French Literature Reviews - 2026

Bayle, Correspondence, Vol. VI: August 1685 – End of June 1686 (Letters 451–587)
Writers: Biography, Letters and Memoirs

Correspondence of Pierre Bayle

Volume VI: August 1685 – End of June 1686 (Letters 451–587)

Oxford, Voltaire Foundation, 2008

Text edited by Elisabeth Labrousse, Antony McKenna, Laurence Bergon, Hubert Bost, Wiep van Bunge, Edward James, Annie Leroux, Caroline Verdier, Fabienne Vial-Bonacci; in collaboration with Eric-Olivier Lochard.

Publisher's description:

Bayle gained widespread European recognition as a journalist for the Republic of Letters and penned a polemical pamphlet against the 'religious policy' of Louis XIV, which culminated in the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He was deeply grief-stricken following the death of his brother Jacob, who had been imprisoned in Bordeaux to 'punish' Bayle for the success of his writings against Maimbourg. He translated the Letter Concerning Toleration by his patron Adriaan Paets, written in London amidst growing hostility toward the Catholic king James II Stuart. Yet the 'Glorious Revolution' was drawing near: Bayle's political and philosophical options were narrowing, leaving him increasingly vulnerable.

ISBN 978-0-7294-0878-3, 2008, hardcover, xxvi+508 pages, 10 illustrations, £99 / €135 excluding tax / $190

Related pages:

Correspondence of Pierre Bayle, Volume V

Correspondence of Pierre Bayle, Vol. IV

This volume captures the correspondence of Pierre Bayle as he navigated the turbulent religious and political landscape of the late seventeenth century. The letters reflect his engagement with the Republic of Letters, his polemical writing against the religious policy of Louis XIV, and the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Readers interested in early modern history, the origins of toleration, and seventeenth-century intellectual networks may find this volume relevant to their research into the period.

The texts gathered here illuminate Bayle's personal and public struggles, including his grief over the imprisonment and death of his brother Jacob, who had been imprisoned to punish Bayle for the success of his writings against Maimbourg, as well as his translation of the letter concerning toleration by his patron Adriaan Paets. Set against the backdrop of shifting political alliances and the mounting tensions surrounding Catholic and Protestant conflicts, the volume documents the pressures shaping Bayle's philosophical trajectory prior to the Glorious Revolution.