Complete Works of Voltaire 11A-13D

This fully annotated critical edition of the "Siècle 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 château 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 écrivains français qui ont paru dans le siècle 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, Valérie Bajou, Nicholas Cronk, Linda Gil, James Hanrahan, François Moureau, Jean-Alexandre Perras, Laurent Portes, Samuel S. B. Taylor, Alain Viala, Diego Venturino, Alain Viala.