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Reinventing Voltaire

The Politics of Commemoration in Nineteenth-century France

Stephen Bird author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Liverpool University Press

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Reinventing Voltaire cover

How was Voltaire's legacy seen in France between 1830 and 1900? To what extent did the nineteenth century reinvent Voltaire? Viewed during these years through the distorting lens of the French Revolution, Voltaire was vilified and venerated in roughly equal measure: as an icon of republican anticlericalism on the one hand, and a deeply Christian reformer on the other. This wide-ranging study uses the rich sources of the Parisian periodical and daily press to examine the evolution of Voltaire's legacy as it was contested through caricature and statuary as much as through editions and criticism of his works.

'The first really comprehensive study of the different phases in which Voltaire was reinvented and then celebrated after his death. There’s also a chapter on popular editions of his work and the extent to which Voltaire is read by a broader reading public—a more working class reading public.'
Nicholas Cronk, Five Books

ISBN: 9780729407427

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 470g

257 pages