The text notes that Quintus Curtius made Alexander the Great write a letter to Darius. In the letter, it was remarked that the world cannot endure two suns or two masters and Voltaire questions whether this was actually written by Alexander or not. He quotes Don Japhet of Armenia, the fool of Charles V, before questioning Titus Livius’ habit of attributing speeches to his heroes. Voltaire adds that he would harangue Livius and tell him that if he wants to write history he should tell only the truth. In the conclusion of the passage, Voltaire discusses Thalestris, queen of the Amazons who met with Alexander on the banks of the Tanais and asked him to give her a child.

The variants in this draft were introduced in the Kehl edition.

The manuscript is a lettre en vers, opening with an eight-line poem and referring to Les Plaideurs by Jean Racine. The poem is likely attributed to an unnamed Greek author, identified at the close of the letter.

Throughout the text, Voltaire reflects on the literary accomplishments of Alexander the Great, highlighting his reputed skill in poetry and citing verses addressed to Thalestris. He also commends the Prussian monarch’s library at the newly built Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam.

Voltaire begins this letter with several lines of poetry, and then goes on to talk about Alexander the Great of Macedon. He tells Frederick about how Alexander the Great had a love for the fine arts. Alexander was a skilled writer of poetry, something which surprised the Macedonians, because they only knew him as a “brave warrior”. Voltaire mentions a scholar who apparently retired in the Caucasus Mountains after serving in the court of Alexander. Voltaire “would give all the Caucasus Mountains in order to see this foreigner for two days in the Court of Alexander.”

This item has been miscatalogued by the University of Southern California and actually dates to 9 December 1769.

In these notes, Voltaire heavily criticises l’Histoire des Antiquités judaïques by Flavius Josèphe. The passage ends with the phrase: ‘judée; la moitie sterile, lautre bonne de la deux divers jugements’.