Writer considered to be the embodiment of the 18th-century Enlightenment. For lampooning the Duc d'Orleans he was imprisoned in the Bastille, where he rewrote his tragedy Oedipe. This brought him fame, but he gained enemies at court, and was forced to go into exile in England. From 1762 he produced a range of anti-religious writings and the Dictionnaire Philosophique. Always concerned over cases of injustice, he took a particular interest in the affair of Jean Calas, whose innocence he helped to establish. In 1778 he returned as a celebrity to Paris. His ideas were an important influence on the intellectual climate leading to the French Revolution. DS, in French, signed 'Voltaire,' one page, 7 x 4.75, September 22, 1764. Document, written in Voltaire's hand, acknowledging receipt of a payment. In full, 'I received from Mr. Jeanmaire, collector for the domains of His Most Serene Highness the Duke of Vurtemberg, the sum of 12,062 pounds...covering the semester expiring at the end of this month of September as the income owed to me by him. Done at the Chateau de 22 September 1764.' In fine condition, with a light shade of toning and a hardly noticeable bisecting vertical fold. COA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
