A collection of about 60 poems and essays, primarily elegies, occasional verses, and verse epitaphs on the subjects of solitude, death, and the nature of humanity. The volume contains poems by Joseph Butler, John Dyer, David Garrick, James Grainger, Thomas Gray, Richard Jago, Charlotte Lennox, James Marriott, Ambrose Philips, Petrarch, William Vernon, Thomas Wharton, Isaac Watts, William Whitehead, Anthony Whistler, and Mrs. Barber. Other poem titles include: Ode to death, possibly by Abraham Richard Hawksworth; Virgil’s tomb; Ode to solitude and one in French, Epistle de Mr. Voltaire.

A letter sent from Voltaire to Alessandro Gregorio Capponi (1683-1746), originally accompanied by a printed copy of La Poeme de Fontenoy [Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, R.G.Lett.Est.IV.71]. Voltaire writes that Capponi is prized by all the literati and that, because of his ‘courteous humanity’, he has no doubts about presenting to him the poem. He notes that the ‘most Christian King’ allowed the poem to be printed in his palace so that Voltaire might have the honour of offering it to Capponi. Voltaire writes that he has always admired Italian poetry and has aspired to have the honour of obtaining the protection of the nation which, he notes, was for many centuries the first and only cultivator of every virtue and science.