Jean-François Marmontel

1723 (Bort-les-Orges, France) – 1799 (Saint-Aubin-sur-Gaillon)

Marmontel, whose neighbour was Jefferson, wrote articles on literature for Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie that are still highly regarded. He wrote to Voltaire after an early literary rebuff, starting a friendship of 35 years. Voltaire expressed his anger at the banning of Marmontel’s play ‘Bélisaire’ for its religious liberalism. He was a frequent guest of d’Épinay, a student of Quesnay’s in his writing workshop, and having met Rameau, wrote four operatic libretti for him.

Friedrich Schiller

1759 (Marbach, Germany) – 1805 (Weimar)

Schiller met Moritz, Hiller and Weisse as a student. Reinhart became a lifelong friend. He befriended Herder and Wieland while in Weimar, hoping to meet Goethe (who was in fact in Italy). The strength of the intellectual and creative bond with Goethe (whom he eventually got to know after years of tentative approaches) is reflected in their paired tombs. Schlegel, Fichte, Herder, both Humboldts and Hölderlin all contributed to his periodical ‘die Horen’, though Schlegel and he eventually fell out with one another, and Herder disliked him. Schelling, Niethammer and Fichte had all been university colleagues in Jena.

Edward Gibbon

1737 (London) – 1794 (London)

Diderot, Voltaire, d’Alembert and Helvétius were among Gibbon’s French ‘philosophe’ friends, regular attenders of d’Holbach’s salon, an influential meeting-place for intellectual free-thinkers. Hume and Smith (also attenders at d’Holbach’s) were among his Scottish enlightenment friends, as was Ferguson, whom he wrote to praising Smith’s ‘Wealth of Nations.’ Garrick was close to him. Boswell was (literally) sniffy about Gibbon’s personal cleanliness following his election to Johnson’s London literary club.

David Hume

1711 (Edinburgh) – 1776 (Edinburgh)

Smith first met Hume in Glasgow; Hutton, Ramsay and Boswell were all members of the same Edinburgh enlightenment circles. Hume made over his librarian’s salary to the blind Blacklock, before resigning in favour of Ferguson. Diderot, d’Alembert and d’Holbach were intellectual companions in Paris, Buffon a correspondent. He brought Rousseau to England and took him to supper with Garrick; but Rousseau turned on him, convinced he was conspiring against him. Hume helped Smollett, comparing him to a coconut. Sterne knew Hume in Paris and London, and said that his amiability reinforced his scepticism.

Adam Ferguson

1723 (Logierait, Scotland) – 1816 (St Andrews)

Hume resigned his librarianship in favour of Ferguson, but alone thought his magnum opus ill-advised. Ferguson met Voltaire while travelling in Europe (his friends Hume and Adam meanwhile covering his back in Edinburgh). Gibbon wrote to him praising their mutual friend Smith’s ‘Wealth of Nations’, and his relative Black sold him his house. Hutton was among the Scottish Enlightenment circle gathered in Edinburgh, a member (with Ferguson, Hume, Smith, Black and others) of the influential ‘Poker Club.’ Ferguson was among those who lionised Burns (who met the young Scott in Ferguson’s house, a regular meeting-place for Edinburgh literati).