VOLTAIRE, Zadig, or Destiny. Oriental history. S.l.n.n. [Paris, Prault ; Nancy, Leseure], 1748. In-12, brown calf, spine decorated, spotted edges (contemporary binding). First edition under this mythical title. Second edition in part first edition of one of Voltaire's most famous philosophical tales, first published in the summer of 1747 under the title Memnon, in a version that he reworked and completed during his stay at Sceaux with the Duchesse du Maine, and published in the present edition on 10 September 1748. This edition is enlarged by a dedication to the Sultane Shéraa (which refers to the Marquise de Pompadour) and three previously unpublished chapters (Le Souper, Le Rendez-vous and Le Pêcheur); four other chapters contain important variants. To guard against forgeries, the author divided the manuscript into two parts and entrusted the first to the Paris printer Laurent-François Prault, and the second to Antoine Leseure, a printer from Nancy whom he had met during a stay at the court of Lunéville. From the library of Dr Guérin (1950, no. 158). Smudging at the bottom of the first few leaves; marginal repair to the last two leaves. Head joint damaged, some scuffing to binding. Bengesco, n°1421 - Voltaire à la BN, II, n°2975 - Ascoli, Zadig, 1929, n°3.