Voltaire's Lettres philosophiques
April 1, 1734
Published in French after an illicit English edition, Voltaire's letters on English liberty, tolerance, Shakespeare, and Newtonian science offered a stinging contrast to France. The book was burned in Paris; Voltaire fled to Cirey. The Enlightenment had found its most dangerous pamphleteer, and its first martyred manifesto. Voltaire spent the next decade at Cirey with Emilie du Chatelet, writing histories and plays in comfortable exile.
In context
Also in 1734 (3 other events on record)
- Jonathan Edwards's Northampton Revival · North America · Religion
- Linnaeus Botanizes in Lapland · Europe · Science
- Salzburg Protestants Arrive in Georgia · North America · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Culture
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.