Mallet du Pan writes that Mr. Chirol has informed him about Thoruneysen’s Voltaire prospectus, something he strongly encourages. He adds that such an edition would be do the Swiss press a great honour and that he is delighted that it has ended the ‘villainy’ of those from Lausanne. Mallet du Pan offers his services wherever he might be useful, adding that he spoke to Wagnière a few months ago, and that Wagnière was in possession of several short works that were not included in the Beaumarchais edition. He recommends Thoruneysen contacts Wagnière about his edition, as well as Gabriel Cramer whom he claims also has ‘valuable pieces’.

Voltaire begins by discussing the succession of Catherine the Great, before going on to ask Cramer for ‘une pucelle’ [La Pucelle d’Orléans], noting that he has given out four or five on occasion. He goes on to note that he has not corrected the sheets he saw at Les Délices.

Renouard writes that he has spent four years working to raise a literary and typographical movement to the great man [Voltaire] who, despite some mistakes, will always deserve the respect and recognition of men of letters and true philanthropists. He adds that he will publish 60 octavo volumes of Voltaire’s works that include 180 engravings and portraits, noting that this edition cannot be compared to any previous attempts. He speaks highly of the quality of paper used for the edition, adding that though he was not the manufacturer of it it was created according to his instructions. Renouard also praises the typographic elegance of the work, which he credits to the talents of Georges-Adrien Crapelet. He notes that what makes this edition new is the multitude of corrections made in the text to dates, proper names, and citations, attributing some errors of previous editions to Voltaire’s copyists or secretaries. Renouard cites a series of such errors, referencing a letter from Louis XIV of France, a letter from Henry IV of France, and the correspondence of Frederick II of Prussia. He concludes by asking the recipient to subscribe to a number of copies of his new edition.

The poem is taken from the 1745 Imprimerie Royale, Paris edition and is accompanied by one of five hundred printed billets published by Jacques Anisson-Duperron in 1745 as an accompaniment to the edition of the poem printed by the Imprimerie Royale, Louvre. The billet has been addressed to François-Augustin Paradis de Moncrif at ‘rue des Bons Enfans, chez monsieur d’Argenson’ in Voltaire’s hand.

The MS notes that it was compiled to identify variants between the 1736 edition of Alzire and the Beaumarchais edition of the same text. Examples from each edition are directly compared and contrasted throughout. The exemplars are taken from Acts 1-6.

The MS declares that it records two editions of Voltaire’s Tancrède, published by Prault in Paris in 1761. The author of the MS notes that there were significant changes made to the text between the first and second editions, and it is for this reason that they are recording instances of variants. The exemplars are taken from Acts 2-4.

Gries presents Goethe with a volume of his translation of Calderón and asks for his opinion on it. He then goes on to discuss printed tragedies, arguing that Eifersucht, das größte Scheusal could be considered a prototype of all modern tragedies of fate. He concludes by discussing the frequent editing of works undertaken by older poets, making reference to Voltaire’s Mariamne and Zaire, Calderón’s Mariamne, and Shakespeare’s Othello.

Dunlop begins by discussing the snow storm which had prevented Burns from coming to see her, before imploring him not to edit ‘the New Year’s Day piece’ that he had written for her because addresses to friends should be spontaneous and uncorrected. She adds that her time will be occupied by sewing shirts for her son, so she will not write to him for a while, before stating that she had hoped to get Burns a copy of Voltaire’s La Pucelle d’Orleans but had heard such terrible reports of its character that she feared it should neither pass through her own or his hands. She concludes by noting that she met his favourit, James Adair.

Du Châtelet makes referece to an epistle enclosed with the letter (no longer present), and asks d’Argental to review it. She then makes mention of both Voltaire and Tiriot and asks d’Argental to disapprove of a change once he receives the revised version of the verses.

The poem has been heavily corrected by Voltaire. In his billet to Moncrif, Voltaire states that he will see why Voltaire did not send him the poem, adding that of the four published editions none satisfy him. He concludes by asking Moncrif to tell the queen that he is not easily satisfied when he works for her husband and son, and entreats Moncrif to love him.