Nouvelles de la république des lettres (News from the Republic of Letters) was a periodical devoted to reviews of current publications, edited and in large part written by Pierre Bayle

Pierre Bayle

Pierre Bayle was a French philosopher and writer best known for his seminal work the Historical and Critical Dictionary, published beginning in 1695....

. It began publication in 1684, and is the first known book review

Book review

A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review could be a primary source opinion piece, summary review or scholarly review. It is often carried out in periodicals, as school work, or on the internet. Reviews are also often...

 journal.

Bayle edited it from March 1684 through February 1687; it was continued by Daniel de Larroque, Jean Barrin and Jean Le Clerc

Jean Leclerc (theologian)

Jean Le Clerc, also Johannes Clericus was a Swiss theologian and biblical scholar. He was famous for promoting exegesis, or critical interpretation of the Bible, and was a radical of his age...

 through April 1689. Publication was suspended from then until January 1699 when it was resumed under the editorship of Jacques Bernard

Jacques Bernard

Jacques Bernard , French theologian and publicist, was born at Nions in Dauphiné.Having studied at Geneva, he returned to France in 1679, and was chosen minister of Venterol in Dauphiné. Afterwards, he removed to the church of Vinsobres...

. He continued it through December 1710; it was then suspended until January 1716, when he resumed and continued until the final issue in June 1718.

Although written in French, it was published in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 to escape the French censorship. The initial publisher was Henry Desbordes from 1684 through 1689 and 1699 through May1708. subsequently, by Pierre Mortier from June 1708 through December 1710 and David Mortier, from January 1716 through June 1718.

Publication was monthly from the beginning through 1710; after that, is was bi-monthly.

A reproduction was published in Geneva by Slatkine in 1966