Complete Works of Voltaire
48 primary works • 134 total works
Book 38
Lancees six ans apres le "Dictionnaire philosophique", les "Questions sur l'Encyclopedie" sont un des derniers chefs-d'oeuvre de Voltaire. OEuvre alphabetique, oeuvre polemique comme le "Dictionnaire", les "Questions" offrent une richesse thematique sans equivalent et constituent un veritable condense des idees de Voltaire sur une impressionnante diversite de sujets. Collaborateurs: Marcus Allen, Francois Bessire, Christophe Cave, Marie-Helene Cotoni, Nicholas Cronk, Olivier Ferret, Michael Freyne, Paul Gibbard, Russell Goulbourne, Dominique Lussier, Laurence Mace, Christiane Mervaud, Michel Mervaud, Paul H. Meyer, Jeanne R. Monty, Francois Moureau, Jose-Michel Moureaux, John Renwick, Bertram E. Schwarzbach, Arnoux Straudo, Jeroom Vercruysse.
Book 41
Dans ce quatrieme tome des Questions sur l'Enyclopedie, Voltaire tisse de nouveaux reseaux entre articles. Des considerations litteraires scandent le volume de facon marquee: 'Eglogue', 'Embleme', 'Epopee', 'Fable', 'Fiction', 'Figure' et 'Francois Rabelais' servent tous a resumer la pensee de l'une des plus belles plumes des Lumieres; 'Eloquence', 'Esprit' et 'Franc' elargissent le tableau en y ajoutant des reflexions linguistiques et stylistiques. Mais les Questions sont loin d'etre un traite sur la litterature: les sujets scientifiques continuent a exercer leur fascination: 'Espace', 'Eternite', 'Faculte', 'Fin du monde' et 'Force en physique' sont autant de tentatives pour expliquer le monde physique, et Voltaire ne laisse jamais passer une occasion de railler la tradition judeo-chretienne ('Eglise', 'Elie et Enoch', 'Epiphanie', 'Evangile', 'Eucharistie', 'Eveque', 'Fonte' et 'Fraude'). Voltaire s'interesse aussi a la societe dont il s'est retire et a celle, plus parfaite, qu'il forme en tant que seigneur de Ferney: 'Epreuve', 'Esclavage', 'Fanatisme', 'Fertilisation' et 'Fetes des saints' denoncent les pratiques et coutumes 'barbares' qui nuisent aux hommes. Il s'agit quelquefois de reemplois et reecritures, mais ceux-ci nous revelent, dans un nouveau contexte, les incontournables de la vision du monde de Voltaire. Collaborateurs: Marie-Helene Cotoni, Nicholas Cronk, Olivier Ferret, Russell Goulbourne, Antonio Gurrado, Laurence Mace, Christiane Mervaud, Michel Mervaud, Francois Moureau, Christophe Paillard, Gillian Pink, John Renwick, Gerhardt Stenger.
Book 46
Voltaire's history of Tsar Peter the Great paints him as the original enlightened despot, bringing civilisation to a barbaric empire and creating a lasting Enlightenment society, worthily succeeded by Voltaire's patron Catherine the Great. This two-volume edition takes its text primarily from the last edition that Voltaire personally oversaw, that of 1775. The critical apparatus is both detailed and effective, containing pertinent notes, lengthily comparisons of editions, a glossary and twelve appendices, including Voltaire's letters regarding the work's composition and the critical response it received. This superb edition offers for the first time a chance to assess all of the elements of Voltaire's complicated relationship with the idea of Tsar Peter.
Book 47
Voltaire's history of Tsar Peter the Great paints him as the original enlightened despot, bringing civilisation to a barbaric empire and creating a lasting Enlightenment society, worthily succeeded by Voltaire's patron Catherine the Great. This two-volume edition takes its text primarily from the last edition that Voltaire personally oversaw, that of 1775. The critical apparatus is both detailed and effective, containing pertinent notes, lengthily comparisons of editions, a glossary and twelve appendices, including Voltaire's letters regarding the work's composition and the critical response it received. This superb edition offers for the first time a chance to assess all of the elements of Voltaire's complicated relationship with the idea of Tsar Peter.
Book 48
Part of the complete works of the French philosopher, historian and social reformer, Voltaire. Contains his most famous philosophical tale, "Candide". For students and scholars of the 18th-century Enlightenment.
Book 50
This volume contains works from 1760 and showcases two sides to Voltaire. "Le Droit du seigneur" is a comic drama featuring rakes, illegitimate heiresses, and true love, and takes as its starting point the abuse of power represented by the custom of jus primae noctis. By contrast, "L'Ecossaise" and the "Anecdotes sur Freron" are artefacts of the intellectual war between the philosophes and the anti-philosophes. Elie Catherine Freron, the editor of the influential "L'Annee litteraire" journal, was a formidable opponent of Voltaire and launched stinging attacks on Enlightenment ideas. In "L'Ecossaise", Voltaire employs the form of the sentimental comedy to undermine Freron, who is caricatured as the character 'Frelon' - the Wasp. In the "Anecdotes sur Freron", Voltaire swats the Wasp in a satirical salvo of caustic wit.
