VOLTAIRE [François-Marie Arouet] - The History of Charles XII. King of Sweden - Translated from French

VOLTAIRE. The History of Charles XII, King of Sweden. Translated from the French. Fifth edition. London: printed for C. Davis and A. Lyon, and sold by T. Astley, 1733.

Duodecimo (12mo). Contemporary full calf, five raised bands to spine, red morocco title label (partially legible). Engraved frontispiece portrait of Charles XII by George Vertue (signed "G. Vertue sculp."), after a portrait in the collection of the Earl of Dysart (lettered "ex Museo Lionelli Comitis de Dysart"), and folding engraved map ("A Map for the History of Charles XII") showing Northern and Eastern Europe from Scandinavia to the Black Sea.

One of the early London editions of Voltaire's first major work of history, first published in French in 1731 and reissued in numerous rapid English editions through the 1730s from the C. Davis and A. Lyon imprint. Celebrated in Voltaire's own lifetime as a masterpiece of historical narrative, it is the book in which he measured a ruler's greatness by the advancement of civilisation rather than by military glory, an approach that helped reshape the writing of history.

Provenance: ownership signatures of B. Bartlett and G. A. Bartlett ("Ex Libris" to title page); pencil note to front free endpaper.

Condition: binding worn, spine leather rubbed, boards rubbed and darkened, hinges cracked but holding. Interior toned and spotted, heavier to the preliminaries. Folding map present, with no cuts. A sound, complete copy in its original unrestored binding.