Autograph letter from Paul Desforges-Maillard to Voltaire, written from Le Croisic and dated 1 January 1746.
Detailed Summary:
The manuscript is a lettre en vers in the hand of Paul Desforges-Maillard, featuring seven poems. The author, praising Voltaire’s formidable superiority of intellect and character, implicitly urges his addressee to help him secure employment. The letter cites and refers to De rerum natura by Lucretius and Œdipe by Corneille.
Fernand Caussy, Inventaire des manuscrits de la bibliothèque de Voltaire conservée à la bibliothèque impériale publique de Saint-Pétersbourg (Geneva, Slatkine reprints, 1970)