VOLTAIRE, François Marie Arouet, dit. Lot n° 1257

Tales of Guillaume Vadé. No place [Geneva], unnamed, 1764. In-8 (193 x 120 mm) from XVI, 386 pp., 1 f.n.ch.; red morocco, triple gilt fillet, smooth spine, lemon morocco title and tomaison piece indicating "OEuvres de Voltaire", and "Conte de Vade", inside roulette, gilt edges (contemporary binding). First edition. This collection contains, in addition to the Preface by Catherine Vade, twenty-three other texts. Copy enriched with a letter from the hand of Voltaire's secretary, addressed to the comedian and playwright Pierre Laurent Buirette de Belloy (1722-1757), dated July 6, 1767 in Ferney. In this amusing letter, Voltaire makes fun of what is happening in Paris and elsewhere, evoking first the Russian imperatrice, then Eli Freron, founder of the magazine l'Annee litteraire (? in your Paris, where the friend Fréron earns money cheaply, and gets drunk in the same way?) and the writers of the capital (? What you miss, sir, of the generosity of the actors of Paris does not surprise me. They are so rich in their own funds, that they can easily do without Racine's charming verses (?). This letter is reproduced in the works of Voltaire. Nice copy; letter mounted on a tab, tear touching some letters formerly restored with 2 words retraced at the time. Provenance: William Charles Caldwell (ex-libris) - Doctor Lucien-Graux (ex-libris, this copy does not appear in the sales catalogue). Bengesco, I, 660.