Title: The art of the Persian letters : unlocking Montesquieu's "secret chain" /
Authors: Runyon, Randolph, 1947-
Publisher: University of Delaware Press ; Associated University Presses,
Year: 2005
Subjects: Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat,
Abstract: "Some thirty years after the initial publication of Montesquieu's Persian Letters in 1721, the author hinted at the presence of "a secret, and somehow unnoticed, chain" tying together this entertaining, insightful, yet disparate collection of fictional letters to and from two Persian travelers in France. Ever since Montesquieu's subtle hint, readers have tried to identify the chain, but the riddle has resisted solution. The reason may be that no one has actually looked for a hidden chain - composed of separate links - but instead for a unifying theme.
Contents: Getting there (letters 1-22) -- First impressions (letters 23-43) -- Usbek loosens up (letters 44-63) -- The disordered library (letters 64-79) -- Less is more, and other hidden topics (letters 80-97) -- A machine in action (letters 98-122) -- The beginning of the end (letters 123-146) -- Disorder in the Seraglio (letters 147-161) -- Afterword: "on the cause of the echo."