-The Travels of Mr. John Gulliver: Son of Capt. Lemuel Gulliver

https://www.lehigh.edu/~asj316/journey/desfontaines_002.jpg

Abbé Pierre Desfontaines, a prolific author and editor of literary periodicals who engaged in a bitter feud with Voltaire, was the most celebrated author of the French Enlightenment. In the year after Gulliver’s Travels was published, Desfontaines translated the work into French. Inspired by Swift’s work, Desfontaines published a sequel in 1730 about the journey of Lemuel’s son John Gulliver. Like Swift’s original novel, this sequel was meant to satirize the society in which Desfontaines lived. Some of the imaginary places described in this work include the island of Babilary in the East China Sea, which is ruled by women who are both warriors and artists and whose men are only concerned with beauty and fashion. Desfontaines also describes several islands near Tierra del Fuego, each concerned with different artistic pursuits like Poets’ Island, Orators Island, Musicians’ Island, and Comedians’ Island. While this was one of the earliest works inspired by Gulliver’s Travels, it was part of a larger genre of literature that sought to imitate Swift’s work.

M. l'abbé Desfontaines (1685-1745).
The Travels of Mr. John Gulliver: Son of Capt. Lemuel Gulliver’
London: Sam. Harding, 1731.

Lehigh University Catalog Record: https://asa.lib.lehigh.edu/Record/257909

A version of this text has been digitized and is available through the Hathitrust.

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Journeys and Travel
-The Travels of Mr. John Gulliver: Son of Capt. Lemuel Gulliver