Il mondo in una busta. La forma epistolare come paradigma rappresentativo dell’ideologia illuminista francese

Abstract

This essay aims to present an overview of epistolary writing in eighteenth-
century France. In particular, the concept of network is described
as a modelling figure of epistolary exchange, as well as of
Enlightenment thought in a broader sense. The letter form is also
analyzed as the dominant genre within the scientific production of
the time.