Manuscript travel journals, 1784-1790, comprising part of a ‘Journal of an 8 month’s (sic) tour on the Continent’, 25 Apr-10 May 1784, describing the final phase of a tour from Sedan to Calais and London which lasted from October 1783 to May 1784, and including an itinerary of the whole voyage through Picardy, Paris, Burgundy, Switzerland and Belgium, and an anecdote concerning Voltaire; a ‘Journal of a tour to the West in the summer 1788’, describing a journey from London through Berkshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall; and an unfinished ‘Journal of a tour into Sussex’, Jul 1790.

Voltaire tells Jeanne Louise de Rochefort d’Ally not to have a hepatic colic, if she does not wish for Voltaire to travel to Burgundy in a frenzy to see one of the two people to whom he is equally attached. He confirms that he received a visit from Attorney General Séguier and d’Alembert on the same day, adding that if the two had met it would have been a much more pleasant scenario, though his meetings with each were charming. He goes on to note that the recipient has, like himself, been touched by the scissors of Abbé Terret, stating that they must both thank him for it. Voltaire speaks with regret of the disturbance Terret has brought to Ferney, noting that it had been progressing well, with foreigners populating the desert, houses being built, trade thriving and abundance beginning to vivify the region. He then says that one word has lost all of this and concludes by saying that the catastrophe poisons his final days, though he must not submit to this. He adds that he will send the recipient a little amusement in a few days time.

~With thanks to Rumi Kitahara for her assistance in identifying this manuscript.

A letter from Joseph Marie Terray to Mr. Cochin, the intendandant des finances, written at Versailles on 10th May 1770. The letter is endorsed as ‘No. 2062.’ In the letter, Terray says that he is sending Mr. Cochin Article 4, Chapter 5 of the Book of the States of Bourgogne and Articles 3 and 5 of the Book of the Gex. He asks Mr. Cochin to look at the differences in the objects mentioned there.