VOLTAIRE. Lot n° 89

Candide, or Optimism, translated from the German by Dr. Ralph. S.l.n.n. [Geneva, Cramer], 1759. In-12, marbled calf, triple gilt fillet, smooth spine decorated, marbled edges (Binding of the time). Genuine first edition of Candide. Based on the author's original manuscript, the Cramer edition was printed in Geneva in January 1759 and secretly sent from there to Paris and Amsterdam. The work was a huge success and was printed almost sixteen times in the same year. "Candide stands out as Voltaire's masterpiece: the brief, attractive work, the accomplished expression of a thought and an art, by which Voltaire, author of dozens of volumes that are not widely read today, ensures his presence among posterity" (René Pomeau). As very often, the binder has not kept the last two leaves, one blank, the other with a Notice to the binder (ff. N7-N8). Interesting copy after which two of the main continuations immediately inspired by Voltaire's tale have been bound: - Candide, or Optimism. Second part. S.l.n.n., 1761. Bengesco attributes this suite to Charles-Claude-Florent Thorel de Campigneulles, who nevertheless disowned it; in a more recent article, Jacques Rustin gives it to the abbé Henri-Joseph Dulaurens. - Remark of Candide to Mr. de Voltaire. Halle ; Amsterdam, Schneider, 1760. This 35 pp. text is attributed to Louis-Olivier de Marconnay. In some reprints of Candide, these two suites are printed after Voltaire's tale. They are rarer in separate editions, as is the case here. Old signature and pen tests on the first white endpapers. Binding restored, tear repaired on f. A2, some scattered foxing, soiling and fine wetness. I. Candide: Bengesco, n°1434 - Voltaire à la BN, n°2620 - Morize, n°59a - Wade, n°1 - Barber, n°299G - En français dans le texte, n°160 - PMM, n°204. - II. Second part: Bengesco, n°2354 - J. Rustin, " Les suites de Candide au XVIIIe siècle ", Studies on Voltaire..., vol. XC, 1972, pp. 1395-1416.