Complete Works of Voltaire
48 primary works • 134 total works
46-47
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.
136-145
The markings - marginal notes, underlinings, bookmarks, turned down corners - on the books in Voltaire's vast library bear witness to his thinking. The Corpus des notes marginales reproduces them alongside the extracts to which they relate. Comprehensive editorial notes show how Voltaire's reading influenced his writing. On Voltaire's death in 1778, his vast library, consisting of some 7000 volumes, was sold by his niece, Marie-Louise Denis, to Catherine the Great of Russia for 30,000 roubles. The empress, who had corresponded with Voltaire for fifteen years, wished to preserve the library intact as a monument to the writer, and housed the collection in the palace of the Hermitage. It was subsequently transferred to the Imperial Public Library, and then incorporated into the National Library of Russia, St Petersburg, where it now resides. Beginning in the 1950s Russian scholars typed out the extracts annotated by Voltaire and his secretaries and added their notes and markings for publication. The Corpus des notes marginales was launched by Akademie Verlag in East Berlin in 1979, with the Voltaire Foundation as co-publisher. Akademie Verlag was obliged to abandon the project in the mid-1990s, but in 2003 the Voltaire Foundation took the decision to complete it. In 2004 Natalia Elaguina, Head of Western Manuscripts at the National Library, began sending material to the Voltaire Foundation, and it is thanks to her that the Corpus des notes marginales was published as volumes 136 to 144 of the Complete Works of Voltaire. MARGINALIA OUTSIDE ST PETERSBURG. As a complement to the Corpus des notes marginales, the Notes et ecrits marginaux conserves hors de la Bibliotheque nationale de Russie (volume 145 of the Complete Works) reproduces marginalia by Voltaire found in works outside of his personal library in both printed books and manuscripts. It occupies a unique place within the series as some of the texts included therein were annotated by Voltaire not for his own use but for friends, acquaintances and correspondents. Contributors: Larissa Albina, Samuel Bailey, Nicholas Cronk, Jean Dagen, Natalia Elaguina, Nathalie Ferrand, Graham Gargett, Paul Gibbard, Ethel Groffier, John R. Iverson, Edouard Langille, Christiane Mervaud, Michel Mervaud, Patrick Neiertz, Christophe Paillard, Jean-Alexandre Perras, Gillian Pink, John Renwick, Kelsey Rubin-Detlev, Alain Sandrier, Bertram E. Schwarzbach, Gerhardt Stenger, Gemma Tidman,Bruno Tribout, David Williams, Irina Zaitseva.
6A
Voltaire's "Essai sur les moeurs et l'esprit des nations" is a monumental work which has changed the face of western historiography. Unique for its time, it encompasses in 197 chapters the history of Europe, Africa, America and Asia to cover all ages, all continents and all religions within the overall concept of a 'universal history'. Voltaire's approach to the writing of this history is radical and innovative: rather than recite the deeds of monarchs and religious leaders, his aim is to tell the story of human progress, in particular the progress of human reason. One of Voltaire's most important and influential works, the "Essai" preoccupied him over several decades. He began work in the early 1740s, and the first full edition published in 1756 was a best-seller. He continued expanding and revising the work for the rest of his life. This edition is based on the last version of the text authorised by Voltaire (1775), and explains the changes he made over a forty-year period. This first full critical edition of the "Essai sur les moeurs" is the work of an international team of scholars and appears in volumes 21-27 of the Complete Works of Voltaire. It will be of interest to all historians and literary scholars of the European Enlightenment and its modern legacy. Contributors: Valerie Andre, Dimitris Apostolopoulos, Jesus Astigarraga, Bruno Bernard, Peter Burke, David Chataignier, Karen Chidwick, Philippe Contamine, Marie-Helene Cotoni, Nicholas Cronk, Robert Darnton, Henri Duranton, Olivier Ferret, Pierre Force, Dieter Gembicki, Janet Godden, Gianluigi Goggi, Antonio Gurrado, James Hanrahan, Ursula Haskins Gonthier, Herve Hasquin, Gianni Iotti, Gerard Laudin, Dominique Lussier, Laurence Mace, Kate Marsh, Myrtille Mericam-Bourdet, Michel Mervaud, Paul Mironneau, Christophe Paillard, Olga Penke, Siofra Pierse, John Renwick, Justine de Reynies, Francoise Tilkin, Kees van Strien, Catherine Volpilhac-Auger, Richard Waller, Elizabeth Zachariadou.
