Persian Letters INTRODUCTION The Persian Letters (Lettres persanes) is perhaps the first great popular work of the European Enlightenment. Conceived around 1717, it was published anonymously in 1721 and enjoyed immediate notoriety. The playwright Marivaux was critical of its ‘false brilliance’ about serious subjects, while the historian and journalist Denis-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 prediction was correct, and Montesquieu later noted that booksellers, eager to cash in, implored members of the public to ‘write them some Persian Letters’. The original two slim volumes clearly caught the mood of the moment.