Editing Manon Lescaut (section)

== Reception ==
''Manon Lescaut'' gained popularity gradually.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxx}} When first published in 1731 as part of ''Memoirs and Adventures'', it was not discussed separately from the rest of the novel.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxx}} Over the next few years, it was increasingly seen as a highlight of that novel.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxx}} Reviewers universally praised the novel, especially for its success inducing tears.{{Sfn|Mason|1982|p=98}} ''Memoirs and Adventures'' sold well in Holland and England on its first release, and a 1732 German translation was also successful, but it was largely ignored in France until 1733.{{Sfn|Mason|1982|p=99}}[[File:Je placai l'idole de mon coeur dans une large fosse (cropped).png|alt=Black and white etching of de Grieux on his knees, beginning to dig, broken sword on the ground, gazing sadly at Manon's body|thumb|Illustration from the 1753 edition of ''Manon Lescaut'', published in response to popular unauthorized reprints of the volume]]In July 1733, the release of a new edition in Paris prompted a review in the clandestine ''Journal de la Cour et de Paris'', which brought it to the attention of many new readers, including the famous author [[Voltaire]].{{Sfn|Mason|1982|p=99}}{{Sfn|Segal|1986|p=xviii}} On October 5, the French censors (who needed to approve all new publications) seized the copies currently for sale due to the book's morally questionable content.{{Sfn|Mason|1982|p=99}}{{Efn|According to the ''Journal de la Cour et de Paris'', the book was seized because "Besides the fact that people are made to play roles that are unworthy of them, vice and excess are depicted in ways that do not give enough horror." ({{langx|fr|Outre que l'on y fait jouer agens en place des roles peu dignes d'eux, le vice et le debordement y sont peints avec des traits qui n'en donnent pas assez d'horreur.}}){{sfn|Mason|1982|p=99}}}} This effective ban led to a sudden increase in popularity.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxx}} As part of this new popularity, ''Manon Lescaut'' was printed separately from ''Memoirs and Adventures'' several times in 1733 and 1734,{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxx-xxxi}} though these were [[History of copyright#Early French copyright law|unauthorized reprints]].{{Sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=461}} In 1753, Prévost responded with a high-quality revised edition of ''Manon Lescaut'' as a self-contained novel.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxxi}} Both ''Memoirs and Adventures'' and the standalone ''Manon Lescaut'' were reprinted frequently, with twenty editions of the first and eight of the latter appearing between 1731 and Prévost's death in 1763.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxxi}}

Interest in the novel waned at the start of the nineteenth century, followed by another dramatic increase in popularity in 1830,{{Sfn|Segal|1986|p=xviii}} when it was adapted as a ballet.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxix}} Many further adaptations followed, with new reprints of ''Manon Lescaut'' each year.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxix}} In the late nineteenth century, editions were released with prefaces written by the famous French authors [[Alexandre Dumas fils|Alexandre Dumas ''fils'']] in 1875 and [[Anatole France]] in 1878.{{Sfn|Sgard|1995|p=185}} Over time, the novel came to be regarded as a historical [[classic]].{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxiii}} It became the most reprinted novel in French literature, with over 250 editions published between 1731 and 1981.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxiii}}