One of the most important essays on religious tolerance and freedom of thought, a French bestseller in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks
In 1762 Jean Calas, a merchant from Toulouse, was executed after being falsely accused of killing his son. As it became clear that Calas was in fact persecuted for being a Protestant, Voltaire began a campaign to get his sentence overturned—and in the process made the case for some of the most important values upheld by the Enlightenment, from religious tolerance to freedom of thought. Treatise on Toleration is the story of that case and a screed against fanaticism—a book that is as fresh and urgent today as it was when it was first published in 1763.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) (1694—1778) was one of the key thinkers of the European Enlightenment. Of his many works, Candide remains the most popular.
Peter Constantine was awarded the 1998 PEN Translation Award for Six Early Stories by Thomas Mann and the 1999 National Translation Award for The Undiscovered Chekhov: Forty-three New Stories. Widely acclaimed for his recent translation of the complete works of Isaac Babel, he also translated Gogol’s Taras Bulba and Tolstoy’s The Cossacks for the Modern Library. His translations of fiction and poetry have appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, and Paris Review. He lives in New York City.
View titles by Voltaire
One of the most important essays on religious tolerance and freedom of thought, a French bestseller in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks
In 1762 Jean Calas, a merchant from Toulouse, was executed after being falsely accused of killing his son. As it became clear that Calas was in fact persecuted for being a Protestant, Voltaire began a campaign to get his sentence overturned—and in the process made the case for some of the most important values upheld by the Enlightenment, from religious tolerance to freedom of thought. Treatise on Toleration is the story of that case and a screed against fanaticism—a book that is as fresh and urgent today as it was when it was first published in 1763.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Author
Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) (1694—1778) was one of the key thinkers of the European Enlightenment. Of his many works, Candide remains the most popular.
Peter Constantine was awarded the 1998 PEN Translation Award for Six Early Stories by Thomas Mann and the 1999 National Translation Award for The Undiscovered Chekhov: Forty-three New Stories. Widely acclaimed for his recent translation of the complete works of Isaac Babel, he also translated Gogol’s Taras Bulba and Tolstoy’s The Cossacks for the Modern Library. His translations of fiction and poetry have appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, and Paris Review. He lives in New York City.
View titles by Voltaire
