In this reworked letter, Voltaire recounts to his niece an amusing anecdote in which the marquis de Montperny, chambellan of the margravine of Bareith, mistakes a priest for an apothecary. Voltaire’s secretary of the time, Ponce-Simon Tinois, wrote verses about the episode, which circulated in September 1750 and were attributed to Voltaire (Vers de l’illustre Voltaire sur le cul d’un chambellan de Bayreuth).

The title is written in Voltaire’s hand.

The title is written in Voltaire’s hand.

(cf. t. IV, fol. 14)

The phrase ‘concernant le XVIe siècle en France’ is written in Voltaire’s hand.

The letter conveys heartfelt gratitude for a gift of nine volumes of fine literature, sent from Amsterdam by an unknown benefactor, and appeals to Voltaire to help identify this esteemed anonymous donor.

Additionally, T. D. N. Besterman notes that Caussy misidentified the sender, mistakenly referring to him as ‘Moisnel’.

There are two items in this assemble that are copied in an unknown hand. The first is vers libertine (44r-44v), and the second is an extract from a Manuscrit Philosophique Clandestin (97r-102r), which Voltaire has titled Extraits de Maillet. T.D. Betserman indicates that this is in the hand of Colligny (p.420), but this is mistaken. Below is the beginning of this text:

Si on prouve par des anachronismes des plus marqués que Moïse n’a point écrit la Genèse, si l’on démontre qu’il n’est point non plus l’auteur de l’Exode, du Lévitique, des Nombres, du Deutéronome, il est sûr qu’on doit moins de foi à des histoires dont on n’a pas d’auteur contemporain. Voilà l’objet et l’idée de la critique de Spinosa, etc.

The manuscript title is written in Voltaire’s hand, the verso features the lines ‘Trop de vers || de Rillet || sur le suicide,’ also penned by Voltaire.

The titular phrase ‘Proscription du comte d’Orange’ is written in Voltaire’s hand.