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https://www.paris.fr/equipements/bibliotheque-historique-de-la-ville-de-paris-bhvp-16
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ISO 3166-2:FR
MARC:
The letter contains a copy of a short verse titled ‘À Mme la Duchesse de ***’. The lines of the poem have been added to the bottom of f.97v in two columns of four lines each.
The MS includes a number of pre-1739 variants, along with a new reading of l.82 as ‘artistement orné’.
There exist two vastly different copies of this poem, perhaps suggesting that one was authored by Voltaire, and the other by Saurin.
The verse seems to have been composed during Voltaire’s stay at Cirey, likely in September/October 1734.
The poem was written to celebrate the marriage of Élisabeth Sophie de Lorraine to Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, 3rd Duc de Richelieu.
The poem was written to celebrate the marriage of Élisabeth Sophie de Lorraine to Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, 3rd Duc de Richelieu.
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.