| Authorship Notes |
The 'Nouveaux essais' was published anonymously, but Barbier's dictionary of anonymous works attributes it to nobleman and administrator Thorel de Campigneulles.
It seems likely that Thorel de Campigneulles's essay on travels was in some ways related to the first prize contest launched by the Academy of Marseille in 1763, regarding a travelling method useful both for the self and for the state. Both the tone and several elements of the text seem to answer the question set for the 1763 contest (i.e. the traveller obtains knowledge for his own benefit but quickly communicates it to his nation). It also opens on a Latin quote (Horace's "Qui trans mare currunt, coelum, non animatum mutant' - 'Those who rush through the seas change their sky, and not their soul') - such quotes were regularly used in prize contests to identify the authors. This prize was not awarded in 1763; when re-launched in 1764 as a poetic contest, Delille's 'Epitre sur les voyages' triumphed, and Mailly and Nicolas's 'Lettre d'un père' received the second prize (both of which are described elsewhere in this database).
This rather unoriginal essay reproduces a large number of apodemic clichés, and has few novelties. The author praises the travellers of earlier times, among them Columbus. He criticizes superficial, rapid travels, and suggests a slower pace and in-depth observation - but fails to expound on any of this further.
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