LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

UnIVERSITY, VIRGINIA

Harry CLemons, Librarian - Mary Louise DiNwipnie, & Assistant Librarian 1 February 1928.

My dear Professor Messac,

The answer to ÿour interesting inquiry about Voltaire’s « Histoire Particulière » seems not easy to find, and I regret to have to report that so far we have failed in the search.

Many of the books which were in the Library of the University of Virginia were destroyed by fire in 1895. No book bearing the title which is sought appears to have survived. The record books for loans were also apparently destroyed. But we still have the manuscript of William Wertenbaker’s notes on Poe, and this clearly gives the title « Histoire Particulière » — a fact which - was called to my attention by Professor James Southall Wilson.

à We do have, howewer, a printed catalogue of the Library dated 1828. In this, under Chapter Il, Modern History, are three Voltaire items :

Voltaire’s History of Charles XII. Fr. Paris, 1817. x vol. Hist: of Russia. Fr. Paris, 1809. 1 vol.

Age of Louis XIV. Fr. Paris, 1808. 3 vol.

Uuder Chapter XXIX, Miscellaneous, including Poetry, etc., are six Voltaire items : Es

ire’s Works complete, French, Paris, 1817. 25 vol.

Essay on Manners, French, Paris, 1754. 8 vol.

Collection of Letters, French, Paris, 1785, 12 vol.

Collection of Letters of, and of D’Alembert, Fr. Paris, 1785. 2 vol.

Volta

Collection of & c. & of the King of Prussia, Fr. Paris, 1785.

3 vol.

Collection of & c. and of the Empress of Russia, Fr. Paris, 1785. 1 vol.

It may be that the binder of the complete works used Histoire Generale for the cover title on the volumes of general history and Histoire Particulière on the volume or volumes dealing with Louis XIV, Louis XV, Charles XII, Peter the Great, and so on — and that the binder’s title was used for the record.

Indeed one of the titles from Voltaire, at least in an edition published in London in 1756, ran : « History of the War of 1741 ; containing the History of that War till the Peace of the rise, progress, and extinction of the Rebellion of Great Britain in 1745-6 ». If binders met their difficulties a century ago in the way in which they seem likely to meet them to-day, it isn't improbable that this long title would have been reduced to two prominent words, History particular, on the back of the book.

But these are only guesses — and I cannot affirm that I am enthusiastic about them as guesses. I am sorry that we cannot answer with more helpful facts.

Sincerely yours, Harry Clemons Librarian To Prof. Regis Messac, Mc Gill University; Arts Building, Montreal, Canada.