Book 52
The major part of this volume is taken up by two plays, "Don Pedre" and "Olympie", in which Voltaire attempted to inject dynamism and spectacle into the French theatre while still working in the classical tradition. At the same time Voltaire continued his defence of French literature against foreign, particularly English, influence, with his Avis referring to the prestigious edition of Corneille, and more importantly the "Parallele d'Horace, de Boileau, et de Pope". Other political, religious and philosophical themes of 1761 are articulated in the remaining texts of the volume.
Book 53
Voltaire claimed that his monumental "Commentaires sur Corneille" was among his proudest achievements. However, though highly influential within his own lifetime the commentary quickly generated hostility from critics, and even embarrassment, after the eighteenth century. This set of three volumes is the only modern critical edition of Voltaire's longest, most sustained piece of literary criticism, and demonstrates ably that the commentary is not simply concerned with Pierre Corneille, but covers an enormously rich territory outside the immediate area of Corneilian theatre, with its treatment of plays by Shakespeare, Calderon, Racine and Thomas Corneille. Furthermore, Voltaire's notes reflect his thoughts, distilled over half a century, on literature, language, taste, beauty and decadence, at a pivotal stage of his evolution as a critic of French and European culture.
Book 54
Voltaire claimed that his monumental "Commentaires sur Corneille" was among his proudest achievements. However, though highly influential within his own lifetime the commentary quickly generated hostility from critics, and even embarrassment, after the eighteenth century. This set of three volumes is the only modern critical edition of Voltaire's longest, most sustained piece of literary criticism, and demonstrates ably that the commentary is not simply concerned with Pierre Corneille, but covers an enormously rich territory outside the immediate area of Corneilian theatre, with its treatment of plays by Shakespeare, Calderon, Racine and Thomas Corneille. Furthermore, Voltaire's notes reflect his thoughts, distilled over half a century, on literature, language, taste, beauty and decadence, at a pivotal stage of his evolution as a critic of French and European culture.
Book 55
Voltaire claimed that his monumental "Commentaires sur Corneille" was among his proudest achievements. However, though highly influential within his own lifetime the commentary quickly generated hostility from critics, and even embarrassment, after the eighteenth century. This set of three volumes is the only modern critical edition of Voltaire's longest, most sustained piece of literary criticism, and demonstrates ably that the commentary is not simply concerned with Pierre Corneille, but covers an enormously rich territory outside the immediate area of Corneilian theatre, with its treatment of plays by Shakespeare, Calderon, Racine and Thomas Corneille. Furthermore, Voltaire's notes reflect his thoughts, distilled over half a century, on literature, language, taste, beauty and decadence, at a pivotal stage of his evolution as a critic of French and European culture.
Book 58
This volume features works of 1764 connected with a long-running controversy about the question of the authenticity of Cardinal de Richelieu's political testament, a series of articles Voltaire wrote for the "Gazette litteraire de l'Europe" in 1764-1765, as well as the "Sentiment des citoyens", a scathing pamphlet he penned against his arch-enemy Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Book 67
Even by the hyperactive standards of Voltaire, 1768 was to prove a remarkable year and this volume is distinguished by a multiplicity of works. His interest in eastern Europe manifested itself in the "Discours aux confederes catholiques", he was anxious to smooth over matters concerning the alleged thefts of manuscripts by La Harpe through the "Declaration", and was delighted when a ship was named after him, publicising the event by composing the "Epitre a mon vaisseau". His playful practice of attributing his works to pseudonymous authors was joyously continued ("Instruction du gardien des capucins de Raguse", "Lettre de l'archeveque de Cantorbery"), and revenge was enacted on the author of the "Compere Matthieu", a work attributed to Voltaire in 1766. The reverberations of the Belisaire affair of 1767 are reflected in a number of texts: the "Declaration", the "Lettre de l'archeveque de Cantorbery", "La Prophetie de la Sorbonne", "Les Trois empereurs en Sorbonne", "Le Sermon preche a Bale" and the "Epitre ecrite de Constantinople". Personal scores are settled with La Bletterie and with a new target in "Le Pyrrhonisme de l'histoire", Chiniac de la Bastide; the basis of the authority of Rome and the Scriptures is characteristically undermined in "Les Droits des hommes", the "Epitre ecrite de Constantinople" and the "Instruction du gardien des capucins de Raguse"; and the doctrines of Christianity are likewise ridiculed in the scathing dialogue of the "Relation du bannissement des Jesuites de la Chine". In some respects, however, 1768 can be regarded as a year of relative optimism, with Voltaire's belief, perhaps, that the philosophic cause was gaining ground.
