Letter from Voltaire to Jean-Joseph-Thérèse Roman, written from Les Délices and dated 16 June 1762 [D10514]
Identifiers
CMV:
CMV36762
Repository:
Shelfmark:
5-240 (VII, f.165), ‘A M. Roman, 16 juin 1762, aux Délices (M. 4934)’
Title:
Letter from Voltaire to Jean-Joseph-Thérèse Roman, written from Les Délices and dated 16 June 1762 [D10514]
Collection(s):
Related record(s):
No related manuscripts found.
Link to Archive Catalogue:
Link to Digital Resource:
OCLC Number:
Reproductions:
The Besterman Collection, Geneva, photocopy
Content
People:
Incipit Diplomatic:
Il y a longtemps, Monsieur, que je vous dois des remerciements.
Incipit Modernised:
Il y a longtemps, Monsieur, que je vous dois des remerciements.
Language(s):
In Voltaire’s Hand:
Partly
Brief Summary:
Letter from Voltaire to Jean-Joseph-Thérèse Roman, written from Les Délices and dated 16 June 1762.
Detailed Summary:
The writer offers long-overdue thanks to the recipient, delayed by a prolonged illness. He praises the recipient’s work as a translator, particularly his translations of German poets, and humorously laments the longevity of biblical figures, suggesting a preference for more agreeable subjects. He further encourages the recipient to devote himself to his own writing rather than to the translation of tragedies, and expresses his regret at Madame Dalbertas’s departure from their region.
Keyword(s):
Genre(s):
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Physical Description
Material(s):
Extent:
1 f.
Format:
Dimensions:
Hands:
2
Watermark:
Countermark:
Binding:
The manuscript is bound with other documents in contemporary red morocco.
Additional Comments:
Materiality Keywords:
Decorations:
Additions:
Voltaire endorsed MS1 ‘à mr Roman’.
Marginalia Keywords:
Inclusions:
History
Date:
16 June 1762
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.109, p.36
OCV Manuscript Reference:
vol.109, ‘MS1’, p.36
Record created by:
Record created on: