Just published: Complete Works of Voltaire, vol.29A
Précis du siècle de Louis XV (I): Introduction, chapters 1-16
Ed. Janet Godden and James Hanrahan
Oxford, Voltaire Foundation, 2019
ISBN 978-0-7294-1137-0, hb, 7 ill., xxii+476 p.
(http://www.voltaire.ox.ac.uk/book/pr%C3%A9cis-du-si%C3%A8cle-de-louis-xv-i)

The Précis du siècle de Louis XV is Voltaire’s vivid and engaging account of his own era. In this volume, the editors present the first sixteen chapters of the work: starting with an introduction to the situation in Europe at the time of Louis XIV’s death in 1715, the narrative continues through the Regency and into the midst of the War of Austrian Succession, up to the iconic French victory at the Battle of Fontenoy (1745). The text is supported by a comprehensive introduction to the work, detailing the genesis and evolution of the work through its many iterations.

Related online articles can be found on the Voltaire Foundation’s website:
About Voltaire: Précis du siècle de Louis XV
A proto-digital edition case study: Voltaire’s Précis du siècle de Louis XV
‘Depuis Charlemagne jusqu’à nos jours’ – mission accomplished

For further information please contact: email@voltaire.ox.ac.uk

Stephen Ashworth
Voltaire Foundation, University of Oxford, UK