FOLIO SOCIETY CANDIDE Voltaire Quentin Blake Limited Edition

Description: Folio Society Limited Edition – CANDIDE Voltaire was the greatest of French Enlightenment writers – a historian, poet, playwright, scientist and philosopher. He was passionately involved in the debates of the day, advocating reform of the monarchy, the French justice system and increased freedom for the press. His attacks on the Church and the aristocracy often saw him in trouble – imprisoned in the Bastille, exiled to England and banned from Paris. Of his many works, the most popular today is Candide: the most widely taught piece of French literature in the world. This mordant novella has not one but a dozen targets for its satire: organised religion (including corrupt monks, bloodthirsty Inquisitors and bigoted Protestants); the overweening pride of aristocrats; merchant’s greed; colonial ambition; and the hopeless complacency of Leibnizian philosophy in the face of reality. All are dissected with a few sharp stokes of Voltaire’s pen. It is unsurprising that Candide enjoyed instant success on publication in 1759, selling 30,000 copies in the first year. Despite being fantastically picaresque, Candide made references to contemporary events such as the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, and the Seven Years War. Candide even attended a play by Voltaire. Such topicality meant that the allegory scarcely veiled the satirical string. Frederick the Great, a previous patron of Voltaire, must have writhed in fury over the lampooning of Prussian military drill; the English government would have been just as outraged over Voltaire’s devastating account of the execution of Admiral Byng, and the French over his depiction of brutality meted out to slaves on the sugar plantations. Indeed, Voltaire seems to have gone out of his way to infuriate every power in Europe. He published Candide under a pseudonym, but everyone knew the author’s identity. The book was denounced by both the secular and religious authorities, banned in Geneva and Paris and placed on the Church’s list of proscribed books. In 1929, a US official banned the book from reaching a Harvard French class, exclaiming in outrage: ‘It’s a filthy book’. In today’s irreverent world Candide may be less shocking, but its satire is no less pertinent. Such was Candide’s celebrity that within a year of its first publication, three English translations had appeared. Shortly afterwards, between 1761 and 1765, the renowned writer Tobias Smollett published a 35-volume translation of Voltaire’s works including, of course, Candide. Smollett’s translation is unsurpassed. It has a freshness and immediacy which made it the Folio’s Society’s first choice for this classic edition. ‘Voltaire made, with this novel, a resume of all his works … His whole intelligence was a war machine. And what makes me cherish it is the disgust which has been inspired in me by the Voltairians, people who laugh about the important things! Was he laughing? Voltaire? He was screeching …’ – Gustave Flaubert Julian Barnes is the award-winning author of Flaubert’s Parrot, A History of the World in 101/2 Chapters and Arthur and George. He has also written widely on France and French literature. In his introduction, he examines the seismic impact of Candide in Voltaire’s own time and its relevance to this day. He also points out that the book’s true genius lies in its ability to make mankind’s insanity so very funny. ‘The world is not reformed by the end of Candide, and cultivating one’s garden protects no one from an army of Bulgarians. Satire is not about “finding a solution” … rather, it is the necessary expression of moral rage … “But then, to what end”, Candide muses, “was the world formed?” Martin replies: “To make us mad.” Satire is one response to, and outlet for, the cosmic madness’ – Julian Barnes Quentin Blake is one of the world’s greatest living illustrators. His style is instantly recognisable – it combines an appearance of effortless immediacy with a precision of line that manages to capture character, mood and expression with just a few strokes of the pen. Who could be more fitting to illustrate the great satirical comedy of French Literature? Just as Voltaire manages to make the report of a wartime atrocity both funny and agonising, so Blake’s pictures capture a world at once comic and horrific. Quentin Blake produced 18 full-page colour illustrations and nearly 30 delightfully wicked pen and ink drawings for this Folio Society edition. ‘Blake is beyond brilliant. He’s anarchic, moral, infinitely subversive, sometimes vicious, socially acute, sparse when he has to be, exuberantly lavish in the detail when he feels like it’ – The Daily Telegraph PRODUCTION DETAILS:-• Illustrated by Quentin Blake• Limited to 1,000 copies, signed and numbered by the artist • Quarter-bound in burgundy Nigerian goatskin leather, blocked in gold foil• Top edge gilding• Printed on Modigliani Insize Neve• 208 pages, 101/4 " x 81/2"• Presented in a rigid slipcase blocked in gold foil CONDITION: Book appears UNREAD and in FINE condition. Internally pages are clean and bright throughout. No scratches , rubbing etc.. to the gilt top page edge. Binding is tight and square. The slipcase is STURDY and in FINE condition with minimal shelf wear. FREE UK delivery by Parcelforce express48 (tracked and insured) All items are sent at cost price whether purchasing a single or multiple items. 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End Time: 2025-01-14T22:04:58.000Z

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