Writing to his brother, Lamennais discusses the revue for which he wanted to write an article outlining his new theory of spiritual power, though he acknowledges that the said revue does not work. He goes on to discuss a contribution by Louis de Bonald and an article by Antoine Eugène Genoud concerning Voltaire, Helvétius, and Rousseau that could not be published and would therefore need to be replaced.

This MS was continually expanded by a family of merchants, farmers, and mariners over the course of a century. The first c.40 ff. of the MS relate to maxims, aphorisms, and anecdotes about he Vienna Court Theatre, about Garrick and Hogarth, King George III and Voltaire, amongst others, and was largely compiled in the eighteenth century. The second half of the MS related to historical and historical-cultural themes, including texts concerning sneezing, wigs, playing cards, and household expenses as well as remedies and agricultural advice.

The MS was copied out by multiple people (possibly a group of students) before being bound as a single volume. Included in the commonplace book are excerpts from:

• C.A. Demoustier’s Cours de Morale (1804)
• Esprit Fleicher’s Oraison funèbre de Monsieur de Turenne (1676)
• Chateaubriand’s Martyrs (1809)
• The Gazette de France (9 April 1808)
• Voltaire
• Jean-Baptiste Massillon
• Fréderic César de La Harpe
• Marie Jeanne Riccoboni
• Jacques Necker
• François de Neufchâteau
• Jean-François Marmontel
• Marquis de Bonnay
• The letters of Catherine the Great
• Hayley’s Recette de faire une Tragédie moderne (undated).

Voltaire encourages the recipient to read a letter from Turgot, Contrôleur général des Finances to Louis XVI concerning the 30,000 pounds that had been set as the price for the Pays de Gex’s future immunity from taxation. Voltaire notes that Turgot’s letter shows he fought bitterly for this figure to be reduced and expresses his annoyance that the recipient did not keep him informed of their own negotiations over this price, negotiations Voltaire felt had jeopardised his own attempts to reduce the sum. He then turns to salt, a commodity that had been proposed as an alternative to taxation, stating that this idea had never come to fruition.

The marbled decorative borders of this manuscript are unusual. The only other known manuscript to include similar borders is a translation of Tarikh’i Iskandar (The History of Alexander the Great) that was copied by Ibn Muhammad Khan Safdar ‘Ali in Kabul on Monday 8th Rabi’ II 1291 AH (25th May 1874 AD). A reference to the Voltaire translation is given in the preface to the Tarikh’i Iskandar: ‘Ibn Muhammad Khan Safdar ‘Ali is to produce this text as well as the History of Peter the Great’, confirming that the two volumes were made in this style at the bequest of the same patron. The Tarikh’i Iskandar was produced in Kabul, Afghanistan while this manuscript was produced in Iran, suggesting that their shared patron was a Qajar figure significant enough to travel with a large enough retinue to include a calligrapher.