Voltaire - Œuvres complètes - 1785-1789

Celebrated so-called “Kehl edition” of Voltaire’s Complete Works, published posthumously under the direction of Beaumarchais and Condorcet. It was printed at Kehl, on the other side of the Rhine, to escape French censorship. It is the first major collective edition of Voltaire’s works, and the first to publish a large part of his correspondence. Set in Baskerville type on laid paper.

The collection notably includes: Theatre, Poems, Epistles, Tales in verse, Essay on Manners, The Century of Louis XIV, History of Russia, Annals of the Empire, History of the Paris Parliament, Politics and Legislation, General Philosophy, Philosophical Dictionary, Novels, Fables, Literary Miscellanies, Commentary on Corneille, General Correspondence, Correspondence with the King of Prussia, Correspondence with d’Alembert, as well as the Life of Voltaire (volume 92).

Binding: uniform period binding in calf, smooth backs adorned and gilded, title and volume labels, marbled endpapers. Volume 4 is bound differently.

Condition:

• Interior fresh: thick laid paper, clearly legible text, scattered foxing.
• Bindings worn: spines damaged or missing on several volumes, some hinges cracked, rubbing and epidermization, some title labels damaged or missing.
• Volumes 33 and 67 are missing.

Beautiful 18th-century library set, to be restored or preserved in its present state.