John Calas (1698-1762) was a merchant in Toulouse. He was tried, tortured and executed for the murder of his son, but protested his innocence. Calas was a Protestant in an officially Roman Catholic country and doubts were raised about his guilt. In France, he became a symbolic victim of religious intolerance. The philosopher Voltaire campaigned to have Calas' conviction overturned, claiming that Calas' son had committed suicide because of gambling debts and being unable to complete his university studies. King Louis XV had the sentence annulled in 1764 and Voltaire went on to use the case in his criticisms of the Catholic Church for being intolerant and fanatical.

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The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars. Rich in titles on English life and social history, this collection spans the world as it was known to eighteenth-century historians and explorers. Titles include a wealth of travel accounts and diaries, histories of nations from throughout the world, and maps and charts of a world that was still being discovered. Students of the War of American Independence will find fascinating accounts from the British side of conflict. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library N017250 The poem 'Lettre de Jean Calas, à sa femme et à ses enfans' attributed to Voltaire on the titlepage is in fact by A. M. H. Blin de Sainmore; it has separate pagination and is preceded by an introduction, also in French. Includes 'List of the nobility and London: printed in the year, 1775. vi,34,16p.; 8°