Candide, or Optimism, Translated from the German of Doctor Ralph,* with the additions which were found in the Doctor’s pocket, when he died at Minden in the year of grace 1759 and now newly Translated by Doctor Christopher Thacker and Illustrated by Angela Barrett. * ‘with the additions... 1759’ was added in 1761. Marlborough, Libanus Press, 1996.
First Edition of this Translation. Folio (350 x 245 mm), pp. [vi], [7]-129, [1], [1], with 14 engraved plates in the text, decorative title-page with ‘Or’ printed in gold, decorative headpieces to each chapter, printed in parallel text throughout,occasional cartoon tail-pieces, limited edition statement on final leaf, ‘This is Copy No.’ filled in ‘Presentation Copy’ in manuscript, in vellum-backed Fabriano Roma hand-made paper covered boards by Brian Settle of Smith Settle, Otley, brown label on front cover, blind-stamped and printed in gilt, spine lettered in gilt, inscribed in pencil on the verso of the half-title by the translator ‘P/7 copy --- pas mal, Christopher’, this copy offered with a separate set of the Angela Bartett prints on Zerkall paper, with additional title-page, inside a folder, also with the general title and conjugate leaf p. 57, with details of the edition on the verso, preserved in a cloth-covered solander box.
Presentation copy of this limited edition of Christopher Thacker’s new translation of Voltaire’s Candide, commissioned and elegantly published by Thacker’s great friend, Michael Mitchell, at the Libanus Press. When Thacker was working on this, he and his wife, Thomasina, used to make regular visits to the Mitchells in Marlborough in order to discuss the illustrations with Angela Barrett. ‘His widow Caroline and I’, writes Thomasina, ‘could hear peals of laughter as they decided which incidents best reflected Voltaire’s wit and naughtiness, the latter so happily matching their own. Angela was well known and admired for illustrating books for children so this was a new excitement and one she clearly relished’.
Thacker’s new translation is printed in parallel text with Voltaire’s original text: ‘A folio production using a dual text: the original 18th-century French of Voltaire and a new English translation by Christopher Thacker, Voltaire scholar and writer on gardens and the 18th century’. The stunning illustrations are by Angela Barrett and comprise a suite of 14 pen and ink drawings. With an introduction by Thacker and ‘a full set of original sources revised for the modern reader’.
This is a limited edition of 125 copies, 100 standard copies and 25 special copies, set in 14pt Monotype Fournier, printed letterpress on 180gms Lana Royal rag paper. This is one of 25 special copies offered with set of the Angela Barrett prints on Zerkall paper in a folder, preserved in a cloth-covered solander box. This copy is marked ‘Presentation Copy’ under ‘This is Copy no.’ on the edition statement leaf, and has been inscribed by Christopher Thacker in pencil on the verso of the half-title: ‘P/7 copy --- pas mal, Christopher’.