État présent des études sur la correspondance de Diderot

Abstract

In this review article, to which is appended a comprehensive bibliography of studies of Diderot's letters, the author shows how there has traditionally been little interest in their study as literary works. Particular series (especially the letters to Sophie Voland) have long attracted attention, but otherwise research has tended to be documentary, or they have been used as a source of biographical information. The author indicates recent interest in the literary qualities of the letters and possible directions for future research, insisting particularly on the need to study the correspondence as a whole.