The text of L'Isle Sonnante, attributed to Rabelais, is the first part of Le Cinquième Livre (chapters I-XV + 1). The only known copy is found in the National Library of France (Rés P Y2 1349, Gallica) in a posthumous edition published in 1562.

According to Mireille Huchon (Rabelais, Oeuvres Complètes, Pléiade, 1994, p. 1608-1612), these 16 chapters constitute the often erroneous copy of a first series of drafts parallel to the writing of the Quart Livre. The drafts were often read and arranged differently by the copyist of the unsigned manuscript (BnF Ms FR_2156, Gallica) and by the editor of the Cinquième Livre (1564: copy of reference, BnF RES_Y2_2169, Gallica). The last chapter (the episode of the Isle des Apedeftes, ch. 16) appears exclusively in this edition of the Isle Sonnante, and its authenticity is contested even more than that of the ensemble of the Cinquième Livre.

Marie-Luce Demonet, juillet 2015.