Book 68
Part of the complete works of the French philosopher, historian and social reformer, Voltaire, in which he explores the history of the parlement of Paris during the reign of Louis XV. For students and scholars of the 18th-century Enlightenment.
Book 70
The texts in this volume date from 1769. Voltaire, energetic despite his 75 years, continues his struggle against 'l'infame' and promotes tolerance. There is also an epitre against atheism, containing his famous line 'Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer'. There are attacks on abuses by the clergy and on figures he considered the enemies of Enlightenment, including Malebranche and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, but also a celebration of the glories of French literature.
Book 72
Ce volume donne un bon apercu des combats qui occupent Voltaire au debut des annees 1770: qu'il s'agisse de se battre pour la survivance du theatre francais issu du Grand Siecle ("Les Pelopides"), de defendre son Dieu contre les materialistes radicaux ("Reponse au Systeme de la nature", "Lettres de Memmius a Ciceron"), de denoncer l'asservissement des mainmortables de Franche-Comte ("Au roi en son conseil", "Nouvelle requete"), ou encore de fustiger les travers de son epoque et l'obscurantisme de l'Eglise ("Les Deux Siecles", "Le Pere Nicodeme"), Voltaire continue a monter au creneau a 75 ans passes pour defendre ses convictions.
Book 73
The writings gathered together in volume 73 of the Complete works were substantially written in 1771, when Voltaire was seventy-six years old. Despite periods of illness and difficulties with his failing eyesight, Voltaire maintained a literary output of astonishing energy and variety. His commitment to la philosophie, his political convictions, and his emerging passion for justice, led him to participate in crucial public debates. In the 'age of reform' which was beginning, Voltaire eagerly took up the challenge of influencing events with his writings.
Book 76
Ce volume comprend un ensemble de textes philosophiques et historiques, abordant des themes tels que la fatalite, la nature de l'ame, les dangers de l'atheisme, et la lente marche de l'histoire vers un avenir meilleur. Il contient, entre autres oeuvres, les contes "Histoire de Jenni, ou le Sage et l'athee" et "Les Oreilles du comte de Chesterfield", ainsi que des oeuvres de circonstance ("De la mort de Louis XV", "Eloge de Louis XV", "Eloge historique de la raison", "Lettre d'un ecclesiastique"), une allegorie ("Dialogue de Pegase et du Vieillard"), une defense de ses "Commentaires sur Corneille" ("Sentiment d'un academicien de Lyon") et, comme toujours, de la poesie.
Book 83
In 1767, Voltaire turned 73 and, despite precarious health, continued to write, publish and edit an astounding catalogue of works, leading to four volumes of the OEuvres completes de Voltaire being dedicated to his output from this time. This volume contains the historical burlesque poem "La Guerre civile de Geneve", dialogues on Marmontel's "Belisaire", which had recently swept Paris with controversy over questions of tolerance and pagan salvation, a debate which Voltaire happily entered further with the "Lettre a Coge". Theological criticism also generated one of the best examples of Voltairean irony, the "Diner du comte de Boulainvilliers", an anonymously published pamphlet satirizing Catholicism.
Book 84
This volume brings together a range of miscellaneous short texts by Voltaire, mostly undated and principally manuscript fragments. From thoughts on the souls of animals, to how he organised his papers to a joke proxy granting unlimited powers to act on his behalf, these scraps shed light on Voltaire's working methods and on the possible subjects of texts that he never published. Most notably, it contains a supplement adding nineteen fragments to the edition of Voltaire's Notebooks (OCV, vol.81-82). Contributors: David Adams, Andrew Brown, Marie-Helene Cotoni, Nicholas Cronk, Jean Dagen, Stephanie Gehanne Gavoty, Myrtille Mericam-Bourdet, Christiane Mervaud, Gillian Pink, John Renwick, Gerhardt Stenger, David Williams.
Book 136
La bibliotheque de Voltaire, acquise par Catherine II, a ete installee a l'Ermitage en 1779. Constituee d'acquisistions faites pendant plusieurs decennies, la bibliotheque servit a Voltaire de source de documentation pour ecrire des oeuvres diverses - romans, pieces, articles, pamphlets, etc. Les innombrables traces de lecture laissees par Voltaire dans plus de la moitie de ses livres temoignent de son extraordinaire capacite de travail et du role primordial joue par sa bibliotheque. Les notes et autres traces de lecture sont reproduites integralement dans cette edition des marginalia avec les textes auxquels elles se rapportent, en les disposant exactement comme sur l'originale.