"THE CENTRAL FIGURE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT": FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF VOLTAIRE'S IGNORANT PHILOSOPHER, 1767, BOUND BY ZAEHNSDORF

VOLTAIRE [Arouet, François-Marie], M. De. The Ignorant Philosopher. With An Address to the Public upon The Patricides Imputed to the Families of Calas and Sirven. London: S. Bladon, 1767. Octavo, 20th-century full crushed crimson morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spine, raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt; pp. (viii), 206.

First edition in English, preceded only by the previous year's anonymous French first edition, of one of Voltaire's most important late works, joining with his Lettres philosophiques and Letters Concerning the English Nation in highlighting the importance of Locke, and hints of Voltaire's hope for America—"the birth of a new nation founded on principles he had long been advocating"—richly bound in full crimson morocco by Zaehnsdorf.

"Voltaire did perhaps more than any other single author to shape the course of Enlightenment thought… To historian Isiah Berlin, Voltaire is 'the central figure of the Enlightenment.'" This first edition in English of Ignorant Philosopher (Le Philosophe ignorant, 1766) furthers his thoughts on Locke that arose in Lettres philosophiques (1734) and Letters Concerning the English Nation (1733). Together these key writings are fundamental 'in explaining and establishing the importance of Locke… Voltaire's role in spreading 'moderate Enlightenment' from England and Holland to France was a crucial one" (Cambridge Companion, 47, 60).

As is clear in this work, "Voltaire was enchanted by Locke's dismissal of the doctrine of innate ideas" (Andrews, Voltaire, 21). Voltaire acknowledges his debt to Locke when he writes: "I returned to Locke, like the prodigal son who returned to his father… He confirms in me the opinion that I always entertained… That there are no innate ideas"(70). In part, Voltaire's title speaks to his frustration "with the mental gymnastics and verbal obfuscation of most philosophers… [Yet] he himself was perpetually driven to explore the theories of fundamental causes… And the questions of being, the conditions of knowledge, and the perennial problem of good and evil were likewise assiduously investigated by Voltaire" ((Topazio in PMLA 74:4, 356). "In a society where political and religious differences had proven destructive to social harmony," Voltaire was "a deist in the tradition of Locke and Newton… and a believer in civil and religious liberty on the English model" (Encyclopedia of Monasticism A-L:340).

Published the decade before his death, this work also speaks to a qualified optimism in Voltaire's thinking, for "only in his last years with the advent of the American Revolution and Franklin's presence in France, did he look hopefully across the sea for the birth of a new nation founded on the principles that he had long been advocating" (Encyclopedia of Philosophy). In 1778 Franklin, who "had admired Voltaire's sparkling prose as early as 1764," visited Voltaire not long before his death. "The two men who had risen by their wits on different continents worshiped at the same altars, at those of common sense, liberty and tolerance" (Schiff, 14, 137). Jefferson, as well, valued Voltaire and his library included a 58-volume collection of Voltaire's Ouevres. First edition in English. Preceded by the anonymously issued 1766 first edition in French, Le philosophe ignorant. "Address to the Public upon the Parricides" continuously paginated as issued (149-206). With half title; bound without rear advertisement leaf. ESTC T137605. See ESTC N11427.

Text quite fresh with lightest scattered foxing. A handsome about-fine copy, beautifully bound.