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The Private Library of Voltaire at Leningrad

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2021

George R. Havens and
Norman L. Torrey
George R. Havens
Affiliation:
Ohio Stale University
Norman L. Torrey
Affiliation:
Yale University
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Extract

On the 15th of December, 1778, about six months after the death of Voltaire, his private library at Ferney was bought by Catherine the Great of Russia for 30,000 rubles plus a certain number of valuable presents to Mme Denis, Voltaire's niece. This library consiste of about 7500 volumes comprising, because of the number of large sets, about 2500 to 3000 titles. Catherine received her purchase at St. Petersburg on July 30, 1779. Wagnière, the secretary of Voltaire, had been engaged to arrange the books in the same order as at Ferney and to prepare the manuscripts for binding. He arrived in St. Petersburg, as he tells us, “le 8 auguste 1779” and remained in Russia at the execution of the task set him by Catherine until probably January or February, 1780. The library was installed in the Hermitage and remained there until about 1862, when it was transferred to the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg, now the Public Library of Leningrad. There in the Fine Arts Division of the Philosophy Section these books are still to be found, carefully stored in their locked cases behind glass doors and supposed still to stand in the order in which they were arranged by Wagnifere after that used by Voltaire himself at Ferney. Most of his books are contained in two large double-faced cases, each case about twenty feet long and ten shelves high, giving a total book space of some eight hundred feet. The bottom shelves are reserved for folio volumes, the second shelves for quartos and the smaller volumes appear on the higher shelves. A somewhat smaller case in the gallery above contains the rest of Voltaire's books. Under the former government of Russia no one was allowed to consult more than five books of this collection a day. This limit is no longer imposed and during the summer of 1927 the authors of this article were permitted to have before them on their tables any number of volumes that they wished.

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Type
Research Article
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PMLA , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , December 1928, pp. 990 - 1009
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1928

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References

page 990 note 1 This article is a joint report resulting from work done together in the Voltaire library at Leningrad by George R. Havens and Norman L. Torrey during the summer of 1927. While the former is chiefly responsible for the first half of the article and the latter for the second half, both authors have made contributions to the paper as a whole and have attempted a complete collaboration throughout

page 990 note 2 Fernand Caussy, Inventaire des manuscrits de la bibliothèque de Voltaire, Paris, 1913, p. 3. See also Voltaire, Œuvres (Moland ed.), I, 455 and pp. 453-58, 463-65.

page 990 note 3 This estimate would be somewhat increased by an enumeration of all the titles contained in some one hundred fifty volumes of “Pot pourri.” Cf. also n. 17 below.

page 990 note 4 Caussy, op. cit., p. 4.

page 990 note 5 On the testimony of Bachaumont vouched for in this instance by Wagnière (Longchamp et Wagnière, Mémoires sur Voltaire, Paris, 1826, II, 9-10). cf. Desnoiresterres, Voltaire, VIII (1876), 423.

page 991 note 6 Longchamp et Wagnière, op. cit., I, 170. (Wagnière follows here Voltaire's predilection for “auguste” instead of what he calls the ugly “août”)

page 991 note 7 Ibid., I, 172. Wagnière'S narrative is dated “A Ferney, mars 1780.”

page 991 note 8 Cf. Diderot, Œuvres (Assézat-Tourneux ed.), I, p. lxviii.

page 991 note 9 Caussy, op. cit., p. 5.

page 991 note 10 Joseph de Maistre, Les Soirées de Saint-Pétersbourg, Anvers, 1821, I, 233.

page 991 note 11 Ibid.

page 991 note 12 Voltaire, Œuvres (Moland), I, p. vii; XXXII, 485-86.

page 992 note 13 Ibid., XXXII, 468-82.

page 992 note 14 Léouzon-Leduc, “Rapport sur les papiers de Voltaire conservés dans la bibliothèque impériale et dans celle de l'Ermitage de Saint-Pétersbourg,” Archives des missions scientifiques et littéraires, Vol. I (Paris, 1850), pp. 40-41.

page 992 note 15 Hector de La Ferrière, “Troisième Rapport sur les Recherches faites à la Bibliothèque impériale de Saint-Pétersbourg,” Archives des missions scientifiques et litt., 2 série, t IV (1867), p. 98.

