D’Adhémar discusses the rift between Voltaire and Frederick II of Prussia, noting that great men have peculiarities, weaknesses, and sensitivities, but that if you love them there should also be forgetting. He notes that time should be given for them to realise the injustices done and offer an opportunity to undo them. He states that it was right to send the pension back. He concludes by discussing the Margravine who should travel to see her brother, Frederick, in Berlin if her health permits it.

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.

Voltaire begins by discussing the replacement of Thieriot with Baculard d’Arnaud, noting that d’Arnaud’s poor conduct has recently forced the king to drive him away. He quips that d’Arnaud’s wanderings ‘began with madness and ended with villainy.’ Expanding on this comment, Voltaire informs Thieriot that he began by arriving at court by coach, saying that he was a man of high status and that he had lost his titles of nobility and portraits of his mistresses with his nightcap. He notes that d’Arnaud had been recommended to the king as a man of talent and was given a pension of 5000 livres, a sum that d’Arnaud publicly decried, stating that it should be 5000 écus instead. Voltaire adds that d’Arnaud supped every day in Paris with the duc de Chartre and the prince de Conti and thought it fashionable to speak of the nation and finances with contempt. Following this, he swindled money from d’Argent and others, got involved with multiple calumnies, and, having become the ‘execration and contempt of everyone’, forced the King to dismiss him. Voltaire adds that he was vain enough to ask for his leave and after receiving it made Paris believe that he had not been able to accustom himself to the simplicity of the manners which reign in the court, claiming to have been a man of great birth and merit. Voltaire writes that d’Arnaud, when he saw the storm ready to burst upon him, sought to save himself by writing to Fréron, whom Voltaire describes as a scoundrel, and claiming that lines had been inserted against France in a preface he had written some eighteen months previous to an edition of Voltaire’s works. Voltaire notes that d’Arnaud had written this preface solely to obtain some money from him and that having left it to him signed by his own hand, Voltaire confirms that there was not a single word in it from which malignant intent could be deduced. Indeed, he adds that it was so badly written that he forbade its use for more than eight months. Voltaire notes that ‘perverts are strange people’ and that he hopes to ‘find the secret to silence this mastiff.’ He decries the ‘snakes that the ashes of Desfontaines have produced’ but acknowledges that whilst he does so he enjoys the favour and society of one of the greatest kings to have ever lived, a philosopher on the throne that despises even heroism, and who lives in Potsdam as Plato lived with his friends [Frederick II]. He adds that he has never seen so much grandeur and so little arrogance, and that Frederick’s suppers are always delicious and are accompanied by reason, and bold and free speech. Voltaire ends the letter by asking Thieriot to forgive any envy if Voltaire’s ‘extreme and unheard-of happiness’ makes him grind his teeth.