Voltaire’s Candide, first published in 1759, is renowned for its sharp and subversive humour, which he uses as a vehicle for philosophical critique and social satire. The novel brims with irony, parody, and absurdity, targeting institutions including the church, the aristocracy, and the blind optimism of enlightenment thinkers, particularly the philosophy of Leibniz, which Voltaire lampoons through the character of Pangloss. Beneath the humour lies a biting critique of optimism, religious hypocrisy and social injustice, making Candide not only a comic masterpiece but also a powerful work of enlightenment thought.

Much of the humour in Candide arises from exaggeration and absurd coincidence. Characters suffer ludicrously extreme misfortunes – earthquakes, floggings, rape, shipwrecks and executions – only to survive and carry on as if nothing has happened. This relentless misadventure serves as a darkly comic indictment of the idea that we live in ‘the best of all possible worlds’. Atrocities are often described in a light, matter-of-fact tone that contrasts starkly with their severity, underlining the absurdity of human cruelty and the casual way it is accepted.

Parody is another key element of Voltaire’s humour. He mocks the conventions of romantic adventure novels by exaggerating their tropes – lost love, miraculous reunions, exotic lands – thus exposing the unrealistic escapism often found in literature of his time.

Candide has never been out of print, both in French and many other languages (the best English translation  is by David Wootton).

For this 1957 edition Albert Dubout’s illustration style is perfect, from the frontispiece of the beautiful Cunégond, through the Madrid earthquake and the jungle of South America, to memorable scenes of dismembering and buttock-eating. They bring a colourful text to appropriately witty life.

The Dubout-illustrated Candide was published by Éditions du Demi-jour in a limited, numbered and boxed edition of 3,500 copies.