''Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy'' (french: L'Espion Turc) is an eight-volume collection of fictional letters claiming to have been written by an Ottoman spy named "Mahmut", in the French court of Louis XIV.

Authorship and publication

It is agreed that the first volume of this work was written by Giovanni Paolo Marana (1642–1693), a Genoese political refugee to the French court of Louis XIV.

Rosalind Ballaster Rosalind Ballaster (born 1962 in Bombay) is a scholar of 18th-century literature and a specialist in Georgian theatre. A Professor at Mansfield College, Oxford, she is a winner of the British Academy's Rose Mary Crawshay Prize for 2006. Life Ros ...

, 2005, ''Fables of the East: selected tales, 1662-1785'', page 207 The first volume (102 letters) was published in several parts between 1684 and 1686 in both Italian and in a French translation.C. J. Betts, 1984, ''Early deism in France'', pages 97-8 They were translated by William Bradshaw into English in 1687 under the supervision of

Robert Midgley The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, who owned the copyright of the work. The remaining seven volumes appeared first in English between 1691 and 1694, prefaced with a letter claiming that they were translated from a discovered Italian manuscript. A French edition of the last seven volumes (with the first) was published in 1696–7 and asserting that it was a translation from the English.Rosalind Ballaster, 2005, ''Fables of the East: selected tales, 1662-1785'', page 208 The eight volumes contain 644 letters. There has long been a controversy as to the authorship of the volumes subsequent to Marana's first. They have been attributed to many writers, most notably Robert Midgley and William Bradshaw, who produced the English translation.Paula R. Backscheider, Catherine Ingrassia, 2005, ''A companion to the eighteenth-century English novel and culture'', page 58 However, given the similarities between the letters, and the stylistic coherence of the whole series, the likeliest author is Marana himself.Rosalind Ballaster, 2005, ''Fabulous orients: fictions of the East in England, 1662-1785'', page 145 Marana may have had difficulty in getting the later volumes published in France and turned to England to secure their continuing appearance. The work was popular throughout the 18th century and went through fifteen complete editions by 1801.

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

was attracted to the deist rationalist sympathies of the purported spy; his ''Continuation of Turkish Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy in Paris'' (1718) extended the narrator's account from 1687 to 1693.

Content

The volumes contain fictional letters written by one "Mahmut the Arabian." The letters cover the period of 1637 to 1682 in France, from the last years of the Regency of Anne of Austria and

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

through the long reign of Louis XIV and his minister Cardinal Mazarin. The Letters form a rambling journal of gossip on current politics and satire on society. Mahmut sends reports from Paris to Constantinople on politics and current events in France, but corresponds privately on other subjects including religion, and adds stories and anecdotes for diversion. His observations range from those on political figures such as Richelieu and Mazarin to speculations on the status of women, advice about state policy, and major interventions in controversies about religious doctrine and their consequences.Paula R. Backscheider, Catherine Ingrassia, 2005, ''A companion to the eighteenth-century English novel and culture'', page 61 His political position in the letters changes from that of liberal Catholic to that of a rationalistic Deist.

References

External links

* Internet Archive texts:
Letters writ by a Turkish spy, Volume 1, 26th edition, published 1770

Letters writ by a Turkish spy, Volume 2, 26th edition, published 1770

Letters writ by a Turkish spy, Volume 3, 26th edition, published 1770

Letters writ by a Turkish spy, Volume 4, 26th edition, published 1770

Letters writ by a Turkish spy, Volume 5, 26th edition, published 1770

Letters writ by a Turkish spy, Volume 6, 26th edition, published 1770

Letters writ by a Turkish spy, Volume 7, 26th edition, published 1770

Letters writ by a Turkish spy, Volume 8, 26th edition, published 1770Ida Triglia,''L'Espion Turc on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Between Memory and Censorship''
{{Authority control 1684 novels Epistolary novels Novels set in the 1630s Novels set in the 1640s Novels set in the 1650s Novels set in the 1660s Novels set in the 1670s Novels set in the 1680s Novels set in France Orientalism Ottoman Empire in fiction Works published under a pseudonym Works of uncertain authorship