Oeuvres Completes de Voltaire

[Paris]: La Société Littéraire-Typographique, 1789. First edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 70 vol. 8vo. Please inquire if you require any pagination information. Contemporary full calf, spines in six and a half compartments, each with a red and a green morocco label lettered in gilt; several edges decoratively stained yellow. With 104 of the 122 recorded plates (Cohen-DeRicci calls for 122 plates), volume one is missing the tableau (the folding plate) and the dedication plate. Due to the vagaries of hand-press-era binding and to the large size of the set, it is difficult to determine which of the other 16 plates are the ones missing. The plates present depict Voltaire, scenes from his plays, and several fascinating figures from European History (including of course, Enlightenment-era figures). All other half-titles present (see condition statement). Bengesco 2142. Brunet 681. Cohen-DeRicci 1042-1047. This edition is the set most lauded for its completeness and beautiful typography. Baskerville's type was purchased to produce this sizeable set of Voltaire's writings. The later editions of Voltaire's works are said to be based on this edition. Voltaire's career was nothing short of prolific, as demonstrated by these 70 volumes. With a biting wit and a clever pen, the philosophe lampooned Leibniz, wrote countless plays and historical dramas, and corresponded with his fellow Enlightenment-era intellectuals. He walked the line of philosopher and literary figure, and made great contributions to science, in his translation of Newton's writings into French. He was a champion not only of the natural sciences, but of liberty and of personal pleasure. Voltaire dreamed that European society would and could move forward, away from tyrannical monarchies towards a more sophisticated and benevolent system of governance. He stands out as one of the most popular and influential figures of the Enlightenment era. Volume 37 lacks its free front endpaper, a few leaves in the volumes have an occasional dampspot, volume 43 lacks leaf CC8 and its half-title.