Voltaire notes that he has been seriously ill and close to death, having caught a fever in a hotel he had stayed in. He adds the the Duc de Sulli is leaving his house to take Votlaire to Sulli, but that he will travel instead to Marguerite Madeleine Du Moutier, marquise de Bernières if she would prefer. Voltaire states his desire to go and take care of his health and Henri IV at her home, spending quiet days there. He adds that he hates crowds as much as he loves her so will not mind if she does not have company. He concludes by saying that he has no further news other that the smallpox of Mademoiselle de Sens and the disease of the king of Spain, adding that he wanted to write to his friend Thiériot but does not have the strength.

The collection includes: Discourse on the conduct of the Courts of Vienna and Saxony and their pernicious designs against the King of Prussia. Berlin, 1756 (pp. 1-24). Papers referring to the government of Spain during Ferdinand VI’s illness and after his death, 1759 (pp. 25-32). Response of the King to the letter that the Pope wrote to him, asking him for his mediation for the composition of things in Parma. San Idelphonso on August 9, 1768 (pp. 33-34). Consultation of the Extraordinary Council, on the Brief of the Pope about the estrangement of the Jesuits. Madrid and April 30, 1767 (pp. 35-47). Consultation on the populations of Sierra Morena, 1770 (pp. 48-179). Letter from Voltaire to his correspondent in Madrid (pp. 180-183). The present state of the English colonies and thoughts of them. San Lorenzo on October 16, 1772 (pp. 184-245). Royal orders of S.M., on the license for the marriage of the Lord Infante Don Luis and gifts made by the Infante to the bride, 1776 (pp. 247-252). Letter written to a poet by a friend of his living in Madrid praising Carlos III (pp. 253-260). News from Portugal, with quatrains dedicated to the Marquis of Pombal, 1777 (pp. 261-307)
Sanchez Alonso T. II, p. 443, no. 8354.

Voltaire discusses the claims of the Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, and Dutch to lands in the New World, explaining that such lands are shared very unequally amongst the various countries.

James Harris Jr. writes that he has been in contact with George Pitt, the new ambassador to Spain, Mr Munro, and Mme Very. He then discusses Voltaire’s Siècle de Louis XV and concludes by addressing court movements.

The letter begins by discussing Iriarte’s admiration for Voltaire’s recent publication of an annotated edition of the works of Corneille. Iriarte notes that he read the translation of la Comedia de Calderon with particular care, before turning to the inadequacies of Spanish theatre. He adds that the King’s senior librarian, Mr. Blas Antiono Nassarre, is printing a version of the comedies of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedera, and that he has enclosed an exemplar of the prologue for Voltaire so that he can understand the history and progress of Spanish theatre and form a fair idea of it. He later adds that he hopes reading this prologue will allow Voltaire to reform the conclusions he made about Spanish theatre in his prologue to his translation of la Comedia de Calderon, which Iriarte suggests has offended the Spanish. Iriarte then defends Spanish theatre at length, in particular the works of Lope de Vega.