The poem is introduced with a note reading: ‘M. de Voltaire, malade en 1760 à Charlottenburg envoya ces vers par un page que la reine mère lui avait envoyé pour savoir de ses nouvelles’. This is false as Voltaire was not at Charlottenburg at that time.

The letter has been encoded, with the numerical code running beneath the text.

This MS consists of the first four pages only. The concluding pages were owned by Theodore Besterman.

Frederick writes that he envies Émilie Du Châtelet because she possesses something that he would prefer to many other things that he owns. This thing is Voltaire, whom he notes will always keep Du Châtelet in first place in his heart. He ends the letter by noting that no one can love or esteem Voltaire more than him.