Lettres à Mademoiselle de Volland

A series of tender letters opens a window onto the private world of a towering Enlightenment thinker. In his exchanges with a young Parisian woman, he blends playful flirtation with earnest reflections on literature, art, and the restless spirit that drives his work on the great encyclopedia. The correspondence reveals a man caught between public acclaim and personal longing, offering vivid snapshots of cafés, book‑shops, and the everyday struggles of a scholar navigating poverty and fame.

Beyond romance, the letters sketch the social fabric of mid‑century France: the tension between religious authority and emerging philosophy, the fragile fortunes of his family, and the small comforts that sustained him—simple meals, a shared cup of coffee, a smile across a shop counter. Listeners will hear a voice that is both witty and vulnerable, inviting them to experience the intimate side of a mind that shaped modern thought while wrestling with love, loss, and the ordinary moments that defined his life.