The first three pages of the letter are missing. Voltaire begins by saying that he intends to send Thieriot two or three poems by Mr Pope, whom he describes as ‘the best poet of England and, at present, of all the world’, in the hopes that Thieriot’s English is good enough to enable him to appreciate the charms of the works. He adds that he views Pope’s ‘the essay upon criticism’ as superior to the poetry of Horace and his Rape of the Lock as above Despreaux Le Lutrin. Voltaire then turns to his own ‘ever cursed fortune’, writing that he came into England at the end of July greatly dissatisfied with his secret voyage into France which proved both unsuccessful and expensive. He returned to England with only some bills of exchange upon a Jew called Medina for the sum of eight or nine thousand French livres but discovered uppon his arrival that Medina was broke. This left Voltaire alone and penniless in London, in the grips of a violent ague that left him too weak to visit the ambassador. He writes that he was helped by a gentleman who gave him accommodation at his country house, adding that the friendship of this man ‘sooths the bitterness’ of his life and makes him love Thieriot more and more. Voltaire claims to have seem Lord and Lady Bolingbroke numerous times and that they offered him money and their house, but that he refused their offers due to their status, instead accepting help from Mr Faulknear.
Voltaire then turns to matters of publishing, stating that he had thought to publish ‘Poor Henry’ at his own expense in London but the loss of his money had prevented him from doing so. He questions if he should attempt to publish via subscriptions by the favour of the court, but notes that he is weary of courts because ‘All that is King, or belongs to a King, frights my republican philosophy, j won’t drink the least draught of slavery in the land of liberty.’
The letter then addresses Voltaire’s correspondence with Desfontaines and his desire to see Thieriot in London, where he hopes to remain. He speaks of the benefits of remaining in England, writing that it is ‘a nation fond of their liberty, learned, witty, despising life and death, a nation of philosophers, not but that there are some fools in England, every country has its madmen. It may be, French folly is pleasanter, than English madness, but by god English wisdom and English Honesty is above yours.’ After discussing England at length, Voltaire writes that he fears Thieriot will take his letter for one of the ‘tedious English books’ Voltaire had advised him not to translate and so instead turns to the lateness of his reply. He blames his correspondent in Calais and asks Thieriot to send all letters henceforth to Bolingbroke’s house in London, asking him also to advise others who would correspond with him to do the same.
Voltaire then discusses his sister. He informs Thieriot that he has written so much about her to correspondents following her death that he had almost forgotten to write of her to Thieriot. He says that he has nothing to tell him about the accident, because Thieriot knows his heart and way of thinking already, but notes that he has wept for her death and wishes to be with her. He muses on her passing philosophically, writing: ‘Life is but a dream full of starts of folly, and of fancied, and true miseries. Death awakens us from this painful dream, and gives us, either a better existence or no existence at all.’

Citations throughout the manuscript include: Voltaire, Rousseau, Boileau, Madame Deshoulières, Corneille, Racine, and La Fontaine. The author was familiar with Rhétorique Francoise, a L’Usage des Jeunes Desmoiselles by Gabriel Henri Gaillard. The handbook is made up of excerpts from the following:
p.1-150: Discours préliminaire sur la Rhétorique
p.161-213: Seconde Partie de la Rhétorique
p.222-238: Traité du Récit ou l’Art de Raconter
p.242-332: Troisième Partie de la Rhétorique

Authors referenced in the catalogue include: Boileau, C. La Bruyere, Corneille, La Fontaine, Rousseau, Voltaire, Jean-François Marmontel, Fenelon, Aesop, Caesar, Horace, Plutarch, and Virgil. Over 200 titles are listed.

Voltaire writes that Chamfort has caught him at a moment when the sad state of his eyes leves him free to write. He notes that Chamfort speaks so well of his art that even if Voltaire had not seen such charming verses in la Jeune Indienne [a comedy written by Chamfort published on 30 April 1764, which Voltaire must have read in manuscript form] he would have been entitled to say that here is a young man who will write as they did a hundred years ago. Voltaire continues by saying that the nation only emerged from barbarism because there were three or four people who possessed genius and taste. Corneille, for example, wrote 200 verses, Boileau used an art unknown before him to put reason into verses, and Pascal and Bossuet changed the ‘welches’ into French. Voltaire notes, however, that de Chamfort seems convinced that the Crebillons and all those who have made tragedies as bad and verses as hard as his have changed French into welches. To this, he adds that the nation has taste by accident and so it is to be expected that a people who did not know the merit of Misatrope and Athalie will be ignorant and weak people who need to be led by the small number of enlightened men. He goes on to say that the likes of Freron do not fail to contribute to bringing back barbarism and misleading the tastes of young people who would reather read cheap books than buy more expensive good books, and who are often not in a condition to form a library. Voltaire quips that ‘loose leaves are the plague of literature.’ He concludes by saying that he looks forward to de Chamfort’s book as the subject is very touching and he knows how to successfully write touching verses.

Letter from Voltaire to Cardinal Domenico Passionei, written from Fontainebleau and dated 12 October 1745.

In 1745, Voltaire attempted to attract the good graces of Pope Benedict XIV through the people close to him, such as Cardinal Passionei. In this letter, Voltaire writes that he received a letter in French from Rome dated 15 September [D3211] that was so elegantly written that he believed it be from one of the best writers in France but from the sentiments he recognised the author as Cardinal Passionei. He adds that a mind such as Passionei’s comes from all countries and must be eloquent in all languages. Voltaire writes that Passionei’s letter redoubles the grief he has had for a long time at not having seen Rome because it seems to him that all French people who cultivate letters should make this trip just as the Greeks went to visit the Egyptians. He adds that he is consoled by the book by the Marquis Orsi that Passionei sent him as it will strengthn his extreme taste for, and little knowledge of, the Italian language. He then turns to literary criticism, noting that he has known for a long time of Father Bouhour’s mistakes and of Despreaux’s unjust severity towards Aristotle and Tasso, claiming that both men only superficially knew what they were criticising and concluding that Despreaux felt Tasso’s small faults too much and did not pay enough attention to his great feats. He then turns to the writings of Passionei, remarking that he sees with extreme pleasure that Passionei is in the midst of cultivating beautiful letters.

The poems are chosen from the works of Jean de Rotrou, François de Malherbe, Honorat de Bueil, marquis de Racan, François Maynard, Antoine Godeau, évêque de Vence, Robert Arnauld d’Andilly, Pierre Corneille, Louis Racine, Étienne Pavillon; Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, Jean-Baptiste Rousseau,  and Voltaire.

The poems are chosen from the works of Jean Rotrou, François de Malherbe, Honorat de Bueil, marquis de Racan, François de Maynard, Antoine Godeau, évêque de Vence, Robert Arnauld d’Andilly, Pierre Corneille, Louis Racine, Étienne Pavillon; Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, and Voltaire.