Voltaire begins by saying that he is sending Cramer a new Russian chapter. He adds that they should leave Andromeda and run quickly to the Tsar and the histoire genérale, noting that the advent of Catherine and the coming peace are pressing Cramer. Voltaire then notes that he asked Cramer for a copy of La Pucelle, questioning whether or not he has any relics. He adds that he likes to give out copies every now and again and currently has a desire to give out four or five.

Voltaire begins by saying that Keate’s friend is about to set out on his journey to England. He adds that he regrets the company of the friend, and that he will regret Keate all his life, before noting that they are in the middle of acting a tragedy [Sémiramis] in which he plays a ghost [Ninus]. Voltaire concludes by saying that he will act very well for he is but a shadow.

The letter is bound into a 1759 edition of Candide printed in England. In the letter, Voltaire writes that he, the ‘vieux malade’, has learned of all the good the recipient continues to do for his poor province. He both congratulates and thanks the recipient, adding that Wagnière will tell them how attached both he and Madame Denis are to them.

This poem would later feature in a letter from Voltaire to Cideville (D2512) and was published in the 1745 edition of his works (Tome VI, in Stances à madame du Châtelet) published in Amsterdam by Etienne Ledet. An expanded version was printed in Tome V of the 1746 London edition.

Voltaire thanks the Pope for his kindness in gifting him his portrait. He adds that he would like the Pope to know that he is entirely devoted to his service and that he admires all of his eminent qualities. In thanks for the gift, Voltaire includes two lines of Latin verse in praise of Pope Benedict XIV: Lambertinus hic est Romae decus, et pater orbis / qui mundum scriptus docuit, virtutibus ornat. These would be repeated, with minor variation, in D3193.

This MS is a copy of Acts One and Two only. It is probable that the princess drew parallels between Lusignan’s fate and her own captivity. After her liberation, engraved words etched into the wallpaper of her antechamber at the prison were found. These read: ‘je désire Zaïre, Alzire, Amenaïde’.

An account of the Princess writing this manuscript survives. Alcide de Beauchesne noted that the guardian of the Temple prison, Gomin, found the Pricess with a copy of Zaire the day after the death of the Dauphin. He writes: ‘elle écrivait, elle avait un livre ouvert sous les yeux ; ce livre c’était un volume du théâtre de Voltaire, et ce qu’elle copiait, c’était la tragédie de Zaïre. Je possède les deux premiers actes de cette tragédie écrits, sous les verrous du Temple, de la main de la jeune Marie-Thérèse’. A letter from Gomin’s widow, Jeanne Madeleine Antoinette Lafontaine, to Alcide de Beauchesne was sold alongside this MS copy of Zaïre in which she bequeaths him several manuscripts including this one.