Candide

First published in 1759, this philosophical tale follows the naive Candide, expelled from the Westphalian castle of Thunder-ten-Tronckh, where his tutor Pangloss has taught that this is the best of all possible worlds. Candide is swept through war, shipwreck, the Lisbon earthquake, South America, and a brief stay in the wealthy isolation of El Dorado, always seeking the lost Cunegonde. Disasters accumulate faster than Pangloss can explain them. The story is a comic assault on optimistic theodicy, ending with a small farm and a practical maxim about work rather than with a restored court.

Bound in grey cloth, cover blocked with a design in black and white by the artist. Grey slipcase.