This copy of the letter is limited to the verse, known as ‘Vers sur Monsieur S[ilhouette], contrôleur général’ and a few words of the prose. It is dated 8 August 1759 and is said to have been written from Paris. Other copies of the text, however, give the date as 26 May 1759 and claim to have been written from Les Délices instead.

This copy is of the second dialogue only.

Lines 62-193 are absent from this copy due to missing pages. The poem has been signed ‘Fm’.

The poem commences on the front pastedown, continues on the verso of the title page, and concludes on the back pastedown. The copy is incomplete and features several variants. The lines are divided as follows:

• Front pastedown: l.1-12
• Verso of title page: l.38-58
• Back pastedown: l.115-132

This copy is limited to the verse only. The autograph copy is dated 2 November 1744, rather than 1 November as stated on this MS.

The text contains substantial variants, many of which do not appear in the print editions. A leaf between f.199 and f.200 appears to be missing.

The draft is incomplete and represents just one part of Rousseau’s much longer ‘Lettre sur la providence’. The symbol at the beginning of the draft suggests that this manuscript may have been an addendum that was to be inserted into the final draft of the letter.

This is a significantly flawed copy that features numerous errors and ends at III.247.