Belles-lettres, a term adopted from the French into the English and various other languages. It is commonly used in a somewhat general sense to designate the more elegant or refined departments of literature. In English usage it is synonymous with another vague expression, polite literature, including history, poetry and the drama, fiction, essays, and criticism.
Belles-lettres
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 2: Beaugency to Cataract, p. 62
Source scan(s): p. 0073