This translation differs from another made by José Anastácio da Cunha around the same time, suggesting that Oliveira translated the text himself for this MS copy. This MS forms the 18th of a 34 volume set of copies of plays produced by Oliveira.

Both Voltaire and Frederick II were unhappy with this manuscript copy. In a letter to Frederick II of Prussia dated 15 October 1737, Voltaire described it as ‘le misérable manuscrit de l’Enfant prodigue qui est entre vos mains’ (D1376). Meanwhile, in a letter to Thiriot dated 6 December 1737, he described the same as ‘la détestable copie[…] que vous avez anvoyée (dont j’enrage) au prince royal’ (D1396).

L’enfant prodigue opened at the Comédie française on 10 October 1736. Lekain took on the role of Euphémon on 24 September 1750 and performed it three times between 1752 and 1756.

This copy is the only version to include an accent on Boursouflé. It is accompanied by a copy of Les Originaux, under the title of ‘Monsieur du cap vert’.

The current location of this manuscript is unknown. It was first published by Gaston de Villeneuve-Guibert in Le Portefeuille de madame Dupin (Paris, 1884), p.309-314. Villeneuve-Guibert claimed that the text he published was based on an eight-page autograph manuscript that he had in his possession. The manuscript passed at auction in 1951 and has not re-emerged.

Lekain produced his copy of the role of Zamore when the play began at the Comédie-Française in 1750. Lekain performed the role 51 times between 1751 and 1775. The manuscript offers variants for Act II, l.3, 12, 17, 30, 66, 97, 111, 154, 168, 176, 194, 206, 226, 266, 274, 287, 288; Act III, l.84-85, 114, 247-250; Act IV, l.168-169; Act V, l.75, 162, 171, 202-204, and 256.

The manuscript offers variants of Act IV, l.166a-182 and Act V, l.53-68. It is the only known original manuscript of Alzire to have survived. The variant for Act V is written in the left-hand margin of f.1r in Voltaire’s hand.

The fragment is inscribed ‘Au Roi de Prusse… 174…’ and is numbered ’13’. It represents a truncated version of the text, with the fragment beginning at l.243 of Act IV. This copy also contains several variants:

• Séide’s discovery that he is Zopire’s son at ll.229-231 is phrased differently
• ‘les mortels’ is used instead of ‘les humains’ at l.245
• The end of Scene V is missing
• Phanor makes his entrance immediately after Séide’s attempt to kill himself (ll.247-249), meaning that he appears after Séide discovers his identity. This suggests that another character reveals this information in this version of the play

On the verso side of the fragment, Voltaire has drafted a letter to Frederick II of Prussia dating to 10 July 1740 [D2265 / CMV35110].