Autograph letter from Voltaire to Frederick II, dated 2 May [1759].
Detailed Summary:
The manuscript is a draft of a lettre en vers mainly in Voltaire’s hand. The letter starts with an author’s poem comprised of 18 lines, ends with two lines from Epîtres by Boileau (i.83–84), and features ‘Congé’ by Frederick II, Gargantua by Rabelais, Matthew and Epîtres by Boileau. Furthermore, as per T. D. N. Besterman, Caussy asserts that the same volume, f.26, houses another holograph draft of this letter; however, this assertion is unfounded.
The manuscript is bound with other documents in contemporary red morocco.
Additional Comments:
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Voltaire headed MS1 ‘au Roy de Prusse 2 may’, to which another hand added the year 1758, which was followed by ED1.
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History
Date:
[2 May 1759]
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Bibliography
Bibliography:
Fernand Caussy, Inventaire des manuscrits de la bibliothèque de Voltaire conservée à la bibliothèque impériale publique de Saint-Pétersbourg (Geneva, Slatkine reprints, 1970)