Boswell writes that he was happy to have received a letter from Voltaire, adding that to him receiving a letter from Voltaire was like receiving one from Abraham or Julius Cæsar. He then turns to the soul, noting that Voltaire should speak of it with reverence because the soul is all. Boswell then remarks that he has been in Rome for some time and has become an antiquities and fine arts enthusiast. He adds, however, that he will not comment on Rome so as to avoid telling Voltaire what he already knows. Boswell discusses having spent some time in Naples with Mr Wilkes, and recounts an anecdote Wilkes told him about a lady in Paris who inveighed against the English for their cruelt of disposition in executing Charles I and cutting the tails of their horses.

Voltaire begins this letter with several lines of poetry, and then goes on to talk about Alexander the Great of Macedon. He tells Frederick about how Alexander the Great had a love for the fine arts. Alexander was a skilled writer of poetry, something which surprised the Macedonians, because they only knew him as a “brave warrior”. Voltaire mentions a scholar who apparently retired in the Caucasus Mountains after serving in the court of Alexander. Voltaire “would give all the Caucasus Mountains in order to see this foreigner for two days in the Court of Alexander.”

This item has been miscatalogued by the University of Southern California and actually dates to 9 December 1769.