Voltaire writes that he has always disapproved of Le Préservatif (1738), a pamphlet he had written in response to Desfontaine’s criticism of his Éléments de la philosophie de Newton, denying any part in the writing of the work and the little pieces contained within it, many of which, he claims, were never intended to be made public.

The note reads:

L’empereur 100
l’impératrice 100.
mr de caunits 6
mr de voronsof 10
mr de la balle 4

The text of this MS is close to the clandestine editions of the text produced in 1784. Marginal notes restore the text to the original version (CMV37555). The MS is part of a bound collection known to have been used by the Kehl editors.

Voltaire asks for the comte de Podewils’ pardon for sending him some “rags in sheets”, but notes that he has only just received the necessary boxes and does not have time to have them bound.

The letter features a poem on the death of Emanuel Falckner (1718-1739), the uncle of Bernoulli.

The draft is incomplete and represents just one part of Rousseau’s much longer ‘Lettre sur la providence’. The symbol at the beginning of the draft suggests that this manuscript may have been an addendum that was to be inserted into the final draft of the letter.