Jean-Jacques Barthélemy's book was a fanciful but learned imaginary travel journal, one of the first historical novels, which a modern scholar has called "the encyclopedia of the new cult of the antique" in the late 18th century.[1] It had a high impact on the growth of philhellenism in France, Europe and the United States: the book went through many editions, was reprinted in the United States and was translated into German and other languages. It later inspired European sympathy for the Greek War of Independence and spawned sequels and imitations throughout the 19th century.[2] According to a contemporary English literary review: