Candide by Voltaire
$26.00
SKU: QR-000065
- Printed Pre-2005
- Fully bound in genuine leather
- 22kt gold deeply inlaid on the “hubbed” spine
- Superbly printed on acid-neutral paper
- Sewn pages
- Satin-ribbon page marker
- Gilded page ends
- Bound in the USA. Imported materials.
Only 1 left in stock
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This Easton Press edition presents Voltaire’s satirical masterpiece Candide, first published in 1759 at the height of the Enlightenment. The novella follows its eponymous hero—a young man raised to believe in philosophical optimism, the doctrine that “all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds”—as he encounters a relentless series of catastrophes that systematically dismantle this worldview.
Expelled from his childhood paradise for loving the baron’s daughter Cunégonde, Candide endures war, natural disaster, the Inquisition, slavery, and betrayal across Europe and the New World. His tutor Pangloss clings to optimistic philosophy even as evidence mounts against it, while Candide gradually awakens to reality’s harsher truths.
Voltaire crafted the work as a pointed response to Leibnizian optimism and the philosophical complacency he perceived in contemporary thought. The prose moves with remarkable speed, piling absurdity upon horror with dark comedy that never quite obscures genuine outrage at human cruelty and institutional corruption.
The conclusion—Candide’s famous resolution that “we must cultivate our garden”—suggests neither optimism nor pessimism but practical engagement with the world as it is. Brief, devastating, and endlessly quotable, Candide remains one of the Enlightenment’s most effective works of philosophical criticism, demolishing grand theoretical systems through the accumulation of observed human suffering.
About This Edition
This edition is published by Easton Press.
- CRISP, like new. Only recently unsealed to check condition.
- Printed Pre-2005
- Fully bound in genuine leather
- 22kt gold deeply inlaid on the “hubbed” spine
- Superbly printed on acid-neutral paper
- Sewn pages
- Satin-ribbon page marker
- Gilded page ends
- Bound in the USA. Imported materials.
About Easton Press
The Easton Press is a luxury book publisher specializing in leather-bound collector’s editions of classic and notable works. Founded in 1973, they’re known for their premium subscription series like “The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written,” which delivers beautifully crafted volumes with genuine leather bindings, gilt edges, silk ribbon bookmarks, and high-quality paper. These books would be sent to subscribers by monthly subscription. Easton Press books are designed as heirloom-quality editions that appeal to serious collectors and bibliophiles who value both literary content and exceptional craftsmanship. Retail prices for books from this publisher start at $90.
Additional information
| Weight | 48 oz |
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