Rare, Voltaire, Candide, Forgery, 1761 | Candide ou l'optimisme (...)

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Voltaire [= F.M. Arouet]

Voltaire, 1761 | Candide ou l’optimisme par mr. de Voltaire. Premiere partie. Edition revue, corrigee & augmente par l’auteur, ‘Aux delices’ [Netherlands?]. 1763.

Name: Voltaire, 1761 | Candide ou l'optimisme par mr. de Voltaire. Premiere partie. Edition revue, corrigee &amp; augmente par l'auteur, 'Aux delices' [Netherlands?]. 1763.
SKU: 42415
Availability: OutOfStock

Full leather binding with gold tooling on spine and board edges, and red-painted fore-edges. Marbled endpapers. 183 (1) pp. Bound with: Candide ou l’optimisme, traduit de l’allemand de mr. le Docteur Ralph. Seconde partie [Netherlands?]. 1761, (4) 98 (2) pp. Binding scuffed with a small crack in the lower left hinge. Title page of first work partially loose. Light browning, a few stains, and a few small tears on page edges (including the title page of the second volume), but none affecting the text. Book block cracked in the middle. A good copy.

A fascinating item that speaks to the economics and competitiveness of the early modern book trade, especially with respect to counterfeits and forgeries. When Voltaire’s Candide was first published in 1759, the work achieved immense popularity in Europe despite broad condemnation from secular and religious leaders. To profit from the frenzy surrounding the work–and the “anonymity” of its author (who had adopted the pseudonym “Monsieur le docteur Ralph”)–a spurious sequel was published in 1760. Though the “sequel” was immediately recognized as counterfeit, it nevertheless achieved its own popularity; for instance, it was re-printed at least 14 times in the next 37 years.

This volume, published by the (likely Dutch) printing house, “Aux Delices”, unites the text of Voltaire’s “real” Candide (following the 1761 reprint with major revisions), with the “sequel.” The rogue printing reworks Voltaire’s original title to suggest that Candide was but a “Premiere partie”–thus implying the presence of additional parts. Given the inverted dates on the volumes (the spurious “Part Two” is from 1761, while “Part One” bears a later date of 1763), this re-naming might be interpreted as an attempt to legitimize the “Seconde partie”. B0883

SKU: 42415

€ 545,00 (€ 500,00 ex. btw)

Out of stock