Nicholas Cronk

This book commemorates the conclusion of the fifty-five-year project of publishing a modern scholarly edition of Voltaire's Complete Works.

Voltaire (1694-1778), best remembered as the author of Candide, is one of the central actors -- arguably the defining personality -- of the European Enlightenment. In this Very Short Introduction, Nicholas Cronk explores Voltaire's remarkable career and demonstrates how his thinking is pivotal to our notion and understanding of the Enlightenment. In a fresh and modern examination of his writings, Cronk examines the nature of Voltaire's literary celebrity, demonstrating the extent to which his work was reactive and practical, and therefore made sense within the broader context of the debates to which he responded. The most famous living author in Europe in the 18th century, Cronk emphasises Voltaire's skills of 'performance' as a writer and his continued relevance today. He concludes by looking not only at Voltaire's impact in literature and philosophy, but also his influence on French political values and modern French politics. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Scholarly editions in print have long been central to literary studies, produced according to well-established methodologies. In recent decades, digital scholarly editions have gained prominence, with some publishers digitising existing print editions and others creating born-digital resources. The shift from print to digital demands not only new editorial approaches but also sustained attention to issues of technical and financial sustainability – key concerns for resources of reference. The challenge is not merely to replicate print editions in digital form but to transcend their limitations and fully exploit the affordances of the digital medium. This essay examines these issues by focussing on one case-study: the creation of the digital Oxford University Voltaire, launched in 2026, which builds upon the Complete Works of Voltaire (205 vols, 1968–2022). By tracing the transition from print to digital, the authors aim to highlight both the opportunities and complexities inherent in scholarly editing today.

Voltaire's correspondence has been described as his 'greatest masterpiece' – but if it is, it is also his least studied. One of the most prodigious correspondences in Western literature, it poses significant interpretative challenges to the critic and reader alike. Considered individually, the letters present a series of complex, subtle, and playful literary performances; taken together, they constitute a formidable, and even forbidding, ensemble. How can modern readers even attempt to understand such an imposing work? This Element addresses this question through the use of digital reading methods and resources that enhance our understanding of this complex literary object and its relationship to Voltaire's more canonical literary output, and indeed to the Enlightenment world at large. Nicholas Cronk and Glenn Roe provide scholars and students with new pathways into this particular corpus, using tools and approaches that can then be applied to correspondences and life-writing texts in all languages and periods.