Martin begins by outlining the similarities between their lives, touching upon their pets and learning. He then refers to a character from Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby who keeps a single flower in his room before quoting from Voltaire’s Candide, writing: ‘mais il faut cultiver notre jardin.’ He explores this quotation and its meaning, before adding that he will soon have to return to London.

Manuscript travel journals, 1784-1790, comprising part of a ‘Journal of an 8 month’s (sic) tour on the Continent’, 25 Apr-10 May 1784, describing the final phase of a tour from Sedan to Calais and London which lasted from October 1783 to May 1784, and including an itinerary of the whole voyage through Picardy, Paris, Burgundy, Switzerland and Belgium, and an anecdote concerning Voltaire; a ‘Journal of a tour to the West in the summer 1788’, describing a journey from London through Berkshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall; and an unfinished ‘Journal of a tour into Sussex’, Jul 1790.

The commonplace book contains extracts from Voltaire, William Cowper, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and Edward Gibbon, as well as biographical sketches of Mary Robinson and John Horne Tooke. Also included are notes taken from Dr Fothergill concerning pollution in London and dietary recommendations for healthy living.

Voltaire opens by saying that when he asked Marie-Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise Du Deffand to urge her friends to speak to Maurepas, it was not for fear that it would do him harm. He turns to the recent appearance of some scandalous letters, asking if the duchesse du Maine is angry that he put Newton above Descartes, or if the duchesse de Villars will react badly to his treatment of her innate ideas as chimeras. He then turns to the Jansenists, whom he says want him to burn for certain of his theological ideas that he published whilst in London. He adds that his English publisher found him very moderate. He goes on to say that he had thought to leave France forever when he gave Tiriot permission two years ago to print this work, and that he has since changed his mind, adding that it is unfortunate that the letters appear in France when he most wants to stay there. He concludes by saying that he does not know if he will return to France. He asks her to send any letters for him to Paris opposite St Gervais as they will find him, asking that she marks her letter (for example with ‘DD’) so that he can easily identify which letters come from her.

De Missy writes to Voltaire about his edition of Voltaire’s tragedy Mahomet. De Missy divides the letter into a series of numbered points. Point One concerns the beginning of Act Three which is in need of revision. De Missy says that he could have corrected the Act himself but did not want to taint Voltaire’s writing. Point Two concerns a few passages that De Missy notes he will not punctuate in line with Voltaire’s intentions. He notes that this is particularly relevant to the first verses of p.55 in At IV. Point Three concerns various corrections in Voltaire’s copy that are in the London edition, and some passages in this edition that have been more heavily corrected than Voltaire’s version. He draws attention to p.7, p.33, p.42, p.45, p.48, and p.50. He asks Voltaire how he would like these sections to read, and whether or not he should follow the example of the London edition. Point Four concerns p.28 where the printer had written ‘They sit’ and Voltaire had not corrected it. De Missy asks if Voltaire’s lack of correction was intentional or not. Point Five concerns a verse on p.13, about which De Missy questions Voltaire’s phrasing. There then follow two paragraphs that are left incomplete, with large gaps in the copy suggesting that De Missy intended to expand on them and complete them. The paragraphs concern the topics of gender, virtues, and vices, with De Missy noting that men and women alike have both vices and virtues, and that one gender cannot be said to be more virtuous than the other. De Missy then goes on to discuss religion, and the ways in which divides between various religious denominations are largely artificial because human action traverses them. He states that he does not want to go to America but would do so tomorrow if they were the place that hated fraud and tyranny. He says he should like to do this journey with Voltaire. De Missy makes mention of the letter to Frederick II that Voltaire had sent him [D2386], adding some further details about the people mentioned in the letter: The Dias brothers, James Shepherd, and Luther. He then turns to Muhammad himself, questioning why Christians should be offended by Voltaire’s play when it shows Islam in a bad light as it was, he writes, founded on deceit and violence, not Christianity which was established with, he suggests, the best faith, great sweetness, and patience. De Missy then turns to Pascal’s comments on inconceivable proposals, problematising Voltaire’s understanding of this notion. De Missy ends his letter with a discussion of a Warning in the English papers from a wife whose husband had left home and not returned, with the wife claiming that if he came back within three days he would be graciously received. He writes that he had discussed this with a friend who concluded that the woman perhaps beat her husband. By means of an ending, he summarises his earlier questions about his edition of Mahomet, and this copy is left unfinished at the reiteration of Point Four.

