
1) Library specialty 2) Literature 3) Literature as art
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https://www.crosswordclues.com/clue/belles-lettres

1) French word used in English 2) Literary genre
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https://www.crosswordclues.com/clue/belles-lettres

Belles-lettres or belles lettres is a term that is used to describe a category of writing. A writer of belles-lettres is a belletrist. However, the boundaries of that category vary in different usages. Literally, belles-lettres is a French phrase meaning `beautiful` or `fine` writing. In this sense, therefore, it includes all literary works—...
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belles-lettres

• (n. pl.) Polite or elegant literature; the humanities; -- used somewhat vaguely for literary works in which imagination and taste are predominant.
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http://thinkexist.com/dictionary/meaning/belles-lettres/

literature that is an end in itself and is not practical or purely informative. The term can refer generally to poetry, fiction, drama, etc., or more ... [2 related articles]
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http://www.britannica.com/eb/a-z/b/44
Belles-let'tres noun plural [ French] Polite or elegant literature; the humanities; -- used somewhat vaguely for literary works in which imagination and taste are predominant.
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http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/B/35

Belles-lettres are polite or elegant literature. The term is of somewhat vague signification. Rhetoric, poetry, fiction, history, and criticism, with the languages in which the standard works in these departments are written, are generally understood to come under the head of belles-lettres.
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http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/browse/AB.HTM

Fine arts literature (fiction, poetry, drama, etc.) as distinguished from scientific/technical writing.
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http://www.trussel.com/books/glossary.htm

[
n] - creative writing valued for esthetic content
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http://www.webdictionary.co.uk/definition.php?query=belles-lettres

Written works considered quality because they are pleasing to the senses.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_rhetorical_terms

elegant writing.
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https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/american-poets-of-the-20th-century
belles lettres noun creative writing valued for esthetic content
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https://www.encyclo.co.uk/local/20974

Literature that is appreciated more for its aesthetic qualities than for its content
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https://www.encyclo.co.uk/local/21221

literature regarded as a fine art, esp. as having a purely aesthetic function. · light and elegant literature, esp. that which is excessively refined, characterized by aestheticism, and minor in subject, substance, or scope.
Found on
https://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/belles-lettres
No exact match found.