Talk given by Dr. Nicholas Cronk from Oxford University and hosted by ROAAr, McGill Library.
When: April 24, 2018
Location: McLennan Library Building, Colgate Seminar Room, Rare Books and Special Collections (4th floor), 3459 rue McTavish, Montreal, QC, H3A 0C9, CA
Description
The lecture was accompanied by a display curated by Nicholas Cronk and Ann Marie Holland that featured beautiful selections of illustrated editions of Candide, among other selections from the J. Patrick Lee Voltaire Collection.
In his fascinating lecture, Professor Nicholas Cronk brought the treasures of the Pat Lee Voltaire Collection to life. This special collection at McGill tells the narrative of Voltaire's reception and print history in North America. Professor Cronk also spoke to his work on Voltaire's Miscellanies. Voltaire was a hugely prolific writer of short prose works. Scholars don’t quite know what to do with this vast part of Voltaire’s œuvre and they remain little studied. In the late eighteenth century to the late nineteenth century editors bundled these works together in volumes called ‘Mélanges.’ Professor Nicholas Cronk brought the listeners’ attention to some of the fascinating questions these miscellanies pose: Are they thematically unified? How and why do they mix old and new works? How are the individual works signed, if they are? The miscellanies are pivotal works for understanding Voltairean polemic, and they constitute an intrinsic part of his innovative authorial posture. The lecture was accompanied by a display featuring Voltaire’s works from McGill special collection. Professor Nicholas Cronk’s talk attracted over 80 people from both McGill community and the larger general public.
This event was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
The collection can be consulted in the Rare Books Reading room Monday to Friday, 10 AM to 6 PM. Contact ann.marie.holland [at] mcgill.ca (Ann Marie Holland), Liaison Librarian Enlightenment Collections, for reference guidance.