Voltaire opens the letter by saying a small trip has prevented him from replying to de Missy’ last letter (D2659) sooner. He writes that he has just learned that Mahomet has been printed in Paris under the name of Brussels and that this addition is not only incorrect but made from an inaccurate copy that was stolen from him. He therefore states that he is in need of a real copy that is printed and would be delighted to send a copy to de Missy to this end. He says there will be some delay, however, as his copy of the work is in Paris. In response to de Missy’s request for order to give the bookseller, Voltaire writes only that he prints Mahomet and his other works correctly. He asks de Missy to recommend a bookseller who sells l’histoire universelle and to have the sheets from the Babylonian captivity to the last sent to one Jean de Cleves, a banker in Brussels, who will pay for them. He ends by saying that he is in a country that is very unphilosophical as the people speak only of cavalry and fodder.

Voltaire writes that he found de Missy’s last letter on his return to Brussels. He asks de Missy to send him everything that his been done in the universal history in English from chapter 7 concerning the Jews to the captivity of Babylon. He notes that a small edition of his works has recently been printed in Paris under the title d’Edition de Genève chez Bousquet and adds that this is the least faulty and the most complete that he has seen. Voltaire says that he will send a copy to de Missy. He adds that if some bookseller in London wanted to reprint them, we would send them a corrected copy and put them in a better order, accompanied by as yet unpublished pieces such as Mahomet. He remarks that the play was made for English heads rather than for French hearts and that they found it too bold for Paris.

Fragments from the same manuscript as Voltaire Foundation MS 16. The leaves are paginated by Voltaire and constitute p.5-8, and 11-12. P.9-10 are missing. Voltaire writes of an attack on a Spanish settlement made by 50 English soldiers in a rowboat during the night under the command of Admirable Anson, remarking that this sudden surprise, and the confusion and disorder that the darkness redoubles, multiplies and increases the danger. The governor, garrison, and inhabitants fled, and the governor went inland to collect 300 cavalry and the surrounding militia. The English took the treasures they could find and transported them peacefully for three days. The slaves who had not fled helped to remove the wealth of their former masters. The governor was not bold or prudent enough to return to the city and either fight or form a treaty with the victors. The English then went to Panama and greatly advanced before Acapulco, taking great swathes of the centre of Spanish domination. The Spanish stalled Admiral Anson’s forces with a larger fleet and artillery under the command of Don Joseph Pizarro, but the Spanish forces suffered from scurvy and hunger after provisions expected from Buenos Aires did not arrive. The commander eventually returned to Spain in 1746 with fewer than 100 of the 2,700 men he had left with. Pizarro’s misfortunes, Voltaire writes, left Admiral Anson free in the South Sea, but Anson’s forces too had suffered from scurvy. Anson therefore set his sights on taking a large Mexican galleon sent every year to Manilla, which Anson proceeded to use to sail for Africa.

Voltaire discusses the animosity between Louis XV and the new Stadtholder. The bitterness was, Voltaire notes, kept alive by the court of Vienna who wanted to strip Marie-Thérèse of the heritage of her fathers in spite of the treaties that had been signed. The court of London stirred Europe during the Congress of Breda, in order to make new enemies of Louis XV. George II of England then allied with Elizabeth Petrovna, Empress of Russia, who marched 50,000 men into Livonia and promised to equip 50 galleys that could be sent wherever George II wished, for the price of £100,000 sterling. This treaty could not be concluded until June 1747. The King of France advanced his conquests and quickly took Dutch Flanders. He also claimed Maastricht and Nimegen.

Richard Owen Cambridge opens the letter with a mention of the Wilkes disturbances in London and goes on to talk about how the people of Geneva are ‘abandoning the foolish notions of liberty put into them by Rouisseau and fomented by Voltaire’.