There exist two vastly different copies of this poem, perhaps suggesting that one was authored by Voltaire, and the other by Saurin.

The MS is almost identical to a second copy of the work found in the same volume (CMV36658). The text has been crossed through, and the margins on all pages except the first have been populated with another unrelated text.

This MS is a prompt-copy of the play, likely written in the hand of Jean Baptiste Minet, the escrivain of the company. It is likely that Minet made his copy from one produced by Voltaire. It is arranged as follows:

• p.1: Acteurs
• p.2: Title
• p.3-18: Act One (p.13 blank)
• p.19-36: Act Two
• p.37-52: Act Three
• p.53-70: Act Four
• p.71-83: Act Five
• p.84: Blank
• p.85: List of Actors
• p.86-87: Pencilled list of some of the actors appearing in some of the scenes of the play
• [p.88]: Blank

The copy is found in a recueil of diverse theatre parts taken from a number of plays. The plays all seem to have been performed at the Château de Berny, home of the comte de Clermont.

The copy features in a volume of copies of roles played by Lekain between 1754 and 1759. Lekain copied out the part of Hérode and left a large left-hand margin in which he wrote notes. These notes were his personal guidance on questions of diction and interpretation.

Likely in preparation for the 1763 performances, another, later hand introduced the changes made to the role of Hérode to reflect the Sohème version of the play in darker ink. These changes saw rejected lines crossed out and the new versions written in above or below the line. Larger corrections were written on slips of paper pasted over the original text.

This draft copy contains 28 chapters, the last of which concerns the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. There are corrections and additions in Voltaire’s hand throughout, and other additions (including some preceded by an asterisk) in different hands. Most of the chapters contain significant deletions and additions. The pages of this copy are, as is typical of Voltaire’s working manuscripts, divided into two columns. The right-hand column contains the text, whilst the left-hand column contains corrections, insertions, titles, and dates.

Eight smaller leaves are bound in before the text and are paginated on the odd pages. A note on p.ii states that: ‘Ces Remarques sont de m. le mis de Paulmy’. A note on p.iii states that the text is: ‘Extrait et remarques sur l’histoire de la guerre dernière par Voltaire 1752’.

This manuscript draft was sent from Postdam to the comte d’Argenson in Paris, as evidenced in a letter dated 3 October 1752 [D5028].