Lecture | Voltaire and the Art of the Miscellany
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Voltaire was a hugely prolific writer of short prose works. Ren茅 Pomeau, in a rare听bon mot, writes that Voltaire is 鈥榠nterminably brief鈥�. Scholars don鈥檛 quite know what to do with this vast part of Voltaire鈥檚听艙uvre听听and they remain little studied.听In the late听eighteenth century to the late nineteenth century editors bundled these听works together in volumes called 鈥楳茅langes鈥�.
In fact, Voltaire collected and arranged his shorter texts in volumes of his own construction, and it is these miscellanies that pose many questions:听
- Are they thematically unified?听
- How and why do they mix old and new works?听
- How are the individual works signed, if they are?听
The miscellanies are pivotal works for understanding Voltairean polemic, and they constitute an intrinsic part of his innovative authorial posture.
Talk given听by Professor Nicholas Cronk, M.A., D.Phil., Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, Officier dans l鈥檕rdre des Palmes acad茅miques, Oxford University
Light reception to follow.
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Presented by听Rare and听Special Collections, Osler, Art, and Archives (ROAAr).
This event is听supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Nicholas Cronk is the Director of the Voltaire Foundation, Professor of French Literature, and Lecturer in the History of the Book; Fellow of St Edmund Hall at Oxford University. Cronk is Chercheur associ茅 脿 l鈥橧TEM (CNRS/ENS), P么le 芦Ecritures des Lumi猫res禄, Pr茅sident de la Soci茅t茅 des 茅tudes voltairiennes. As General Editor of the Complete Works of Voltaire, Nicholas Cronk's main research interests are related to Voltaire, in particular Voltaire's historical writings, his correspondence, his poetry, the Lettres philosophiques, and the Questions sur l鈥橢ncyclop茅die. Cronk also studies the French Enlightenment more generally, the history of the book (in particular the illustrated book) and questions of critical editing.
