In the codicil, Voltaire leaves instructions to Bernard-Joseph Saurin, a lawyer and friend of Voltaire’s, for his funeral. He goes on to make reference to d’Alembert and l’Abbé Jean Antoine Nollet. A provenance note on f.1v suggests that the MS was found amongst Voltaire’s papers after his death.

Klüter was being prosecuted for selling, amongst other works, Lettre de Voltaire au Roi de Prusse, Lettre sur le mémoire raisonné, La verité des faits lettres de M. a M., and Lettres d’un particulier à un des ses amis sur l’invasion de la Saxe. The MS comprises of a list of the writings confiscated from Klüter and printed copies of the following:

• Le peuple instruit (1757)
• Antwort des Freundes in R. auf das Schreiben seines Bekannten in W. über die Begebenheiten des jetzigen Krieges, Ranstät und Wunstorff (1757)
• Lettre de Voltaire au Roi de Prusse (undated)
• John du Pont, L’Historian subalterne. Relation sans Gasconade de notre Campagne de 1756 tant au Silesie… (1757)
• La verité des faits de Mr à Mr (1757)
• Lettres d’un particulier à un des ses amis sur l’invasion de la Saxe, faite par le Roi de Prusse (1756)

Documents include many on the administration of the Département du Nord and the departments of the Gironde and Isère in the 1790’s, including certificates of baptism and other documents on questions of residence, and documents on the identification and arrest of emigrés from France. Also included are many legal documents ranging from 1629-1810, including opinions and verdicts in civil lawsuits; documents on issues of inheritance and succession; 18th-century marriage contracts and divorce papers; deeds to houses and land titles; and powers of attorney. Other documents include a military discharge dated 1582, military service and pension records, and other documents concerning the French army from 1710-1815.

Also included are census data for Albania and Dalmatia for 1781; correspondence of various French government officials, from the 1870’s and early 20th century; detailed work contracts for repairs and rebuilding of a chateau in 1803, signed by carpenter Jean Baptiste Echeuvin and by Jean Pierre Fluchaire; the autograph text of an address to the king by Monseigneur Leveque on behalf of France’s bishops in 1735; a chapbook quoting extensively from Voltaire, especially on the subject of women and on Christianity; a book-length manuscript on the Jesuits, written after 1810; manuscript essays on the relationship of church and state, apparently dating from the 18th century; a genealogy of the family Le Brun de Rabot, dated 1826; letters of recommendation for students seeking admission to a school, by Marc-Antoine Jullien; an essay criticizing the Gazette de France and the French government for not upholding freedom of the press, apparently 18th century; and correspondence by various 19th-century journalists on editing, publishing and social matters.

Photographs, apparently of the 19th century, show views of Venice and Avignon. Engravings include views of Amiens in the early 19th century and portraits of French authors René Charles de Maupeou, Paul Deroulède, Victorien Sardou, Ludovic Halévy, Mme. Eugènie Foa, and Othenin, comte d’Haussonville.

Correspondents include Louis Barthou; Henri Rochefort; René-Richard Castel; Barthelemy St. Hilaire; Augustin Louis, marquis de Ximenès; Louis-Joseph de Bourbon, prince of Conti; comte Arthur O’Mahony; Artaud de Montor; Alexis Nicolas Pérignon; Auguste Maguet; Jules Ferry; Miguet, secretary of the Institut impérial de France, later the Institut de France; Jules Michelet; A. Augustin-Louis Laya; Jules Lecomte; Othenin, comte d’Haussonville; Calmann Lévy; Adèle Esquiros; Gabriel, comte d’Haussonville; Etienne Vigée; and Auguste Guinard.

A document concerning the case of François-Jean de la Barre, and Mr Belleval prepared by or for Voltaire’s great nephew, Alexandre Marie François de Paule de Dompierre d’Hornoy. The document contains abstracts from 50 documents relating to the order of procedure in the trial of de la Barre between 1765 and 1766.