'Ossian, fils de Fingal, barde du troisième siècle' title page

The poems of Ossian were popularised by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, who published them in the early 1760s under the claim that he had translated them from early Gaelic manuscripts into English. While the authenticity of Macpherson's claim was brought into question, the Ossianic poems became hugely culturally significant and their popularity soon had international reach.

In France, 'Fragments of Ancient Poetry' (which would eventually become 'The Poems of Ossian') was translated from September 1760 in the Journal Étranger. However, it was not until 1777 that the entire works of Ossian were translated, as shown on this title page.

The translation is the work of Pierre Le Tourneur, who had in particular made known in France the plays of Shakespeare.

[Shelfmark Oss.154-155]