The copy was produced by Blin de Sainmore. The letter consists of 16 lines of verse in four stanzas known as ‘Stances à Monsieur Blin de Sainmore’.

This MS was unknown at the time of the Besterman edition.

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.