Denis Diderot - Jacques the fatalist and his master

JACQUES THE FATALIST

D ENIS D IDEROT was born at Langres in eastern France in 1713, the son of a master-cutler. He was originally destined for the Church, but rebelled and persuaded his father to allow him to complete his education in Paris. For most of his twenties and early thirties, Diderot remained nominally a law student, but in fact led a rather precarious and Bohemian existence. He read extensively during this period, and this is reflected in his early works such as the Penses philosophiques (1746) and the Lettre sur les aveugles (1749) which show a keen interest in contemporary philosophical issues. During the early 1740s Diderot met three contemporaries of great future significance for himself and for the age: dAlembert, Condillac and J.-J. Rousseau. In 1747 Diderot embarked on the most important task of his life, the editorship of the Encyclopdie, whose publication he oversaw until its completion in 1773. Diderots boldest philosophical and scientific speculations are brilliantly summarized in a trilogy of dialogues collectively known as Le Rve de dAlembert (1769). With Le Neveu de Rameau, begun in 1761, and Jacques le Fataliste, written between approximately 1755 and 1784, Diderot produced his greatest works of prose fiction, works which are highly original and daring, both in their form and in their content. Towards the end of his life, by now one of the most famous French writers, Diderot visited Saint Petersburg at the invitation of one of his most powerful admirers, the empress Catherine the Great, to whom he had promised his extensive library in return for her financial assistance. He died in 1784.

M ARTIN H ALL was born in 1946. He studied French and German at Christ Church, Oxford, and is at present a lecturer in French at Kings College, London.

M ICHAEL H ENRY was born in 1954 and read French at Kings College, London, graduating in 1977. His radio adaptation of this translation was produced by Radio 3, directed by John Theocharis. He now makes a living as an entertainment lawyer.

DENIS DIDEROT

AND HIS MASTER

Translated by Michael Henry

with an Introduction and Notes
by Martin Hall

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This translation first published 1986

Copyright Michael Henry, 1986

Introduction copyright Martin Hall, 1986

All rights reserved

The publishers gratefully acknowledge permission to base this translation upon the text of Jacques le Fataliste edited by S. Lecointre and J. Le Galliot, Editions Droz, Paris, 1977.

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

ISBN: 978-0-14-196122-4