Œuvres complètes de Montesquieu. I. Lettres persanes (review)

This exhaustive critical edition contains a wealth of material for specialists, but the quality of its apparatus (the work of Pauline Kra and Didier Masseau, along with the editors) will benefit students as well. The editors break with tradition by using the first edition of 1721 (150 letters) as the basis for their text, arguing that this edition is the one that was historically significant. The 1758 edition favored by Vernière and others derives from a flawed counterfeit edition of the original and represents a 'compromise' rather than a fully faithful reproduction of the author's final intentions (p. 43). The eleven additional letters found in the 1758 edition (three of which go back to the second edition of 1721) are given as lettres supplémentairesafter the main text, which does indicate their position in the sequence. Montesquieu's 'réflexions' are also placed after the text as more properly a postface than a 'guide de lecture'. Appendices offer detailed genetic studies of this important essay and of the supplementary letter on suicide. Reproducing the spelling of the original does not make the reading experience noticeably more difficult, while restoring the original punctuation allows the reader to better experience the rhythm of Montesquieu's long, periodic sentences, for instance, in letter II. On another level, the editors adopt Jean-Paul Schneider's view, based on close study of the time it takes letters to travel from Persia to France, that at the time Usbek writes his last letter ( CXXXVIII[1721]/ CLXVI[1758]), he has received the defiant letter from the dying Roxane that concludes the book. His letter ishis response.

The introductions by Volpilhac-Auger ('Écriture') and Stewart ('Lectures') are rich in insights. We get a convincing explanation of the reasons behind the enigmatic second edition of 1721, as well as stimulating remarks on the genre of the work. 'Dépaysement n'est pas voyage', Stewart writes (p. 44), arguing that Lettres persanesis not really a travel book: space is less important than time. It is also anachronistic to read Lettres persanesas an epistolary novel, agenre that did not yet exist (p. 50). The annotations build on previous work but offer much new material. Particularly stimulating are the lexical notes: 'soutenir' (p. 158), 'subtil' (p. 161), the evolution of 'tolérance' from a negative to a positive meaning (p. 290), 'nouveau riche' (p. 397), the fact that the word 'luxe' does not appear at all in this book (p. 421). Since this volume is also the first of this Œuvres complètes, it also includes a general introduction (J. Ehrard), a bibliography of earlier collected editions (C. P. Courtney), an essay on Montesquieu's extant manuscripts (G. Benrekassa), and other material.