The libertine novel was an 18th-century literary genre of which the roots lay in the European but mainly French libertine tradition. The genre effectively ended with the French Revolution. Themes of libertine novels were anti-clericalism, anti-establishment and eroticism.

Authors include Cyrano de Bergerac (L’Autre monde ou les états et empires de la Lune, 1657), ^[1] Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (Les Égarements du cœur et de l'esprit, 1736; Le Sopha, conte moral, 1742), Denis Diderot (Les bijoux indiscrets, 1748), Marquis de Sade (L'Histoire de Juliette, 1797–1801), Choderlos de Laclos (Les Liaisons dangereuses, 1782).

Other famous titles are Histoire de Dom Bougre, Portier des Chartreux (1741) and Thérèse Philosophe (1748).

Precursors to the libertine writers were Théophile de Viau (1590-1626) and Charles de Saint-Evremond (1610-1703), who were inspired by Epicurus and the publication of Petronius, and John Wilmot (Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery, 1684). .

Robert Darnton is a cultural historian who has covered this genre extensively.

English translations

In alphabetical order by author's last name:

• Argens, Marquis d’ (2020). Thérèse Finds Happiness (aka Therese The Philosopher). New Urge Editions/Black Scat Books. ISBN 9781734816631.

• Choderlos de Laclos, Pierre (2008). Les Liaisons dangereuses. Oxford World's Classics. ISBN 9780199536481.

• Chorier, Nicholas (2020). School of Women (aka: The Academy of Ladies). New Urge Editions/Black Scat Books. ISBN 9781734816686.

• Crebillon, Claude-Prosper Jolyot de (1981). The Wanderings of the Heart and Mind. Gallimard. ISBN 9782070368914.
• Declose, Anne (2013). The Story of O. Balantine Books. ASIN B00BRUQ7O0.
• Diderot, Denis (2020). From Their Lips to His Ear (aka: The Indiscreet Toys). New Urge Editions/Black Scat Books. ISBN 9781735615912.

• Diderot, Denis (1993). The Indiscreet Jewels. Marsilio Publishers. ISBN 9780941419833.
• Ewing, Frederick R. (1956). I, Libertine. Ballantine Books. ISBN 9781480410107.
• La Morlière, Jacques Rochette de (2020). A Coming of Age (Part One of "The Ecclesiastical Laurels"). New Urge Editions/Black Scat Books. ISBN 9781734816679.
• La Morlière, Jacques Rochette de (2020). Ecclesiastical Laurels: or Abbot T***'s Campaigns with the Triumph of the Nuns. Sunny Lou Publishing. ISBN 9781735477657.
• Meusnier de Querlon, Anne-Gabriel (2020). Don't Touch (aka: The Carmelite Extern Nun). New Urge Editions/Black Scat Books. ISBN 9781734816662.
• Restif de la Bretonne (2020). Foot Notes (first 10 chapters of Fanchette's Foot). New Urge Editions/Black Scat Books. ISBN 9781735615929.

• Sade, Marquis de (1994). Juliette. Grove Press. ISBN 9780802130853.
• Sade, Marquis de (2013). Justine, or the Misfortunes of Virtue. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199572847.

Further reading

In alphabetical order by last name:

• DeJean, Joan (1981). Libertine Strategies: Freedom and the Novel in Seventeenth-Century France. Ohio State University Press. ISBN 9780814203255.
• Hölzle, Dominique (2012). Le Roman libertin au XVIIIe siècle: une esthétique de la séduction [The Libertine Novel of the 18th Century: An Esthetic of Seduction] (in French). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780729410458.

• Lachèvre, Frédéric (1921). Les Œuvres libertines de Cyrano de Bergerac, Parisien (1619–1655), précédées d'une notice biographique. Tome premier [The Libertine Works of Cyrano de Bergerac, Parisian (1619–1655), preceded by a biographical notice. Volume one] (in French). Paris: Librairie ancienne Honoré Champion. Retrieved 5 April 2015.

• Miletic, Tijana (2008). European Literary Immigration Into the French Language: Readings of Gary, Kristof, Kundera and Semprun. Brill-Rodopi. pp. 196–197. ISBN 9789042024007.
• Stam, Robert; Raengo, Alessandra, eds. (2007). A Companion to Literature and Film. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 347–349. ISBN 9781405177559.

References