Voltaire letters to Catherine the Great make nearly $750 000 at Paris auction

A European collector paid a world-record of nearly $750 000 at a Paris auction on Tuesday for 26 letters from French philosopher Voltaire to Russian empress Catherine the Great, auctioneers Sotheby’s said.

An original edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses fetched more than $145000 and nearly $90 000 was paid for 10 letters from the Marquis de Sade to his wife at the auction of books and manuscripts that netted a total $2,3-million.

The Voltaire letters, dating from 1768-1777, had been estimated to sell for between $320 000 and $385 000.

Sotheby’s said the sale price was a world record for handwritten correspondence from the 18th century.

Catherine II, or “Catherine the Great”, was one of 18th-century Europe’s enlightened despots, known as much for her correspondence with French philosophers Diderot and Voltaire as for the reforms she introduced into Russian society and government. The self-described “philosopher on the throne” ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796.

Related posts:

1. Monet letters for Paris auction
2. Samuel Beckett letters auctioned
3. General Lee letters sold at auction
4. Catherine Parr Hair for London Auction
5. Muhammad Ali Letters for Auction