Letter from Voltaire to Étienne-François de Choiseul, dated 9 January 1767 [D13823]
Identifiers
CMV:
CMV36721
Repository:
Shelfmark:
5-240 (VII, f.92-3), ‘9 janvier 1767, à M. le duc de Choiseul, sur le cordon de troupes (M. 6662)’
Title:
Letter from Voltaire to Étienne-François de Choiseul, dated 9 January 1767 [D13823]
Collection(s):
Related record(s):
No related manuscripts found.
Link to Digital Resource:
Link to Archive Catalogue:
OCLC Number:
Reproductions:
The Besterman Collection, Geneva
Content
People:
Incipit Diplomatic:
Mon héros, mon protecteur, C’est pour le coup que vous êtes mon Colonel.
Incipit Modernised:
Mon héros, mon protecteur, C’est pour le coup que vous êtes mon Colonel.
Language(s):
In Voltaire’s Hand:
Partly
Brief Summary:
Letter from Voltaire to Étienne-François de Choiseul, dated 9 January 1767.
Detailed Summary:
The writer addresses his protector, complaining that the protector’s policies have left the household at Ferney and local peasants starving, while neighbouring towns continue to thrive. Using ironic Persian–Scythian imagery, he contrasts favoured recipients—who freely receive food and passports—with his own people, who are unable to obtain provisions, letters, or medicine. He pleads that the protector, who rests on “justice and compassion,” alleviate their hardship and grant them a passport to travel to Geneva or elsewhere in Switzerland. He closes with a humorous prayer that the patron be forgiven for any bodily sins, in light of the potential benefits he may bestow.
Keyword(s):
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Physical Description
Material(s):
Extent:
2 ff.
Format:
Dimensions:
Hands:
2
Watermark:
Countermark:
Binding:
The manuscript is bound with other documents in contemporary red morocco.
Additional Comments:
Materiality Keywords:
Decorations:
Additions:
The mansucript carries a few autograph additions in Voltaire’s hand and is endorsed by Wagnière ‘à Mgr le Duc De Choiseul sur le cordon de troupes autour de Geneve’.
Marginalia Keywords:
Inclusions:
History
Date:
9 January 1767
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):
Origin:
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:
vol.115, p.234–235
OCV Manuscript Reference:
vol.115, ‘MS2’, p.235
Record created by:
Record created on: