The MS is a composite manuscript, with numerous hands contributing to its construction. It is part of a broader collection of MSS relating to the theatre that was bound in 1871. This copy appears to have been revised after a reading of BNF, Français 24347, f.1-38, another contemporary copy of this play that was owned by La Vallière.

The MS was originally catalogued with the shelfmark: Supplément français 5246.

Claude Henri de Fusée de Voisenon praises Voltaire’s tragedy titled Les Guêbres, and includes some verse of his own.

Voltaire acknowledged the receipt of a manuscript from Lacombe on 29 May 1775. The similarity with MS1 might also suggest a connection with the Marquis d’Argenson’s copy.

Le Duc d’Alençon ou les Frères ennemis is a tragedy in three acts by Voltaire. The text is a new version of Voltaire’s tragedy Adélaïde du Guèsclin (1734), written in Berlin, and premiered in 1751 for Frederick II. According to T. D. N. Besterman, the folios are numbered 312-331.