Mon séjour auprès de Voltaire par Côme Collini (review)

COLLINI, CÔME. Mon séjour auprès de Voltaire. Éd. Raymond Trousson. Paris: Champion, 2009. ISBN 978-2-7453-2018-6. Pp. 265. 50 a. This is a new edition of a work first published in 1807. It is preceded by an extensive introduction and accompanied by the notes of its modern editor Raymond Trousson. The text is the first-person narrative of Collini’s experiences during the four years (1752–56) that he served as Voltaire’s personal secretary. This period encompasses the last year that Voltaire lived in Berlin and Potsdam as the guest of Frederick the Great and those when he was looking for a permanent home in the vicinity of Geneva before settling at the estate he acquired at Ferney. The central episode relates the weeks in June and early July of 1753 when Voltaire and his party were detained in Frankfurt at Frederick’s orders. The great author, his secretary, and his niece Madame Denis were kept under virtual house arrest and items in their possession were forcibly seized. What the King of Prussia wanted was to retrieve certain works of his own authorship—a privately printed book and a manuscript of poetry—that he feared Voltaire might publish to humiliate him. So it was Voltaire and his companions who got humiliated instead , much to their indignation. Collini precedes this episode by presenting his version of what led to the falling out between Voltaire and the King in the first place. He lays the blame at the feet of the rival philosopher for Frederick’s favor Maupertuis and a literary adventurer named La Baumelle. Motivated by their jealousy of the more famous writer, they deliberately created and fueled an antagonism between him and Frederick. Collini, of course, considers his employer completely blameless in this contretemps. He expresses the utmost admiration for Voltaire’s restraint and tact both before he left Berlin and throughout the incident at Frankfurt. Despite the flattering angle Collini adopts in his portrait of Voltaire, his story remains a fascinating insider’s glimpse into the private existence of a great writer. We are given a first-hand view of his daily life, riddled with ill health yet motivated by an inexhaustible urge to work. His prodigious output was the result of his never-ending labor. When he was too weak to write, he dictated what he wanted to put into his works. When he took time out from his literary, philosophical , and historical works, it was to engage in his correspondence. Moreover, in keeping with Boileau’s dictum, he was constantly revising texts already written , published, or performed. His perfectionism was relentless. Some interesting sidelines include Voltaire’s efforts to set up a theater at Les Délices near Geneva, efforts frustrated by the religious leaders of the city. The latter were inspired by both their religious doctrines and the pronouncements against the theater made by native son Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Interestingly, Voltaire performed there in several of his own plays but was highly self-critical about his acting talents. Somewhat mysterious are the circumstances surrounding Collini’s dismissal from Voltaire’s service in June 1756. He somehow incurred the displeasure of Madame Denis, perhaps by indiscreet comments about her personal life. In any event, he and Voltaire remained friends and correspondents. A large part of Collini’s book consists of the cordial letters his former employer sent him. Voltaire was also instrumental in helping Collini obtain the position of secretary to the Count Palatine Charles-Theodore in Mannheim. Collini held this position, garnering several promotions along the way, from 1759 until his death in 1806. University of Denver (CO) James P. Gilroy 748 FRENCH REVIEW 85.4 ...