This fully annotated critical edition of the "Siecle de Louis XIV" (1751), Voltaire's seminal account of the reign of the Sun King, is now complete and available. This text is the starting-point for any reflection on the political and cultural history of this era, and is a monument of eighteenth-century historiography, paving the way for both modern historiography and literary history. The lasting success of this flagship work is due to the depth of Voltaire's insight into the people and events that he is describing and to his historical method, which was remarkable for its day. The emphasis on first-hand accounts from those who witnessed events and on the perspective of the age as a whole rather than a parade of facts bears the stamp of Voltaire. This first-ever critical edition is a co-publication between the Voltaire Foundation and the Centre de recherche du chateau de Versailles, and is published in seven volumes of the Complete Works of Voltaire (vol.11A-13D). It takes as its base text the last version of the work that Voltaire authorised (1775), and gives variant readings from all preceding versions of the text. It includes the 'Catalogue des ecrivains francais qui ont paru dans le siecle de Louis XIV', an important and fascinating work in its own right. The edition is supplied with an index with full names and dates of all persons mentioned in the text. Contributors: David Adams, Valerie Bajou, Nicholas Cronk, Linda Gil, James Hanrahan, Francois Moureau, Jean-Alexandre Perras, Laurent Portes, Samuel S. B. Taylor, Alain Viala, Diego Venturino, Alain Viala.
44A-C
Composees a la demande de Louise-Dorothee de Saxe-Meiningen, admiratrice des ecrits historiques de Voltaire qui souhaitait lire une histoire du Saint Empire Romain Germanique issue de sa plume, les Annales de l'Empire se presentent comme le pendant de l'Abrege chronologique de l'histoire de France de Henault, ainsi que des Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de la maison de Brandebourg de Frederic II, que Voltaire avait lus a Potsdam en 1751. Flatte, l'historien se mit a la tache, heureux de pouvoir opposer une liste d'empereurs aux electeurs de Frederic. Ainsi propose-t-il l'histoire de l'Empire depuis Charlemagne jusqu'a Charles VI, dont la mort en 1740 donna lieu a la guerre de Succession d'Autriche, conflit dont la memoire allemande conservait encore le plus vif souvenir. L'ouvrage est compose a une allure rapide, Voltaire puisant dans les bibliotheques privees des amis qui le recoivent a tour de role au cours de ses peregrinations en 1753. Que le texte contienne des erreurs n'est guere surprenant, mais il ne merite pas de tomber dans l'oubli: comme toujours, le jugement personnel de Voltaire, historien et philosophe, apporte une perspective nouvelle aux evenements et aux personnages qui forment un corps qu'il declare 'ni saint, ni empire, ni romain'.
65A
En 1767-1768 Voltaire ecrit plusieurs fois aux autorites francaises, pour tenter d'ameliorer le sort du Pays de Gex, ou pour defendre sa reputation d'historiographe du roi. Il encourage Catherine II dans son projet de reforme de la legislation russe, en particulier par rapport a l'abolition du servage. Pour lui, la situation des sujets du pape n'est guere differente de celle des paysans russes: les uns 'serfs d'esprit', les autres 'serfs de corps'. Il escompte avec plaisir l'invasion par les rois de France et de Naples de plusieurs territoires du pape.
32A
Ce volume comprend plusieurs dialogues et autres textes courts que Voltaire ecrivit en 1750 et 1751, lors de ses derniers mois en France avant son depart pour la cour de l'empereur Frederic et pendant sa premiere annee a Berlin. Dialogues, reflexions philosophiques, ecrits historiques, poesies: Voltaire ne cesse de deployer, dans tous les genres et toutes les formes, le regard critique aiguise et l'humour mordant qui sont sa marque de fabrique, et qui ont tant seduit Frederic.
32B
This volume brings together Voltaire's writings from 1750-1752, penned before his break with Frederick the Great marked the end of his stay in Berlin. Ranging from philosophical poetry to military strategy and satire, these texts and commentaries reveal the full extent of Voltaire's intellectual interests. They also highlight his place within an Enlightenment network of (often temporary) allies, such as Frederick the Great, and sworn enemies, notably La Beaumelle and Maupertuis.
