VOLTAIRE (François Marie AROUET, dit: 1694 - 1778) Writer an - Lot 194

VOLTAIRE (François Marie AROUET, dit: 1694 - 1778) Writer and Philosopher. Manuscript by a contemporary of Voltaire, entitled "Portrait de Monsieur de VOLTAIRE." 2 pages in-4°, circa 1770: "Vous me demander le portrait de VOLTAIRE que vous ne connaissez pas. Tell yourself that by his works, it's already a lot in my opinion to know the author: You want to see the man, I'll depict both. Monsieur de VOLTAIRE is below the height of great men, i.e. a little above mediocre; I'm speaking as a naturalist, so there's no point arguing about observation. He's lean, with a dry temperament, a burnt bile, a gaunt face, a witty and caustic air, sparkling and malicious eyes, all the fire he has in his works, he has in his action, lively to the point of absent-mindedness, he's an ardent man who comes and goes, who dazzles you, and who sparkles. A man so constituted is bound to be a valetudinaire. Cheerful by complexion, serious by diet, open without frankness, political without finesse, sociable without friends, he knows everything and forgets, Aristippus in the morning, Diogenes in the evening. He loves greatness and despises the great, is at ease with them, constrained with his equals, begins with politeness and ends with disgust. He loves the Court and is bored there... He works less for reputation than for money. He hungers and thirsts for it, and hurries to work as if he had to hurry to live... This is the man, this is the author. Born a poet, his verses cost him too little, and his facility with them was detrimental to him, he abused them and gave up almost nothing to complete them. An easy writer, elegantly ingenious... Mr de VOLTAIRE, in his last work, wanted to follow the manner of BAILE... Mr de VOLTAIRE is always dissatisfied with his nation, and excessively praises what is a thousand miles away from him. As far as religion is concerned, it is clear that he is undecided in this respect, and no doubt he would be the impartial man we are looking for were it not for a little leaven of anti-Jansenism somewhat masked in his works. Mr de VOLTAIRE has a great deal of foreign and French literature, and of that mixed erudition which is so fashionable today: politics, physics, geometry, he is everything he wants to be, but always superficial, incapable of deep study. However, you need to have a very sharp mind to be able to touch on all subjects as he does.... An ingenious satirist and a bad critic, he loves the abstract sciences, and we're not surprised. Imagination is his element, but he has no inventiveness, which is surprising. In a word, M. de VOLTAIRE wants to be an extraordinary man, and he is certainly... non victus non colot unus."