Voltaire is writing to Lambert with a business proposal from the Cramer brothers, who have approached Voltaire, interested in publishing his works. According to the offer, Cramer and Lambert would share the printing of the estimated dozen volumes of Voltaire’s Histoire universelle (later the Essai sur les mœurs), thus enabling it to be ready more quickly. The letter, most of which is in Villaume’s hand, contains several minor corrections. The last two paragraphs, as well as the valediction, signature and date, are in Voltaire’s hand. Voltaire first wrote ’28 aoust 1754′ before adding a curved vertical line to approximate a ‘9’.