6B
The "Lettres sur les Anglais" (also known as the "Lettres philosophiques") is one of the key masterpieces of the European eighteenth century, a manifesto of Enlightenment thinking that helped to shape a way of understanding the world which remains influential to this day. It also marked a turning-point in Voltaire's career when the poet and dramatist established himself as a prose writer of the first rank. Drawing on the experiences of his stay in England (1726-1728), the "Lettres" are made up of a series of short articles, covering a range of themes, from religion and politics to literature, and they aim to present an overall view of contemporary English culture. Voltaire experiments with a new type of cultural history, suggesting the interconnection of religious tolerance, political freedom and a dynamic literary culture. This edition is the most complete ever produced, and takes as its base text the "Lettres philosophiques" of 1734, giving full variants from all the other versions published during Voltaire's lifetime. It includes the original English version, the "Letters concerning the English nation", as well as an edition and critical study of the clandestine "Lettre sur M. Locke" in which Voltaire's materialist thinking received its fullest expression. Contributors: Genevieve Artigas-Menant, Nicholas Cronk, Nicolas Frery, Antony McKenna, Gianluca Mori, Ruggero Sciuto, Nick Treuherz.
44A
Composees a la demande de Louise-Dorothee de Saxe-Meiningen, admiratrice des ecrits historiques de Voltaire qui souhaitait lire une histoire du Saint Empire Romain Germanique issue de sa plume, les Annales de l'Empire se presentent comme le pendant de l'Abrege chronologique de l'histoire de France de Henault, ainsi que des Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de la maison de Brandebourg de Frederic II, que Voltaire avait lus a Potsdam en 1751. Flatte, l'historien se mit a la tache, heureux de pouvoir opposer une liste d'empereurs aux electeurs de Frederic. Ainsi propose-t-il l'histoire de l'Empire depuis Charlemagne jusqu'a Charles VI, dont la mort en 1740 donna lieu a la guerre de Succession d'Autriche, conflit dont la memoire allemande conservait encore le plus vif souvenir. L'ouvrage est compose a une allure rapide, Voltaire puisant dans les bibliotheques privees des amis qui le recoivent a tour de role au cours de ses peregrinations en 1753. Que le texte contienne des erreurs n'est guere surprenant, mais il ne merite pas de tomber dans l'oubli: comme toujours, le jugement personnel de Voltaire, historien et philosophe, apporte une perspective nouvelle aux evenements et aux personnages qui forment un corps qu'il declare 'ni saint, ni empire, ni romain'.
44C
Composees a la demande de Louise-Dorothee de Saxe-Meiningen, admiratrice des ecrits historiques de Voltaire qui souhaitait lire une histoire du Saint Empire Romain Germanique issue de sa plume, les Annales de l'Empire se presentent comme le pendant de l'Abrege chronologique de l'histoire de France de Henault, ainsi que des Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de la maison de Brandebourg de Frederic II, que Voltaire avait lus a Potsdam en 1751. Flatte, l'historien se mit a la tache, heureux de pouvoir opposer une liste d'empereurs aux electeurs de Frederic. Ainsi propose-t-il l'histoire de l'Empire depuis Charlemagne jusqu'a Charles VI, dont la mort en 1740 donna lieu a la guerre de Succession d'Autriche, conflit dont la memoire allemande conservait encore le plus vif souvenir. L'ouvrage est compose a une allure rapide, Voltaire puisant dans les bibliotheques privees des amis qui le recoivent a tour de role au cours de ses peregrinations en 1753. Que le texte contienne des erreurs n'est guere surprenant, mais il ne merite pas de tomber dans l'oubli: comme toujours, le jugement personnel de Voltaire, historien et philosophe, apporte une perspective nouvelle aux evenements et aux personnages qui forment un corps qu'il declare 'ni saint, ni empire, ni romain'.
45A
Following his traumatic departure from the court of Frederick the Great, Voltaire wrote "L'Orphelin de la Chine", a play later identified as a turning point in French theatre from the point of view of costume and set design. As he settled in Switzerland, he composed the "Epitre de l'auteur, en arrivant dans sa terre pres du lac de Geneve". Yet he remained alert to goings-on in the outside world: in Italy, with the "Examen du Testament politique du cardinal Alberoni", in Portugal, with the "Poeme sur le desastre de Lisbonne", which grapples with the problem of human suffering and foreshadows "Candide", and in Austria and Hungary, with some shorter poems.