Rameau's Nephew, or the Second Satire (or The Nephew of Rameau, French: Le Neveu de Rameau ou La Satire seconde) is an imaginary philosophical conversation by Denis Diderot, probably written between 1761 and 1774.[1][2]
It was first published in 1805 in German translation by Goethe,[1] but the French manuscript used had subsequently disappeared. The German version was translated back into French by de Saur and Saint-Geniès and published in 1821. The first published version based on French manuscript appeared in 1823 in the Brière edition of Diderot's works. Modern editions are based on the complete manuscript in Diderot's own hand found by Georges Monval, the librarian at the Comédie-Française in 1890, while buying music scores from a second-hand bookshop in Paris.[3][4] Monval published his edition of the manuscript in 1891. Subsequently, the manuscript was bought by the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York.
According to Andrew S. Curran, Diderot did not publish the dialogue during his lifetime because his portrayals of famous musicians, politicians and financiers would have warranted his arrest.[5]
