VOLTAIRE. La pucelle d’Orleans. 1764

8vo; 195x115mm; Full leather binding with gilt title on label at the spine, gilt edges, marbled endpapers; pp. XVI, 384. Half title, engraved frontispiece, copper-engraved vignette on the title page, 20 copper-engraved plates, one for each canto, headpieces and finals. Good specimen.

Very rare first edition authorized by Voltaire, magnificently illustrated. Bengesco: “C'est la premiere edition avouee par Voltaire”. It contains a large number of additions and corrections in several cantos. Cantos 8, 9, 16, 17, 18 have been added. The beautiful engravings that illustrate the text are by Gravelot. In this satirical poem Voltaire rails against the patriotic-religious cult of Joan of Arc: the work caused a scandal and was soon censored in France. Quérard: “This poem is one of Voltaire's ouvrages that excité at the same time and the most enthusiasm and the most violent declarations.”

La Pucelle was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church on 20 January 1767 (Index librorum prohibitorum. 1786, p. 135). Eight months later, eight printers and bookbinders in Paris were found guilty of continuing to publish the book clandestinely and sentenced to three years' imprisonment (Bengesco: p. 127). Despite being banned from Rome, La Pucelle became very popular and was one of the most read works during the 18th century in France, reprinted several times.

Quérard, X, 304; Bengesco, I, 488; Cohen/Ricci, 1029.