Jean-Louis Wagnière, secrétaire de Voltaire: lettres et documents by Christophe Paillard

Abstract

560 Reviews of philosophical tales such as Zadig, the parallel double figures of the young and the older wise man, seen as two aspects of the same character, here and inVEmigre etc. On thewhole, Fortunati's edition shows that an excellent idea isnot enough to guarantee the quality of the end product. Universite de Nancy 2 Catriona Seth Jean-Louis Wagniere, secretaire de Voltaire: lettreset documents. By Christophe Paillard. (SVEC, 2008:12) Oxford: Voltaire Foundation. 2008. xiv+416 pp. ?75. ISBN 978-0-7294-0951-3. No painting gives a better impression ofVoltaire's frenetic energy than JeanHuber's Le Lever du philosophy which depicts him dictating to his secretary while pulling on his culotte and standing on one leg.Evidently, not amoment is tobe wasted. That secretary, Jean-LouisWagniere, sits attentively plume inhand, ready towrite down his master's words while the latter is struggling with his clothes. The picture ad mirably illustrates, alongside Voltaire's self-absorbed mental state, the exceptional devotion of this his greatest amanuensis, who has leftan account of how Voltaire would call on him at any hour of the day or night: Voltaire's 'Dictionnaire vivant', as theGenevan Francois Tronchin described him. Thus he has become known as Te fideleWagniere' of legendary fame in biographies ever since, faithful to his master in life and even more in death. But latterly, this hagiographical description has come under more intense questioning. In the complex circumstances surrounding Voltaire, and most notably his posthumous heritage, how could Wagniere have conceivably shown total disinterest? Now Christophe Paillard has produced a study in depth, of impeccable scholarship, inwhich he demonstrates how the adoration of Voltaire accords well with a polemic conducted against Mme Denis (who had treated him boorishly afterVoltaire's death) while flattering his protectors, and most especially Catherine II. Far from being an iconoclastic exercise, this study is conducted with much sympathy and even adoration. As Paillard puts it, Wagniere gagne par la en profondeur ce qu'il perd en sincerite et en candeur' (p. 80). This aspect of thework, admirable though it is,might possibly incur the accusa tion of remaining at the level of Ta petite histoire', improving our understanding of someone who ultimately plays only a limited part in literature on Voltaire. But that would be to ignore the remarkable role played here by Catherine, who posed as the true heir of theEnlightenment inpurchasing Voltaire's librarywhen his reputation in France was being debased by the vulgar greediness ofMme Denis. More impor tant still, it would also overlook the essential problems surrounding the great Kehl edition of Voltaire's complete works (compiled by Beaumarchais), whose genesis plays a large role in the imbroglio.Wagniere, faithful toCatherine's interests,finds himself increasingly at odds with Beaumarchais and the edition which he has set up, that the Empress contemptuously dismisses as the 'Voltaire figaroise'. Hence the person best placed to offer advice, along with the countless additions and corrections that he possessed, is effectivelybanished from the scene. Besides, the Kehl edition also erroneously includes several apocryphal works. Only in relatively MLR, 105.2, 2010 561 recent years has the full extent of thesemistakes been understood, happily in time for the edition going forward at theVoltaire Foundation to incorporateWagniere's invaluable material. This peerless enquiry also contains a critical edition of 373 lettersand documents relating to Wagniere's relations with Grimm and the Russian Court, plus annexes dealing with his career during the Revolution (including his mayoralty of Ferney during the Terror: a fascinating insight into the embarrassments of being true to both Voltaire and the Republican Government), the use made of him by the first nineteenth-century editors ofVoltaire, and his important Note on themanuscripts of St Petersburg which he had lovingly catalogued. Our understanding of how the CEuvres completes came into being has taken a major step forward, inviting further research on how Voltaire has been edited and mis-edited, until Theodore Besterman set the wheels inmotion for a version truer to the heritage of the patriarche. University of Bristol Haydn Mason Exotic Subversions inNineteenth-Century French Fiction. By Jennifer Yee. Lon don: Legenda. 2008. ix+i24pp. ?40. ISBN 978-1-905981-51-9. In Edward...