Voltaire begins by saying that the Count de Rochefort, and the old woman of nineteen years old, left Macon. According to the letter written by the trio, Voltaire adds that he expects that the travellers will soon be either in Paris or Vandoeuvre. He advises the travellers that they will not see ‘Les Lois de Minos’ because they will be in their quarters when it will be presented and begs them not to show the ‘Lois’ to anyone other than D’Alembert. Voltaire goes on to say that he doesn’t think it necessary to make even the slightest reasonable allusion; but one must always expect the worst from frivolous, troubled and mean spirits. What’s more, he adds, the copy that they have is incorrect and it two pages need to be redone. Voltaire concedes that such ‘bagatelles’ are not deserving of much attention but as there are people in the world who seek to take every opportunity to harm, he asks that the recipients do not give them this opportunity. He ends by stating that Madame Denis very respectfully thanks ‘Madame dix neuf ans’ and that he himself does the same for the third person to whom he has the honour to address his letter. The closing of the letter is added in Voltaire’s own hand. Here, he states that he throws himself at the feet of the old lady.

The commonplace book features a number of Voltaire’s plays, including: f.1r, Guébres; f.2v, Le Triumvirat; f.3v, Alzire; f.5r, Les Lois de Minos; f.8v, Les Scythes; f.11r, Irène; f.12r, Oedipe; f.14v, Mariamne; f.16v, Le Mort de César; f.17v, Oreste; and f.21v, Adelaide du Guesclin.

The manuscript is a lettre en vers, consisting of a poem in four stanzas. Voltaire begins by expressing his gratitude for the fine china previously gifted to him and for the compliments he received regarding his age. The letter continues with a poem that challenges the correspondent’s negative assessment of Parisian cultural and literary life, highlighting contemporary literary ambitions, achievements in scholarship and criticism, and developments in the fine arts. In the latter part of the letter, Voltaire discusses Pugachev’s Rebellion, his tragedy Les Lois de Minos—which he intends to send to his correspondent—and the marriage of Marie Thérèse Louise of Savoy.