Essay competitions in the long eighteenth century, edited by Avi Lifschitz and Martin Urmann, recently published in the Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment Series.This book is the first to provide a preliminary, and necessarily incomplete, overview of this phenomenon across national and linguistic borders, institutional settings and media outlets. In this blog post, Avi Lifschitz and Martin Urmann explore how these essay competitions paved the way for one of the pillars of modern academia, the blind peer review, alongside the issues of the practice, which on the surface seemed egalitarian.

Peter J. Koehler’s 'The Life of Philippe Fermin: Nature, Medicine and Law in Suriname and the Netherlands', published in the 'Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment' series, revives a figure long neglected by historians of medicine and the Republic of Letters. In this blog post, Professor Laurence Brockliss reflects on how Koehler’s study reshapes our understanding of that network and on the value of broadening the historical narrative to include forgotten voices.

'Voltaire and the Sirven affair (1762-1772)' by John Renwick has recently been published in the Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment series. In this blog post, Renwick highlights the key arguments from his new book, re-evaluating Voltaire’s involvement and showing that, unlike the famous Calas affair, his role in the Sirvens’ eventual exoneration was limited.

'Mexican Jesuits write the history of the Americas' by Luis Ramos has recently been published in the Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment series. In this blog post, Ramos reflects on his research and explains how the book uncovers the transformative role that eighteenth-century Mexican Jesuits played in reshaping European intellectual life.