Charles Sorel (1599 or 1602-1674) is often considered a polygraph, notably because he has published almost sixty works in a variety of fields. He was a novelist, historian of the King, poet, nouvelliste, natural philosopher, moralist, bibliographer, and literary critic, and he even authored books of piety. This versatile writer, who is often associated with libertine culture, began writing at a very young age, publishing an average of one book per year until his death occurred in 1674. Despite being best known for his novels of youth, L’Histoire comique de Francion (1623, 1626, 1633) [The Comical History of Francion, 2005] and Le Berger extravagant (1626–1634) [The Extravagant Shepherd, 1653], Sorel seems to have wanted to privilege the more serious pieces of his abundant production such as the Science universelle (1634-1668), which explains the anonymity that...
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Citation: Mangili, Adrien. "Charles Sorel". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 February 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5601, accessed 13 June 2026.]
