Bernardin de Saint-Pierre: Colonial Traveler, Enlightenment Reformer, Celebrity Writer

By Simon Davies

Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment 2021: 01

ISBN: 9781789622485 , 372 pages, £ 65.00

A major figure in late eighteenth-century France, the first scholarly editions of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's correspondence and Complete Works have revealed his under-researched importance and impact. In multi-generic works he treated science, the environment, colonialism, slavery, education and social reform. He was an influential celebrity for the powerful and the powerless.

The fresh perspectives in this book further enhance Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's reputation as an essential point of reference for understanding the late eighteenth-century cultural, philosophical and political scene in France.

The book explores the importance of celebrity in shaping moral, social and political attitudes throughout France in the late eighteenth century. 

Simon Davies was formerly Professor of Enlightenment Studies and the founding Director of the Centre for Eighteenth-Century Studies at Queen’s University Belfast. He is the assistant Director of the correspondence of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (Electronic Enlightenment) and the general editor of two volumes of Bernardin’s Complete Works (Garnier).