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306
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VOLTAIRE. Philosophical Dictionary.
See original version (French)
306
-
VOLTAIRE. Philosophical Dictionary.
See original version (French)
Estimate €400 - €500
Voluntary lot
Description
VOLTAIRE. Philosophical Dictionary.
A rare first edition of this landmark work of Enlightenment literature, published clandestinely in Geneva.
London [Geneva], n.p. [Gabriel Grasset], 1764.
8vo, mahogany calfskin, ribbed spine decorated with gilt metal tools, double gilt fillet framing the covers, gilt roulette on the edges, red edges.
VIII, 344 pp.
Spine and corners rubbed, head and foot caps missing. Annotations on the endpaper and half-title page.
First edition.
A scathing attack on the dogmas of the Church, this dictionary was condemned to the stake upon its publication in Geneva in 1764 and in Paris in 1765. Although disavowed by its author, the work was expanded in the numerous editions that followed. This first edition contains 73 entries, from ‘Abraham’ to ‘Virtue’; in Kehl’s famous edition of Voltaire’s works (1784), the *Dictionnaire portatif* occupies no fewer than nine volumes. The present edition remains the only one offering the original conception of the *Dictionnaire portatif*.
“Twenty folio volumes will never bring about a revolution; it is the small, portable books costing thirty sous that are to be feared.” (Voltaire, letter to d’Alembert, 1765).
[Le Petit, 552–553 – Bengesco, 412].
An annotated copy, with black ink on the flyleaf and half-title page, containing astonishing philosophical aphorisms: “What are we to make of a man who envies the immortality of Socrates and Jesus Christ? He could not understand that, having written nothing, their names will endure for all time.”
A very fine copy, looking wonderfully fresh.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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