“Ésope fabuliste” Boullanger’s reading of Vico, from etymology to history

We explore the theory that Boullanger read Vico’s Scienza nuova in Camille Falconet’s library, and we look at the dissertation Ésope fabuliste from the perspective of the writing of Vico, whose etymological analysis makes it possible to consider Aesop as a traditional figure of poverty and wisdom, rooted in mythology. Boullanger applies the same method to Aesop and Luqman, the Arab fabulist, and concludes—like Vico—that these figures derive from ancient mythology.