page 993 note 16 Diderot, Œuvres (Assézat-Tourneux), I, lxvii.

page 993 note 17 Desnoiresterres does not state (Voltaire, VIII, 418) from what source he drew this seemingly very exact total of the volumes in the Voltaire library, which obviously does not tally exactly with other estimates of 7,000 or 7,500 volumes generally found elsewhere. It comes evidently from Bachaumont's Mémoires secrets “J'ai visité et compté sa bibliothèque: elle est de 6210 volumes. Il y en a beaucoup mais presque tous ces livres sont précieux par les notes dont M. de Voltaire les a chargés.” (Longchamp et Wagnière, op. cit., I, 367-68.) Bachaumont's source, as given by Wagnière (ibid., I, 367, 369), is a letter written from Ferney, December 8, 1774, by M. de Saint-Remi. Obviously in the three years and a little more between this date and Voltaire's final departure from Ferney early in 1778, the number of volumes in Voltaire's library probably became still larger than when counted by Saint-Remi.

page 993 note 18 Gustave Desnoiresterres, Voltaire, VIII (2nd ed., Paris, 1876), 418-19. We have not yet found any such cases of mutilation of books. Articles or pamphlets have been often taken from various volumes and bound in a Pot pourri. No mutilation within an article, however.

page 994 note 19 Longchamp et Wagnière, op. cit., I, 513-14.

page 994 note 20 Caussy, op. cit., p. 5.

page 994 note 21 Let us hope that, in the future, the libraries of all distinguished authors may be kept, after their death, intact and available for study.

page 994 note 22 It is true that there was once reason to believe that many or all of Voltaire's English books had been separated from the rest of the library and probably dispersed. Bachaumont had said that Voltaire had willed six English books “à un M. Durieu,” and Wagnière had commented upon this statement as follows: “Au lien de six volumes anglais à un M. Durieu, il légua tous ses livres anglais à M. Rieu, et il en avait beaucoup.” (Longchamp et Wagnière, I, 496-97.) (This is Henri Rieu, 1721-1787, with whom Voltaire exchanged the letters given in the Supplément à la Correspondance, Moland, L.) Fortunately, not only do the numerous English books in the Leningrad library show that, after all, this particularly interesting part of Voltaire's library still exists unseparated from the rest, but we have also other testimony which explains how it came about that they were thus preserved. Paul Bonnefon has unearthed the source of this information and summarizes it as follows: “En mourant, Voltaire, en effet, avait légué à son voisin et ami, Henri Rieu, tous ses livres anglais, qui étaient, paralt-il, nombreux et beaux. Catherine voulut les posséder comme tout le reste et il fallut entamer de nouveaux pourparlers dont se chargèrent encore Grimm et François Tronchin. Après quelques débats on tomba d'accord pour six mille livres, en échange desquelles Rieu cédait à l'impératrice non seulement les deux cent vingt-sept volumes anglais qui avaient appartenu à Voltaire, mais aussi une collection très complète des écrits de Voltaire que son voisin avait rassemblés et fait relier en cent et un volumes.” (P. Bonnefon, “Une Correspondance inédite de Grimm avec Wagnière,” Revue d'Histoire littéraire de la France, III (1896), 300.) This explains why certain of Voltaire's English books, though not all contain even to the present day Rieu's book-plate. Fortunate circumstance indeed that Voltaire's reputation with Catherine was so great as to cause his library to be thus reunited after he himself had divided it!

page 996 note 23 Maurice Tourneux, “Les Manuscrits de Diderot conservés en Russie,” Archives des Missions scientifiques et littéraires, 3e série, XII (1885), 471-73. In spite of his investigations at Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Åbo, and Helsingfors, Tourneux was unable to locate any volumes of this library or to find a list of its contents. It comprised, according to Svignine (cited by Tourneux), 2904 volumes.

page 996 note 24 Brière, the editor of an edition of Diderot in 1821, ia quoted in the Assézat-Toumeux edition of Diderot as follows: “Vagnières [sic), secrétaire de Voltaire, a donné un catalogue raisonné de ces livres et des notes qu'ils contiennent. (Br.).” Assézat-Toumeux, Diderot, Œuvres, III, 396, n. No trace, however, has thus far been found of such a catalog. The only four known works of Wagnière have been incorporated in Longchamp et Wagnière, Mémoires sur Voltaire, 2 vols., Paris, 1826, and these contain no mention of such a work.

