Précis du siècle de Louis XV
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Précis du siècle de Louis XV (Short history of the Age of Louis XV) is a historical work by the French philosopher and author Voltaire, first published in its own right 1768.[1] Celebrating the progress of Enlightenment ideas and the retreat of prejudice, it comments on cultural, economic and technological progress made in the Kingdom of France during the reign of King Louis XV.[1]
The material for the Précis had previously been part of a history that Voltaire spent twenty years working on and which included Essai sur les mœurs et l'esprit des nations (Essay on the customs and spirit of the nations) and The Age of Louis XIV. The Precis was introduced in 1762 as an appendix within this larger work, but later published separately.[2][3]
