Letters Concerning the English Nation — Voltaire | London 1760 | New Edition | 18th Century Enlightenment Classic | Francis Williams Inscriptions | Fair Condition

One of the most important books of the European Enlightenment — in an original eighteenth century binding, with the marks of its long life honestly recorded.

Letters Concerning the English Nation by Mr. De Voltaire is one of the defining works of the Enlightenment. Written during Voltaire's exile in England between 1726 and 1729, it was first published in English in 1733 — one year before the French edition — and caused an immediate sensation. In its praise of English tolerance, freedom of thought, scientific inquiry and parliamentary government it implied, with brilliant irony, everything that was wrong with the French system of church and state. The French edition was condemned and publicly burned by the hangman in 1734. Voltaire fled. The book remained one of the most widely read and influential works of the century, and it contains, among much else, the first published account of Newton's falling apple and the law of gravitation.

This is the New Edition of 1760, printed in London for L. Davis and C. Reymers, against Grays-Inn, Holborn; R. Baldwin, in Paternoster Row; and S. Crowder and Co. at London Bridge — a distinguished consortium of mid-eighteenth century London publishers. It is 265 years old.

The book carries two distinct ownership inscriptions from the early nineteenth century. The front endpaper bears the name Francis Williams written twice — once in a flowing copperplate hand in brown ink reading "Frances Williams / His Book 1826" and once in bolder blue ink reading "Francis Williams / 1826." A further inscription appears vertically on a later page: "Frances Williams 1835" — the same owner, nine years on. The front pastedown carries handwritten period calculations and measurements — likely a previous owner using the blank pages as a convenient notepad, a thoroughly Georgian habit. The word "Thornton — Hammon X" appears among the notes, a tantalising fragment of a lost domestic record.

Condition: Fair, honestly described. The original full calf binding is present with the gilt spine decoration and red morocco label intact, showing significant wear, cracking and age-related deterioration consistent with a 265-year-old book. The front board has become detached from the binding and the binding itself is loose — entirely expected on a volume of this antiquity and reflected in the price. The text throughout is entirely readable and the pages are complete. Offered honestly as a reading and display copy rather than a fine condition collector's piece — a genuinely ancient book with two centuries of honest life behind it.

About this edition: The 1760 London edition follows the tradition of the 1733 first English edition and predates the revised 1778 edition. At 265 years old, this is a copy of one of Western civilisation's most important books that has been in continuous existence since the reign of King George II. Francis Williams owned it in 1826 — it had already been in existence for 66 years by then.

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