Les Œuvres complètes de Voltaire, 75A: Œuvres de 1773 by John Renwick (review)

In his Preface, editor John Renwick sketches a striking portrait of the aged Voltaire in 1773 as one suffering badly from prostate problems while also fully engaged in myriad tasks: managing Ferney and its watchmaking colony; reading, research, projects, proofs, editions; fighting the good fight against injustice; maintaining ordinary correspondence; writing new works, including theatre, and philosophizing on the human condition. Voltaire lost a New Year’s Eve night’s sleep in his rush to write the Discours de maître Belleguier, his sharp contribution to the Sorbonne’s essay competition whose Latin title left ample space for deliberate misinterpretation. Next, he decided to abridge and modify Du Marsais’s Le Philosophe text, which he billeted as a clandestine philosophical manuscript. Nicholas Cronk reminds readers that clandestine manuscripts that had circulated privately in previous decades were now being published within miscellanies or editions of collected works. Although Voltaire converts Du Marsais’s atheist tract into a deist piece as part of his own philosophical campaign, the mere whiff of clandestinité naturally guaranteed enhanced sales. Also in 1773 Voltaire would write lyrically in support of two ‘cases’ that absorbed much of his time and energy: the defence of Lally (see Œuvres complètes, 75B (2009)) and the financial affair relating to Morangiés (Renwick). The philosophe’s characteristic trait of responding virulently to critical adversaries is apparent in his Lettre anonyme (Cronk) and in Morza-Voltaire’s Fragments d’une lettre with linked La Réponse (Jeroom Vercruysse). Each editor situates this volume’s writings both chronologically and according to Voltaire’s other works in that genre. For instance, Simon Davies edits a raft of shorter verse: Voltaire often inserted such verses into his correspondence to highlight a reaction to a topic or to mark a death (such as Thieriot’s), many of which, in their turn, elicited versified responses. Equally skilful is John R. Iverson’s commentary on La Tactique, a satirical and philosophical poem written in response to military theorist Comte de Guibert’s visit to Ferney. Iverson notes that this poem later evolved to reflect readers’ responses, including those of Guibert himself and Frederick of Prussia. Voltaire’s imaginary verse dialogue chiefly reveals a complex degree of what Iverson terms ‘artful ambiguity’ in the philosophe’s attitude to warfare — alternately depicted as either cruel or noble — which dates back to Voltaire’s former appointment as royal historiographer. As with many of his works, this poem first circulated in manuscript form in Parisian literary circles and was soon published in small collections and the periodical press. Equally in 1773, hysterical rumours began circulating in both Paris and the provinces that a comet heading for the earth would bring about the end of the world, according to calculations by Jérôme de Lalande: plus ça change? Voltaire’s subsequent pamphlet Lettre sur la prétendue comète (Robert L. Walters) is humorous and topical, if scathing regarding the gullibility of the general populace. As well as boasting excellent notes and erudite commentary, this rich collection of eclectic texts showcases the sheer number and astounding variety of projects that preoccupied the then nearly 80-year-old Voltaire in just one long calendar year.