|
Showing 1 - 7 of
7 matches in All Departments
Ce volume contient plusieurs textes importants de Voltaire composes
en 1766/1767: la "Relation de la mort du chevalier La Barre", qui
fait partie de la lutte voltairienne contre l'infame; les "Lettres
a Son Altesse Monseigneur le prince de ***", dans lesquelles
Voltaire fait l'apologie de certains ecrivains 'antichretiens',
precurseurs de l'esprit philosophique; et "Les Honnetetes
litteraires", un 'compendium de traits d'erudition, de droiture et
de charite'.
This volume brings together a group of works which have never been
edited before, and makes an important contribution to the study of
Voltaire and music history. Voltaire's role as a courtier during
this period was a complex one, as he sought to serve at both the
French and Prussian courts; the names of the addressees of the
verse written at this time show the numerous contacts made by
Voltaire during his travels abroad and particularly during his
postings to Berlin and the Hague. On his return to France in 1743,
his attention turned to the court at Versailles, and there followed
two royal commissions, "La Princesse de Navarre" and "Le Temple de
la gloire", both written in collaboration with Rameau with whom
Voltaire had a stormy working relationship. Although neither work
received the critical acclaim Voltaire had hoped for, the first did
secure for him the position of historiographe du roi and is
integral to his ongoing experimentation in comic drama.
In mid-July 1765, Voltaire produced a twenty-page pamphlet entitled
"Questions sur les miracles a M. le professeur Cla*** par un
proposant", hoping at best for a reply from the said pastor, little
thinking that it would lead to the publication eleven months later,
in May 1766, of a 232-page volume entitled "Collection des lettres
sur les miracles", composed of various short writings from the
period. Voltaire's series of twenty imaginary letters might at
first glance be seen as one chronological sequence, as superficial
as the fickle and fleeting question they address. But the
"Collection" is at the same time an attack on Christianity; an
attack on John Turberville Needham, a new anti-philosophical
adversary for Voltaire; and a political wrangle which questions the
relationship between church authorities and civil government,
challenged by the situation in Switzerland at the time.
Les 'Vies privees', ecrits scandaleux destines a detruire l'image
officielle de personnes distinguees, ou, plus rarement, ecrits
louangeurs pour sauver une reputation, offrent des perspectives
nouvelles sur l'evolution des rapports entre domaines publics et
prives. Ces textes rares ou mal connus sont un temoignage capital
sur l'histoire de l'opinion publique dans la France pre- et
post-revolutionnaire et sur la constitution du genre de la
biographie. Apres des recherches minutieuses menees dans des
bibliotheques en France et a l'etranger, les editeurs proposent la
premiere vue d'ensemble de ces 'Vies'. Un 'Dictionnaire' rassemble
les notices, classees par ordre alphabetique des noms des
personnages evoques, presentant l'analyse de chacune des 'Vies'
recensees - des figures majeures, de la fin de l'Ancien regime et
de la Restauration, rois et reines, membres de la famille de
Napoleon, mais aussi des ministres, des prelats, et des brigands.
Il est precede par un essai, intitule Vie privee et politique, qui
etudie le phenomene editorial, litteraire et ideologique de ces
textes. Ces 'Vies', souvent fantaisistes et caricaturales, ouvrent
des perspectives nouvelles sur la manipulation de l'opinion par le
recit au dix-huitieme siecle: le 'storytelling' des medias de nos
jours n'est guere nouveau.
1739-1741 were stressful but highly creative years for Voltaire,
his output ranging from science to polemic, from politics to
poetry. Scientific research remains at the forefront, with Voltaire
championing Newton's theories despite the opposition of the
scientific establishment. Voltaire was in this period anxious to
consolidate his reputation, and his continuing reflections on the
nature of a literary career led to the publication of both his
personalised "Memoire du sieur de Voltaire" and more general
reflections on literary quarrels in "Memoire sur le satire". Public
quarrels had become an integral part of the 'Republic of Letters'
and Voltaire's disillusionment is clear in "Lettres sur les
inconvenients attaches a la litterature". His verse ranges from
crude satire to some of his most touching lyric poetry in the
"Stances a Madame Du Chatelet". Altogether, this collection brings
together the complex and contrasting works of a complex and
flexible writer.
|
You may like...
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
|