Voltaire Foundation

The Voltaire Foundation is a research department of the University of Oxford founded by Theodore Besterman in the 1970s. It publishes the definitive edition of the Complete Works of Voltaire (Œuvres complètes de Voltaire), as well as SVEC (Studies on Voltaire and the eighteenth century), the foremost series devoted to Enlightenment studies, and the correspondences of several key French thinkers. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division and is directed by Professor Nicholas Cronk

Origin of the Voltaire Foundation

The original idea of a complete edition of Voltaire’s works seems to have risen from a joint initiative by W. H. Barber and O. R. Taylor to improve the inefficient Moland edition (1877-1885). The idea was enthusiastically taken up by Theodore Besterman, the founder of the Institut et Musée Voltaire in Geneva. The original plan was to create a critical edition with extensive scholarly apparatus, set out in a provisional table of contents covering the whole scheme in 146 volumes (subsequently enlarged to over 200 volumes by its completion planned for 2018).

During the final years of his life, Besterman opened discussions with the University of Oxford. These culminated in his naming the university his residuary legatee and arranging for the posthumous transfer of his extensive collection of books and manuscripts, which included many collective editions, to an elegant room in the Taylor Institution (the university centre for modern languages), which has space for 9000 volumes. This was renamed the Voltaire Room. Following Besterman’s death on 10 November 1976, the Voltaire Foundation was vested permanently in the University of Oxford.

Since its inception the Voltaire Foundation has been awarded many awards in recognition of the project. This includes the prestigeous Prix Hervé Deluen, bestowed by the Académie Française.

The Complete Works of Voltaire

The Complete Works of Voltaire (Œuvres complètes de Voltaire) is the first critical edition of the totality of his writings, arranged chronologically to untangle the evolution of his thought. Each text is revealed anew thanks to an introduction, variants and a comprehensive annotation. The Works will comprise of more than 200 volumes by its completion in 2018.

The Complete Works of Voltaire includes the following sub-series Corpus des notes marginales, Essai sur les mœurs, Questions sur l’Encyclopédie, Siècle de Louis XIV.

SVEC [Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century]

Founded in 1995, over 500 books have been published within the SVEC series. Strongly international in focus, the SVEC series publishes scholarly work in English or French covering all aspects of the Enlightenment the world over. SVEC now publishes twelve volumes a year.