Diderot: Selected Writings on Art and Literature

by Denis Diderot

In this selection of writings, largely unpublished during Diderot's lifetime, the reader encounters the private man, an engaging character who uses his intellect critically to explore the relationship... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140445889
• ISBN13: 9780140445886
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 362 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Good introduction but serious readers will need more

As this book is currently out of print and fairly scarce, a description of its contents may help those who are interested in the book determine how far it meets their needs. This book includes, after a general introduction, English translations of the following works of Diderot, accompanied by brief introductory notes (not included in page counts) and endnotes mostly relating to specific references within the texts: (1) The theater: Conversations on The Natural Son [Entretiens sur le Fils naturel ] (1757) (77 pages; introduction includes plot summary of The Natural Son [Le Fils naturel]) The Paradox of the Actor [Paradoxe sur le comédien] (final version, before 1784) (160 pages) (2) Painting and the visual arts: The Salons [Salons] (1759-1781(166 pages, selections, mostly from the Salons of 1765 and 1767, arranged by painter) Isolated Thoughts on Painting [Pensées Détachées sur la Peinture, la Sculpture et la Poésie] (1781?) (14 pages, very brief selections from a much longer work) (3) Other: In Praise of Richardson [l'Eloge de Richardson] (1762) (17 pages) (the novel) The book does NOT include the following items that are included in the recent French edition Diderot, tome 4 : Esthétique - Théâtre: (1) The theater: The Natural Son [Le fils naturel] (1757) (play) The Father of the Family [Le Père de famille] (1758) (play) (Discourse) on Dramatic poetry [(Discours) de la poésie dramatique] (1758) (the work that presents the image of the fourth wall) (Reflections) on Terence [(Réflections) sur Térence] (1762) Is it good? Is it Wicked? [Est-il bon? Est-il mechant?] (1781?) (play) (2) Painting and the visual arts: Treaty on Beauty [Traité du Beau] (1772) Essays on Painting to go with the Salon of 1765 [Essais sur la peinture pour faire suite au Salon de 1765] (1766?) Regrets on my old dressing gown or Advice to those who have more taste than fortune [Regrets sur ma vieille robe de chambre ou Avis à ceux qui ont plus de goût que de fortune] (1772?) (3) Other Letter on the deaf and the dumb for the use of those who hear and speak [Lettre sur les sourds et muets à l'usage de ceux qui entendent et qui parlent] (1751) (language) To the minor prophet de Boesmischbroda, to the major prophet Monet) [Au petit prophète de Boesmischbroda, au Grand Prophète Monet] ( 1753) (opera) The three chapters or the Vision of the night from Mardi-Gras to Ash Wednesday [Les trois chapitres ou la vision de la nuit du mardi-gras au mercredi des cendres] (1753) (opera) Geoffrey Bremner, the editor and translator, approaches Diderot as a major writer of the French Enlightment but does not engage deeply with his ideas on art and the theater. He sees Diderot as modern at times, terribly dated at others, sometimes well grounded, sometimes "carried away", and may underestimate the continuity of thought across these boundaries. All in all I would say that the book provides a good introduction to Diderot's aesthetic writings for English readers, but leave