Libertine novel
The libertine novel was an 18th-century literary genre of which the roots lay in the European but mainly French libertine tradition. The genre effectively ended with the French Revolution. Themes of libertine novels were anti-clericalism, anti-establishment and eroticism.
Authors include
Cyrano de Bergerac
,
Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon,
Denis Diderot,
Marquis de Sade,
Choderlos de Laclos.
Other famous titles are Histoire de Dom Bougre, Portier des Chartreux and Thérèse Philosophe.
Precursors to the libertine writers were Théophile de Viau and Charles de Saint-Evremond, who were inspired by Epicurus and the publication of Petronius, and John Wilmot.
Robert Darnton is a cultural historian who has covered this genre extensively.English translations
In alphabetical order by author's last name:
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