whether he had any title to either name, and especially to the latter.
His largest philosophical work, at least so called, is the curious
medley entitled Dictionnaire philosophique, which is compounded
of the articles contributed by him to the great Encyclopédie and of
several minor pieces. No one of Voltaire's works shows his anti-religious
or at least anti-ecclesiastical animus more strongly. The
various title-words of the several articles are often the merest
stalking-horses, under cover of which to shoot at the Bible or the church, the
target being now and then shifted to the political institutions of the
writer's country, his personal foes, &c., and the whole being largely
seasoned with that acute, rather superficial, common-sense, but
also commonplace, ethical and social criticism which the 18th century
called philosophy. The book ranks perhaps second only to the
novels as showing the character, literary and personal, of Voltaire;
and despite its form it is nearly as readable. The minor philosophical
works are of no very different character. In the brief Traité de
metaphysique the author makes his grand effort, but scarcely succeeds
in doing more than show that he had no real conception of what
metaphysic is.
In general criticism and miscellaneous writing Voltaire is not inferior to himself in any of his other functions. Almost all his more substantive works, whether in verse or prose, are preceded by prefaces of one sort or another, which are models of his own light pungent causerie; and in a vast variety of nondescript pamphlets and writings he shows himself a perfect journalist. In literary criticism pure and simple his principal work is the Commentaire sur Corneille, though he wrote a good deal more of the same kind—sometimes (as in his Life and notices of Molière) independently sometimes as part of his Siècles. Nowhere, perhaps, except when he is dealing with religion, are Voltaire's defects felt more than here. He was quite unacquainted with the history of his own language and literature, and more here than anywhere else he showed the extraordinarily limited and conventional spirit which accompanied the revolt of the French 18th century against limits and conventions in theological, ethical and political matters.
There remains only the huge division of his correspondence, which is constantly being augmented by fresh discoveries, and which, according to Georges Bengesco, has never been fully or correctly printed, even in some of the parts longest known. In this great mass Voltaire's personality is of course best shown, and perhaps his literary qualities not worst. His immense energy and versatility, his adroit and unhesitating flattery when he chose to flatter, his ruthless sarcasm when he chose to be sarcastic, his rather unscrupulous business faculty, his more than rather unscrupulous resolve to double and twist in any fashion so as to escape his enemies,—all these things appear throughout the whole mass of letters.
Most judgments of Voltaire have been unduly coloured by sympathy with or dislike of what may be briefly called his polemical side. When sympathy and dislike are both discarded or allowed for, he remains one of the most astonishing, if not exactly one of the most admirable, figures of letters. That he never, as Carlyle complains, gave utterance to one great thought is strictly true. That his characteristic is for the most part an almost superhuman cleverness rather than positive genius is also true. But that he was merely a mocker, which Carlyle and others have also said, is not strictly true or fair. In politics proper he seems indeed to have had few or no constructive ideas, and to have been entirely ignorant or quite reckless of the fact that his attacks were destroying a state of things for which as a whole he neither had nor apparently wished to have any substitute. In religion he protested stoutly, and no doubt sincerely, that his own attitude was not purely negative; but here also he seems to have failed altogether to distinguish between pruning and cutting down. Both here and elsewhere his great fault was an inveterate superficiality. But this superficiality was accompanied by such wonderful acuteness within a certain range, by such an absolutely unsurpassed literary aptitude and sense of style in all the lighter and some of the graver modes of literature, by such untiring energy and versatility in enterprise, that he has no parallel among; ready writers anywhere. Not the most elaborate work of Voltaire is of much value for matter; but not the very slightest work of Voltaire is devoid of value in form. In literary craftsmanship, at once versatile and accomplished, he has no superior and scarcely a rival.
