Part of a bound collection of letters to Nicolas-Claude Thiériot. The collection is bound in aubergine morocco and is signed Gruel. There are interior wheels with the coat of arms of the City of Paris featured on the binding. These have been added retrospectively.
Additional Comments:
The MS has been folded into four (since unfolded). There are several pin holes along the left-hand side of the MS that run through each of the three leaves. One set of these, beneath the marginal note on the left-hand side f.116r and correspondingly beneath the quatrain on the right-hand side of f.118v, also features staining in the shape of the pin. There are some minor ink blots between l.16 and l.17 of f.117r.
A large portion of f.116r has been crossed through with a single line. Brackets have been added to the text at the top of f.116v. Select words and phrases have been underlined throughout, and there are several corrections throughout in the form of crossings out, corrected text added superscript over deleted text, and corrected text being written over the top of incorrect text. Several of these corrections are in Voltaire’s hand, as are the final lines of the letter on f.118v. A third hand, likely that of Clogenson, has added several notes throughout. The first, in the upper left-hand corner of f.116r identifies the letter as ‘Copiée’. The second, to the left-hand side of f.116r remarks that the poetry featured in the letter ‘se trouve dans la letter a M. Pallu du même jour’. The third has been added in the form of a footnote to f.118r. This note, linked to the main text through the use of a shared symbol, reads: ‘m. de Voltaire corrigea ainsi ce quatrain:’. Finally, Clogenson has provided the corrected version of the quatrain at the end of the letter on f.118v. A number ‘8’ has been added in green ink to the top of f.116r.
The letters were bought in two bundles, both from the bookseller Noël Charavay. The first collection of 111 letters was purchased in December 1892, and the second collection of 200 letters was purchased in July 1895.