Marie-Louise Denis begins by stating that she had the misfortune of losing her uncle, Voltaire, on the 30th of the last month. She adds that as his heir she urges the council to let her know how they can repay her the remaining 50,000lt of the 80,000lt Voltaire lent to the Duke of Wurttemberg. She asks that the money be sent to Messrs. Meyner and Rozé so that she can collect the money and pay the workers and contractors hired by Voltaire.

Documents include many on the administration of the Département du Nord and the departments of the Gironde and Isère in the 1790’s, including certificates of baptism and other documents on questions of residence, and documents on the identification and arrest of emigrés from France. Also included are many legal documents ranging from 1629-1810, including opinions and verdicts in civil lawsuits; documents on issues of inheritance and succession; 18th-century marriage contracts and divorce papers; deeds to houses and land titles; and powers of attorney. Other documents include a military discharge dated 1582, military service and pension records, and other documents concerning the French army from 1710-1815.

Also included are census data for Albania and Dalmatia for 1781; correspondence of various French government officials, from the 1870’s and early 20th century; detailed work contracts for repairs and rebuilding of a chateau in 1803, signed by carpenter Jean Baptiste Echeuvin and by Jean Pierre Fluchaire; the autograph text of an address to the king by Monseigneur Leveque on behalf of France’s bishops in 1735; a chapbook quoting extensively from Voltaire, especially on the subject of women and on Christianity; a book-length manuscript on the Jesuits, written after 1810; manuscript essays on the relationship of church and state, apparently dating from the 18th century; a genealogy of the family Le Brun de Rabot, dated 1826; letters of recommendation for students seeking admission to a school, by Marc-Antoine Jullien; an essay criticizing the Gazette de France and the French government for not upholding freedom of the press, apparently 18th century; and correspondence by various 19th-century journalists on editing, publishing and social matters.

Photographs, apparently of the 19th century, show views of Venice and Avignon. Engravings include views of Amiens in the early 19th century and portraits of French authors René Charles de Maupeou, Paul Deroulède, Victorien Sardou, Ludovic Halévy, Mme. Eugènie Foa, and Othenin, comte d’Haussonville.

Correspondents include Louis Barthou; Henri Rochefort; René-Richard Castel; Barthelemy St. Hilaire; Augustin Louis, marquis de Ximenès; Louis-Joseph de Bourbon, prince of Conti; comte Arthur O’Mahony; Artaud de Montor; Alexis Nicolas Pérignon; Auguste Maguet; Jules Ferry; Miguet, secretary of the Institut impérial de France, later the Institut de France; Jules Michelet; A. Augustin-Louis Laya; Jules Lecomte; Othenin, comte d’Haussonville; Calmann Lévy; Adèle Esquiros; Gabriel, comte d’Haussonville; Etienne Vigée; and Auguste Guinard.

This is a letter to Derrey de Roqueville, who was a lawyer to the Parliament of Toulouse. A note beneath the letter explains that Roqueville had made a plea for a man named Louis Dussot, ‘the father of a large and poor family’. Louis Dussot wanted to claim part of a large inheritance which his brother had bequeathed to the Hospital of Montpellier. In the body of the letter Voltaire praises Roqueville’s eloquence, and offers his opinions on the Louis Dussot case. He ends by saying that ‘All laws which contradict nature are unjust.’ The letter has been misdated by the University of Southern California, and was written on 12 July 1769 rather than 1777 as they suggest.