Denis Diderot, Jacques le Fataliste et son Maître [Jacques the Fatalist and his Master]

David J. Adams (University of Manchester)

Ed. by David Williams, University of Sheffield
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.04: French Writing and Culture: Eighteenth-Century and the Enlightenment, 1700-1800.
Vol. editors: Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Jenny Mander (University of Cambridge), Síofra Pierse (University College Dublin), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1796

Places

France (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Like many of Diderot's (q.v.) writings,

Jacques le fataliste et son maître

(1796) had a curious history. He probably started writing it in the late 1760s, prompted by the discussion of fatalism by Corporal Trim in Book VIII of Sterne's

Tristram Shandy

, a copy of which was sent to his friend D'Holbach by David Garrick in 1765.

The first clue to the composition of

Jacques

dates from September 1771, when Diderot apparently read an early version of it to a friend. It was completed over the next few years; between 1778 and 1780, instalments appeared in the

Correspondance littéraire,

a manuscript newsletter edited by his friend Melchior Grimm. Additions appeared in the

in July 1780 and a substantial final set was included posthumously in the issue for April 1786. Thus, Diderot worked…

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1993 words

Citation: Adams, David J.. "Jacques le Fataliste et son Maître". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 September 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4367, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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Denis Diderot, Jacques le Fataliste et son Maître [Jacques the Fatalist and his Master]

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