Voltaire - Histoire de Charles XII, Roy de Suede - 1734

Voltaire – History of Charles XII, King of Sweden

Two volumes bound into one volume – Expanded edition – 1734

A rare and handsome old copy of one of Voltaire’s great historical works, published under the form “Par Mr de V*”, a common practice in the 18th century for reasons of censorship and political prudence.

Bibliographic description
• Title: History of Charles XII, King of Sweden
• Author: Voltaire (mentioned "Mr de V***")
• Publisher: Christophe Revis
• Place & date: Basel, 1734
• Edition: Sixth edition, revised, corrected and expanded
(partially original content compared to previous editions)
• Content :
• Volume I: 239 pages
• Volume II: 222 pages
• Binding: Two volumes bound into a single volume
• Format : In-12 (env. 17 × 10 cm)

Binding & Condition
• Full leather binding from the period (18th century)
• Ribbed spine richly decorated with gilded fleurons
Golden title piece
• Red marbled slices
• Paper of its era with evenly distributed foxing, uniform and typical for the century.
• Solid binding, interior well preserved
• Complete copy, with no missing pages

Historical and bibliophilic interest
The History of Charles XII is one of Voltaire's major historical works, admired for:
• its narrative clarity
• its historical rigor
his/her critical view of power and war

This 1734 edition is particularly sought after because it is augmented, incorporating corrections and additions that were absent from the earlier printings.

In the 18th century, Voltaire deliberately published several of his works without signing them explicitly, or under masked forms such as « Mr de V** »*, for several major historical reasons:

a) Political context and censorship
• The History of Charles XII deals with war, power, and European rulers who were still relatively recent in time.
• Voltaire criticizes indirectly:
• absolutism
• fanaticism
• the blind glorification of war
• These subjects exposed the author to:
• prohibitions
• entries
• political or religious reprisals

Partial anonymity was a necessary protection, even for an author who was already famous.

The author's latest photo is not included in the lot.

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