His Majesty will present to President Macron, Voltaire’s Lettres sur les Anglais, otherwise known as Lettres philosophiques, one of the greatest and most influential works of the European Enlightenment and beyond.
In twenty-five short chapters, the Lettres sur les Anglais cover a wide range of themes, and set out the programme for a modern, free and tolerant society.
This is the most complete edition ever undertaken of the work, and includes the English version, the Letters concerning the English nation, that Voltaire published in London in 1733.
The book was based on Voltaire’s experience during his stay in London from 1726 to 1728, when he met many English writers and was presented to George I.
These letters form part of the gift of the complete set of the Œuvres complètes de Voltaire, which have been edited by a leading UK academic at the Voltaire Foundation at Oxford University.
For the last forty years, the Voltaire Foundation has been building an international reputation for their world-leading research on the 18th century and the Enlightenment.
Having started work in 1968, they recently (April 2022) finished the publication of the Complete Works of Voltaire (Œuvres complètes de Voltaire), the first complete edition of Voltaire’s entire writings.
This has been completed in 205 volumes, edited by Professor Nicholas Cronk, Director of the Foundation. And Royal Bindery photography album containing photographs of His Majesty and the President.