page 996 note 25 By George R. Havens.

page 997 note 26 On the inside cover of Chardin's Voyages in the Voltaire library appears a date and what appears to be the name of a former owner: “Chastellet de Trichat-teau, ce vingt octobre 1733.” It would appear then that Voltaire acquired this work some time later than October, 1733.

page 997 note 27 George R. Havens, Selections from Voltaire, Century Company, N. Y., 1925, pp. 325-26.

page 997 note 28 Miscellanies, Vol. I, London, Motte and Bathurst, no date; VoL II, London, Woodward and Davis, 1738. The Partridge material is found in Volume I, pp. 196 ff. The set comprises six volumes in all.

page 997 note 29 Voltaire, Œuvres (Moland), XXXVII, 482.

page 998 note 30 Cf. Voltaire's letter to “M. Bret,” October 10, 1761: “Je suis trés-fâché que votre Bayle ne soit pas encore imprimé. On craint peut-être que ce livre, autrefois si recherché, ne le soit moins aujourd'hui: ce qui paraissait hardi ne l'est plus” (Voltaire, Œuvres, Moland, XLI, 472).

page 998 note 31 By George R. Havens. This will supplement, and to some extent correct, what has appeared in Moland, XXXII, 468-82.

page 999 note 32 The authors of this present article plan to publish shortly a partial list of books in Voltaire's library, which will serve as a sample until the Leningrad catalog appears. See an early number of Modern Philology.

page 1000 note 33 Longchamp et Wagnière, Mémoires sur Voltaire, Paria, 1826,I, 53. The latter part of the citation precedes the former in Wagnière's text.

page 1000 note 34 Montesquieu, Pensées diverses, Œuvres, Laboulaye ed., Para, 1875-79, VII, 162.

page 1001 note 35 “J'ai vu des dépêches de M. de Chamillart qui, en vérité, étaient le comble du ridicule, et qui seraient capables de déshonorer absolument le ministère, depuis 1701 jusqu'en 1709. J'ai eu la discrétion de n'en faire aucun usage, plus occupé de ce qui peut être glorieux et utile à ma nation que de dire des vérités désagréables.” Letter to the Maréchal de Noailles, July 28,1752. Voltaire, Œuvres, XXXVII, 458.

page 1001 note 36 The dates of publication of the books in Voltaire's library establish of course the earliest date at which they could have been in his possession, at least in the particular editions now found there, but they do not, obviously, indicate how much later he may have acquired them. For that, other evidence must be sought and is frequently likely to be unavailable.

page 1002 note 37 Our observation in this matter agrees with that given, at second hand, by Peignot “On prétend, dit Peignot, et nous n'avons pas de peine à le croire, que ce sont les livres de théologie qui ont été les plus annotés de cette manière.” Cited by Desnoiresterres, Voltaire, VIII, 419.

page 1002 note 38 Not least among them, the volume, the variety, and the difficult subject matter of Voltaire's works during this period.

page 1002 note 39 “Je suis le premier qui aie fait connaître Shakespeare aux Français” (Letter to Horace Walpole, July 15, 1768; Voltaire, Œuvres, XLVI, 79. “Je fus le premier qui tirai un peu d'or de la fange où le génie de Shakespeare avait été plongé par son siècle.” (Second Lettre d l'Académie Française, in reply to Mrs. Montagu, used as a Preface to Irène; Œuvres, VII, 334).

page 1003 note 40 Prudence, irony, or sincere opinion? Qui sait?

page 1003 note 41 Six Discourses and two A pologies, London, 1727-30; bound in two volumes.

page 1003 note 42 Discours sur Us miracles de Jésus-Christ, s.d.

page 1003 note 43 The Miscellaneous Works, London, 1755, 5 vols. in-8.

page 1003 note 44 Lettres sur i'histoire, s.l, 1752, 2 vols. in-8.

page 1003 note 45 Longchamp et Wagnière, Mémoires sur Voltaire, I, 54. Cf. Longchamp's testimony, ibid., II, 136

page 1004 note 46 Calmet, Commentaire littéral sur tous les livres de l'ancien et du nouveau Testament, Paris, 1720, 28 vols., in-4. I, 60.