Bibliography.—The bibliography of Voltaire is a very large subject, and it has been the special occupation of a Rumanian diplomatist of much erudition and judgment, Georges Bengesco, Bibliographie de Voltaire (4 vols., Paris, 1882-90). The best edition of the works is that by Louis Moland in 52 volumes (Paris, Gamier); the handiest and most compact is that issued in 13 volumes royal octavo by Furne, and kept in print by the house of Didot. Of the earlier editions, though their bulk is an objection, several are interesting and valuable. Especially may be noticed the so-called edition of Kehl, in which Voltaire himself, and later Beaumarchais, were concerned (70 vols., 1785-89); those of Dalibon and Baudouin. each in 97 volumes (from which “the hundred volumes of Voltaire” have become a not infrequent figure of speech); and the excellent edition of Beuchot (1829) in 72 volumes. Editions of separate or selected works are innumerable, and so are books upon Voltaire. There is no really good detailed life of him, with complete examination of his work, in any language, though the works containing materials for such are numerous (the first of importance being that of T. J. Duvernet in 1797), and sometimes (especially in the case of M. Desnoiresterres, Voltaire et la société française, 1867 and others) excellent. In English the essays of Carlyle and Viscount Morley (1872) are both in their way invaluable, and to a great extent correct one another. The principal detailed life in English is that of an American writer, James Parton (1881), which gives the facts with very considerable detail and fair accuracy, but with little power of criticism. That of Mr S. G. Tallentyre (London, 1903, 2 vols.) is gossiping and popular. Francis Espinasse's Voltaire (1882), which contains a useful bibliography, J. Churton Collins's Voltaire in England (1886), and J. R. Lounsbury's Shakespeare and Voltaire (1902) may also be specified. (G. Sa.)
VOLTERRA (anc. Volaterrae), a town and episcopal see of Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Pisa, from which it is 51 m. by rail S.E., and 35 by road W.N.W. from Siena. Pop. (1901) 5522 (town); 14,207 (commune). It stands on a commanding olive-clad eminence 1785 ft. above sea-level, with a magnificent view over mountains and sea (the latter some 20 m. distant), and is surrounded by the massive remains of its ancient walls of large, roughly-rectangular blocks of stone, some 4½ m. in circuit, enclosing an area which must have been larger than was actually needed for habitation. Tombs of the pre-Etruscan or Villanova period have been found within its circuit, but only at the north-west extremity near S. Giusto. Here the clay of which the hill is formed is gradually giving way, causing landslips and the collapse of buildings, notably of the abbey church of S. Salvatore (1030). The medieval town occupies only the southern portion of this area. The most important relic of its Etruscan period is the Porta dell' Arco, an archway of dark greystone, about 20 ft. high, the corbels of which are adorned with almost obliterated heads, probably representing the guardian deities of the city. There are remains of baths and a cistern of Roman date. Volterra preserves its medieval character, having suffered little modification since the 16th century. The town contains many picturesque medieval towers and houses. The Palazzo dei Priori (1208-54), now the municipal palace, is especially fine, and the piazza in which it stands most picturesque. The museum contains a very valuable collection of Etruscan antiquities, especially cinerary urns from the ancient tombs N. and E. of the town. The urns themselves are of alabaster, with the figure of the deceased on the lid, and reliefs from Greek myths on the front. They belong to the 3rd-2nd centuries B.C. A tomb outside the town of the 6th century B.C., discovered in 1898, consisted of a round underground chamber, roofed with gradually projecting slabs of stone. The roof was supported in the centre by a massive square pillar (E. Petersen in Römische Mitteilungen, 1898, 409; cf. id. ibid., 1904, 244 for a similar one near Florence). There are also in the museum Romanesque sculptures from the old church of S. Giusto, &c. The cathedral, consecrated in 1120 (?), but enlarged and adorned by Niccolo Pisano (?) in 1254, has a fine pulpit of that period, and on the high altar are sculptures by Mino da Fiesole; it contains several good pictures—the best is an “Annunciation” by Luca Signorelli. The sacristy has fine carvings. The baptistery belongs to the 13th century; the font is by Andrea Sansovino, and the ciborium by Mino da Fiesole. Both these buildings are in black and white marble. S. Francesco has frescoes of 1410, and S. Girolamo terra-cottas and pictures. The citadel, now a house of correction, consists of two portions, the Rocca Vecchia, built in 1343 by Walter de Brienne, duke of Athens, and the Rocca Nuova, built by the Florentines (1472). The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the manufacture of vases and other ornaments from alabaster, of good quality, found in the vicinity. There are also in the neighbourhood rock-salt works and mines, as well as boracic acid works. This acid is exhaled in volcanic gas, which is passed through water tanks. The acid is deposited in the water and afterwards evaporated. It is sent to England, and used largely in the manufacture of pottery glaze.
Volaterrae (Etruscan Velathri) was one of the most powerful of the twelve confederate cities of Etruria. During the war between Marius and Sulla it withstood the latter's troops for two years in
