Letter from Voltaire to Frederick II, written in the hand of Wagnière from château de Tournay and dated 21 April 1760 [D8866].
Identifiers
CMV:
CMV33981
Repository:
Shelfmark:
5-240 (VII, f.22-23), ‘Au roi de Prusse, au château de Tournay, par Genève, 22 avril 1760 (M. 4099)’
Title:
Letter from Voltaire to Frederick II, written in the hand of Wagnière from château de Tournay and dated 21 April 1760 [D8866].
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Related record(s):
No related manuscripts found.
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Content
People:
Incipit Diplomatic:
Sire, Un petit moine de st Just disait à Charles quint, Sacrée majesté n’êtes vous pas lasse d’avoir troublé le monde?
Incipit Modernised:
Seigneur, Un petit moine de st Just disait à Charles quint, Sacrée majesté n’êtes-vous pas lasse d’avoir troublé le monde?
Language(s):
In Voltaire’s Hand:
No
Brief Summary:
Letter from Voltaire to Frederick II, written in the hand of Wagnière from château de Tournay and dated 21 April 1760.
Detailed Summary:
The manuscript is a transcription of an original letter, where Voltaire dismisses accusations of slander against Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis and complains about the unfair treatment by Frederick II, regarding employment and royal pensions. The letter ends with the author fulminating against unsupported accusations about Voltaire’s alleged secularist influence over Frederick II, which spread in the court of Versailles and beyond. Additionally, MS2 may be a second draft, for MS1 is so heavily corrected that Voltaire may well have had Wagnière transcribe it before making a fair copy.
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Physical Description
Material(s):
Extent:
2 ff.
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Binding:
The manuscript is bound with other documents in contemporary red morocco.
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History
Date:
21 April 1760
Ownership:
After Voltaire’s death, the MS passed into the ownership of Catherine II and remained in the imperial and then national collection thereafter.
Origin (transcript):
Châtau de Tournay par Genève
Provenance:
This MS was probably taken to St Petersburg by Wagnière in the summer of 1779 along with the rest of Voltaire’s library.
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)
OCV Reference:
105, p. 250–252
OCV Manuscript Reference:
105, ‘MS2’,p.252
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