The manuscript is a lettre en vers written in the hand of Jean Baptiste Nicolas Formont. It starts with a poem comprised of 27 lines, fashioned as an imitation of Virgil. The author discusses what makes a good translation of a poem, reflects upon the interplay between content and form, remarks upon the role of rhyme and epic poetry, and contrasts the poetic renditions in Latin with those in French. ED1 dates this letter October/November 1735. According to T. D. N. Besterman, D916 is almost certainly Voltaire’s reply, but the fact that Voltaire waited for Fromon’s translation for a month seems to imply that the present letter was sent separately and received earlier; hence the date proposed here.