ms. 702 - Bibliothèque Municipale de Douai (from ABU)

A French libertine manuscript from Douai's collection, transcribed by Eric Dubreucq.

La Lettre Clandestine (n° 1 - 7)

Order to: Presses de l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 18 rue de la Sorbonne
75230 PARIS CEDEX 05 - fax (33) 1 40462588

Links and bibliographical tools

Bibliographia clandestina

By Alain Mothu (Paris). An exaustive list of books and articles concerning clandestine literature. With some reviews taken from La Lettre Clandestine.

Les manuscrits philosophiques clandestins

A wide introduction to the research on clandestine XVIIIth-century texts, by Antony McKenna

Voltaire: the Moland Edition

Electronic version. Texts in HTML edited by Daniel Boudin.

Libre pensée et littérature clandestine

Collection directed by Antony McKenna at The Voltaire Foundation, Oxford. Critical editions of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century works related to free-thought: clandestine manuscripts, heterodox publications, etc.

La Lettre Clandestine

Electronic version (Université de Paris-XII) of "La Lettre clandestine", bulletin on clandestine literature edited by A.Mothu et al. It appears once in a year and contains articles, reviews, bibligraphical information.

Passe-Partout (Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire -Lausanne)

Banque internationale d'ornements d'imprimerie // International Bank of Printers' Ornaments // International Bank von Buchdruck Ornemente // Banca Internazionale d'ornamenti di stamperia.

c18 - The eighteenth century on line

International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies // Société internationale d'étude du XVIIIe siècle

The Pierre Bayle Home Page

A site devoted to the thought and work of Pierre Bayle. Bibliographical information, news and projects. List of related sites. Edited by G. Mori.