Reflections on Brazil
Identifiers
CMV:
CMV36056
Repository:
Shelfmark:
Voltaire Library, 5-240 (VIII, f.20), ‘Notice sur le Brésil’
Title:
Reflections on Brazil
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Content
People:
Incipit Diplomatic:
Incipit Modernised:
Language(s):
In Own Hand:
Yes
Brief Summary:
The manuscript is a draft in Voltaire’s hand capturing his reflections on Brazil. It appears to be based on Chapter CL, titled ‘Du Brésil’, from l’Essai sur les mœurs.
Detailed Summary:
In Chapter CL, titled ‘Du Brésil’, Voltaire offers his reflections on Brazil, discussing its discovery, climate, inhabitants, traditions and customs. He explores the carnal desires of its people, governed more by instinct than by intellect or law, the role of the state, and the country’s natural resources, including precious metals. Voltaire also examines the impact of European colonisers from Portugal, Spain and Holland.
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Physical Description
Material(s):
Extent:
1 f.
Format:
Dimensions:
Hands:
1
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Binding:
The manuscript is bound with other documents in contemporary red morocco.
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History
Date:
c.1756
Ownership:
After Voltaire’s death, the MS passed into the ownership of Catherine II and remained in the imperial and then national collection thereafter.
Origin (transcript):
[Geneva]
Origin:
Provenance:
This MS was probably taken to St Petersburg by Wagnière in the summer of 1779 along with the rest of Voltaire’s library.
Bibliography
Bibliography:
Fernand Caussy, Inventaire des manuscrits de la bibliothèque de Voltaire conservée à la bibliothèque impériale publique de Saint-Pétersbourg (Geneva, Slatkine reprints, 1970), p.38.
OCV Reference:
26A, p.257-262
OCV Manuscript Reference:
26A, ‘MSL’, p.xxv-xxvi