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 manuscript is an autograph letter featuring a 9-line poem in Latin. The introductory poem, praising Voltaire’s phenomenal literary talent, wishes Voltaire longevity and prolificacy. The body of the letter discusses Pezzana’s translation of L’Orfano della Cina (Parma [1762]), sent to Voltaire from Parma in 1762. The letter also mentions Pezzana’s recent edition of Ariosto’s Opere varie (Parigi 1776), produced in collaboration with Libraio Delalain.

The manuscript is a lettre en vers in the hand of Pierre Robert Le Cornier de Cideville, featuring the prefatory poem comprised of 30 lines. The author has recently arrived in Rouen and is enjoying the company of Formont. In urging Voltaire to share his latest works for review, the author references a copy of Zaïre currently in his possession. P.S. D525 and that of 23 March 1763 appear to be the only letters from Cideville to Voltaire hitherto printed. The verse of MS1 exactly reproduces that of MS2, but the prose shows several differences.

The accompanying billet in Voltaire’s hand asks if the recipient will be happy with this edition of the poem. The edition of the poem, printed in Paris in 1745, features the poem itself, a plan of the battle, and épître dedicated to the King, and a preliminary discourse.

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.

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.

Gabriel Senac de Meilhan thanks Panckoucke for his letter, and for sending him the letters that he found in Voltaire’s collection. He adds that he believes that there should be other letters in Voltaire’s collection, and notes that he would be obliged if Panckoucke could send these extra letters to him as well. De Meilhan concludes by saying that he has some letters from Voltaire in his own collection will send them to Panckoucke.

Voltaire writes that he was finally sent the end of the eight volume and the preface by Jean-François Marmontel who is at the head of the Henriade, but that he did not receive the preface that must be placed before the edition, and which was sent to Walther almost a year ago. He asks Walther to put the preface into the packet addressed to M. Allyot, conseilleranlique a Lunéville en Lorraine. Voltaire then says that he saw a letter that Walther wrote to a friend of his, in which Walther informs the mutual acquaintance that he wished to send Voltaire a porcelain service from Saxony. Voltaire notes that he is very grateful for the proposed gift and offers his sincere thanks. He adds that he sees that Walther does not share the feelings of a Dutch bookseller, a matter which renews Voltaire’s desires to be useful to him, and informs Walther that he intends to send him his history of the present war which Voltaire estimates will be completed in a few months time. He then returns to the topic of the porcelain service, beggin Walther not to go to the expense of purchasing one for him as a few copies of Walther’s edition is enough for Voltaire, especially as Walther has spent such a large sum of money of the edition already. Voltaire asks that Walther add the small documents that he sent him to the eighth volume and assumes that Walther had an errata of volumes seven and eight made as Voltaire couldn’t personally work on these because he hadn’t seen the volumes yet. He notes that Walther will have his Semiramis but that he can’t tell him yet when he will receive them. In conclusion, Voltaire writes that he hopes that Walther will be able to make a more complete and more correct edition, with which Voltaire offers to help him. He adds that even with its errors Walther’s edition is assuredly the best, ‘or rather the only good one that we have’, and says that Walther should announce it in all of the newspapers as the only faithful edition of Voltaire’s work in Europe, and the only one that Voltaire himself approves of.

Voltaire talks of ‘l’abbé Desfontaines’ whom Voltaire claims owes him everything. He notes that he saved Desfontaines’ honour and life from Bissêtre and suspended his criminal trial, and that he begged Desfonaines to make it public knowledge that Voltaire had nothing to do with a ‘miserable edition’ that had ‘disfigured’ his work. Instead, Desfontaines published his letter without permission and added to it a number of criticisms. What is crueller, Voltaire writes, is that Mr Rouillé, the owner of the bookshop, has been told that La mort de César is the work of a bad citizen, and that it was published furtively by Voltaire to defy the rules established by the Keeper of Seals. He notes that Asselin’s honesty must lead him to refute such claims, asking him to refute the claims in the newspapers and to write to Mr Rouillé and adding that René Hérault no longer interferes with the bookshop.