Editing Jean-Paul Marat (section)

=== Political, philosophical, and medical writing ===
Around 1770, Marat moved to [[Newcastle upon Tyne]]. His first political work, ''Chains of Slavery'' (1774), inspired by the extra-parliamentary activities of the disenfranchised MP and later Mayor of London [[John Wilkes]], was most probably compiled{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} in the central library there. By Marat's own account, while composing it he lived on black coffee for three months and slept two hours a night, and after finishing it he slept soundly for 13 days in a row.<ref>Les Chaines de l’Esclavage, 1793 (ed. Goetz et de Cock) p. 4167 (6). Numbers in brackets refer to the original version.</ref> He gave it the subtitle, "A work in which the clandestine and villainous attempts of Princes to ruin Liberty are pointed out, and the dreadful scenes of Despotism disclosed." In the work, Marat criticized aspects of [[Constitution of the United Kingdom|England's constitution]] that he believed to be corrupt or despotic. He condemned the King's power to influence Parliament through bribery and attacked limitations on voting rights. ''Chains of Slavery's'' political ideology takes clear inspiration from [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] by attributing the nation's sovereignty to the common people rather than a monarch. He also suggests that the people express sovereignty through representatives who cannot enact legislation without the approval of the people they represent.<ref>[[#Gottschalk|Gottschalk]], pp. 19–22</ref> This work earned him honorary membership of the patriotic societies of [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]], [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]] and [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]]. The [[Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society]] Library<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.litandphil.org.uk/html_pages/LP_home.html |title=Lit & Phil Home – Independent Library Newcastle |publisher=Litandphil.org.uk |access-date=9 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502065937/http://www.litandphil.org.uk/html_pages/LP_home.html |archive-date= 2 May 2010 }}</ref> possesses a copy, and [[Tyne and Wear Archives Service]] holds three presented to the various Newcastle guilds.

Marat published "A Philosophical Essay on Man," in 1773 and "Chains of Slavery," in 1774.<ref name="deCock">de Cock, J. & Goetz, C., ''Œuvres de Jean-Paul Marat'', 10 volumes, Éditions Pôle Nord, Brussels, 1995.</ref> [[Voltaire]]'s sharp critique of "De l'Homme" (an augmented translation, published 1775–76), partly in defence of his protégé [[Claude Adrien Helvétius|Helvétius]], reinforced Marat's growing sense of a widening gulf between the ''[[philosophes]]'', grouped around Voltaire on one hand, and their opponents, loosely grouped around [[Rousseau]] on the other.<ref name="deCock" />

After a published essay on curing a friend of gleets ([[gonorrhoea]]) he secured medical ''referees'' for an MD from the [[University of St Andrews]] in June 1775.<ref>[[#Conner1999|Conner (1999)]], p. 33</ref>

He published ''Enquiry into the Nature, Cause, and Cure of a Singular Disease of the Eyes'' on his return to London. In 1776, Marat moved to Paris after stopping in Geneva to visit his family.

In Paris, his growing reputation as a highly effective doctor along with the patronage of the [[Marquis de l'Aubespine]] (the husband of one of his patients) secured his appointment as physician to the bodyguard of the [[Charles X of France|Comte d'Artois]], [[Louis XVI]]'s youngest brother.<ref name="Conner 1999, p. 35">[[#Conner1999|Conner (1999)]], p. 35</ref> He began this position in June 1777. The position paid 2,000 [[French livre|livres]] a year plus allowances.