Editing Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle (section)

==Early work==
He began as a poet, writing a poem in [[Latin]] at the age of 13 and more than once competed for prizes of the [[Académie française]], but he never won anything. He visited Paris from time to time and became friendly with the [[abbé de Saint-Pierre]], the abbé [[Réné-Aubert Vertot|Vertot]] and the mathematician [[Pierre Varignon]]. He witnessed, in 1680, the total failure of his [[tragedy]] ''Aspar''.  Fontenelle afterwards acknowledged the public verdict by burning his unfortunate drama. His libretto for Pascal Collasse's ''[[Thétis et Pélée]]'' ("[[Thetis]] and [[Peleus]]"), which premiered at the Opéra de Paris in January, 1689, was received with great acclaim. 
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His ''Lettres galantes du chevalier d'Her ...'', published anonymously in 1685, was a collection of letters portraying worldly society of the time.  It immediately made its mark. In 1686 his famous allegory of Rome and [[Geneva]], slightly disguised as the rival princesses Mreo and Eenegu, in the ''Relation de l'île de Bornéo'', gave proof of his daring in religious matters. Fontenelle's ''Nouveaux Dialogues des morts'' (1683) established a genuine claim to high literary rank.

Three years later, he wrote the most influential work to date on the [[Cosmic pluralism|plurality of worlds]], ''[[Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds|Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes]]'' (1686).<ref name=Almond>Almond, Philip C. "[https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9809.2006.00446.x Adam, Pre-Adamites, and Extra-Terrestrial Beings in Early Modern Europe]". ''[[Journal of Religious History]]'', vol. 30, no. 2. July 2006. 163–174.</ref> He wrote extensively on the nature of the [[universe]]: "Behold a universe so immense that I am lost in it. I no longer know where I am. I am just nothing at all. Our world is terrifying in its insignificance."