La Henriade, poème, suivi de quelques autres poèmes by Voltaire (Arouet François Marie) - 1789

[Kehl]: De l'Imprimerie de la Société Littéraire-Typographique., 1789. Quarto. 311 x 245mm. 624pp. Two portraits and ten dramatic engraved plates after Moreau la Jeune. Early Nineteenth century (perhaps earlier) full green morocco, spine with red onlaid "bands" decorated in gilt forming six compartments, one lettered in gilt, the remaining with a central lozenge surrounded by sprays; covers ruled with gilt rolls, a.e.g. Some very skillful repair to spine, extremities rubbed, occasional spotting; a very good or better copy. This handsome edition was a specimen volume for the proposed complete works of Voltaire to be published by Beaumarchais. La Henriade is an epic poem written in 1723. According to Voltaire himself, the poem concerns and was written in honour of the life of Henry IV of France, and is a celebration of his life. The ostensible subject is the siege of Paris in 1589 by Henry III in consort with Henry of Navarre, soon to be Henry IV, but its themes are the twin evils of religious fanaticism and civil discord. It also concerns the political state of France.