Beman thanks Caldwell for going to the trouble of sourcing books from him. He discusses various editions that he has printed, including:

• A volume of Voltaire’s works
• Morany’s Dictionary
• Boyle’s Dictionary
• Works by Vallance
• Buffon’s Historia Naturello das Orseaux
• Works by Abbe Winckelman

Beman opens with a list of twenty books that he sent via Captain John Haslope of the ‘Charming Sally’ to Mr Dally at the Customs House in Dublin. He adds that the total value of the books was £509 5s. Featured amongst these books is a volume of Voltaire’s works for Lord Charlemont.

Beman opens by saying that he is enclosing a bill for £50 16s for books that he has already sent to Caldwell. He adds that he has recently published two new editions ‘under his own Eye’. The first if an edition of Voltaire’s complete works. the second is the Dictionnaire Encyclopédique

Authors featured in the collection include Voltaire, S.H. Vernede, d’Alibrac, J. Cats, Rhijnvis Feith, P. Boddaert, and H. Poot.

One letter written from Rotterdam described Tudor’s difficult voyage at sea. Another, written from London, addresses John’s plans after college, in which William Tudor quotes Voltaire.

The ordering of the pages has become muddled, resulting in the pages being ordered as follows: 1-6, 12, 7-11, 13-14.

Voltaire begins by saying that he misses the court of Frederick II and adds that he is sending a copy of his tragedy Mahomet as Frederick had wanted to see the first sketches. Voltaire calls it a tribute to him, the lover of the arts, the enlightened judge, and the philosopher who is much more than just a sovereign. He goes on to say that Frederick knows what motivated him to write Mahomet: the love of the human race, and the horror of fanaticism. He claims that tragedy should touch the heart without correcting it and reveal hypocrisies. Voltaire then defends his tragedy, stating that our histories teach us of more atrocious actions than those he had invented for the play, citing various examples such as Alfonso Diaz, Antonio de Herrera, Baltasard Girard, and one James Shepherd, a sixteen-year-old boy who attempted to murder George I of England. Voltaire then discusses superstition in relation to various philosophers such as Socrates and Descartes, before exploring Muhammad in detail, discussing his history and various interpretations of him.