The letter relates to family affairs. Nathaniel tells his mother that his sister Louisa is content and pleased to attend a dance school, and that he has learned to swim. He mentions his uncles, and notes that he wishes his older sister, Elizabeth, would write to him. A list of Voltaire’s works has been added to the verso of the letter, presumably in his mother’s hand.

Voltaire writes that he is in the horrors of the dancing, in fear of the ‘sifflets’, and in the pains of the ‘colique’. He adds that he will not send less tomorrow than what is asked for and notes that he wishes to see the recipient more as they console him.