Incomplete copy of an article almost certainly written for the Encyclopédie, but which was never included in the published work.

The MS consists of five folios: the first four are in a secretarial hand (possibly that of Longchamp), and the final folio is in Voltaire’s hand. It is corrected throughout but does not correspond exactly with the printed edition of the work.

This is the first known draft of the majority of the first part of Doutes nouveaux. The present whereabouts of the MS is unknown, but Theodore Besterman owned a photocopy of it.

The text was published in the Gazette littéraire de l’Europe in January 1764. This MS features several variants compared to the text of the Gazette littéraire.

The text was published in the Gazette littéraire de l’Europe on 28 March 1764. This MS features several variants compared to the text of the Gazette littéraire.

The fragment is written on the back of the address of an autograph letter from Voltaire to Charles Augustin Feriol, comte d’ Argental, dating to c.5 March 1777 [D20594].

An accompanying note in an unidentified hand states that the MS was written for inclusion in the Dictionnaire Philosophique but was not included in the published work.