In this letter, Capponi writes that he is grateful to have received Voltaire’s letter and the accompanying copy of La Poeme de Fontenoy. He notes his own insufficient poetic talents before praising La Poeme. He adds that if the post were more secure, he would send Voltaire some of his antiquarian works but remarks that he believes a dissertation he wrote and sent to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in Paris in March 1745 was lost in the post as he has not received a reply.

A letter sent from Voltaire to Alessandro Gregorio Capponi (1683-1746), originally accompanied by a printed copy of La Poeme de Fontenoy [Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, R.G.Lett.Est.IV.71]. Voltaire writes that Capponi is prized by all the literati and that, because of his ‘courteous humanity’, he has no doubts about presenting to him the poem. He notes that the ‘most Christian King’ allowed the poem to be printed in his palace so that Voltaire might have the honour of offering it to Capponi. Voltaire writes that he has always admired Italian poetry and has aspired to have the honour of obtaining the protection of the nation which, he notes, was for many centuries the first and only cultivator of every virtue and science.