page 1004 note 47 Ibid., I, 71.

page 1004 note 48 Ibid., note to I, 24, Dissertation sur la première langue.

page 1004 note 49 Ibid., Dissertation sur Esdras, I, 49.

page 1004 note 50 Calmet, Dissertation sur l'histoire des Hébreux, I, 532.

page 1004 note 51 Ibid., I, 93.

page 1004 note 52 Calmet, Dissertation sur les géants, II, 34-35.

page 1005 note 53 G. Lanson, Voltaire (Grands Ecrivains français series), p. 172.

page 1005 note 54 Three weeks at Senones, not six weeks, as M. Lanson says (op. cit., p. 81). Voltaire's correspondence shows him still at Colmar June 6, 1754; on June 9, he is passing through Saint-Dié and hence is very near to Senones, where he may perhaps have arrived the same day. His first extant letter from Senones is dated June 12 (Œuvres, XXXVIII, 226), his last July 2 (Œuvres, XXXVIII, 232). Voltaire himself refers to his stay there in round numbers as lasting a month (Œuvres. XXXVIII, 233, 278).

page 1005 note 55 Voltaire, Œuvres, XXXVIII, 278 (October 24, 1754).

page 1005 note 56 La Haye, 1750, 2 vols., in-8.

page 1005 note 57 Abbadie, op. cit., I, 187.

page 1005 note 58 Ibid., I, 224, 252.

page 1005 note 59 Ibid., Sect III, chap. 18.

page 1006 note 60 Ibid., II, 72.

page 1006 note 61 See a forthcoming monograph by Norman L. Torrey, Voltaire and the English Deists.

page 1006 note 62 Abbadie, op. cit., II, 76.

page 1006 note 63 A. J. Roustan, op. cit., pp. 6, 7.

page 1006 note 64 Ibid., p. 11.

page 1006 note 65 Ibid., Letter II, p. 28.

page 1007 note 66 J.-J. Rousseau, Lettre à Christophe de Beaumont, Amsterdam, Rey, 1763, p. 21 (Hachette, III, 66), “l'effet de la rédemption . . . . se réduit à peu près à rien?”

page 1007 note 67 Ibid., p. 19 (Hachette, III, 65, end).

page 1007 note 68 Ibid.

page 1007 note 69 Cf. Voltaire, Œuvres, XXXIII, 372.

page 1007 note 70 Locke, Essai philosophique concernant l'Entendement humain, trad, par Coste, nouv. éd., 4 vols., Amsterdam, 1758. II, 317.

page 1008 note 71 Samuel Clarke, Traitésde l'Existence et des Attributs de Dieu, etc., trad. par Ricotier, 2nd ed., Amsterdam, 1727-28, 3 vols., in-8. Chap. X, Vol. I, 115.

page 1008 note 72 Ibid., p. 160.

page 1008 note 73 Ibid., III, 44.

page 1008 note 74 Ibid., III, 180.

page 1008 note 75 J.-J. Rousseau, Emile, Amsterdam (Néaulme), 1762, 4 vols., in-12. III, 64, 78-79, etc.

page 1009 note 76 Voltaire's play, Saül, is found in all these states with the exception of the author's first rough draft. In a limited time, it was not possible to follow through the other plays and works which exist in manuscript form. (See F. Caussy, Inventaire des manuscrits de la bibliothèque de Voltaire, especially, pp. 5-6.) The numerous volumes of Pot-pourri (Cf. above, n. 3.) abound in printers' first copies of Voltaire's pamphlets, etc. These Pot-pourri volumes demand a thorough bibliographical study.

page 1009 note 77 Much has been said by bibliophiles of the mediocrity of Voltaire's library. (Cf. G. Peignot, Souvenirs relatifs à quelques bibliothèques des temps passés, Paris, 1836, pp. 13-21.) But Voltaire's books were for use, not for show, and are therefore only the more interesting to students of the man and his work.

page 1009 note 78 It remains only to express our keen appreciation of the unfailing courtesy and helpfulness manifested by Dr. V. E. Banck, Secretary of the Public Library at Leningrad, and by all of bis staff. Without their coöperation this study would never have been possible.