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This article explores how The Fable of the Bees was received in France, and provides a broad outline of its influence on the philosophers of the French Enlightenment. Reference to Bernard Mandeville's work in French periodicals (between 1720 and 1750), together with a series of disapproving critiques that appeared after the French translation of the Fable, indicate keen interest in this author on the part of French intellectuals. Mandeville's reputation both on the Continent and in England as an immoral philosopher and champion of paradoxical theses, had earned him a degree of fame in France even before the publication of the French translation of the Fable in 1740. Even if considerably closer to the original than the unpublished translation by Emilie Du Châtelet, this translation reveals a number of discrepancies with respect to Mandeville's text, which -- along with the accompanying Introduction -- suggest an attempt by the editors to adjust the philosophy and to tone down the shocking ramifications of some of the author's theses. Despite the numerous adverse critiques prompted by the book, the Fable had a strong influence on several French authors, such as Voltaire and Jean-Francois Melon. In particular, Mandeville's reflections on luxury and economics had a major impact on French philosophers, fuelling a heated dispute over luxury, and pointing to the centrality of economic analysis in the study of human society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay provides an overview of works of scholarship about eighteenth-century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, including biographies, critical editions of his work, and critical studies of his writings. Books discussed include "Jean-Jacques: The Early Life and Work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712–1754" by Maurice Cranston, "Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius" by Leo Damrosch, and "Œuvres complètes" 5 volumes, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, edited by Bernard Gagnebin and Marcel Raymond.

The article provides an analysis of the literary works of Jean Chardin in eighteenth century France. The period produced three biospheres that caught the fascination of historians, such as the decadent social life of the aristocrat of the Ancien Régime; the life of the enlightenment mind; and the bloody politics of the Revoution. His major publication titled "Les Voyages en Perse," came out just a couple of years before his death in 1711.

Examines a French text published under the name of Jean-Paul Marana in 1684-1686 which was known as `L'Espion du Grand-Seigneur.' Specific identity of the work of 1684-1686; Hidden French Enlightenment characteristics of the text; Traces in the work of the personal myth of its author.