In D2113 Voltaire sends this text to Jean Le Rond d’Alembert.

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 opens with a 27-line poem composed in imitation of Virgil. The author reflects on the qualities of a successful poetic translation, considering the relationship between content and form, the function of rhyme, and the conventions of epic poetry, while also contrasting Latin originals with their French renditions.

ED1 dates the letter to October–November 1735. Theodore Besterman observes that ‘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.