Voltaire: A Sketch of His Life and Works

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

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About This Book

The volume sketches the subject’s life from childhood and education through episodes of imprisonment, exile, foreign sojourns, and domestic retreats, charting the production of major writings and the circumstances of his later years while offering contemporary tributes and character assessments. It pairs the biographical narrative with curated selections of his prose and verse that illustrate recurring concerns: history and politics, war and population, critiques of religious authority and superstition, satire and moral reflection, and brief detached aphorisms. Together the sketches and extracts portray a public career devoted to reason, toleration, and literary engagement.

INTRODUCTION

My share in this little book on Voltaire is a very minor one. My old friend and colleague, Mr. J. M. Wheeler, had written the greater part of the following pages before he brought the enterprise to my attention. I went through his copy with him, and assisted him in making some alterations and additions. I also read the printer’s proofs, and suggested some further improvements—if I may call them so without egotism. This is all I have done. The credit for all the rest belongs to him. My name is placed on the title-page for two reasons. The first is, that I may now, as on other occasions, be associated with a dear friend and colleague in this tribute to Voltaire. The second is, that whatever influence I possess may be used in helping this volume to the circulation it deserves.

1. FOOTE.

November, 1891