the voltaire foundation the voltaire foundation is a research department of the university of oxford founded by theodore besterman in the 1970s . it publishes the definitive edition of the complete works of voltaire uvres compl tes de voltaire as well as oxford university studies in the enlightenment previously svec studies on voltaire and the eighteenth century a monograph series devoted to the eighteenth century and the correspondences of several key french thinkers . 1 it is part of oxford s humanities division and is directed by professor nicholas cronk . 2 contents 1 origin 2 complete works of voltaire 3 oxford university studies in the enlightenment previously svec 4 references 5 external links origin edit in the 1950s the bibliographer and translator theodore besterman started to collect transcribe and publish all of voltaire s writings . 3 he founded the voltaire institute and museum in geneva where he began publishing collected volumes of voltaire s correspondence . 3 during the final years of his life besterman opened discussions with the university of oxford . these culminated in him naming the university his residuary legatee and arranging for the posthumous transfer of his collection of books and manuscripts which included many collective editions to the taylor institution the university centre for modern languages . the institution dedicated a room as the voltaire room in january 1975 to house besterman s collection and the taylor institution s own . 4 following besterman s death on 10 november 1976 the voltaire foundation was vested permanently in the university of oxford . 5 6 complete works of voltaire edit the complete works of voltaire uvres compl tes de voltaire is the first critical edition of the totality of his writings arranged chronologically . each text is published with an introduction variants and detailed annotations . 5 a provisional table of contents listed 146 volumes since expanded to 200 volumes by completion of the series which is planned for 2018 . 7 6 in 2010 the foundation was awarded the prix herv deluen by the acad mie fran aise for this fifty year project . 8 oxford university studies in the enlightenment previously svec edit main article oxford university studies in the enlightenment since its inception as studies on voltaire and the eighteenth century in 1955 nearly 550 books have been published within this series . it publishes scholarly work in english or french across a broad range of disciplines including history the history of ideas philosophy the history of the book theatre literature visual arts and music science and economics and gender studies . 5 9 references edit http www.voltaire.ox.ac.uk www vf default.ssi voltaire foundation staff page . a b barber giles 2004 . besterman theodore deodatus nathaniel 1904 1976 . dictionary of national biography . oxford university press . handbuch der historischen buchbest nde in deutschland sterreich und europa fabian handbuch taylor institution library . fabian.sub.uni goettingen.de . retrieved 2016 06 22 . a b c mason haydn . a history of the voltaire foundation pdf . retrieved 30 november 2012 . a b julia aur lie october 2011 . voltaire oxford the voltaire foundation . revue des deux mondes in french . english translation at http www.voltaire.ox.ac.uk www vf newsevents voltairefoundation revuedeuxmondes eng.pdf johnson michael 23 january 2010 . voltaire the survivor . the international herald tribune . the new york times company . retrieved 4 may 2016 . university of oxford french toast . times higher education the . 2010 08 11 . retrieved 2016 06 22 . svec online index . 163.1.91.91 . retrieved 2016 06 22 . external links edit professor nicholas cronk profile university of oxford v t e university of oxford leadership chancellor the lord patten of barnes vice chancellor louise richardson registrar ewan mckendrick list of heads of houses colleges all souls balliol brasenose christ church corpus christi exeter green templeton harris manchester hertford jesus keble kellogg lady margaret hall linacre lincoln magdalen mansfield merton new college nuffield oriel pembroke queen s st anne s st antony s st catherine s st cross st edmund hall st hilda s st hugh s st john s st peter s somerville trinity university wadham wolfson worcester permanent private halls blackfriars hall campion hall regent s park college st benet s hall st stephen s house wycliffe hall departments humanities american institute classics drawing and fine art history linguistics philology & phonetics medieval and modern languages oriental studies philosophy theology etc. medical sciences biochemistry human genetics pathology medical school etc. mathematical physical and life sciences begbroke science park chemistry computer science engineering science materials mathematical institute physics plant sciences zoology etc. social sciences business school continuing education enterprise and the environment government social policy and intervention international development internet institute law oxford martin school oxford man institute etc. recognised independent centres buddhist studies energy studies hebrew and jewish studies hindu studies islamic studies sport australian rules football boxing cricket cycling dancesport darts football gliding handball ice hockey mountaineering quidditch polo rowing rugby women s football category commons portal coordinates 51 46 04 n 1 15 44 w 51.7678 n 1.2621 w 51.7678 ; 1.2621 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title voltaire foundation & oldid 726503794 categories departments of the university of oxfordeducational institutions established in the 1970shidden categories cs1 french language sources fr coordinates not on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutschfran ais edit links this page was last modified on 22 june 2016 at 16 16 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view