Les Philosophes de Palissot (1760) : la querelle et les passions épistolaires qui s’ensuivirent

Abstract

Les Philosophes, a French comedy by Palissot, a protégé of the royal minister Choiseul, was produced in Paris in May 1760 with the intention of discrediting Diderot and the Encyclopaedists. That summer it became a huge success, mainly due to the performance of an actor walking on stage on all fours (intended to denigrate Rousseau’s reputation). The purpose of the present article is to show, through the study of some of the lampoons and letters exchanged at that time, how the affair eventually tarnished the reputation of both parties, and how only the clever Voltaire emerged victorious from this heated debate.