Joseph Morgan et le monde islamique

Abstract

Ann Thomson : Joseph Morgan and the Islamic World. Little is known about Morgan — who wrote several works about the Islamic world, in particular North Africa, in the 1720s and 30s — beyond the fact that he had spent twenty years in Algiers, was probably a Freemason and was arrested in London with Radicati for having translated the Italian's irreligious Philosophi¬ cal Dissertation on Death. Due to his numerous translations, he has generally been accused of being little more than a plagiarist. This article shows that the accusation is unfounded and studies his most interesting works, in particular his Complete History of Algiers (1731) and his Mahometism Fully Explained (1723-25). These works show a sympathetic knowledge of Moslem civilisation and a desire to combat European prejudices about it. They also perhaps provide further evidence of the link between heterodox religious ideas and a more sympathetic attitude towards Islam.