Book IV, also known as Fate of Queen Dido, recounts the tragic love story between Aeneas and Dido, which is both aided and hindered by various intermediaries, including Juno, Iarbas, Jupiter and Mercury. The affair ultimately ends in heartbreak, with Dido’s suicide, as Aeneas, reminded of his duty, leaves to fulfil his destiny of founding a city in Italy.

Also known as Pharmaceutria, Virgil’s Eclogue VIII is one of his ten eclogues. The text opens with a 16-line introduction, followed by two love songs: Damon’ song and Alphesiboeus’s song. Additionally, Eclogue VIII is largely inspired by Theocritus’s Idyll 2.

The manuscript, an autograph letter, is a panegyric about Voltaire written in verse and comprised of four stanzas. The poem equates Voltaire with Virgil, Torquato Tasso, and Homer, and deems Voltaire entitled to Corneille’s laurel crown.

The manuscript is a lettre en vers written in the hand of Jean Baptiste Nicolas Formont. It starts with a poem comprised of 27 lines, fashioned as an imitation of Virgil. The author discusses what makes a good translation of a poem, reflects upon the interplay between content and form, remarks upon the role of rhyme and epic poetry, and contrasts the poetic renditions in Latin with those in French. ED1 dates this letter October/November 1735. According to T. D. N. Besterman, D916 is almost certainly Voltaire’s reply, but the fact that Voltaire waited for Fromon’s translation for a month seems to imply that the present letter was sent separately and received earlier; hence the date proposed here.

Frederick remarks upon how busy he is, claiming that many matters require his attention at present. He goes on to note that he will no longer be shocked after what he has witnessed during this monstrous century, writing that his books from Berlin are his only consolation. Frederick then mentions the works he has been reading, notably Charles Batteux’s Les Beaux-arts réduites à un même principe (1746), before discussing a series of literary figures including Nicolas Boileau, Virgil, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean Racine, Homer, Pierre Corneille, Joseph de La Grange Chancel, Claude-Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, and Voltaire.

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.