Power, Prudence, and Restraint in Fénelon’s Telemachus

“If one is to judge by the fire and ardor with which this book is sought after, it is the most excellent of all books. Never were so many copies printed of any work; never were so many editions made of a single book; never has any writing been read by so many people.” -Pierre-Valentin Faydit in La Télémacomanie (1700), snidely critiquing the “mania” surrounding the initial publication of The Adventures of Telemachus.A sprawling epic that thrills the public, mesmerizes it with its aesthetic qualities and technical prowess, and reignites collective interest in s