The manuscript is an autograph letter containing a 28-line poem. In the body of the letter, Voltaire offers compliments to Bernard and reflects on the public’s erroneous tendency to attribute Montezume to him as one of his literary creations. In fact, the misunderstanding originates from the use of the same location (Peru) in Votaire’s Alzire. Additionally, these were the lines to which Voltaire replied in the same metre (see D998) — entitled “Le Hameau” and starting with ‘Rien n’est si beau / Que mon hameau, /Oh quelle image! / Quel paysage / Fait pour Vateau!’ (Œuvres complètes de M. Bernard, [Londres 1777], pp. 173–176).