Following the explosive, unauthorised publication of the "Lettres philosophiques", which revealed a new side of Voltaire to the world, a new chapter of his life began at Cirey with his lover Mme Du Chatelet. Nine years were to pass before he could again live openly in Parisian society. However, this period was among the most creative of Voltaire's life and the multifarious projects of 1734-1735 show an author attacked and exiled but nevertheless able to turn his hand to an astounding range of projects. This volume includes texts as diverse as "Alzire", a tragedy set in sixteenth-century Peru, contrasting the noblest ideals of Christianity to both Incan religion and the dangerous fanaticism of the Conquistadors, the monumental "Traite de metaphysique", and some of Voltaire's first love poems to the marquise Du Chatelet.

This volume contains works from 1760 and showcases two sides to Voltaire. "Le Droit du seigneur" is a comic drama featuring rakes, illegitimate heiresses, and true love, and takes as its starting point the abuse of power represented by the custom of jus primae noctis. By contrast, "L'Ecossaise" and the "Anecdotes sur Freron" are artefacts of the intellectual war between the philosophes and the anti-philosophes. Elie Catherine Freron, the editor of the influential "L'Annee litteraire" journal, was a formidable opponent of Voltaire and launched stinging attacks on Enlightenment ideas. In "L'Ecossaise", Voltaire employs the form of the sentimental comedy to undermine Freron, who is caricatured as the character 'Frelon' - the Wasp. In the "Anecdotes sur Freron", Voltaire swats the Wasp in a satirical salvo of caustic wit.