The letter is accompanied by a quarto autograph address sheet addressed to one of Voltaire’s other correspondents, Jacques Abraham Clavel de Brenles. The sheet features three lines in Voltaire’s hand and a red wax seal.

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.

Voltaire writes that it is forbidden to pass in front of the house of Mr and Me Galatin along the small path leading to Geneva with either stone or wooden carts. He adds that the first time that this prohibition is contravened, the carts will be seized, and the offenders will be fined at the Château de Ferney.