The accompanying billet in Voltaire’s hand asks if the recipient will be happy with this edition of the poem. The edition of the poem, printed in Paris in 1745, features the poem itself, a plan of the battle, and épître dedicated to the King, and a preliminary discourse.

The poem has been heavily corrected by Voltaire. In his billet to Moncrif, Voltaire states that he will see why Voltaire did not send him the poem, adding that of the four published editions none satisfy him. He concludes by asking Moncrif to tell the queen that he is not easily satisfied when he works for her husband and son, and entreats Moncrif to love him.

The poem is taken from the 1745 Imprimerie Royale, Paris edition and is accompanied by one of five hundred printed billets published by Jacques Anisson-Duperron in 1745 as an accompaniment to the edition of the poem printed by the Imprimerie Royale, Louvre. The billet has been addressed to François-Augustin Paradis de Moncrif at ‘rue des Bons Enfans, chez monsieur d’Argenson’ in Voltaire’s hand.