''Aline et Valcour; ou, Le Roman philosophique'' is an

epistolary novel An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered ...

by the

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusat ...

. It contrasts a brutal

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

kingdom, Butua, with a South Pacific island paradise known as Tamoé and led by the

philosopher-king The philosopher king is a hypothetical ruler in whom political skill is combined with philosophical knowledge. The concept of a city-state ruled by philosophers is first explored in Plato's '' Republic'', written around 375 BC. Plato argued that ...

Zamé. Sade wrote the book while incarcerated in the

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was sto ...

in the 1780s. Published in 1795, it was the first of Sade's books published under his true name.

Bibliography

The book was translated into English, German, Spanish and Japanese. An essay titled "Observations on Aline and Valcour" by Alice Laborde appeared in the collection ''Sade, his ethics and rhetoric'' by Colette Verger Michael, New York 1989. ''Blank darkness: Africanist discourse in French'' by Christopher L Miller (Chicago 1985) contains a chapter titled "No one's novel: Sade's Aline et Valcour".

External links

Aline et Valcour
tome 1 (in French) from

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...

Aline et Valcour
tome 2 (in French) from

Aline et Valcour
tome 3 (in French) from

Aline et Valcour
tome 4 (in French) from

* ''Aline et Valcour, ou le roman philosophique''. Écrit à la Bastille un an avant la Révolution de France
vol. 1vol. 2vol. 3vol. 4
a Paris, Chez la Veuve Girouard, Libraire maison Égalité, Galerie de Bois, n°. 196, 1795. *''Aline and Valcour'', Vols 1–3 (in English) fro
Contra Mundum Press
tr. by John Galbraith Simmons & Jocelyne Geneviève Barque 1790s fantasy novels 1795 novels Epistolary novels French erotic novels Novels by the Marquis de Sade Prison writings Novels set in Africa Novels set in Oceania Novels set on islands {{epistolary-novel-stub