With the rise of the middle class in eighteenth-century France and a general increase in the literacy level of all classes (a phenomenon by no means confined to France), more people began to read, and more books were printed to satisfy the demand. Since the increase in the reading public was not paralleled by as marked an increase in higher or advanced education, the kinds of books that proliferated dramatically were especially to be found among practical works (devotional, educational, culinary, and the like) and leisure literature: novels, plays, and poetry. Silas Jones' bibliography covering the first half of the century lists only 26 new works of French prose fiction for the years 1700-1701 (excluding translations), whereas in contrast Martin, Mylne, and Frautschi list 113 new works and 38 new translations for 1800 alone, with the total number of reeditions reaching 114 (85 originals and 29 translations).

In brief, as the century wound its way to a bloody conclusion, more people were reading an expanding body of works which were, generally, becoming more and more moralistic and sombre. The evidence put forth by Martin, Mylne, and Frautschi in their elegant tables on fiction is also true of other genres, and it reflects a general change, or development, in attitudes and values which was especially evident in France. For example, the public enjoyed Richardson's Clarissa and especially the French adaptations which tended to tone down or even eliminate scenes of rape and violence.