The text was one of the works included in the 1764 edition of Contes de Guillaume Vadé.

This is possibly the MS copy of the work sent from Voltaire to Louise Honorine Crozat Du Châtel, duchesse de Choiseul on 2 February 1769 [D15457].

A collection of about 60 poems and essays, primarily elegies, occasional verses, and verse epitaphs on the subjects of solitude, death, and the nature of humanity. The volume contains poems by Joseph Butler, John Dyer, David Garrick, James Grainger, Thomas Gray, Richard Jago, Charlotte Lennox, James Marriott, Ambrose Philips, Petrarch, William Vernon, Thomas Wharton, Isaac Watts, William Whitehead, Anthony Whistler, and Mrs. Barber. Other poem titles include: Ode to death, possibly by Abraham Richard Hawksworth; Virgil’s tomb; Ode to solitude and one in French, Epistle de Mr. Voltaire.

Circa 500 letters written by and to Madame du Deffand, arranged in chronological order. The main correspondents are the Duc and Duchesse de Choiseul; the Abbe Barthelemy; and and with three to Horace Walpole. The letters primarily discuss social events and activities such as dinners, news about friends, quotations from acquaintances’ letters, popular songs, current reading, and routine expressions of friendship. Du Deffand frequently mentions Walpole and Voltaire in her letters to others; other topics include Barthelemy’s desire for a harpsichord; gossip about the comte de Guerchy, ambassador to London; a description of a gift of a chamber pot; her irritation with the incessant talk of the mathematician Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise Du Châtelet; and her opinions on the works Memoire de la Chalottais and La rivalte de l’Angleterre et de la France.

He begins with information about his childhood, including his godparents, the date of his innoculation against smallpox, and his education; and continues with biographical information about his college years; his first employment; his travels with Thomas Gray; and his Parliamentary activities. Much of the manuscript concerns the pieces he wrote, both published and unpublished, and those he published with the Strawberry Hill Press, as well as his reactions to the reviews he received. He also includes anecdotes concerning his attack by highwaymen in 1749; the family quarrel with his uncle Horace Walpole; and his disagreements with David Hume and Voltaire.

The collection consists of c.150 separate pieces in English and French, in a variety of different hands, dating mainly from ca. 1780 to 1824. There are also some printed items such as lottery tickets and pages from books. The manuscripts appear in most cases to have been given to Anne Rushout by acquaintances in her circle, which included Fanny Burney, Mrs. Walsingham, Lady Hardwick, Mrs. Hastings, Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire, Miss Lyttelton, Miss Catherine Fanshawe, Princess Augusta Sophia. Almost all are poetry and include charades, acrostics, riddles, engimas, anecdotes, and elegies culled from various sources including: the Thesaurus Aenigmaticus, The Satirist, General Evening Post, Gentleman’s Magazine, and The Universal Magazine. The topics featured range from friendship and love, through virtue and death. Names mentioned as writers or subjects, giving an insight into the circle in which Anne moved and their interests, include: Voltaire, Mr. Selwyn, the Countess Bouchon, Sir William Jones, Lord Lyttelton, Lord Coventry, Lord Palmerston, Lord Strangford, Warren Hastings, William Hayley, Norhtwick, William Shenstone, Colley Cibber, David Garrick, Bishop Richard Heber, Horace Walpole, Walter Scott, John Dryden, the Sheridans and Sarah Siddons. In addition to the poetical contents there are few printed pieces and two accomplished mathematical conundrums. The principal places mentioned are Northwick Park, Worcestershire (now Gloucestershire), Wanstead Grove, and Daylesford Grove.

In the second letter dated 23 June 1771 to John Fitzpatrick, Lord of Ossory, Walpole discusses printing and antiquarian matters as well as gossip among their acquaintances. Walpole offers to print a pamphlet for Ossory at Strawberry Hill; shares his findings about the foundation and devices of Stoughton; and mentions various romantic attachments and pursuits of the British nobility, as well as gossips about Voltaire and the Duchess de Choiseul.

Voltaire compliments Walpole on his recent work, Historic Doubts; introduces himself as perhaps unknown to Walpole; begs him to send him a copy of Historic Doubts for use in his own ongoing work on history and asks specifically about the involvement of British soldiers in the assassination of M. de Jumonville; and apologizes for his boldness and ignorance. The date, closing, and signature are in Voltaire’s hand, and the manuscript also includes an annotation in the hand of Mary Berry. The letter is followed by a philosophical poem, in Voltaire’s hand, titled Epitre de Voltaire a un homme.