This translation differs from another made by José Anastácio da Cunha around the same time, suggesting that Oliveira translated the text himself for this MS copy. This MS forms the 18th of a 34 volume set of copies of plays produced by Oliveira.

The copy was made from the 1752 English edition of the work, published in London for J. Nourse under the title: An essay on universal history, the manners, and spirit of nations: From the reign of Charlemagne to the age of Louis XIV. The copy is undated.

The text is listed as ‘Apocrypha’ in Theodore Besterman, ‘Provisional bibliography of Portuguese editions of Voltaire’, SVEC 76 (1970), p.15-35.

According to an unknown editor, the foliation is 321-330.

The collection consists of seven letters. It has been endorsed as ‘Alcune composizioni di Mr de Voltaire sebben meschinamente volgarizzate, pure rese nel vero loro significato’.

Book IV, also known as Fate of Queen Dido, recounts the tragic love story between Aeneas and Dido, which is both aided and hindered by various intermediaries, including Juno, Iarbas, Jupiter and Mercury. The affair ultimately ends in heartbreak, with Dido’s suicide, as Aeneas, reminded of his duty, leaves to fulfil his destiny of founding a city in Italy.

The poem which originally featured at the start of the letter is missing from this copy.

Also known as Pharmaceutria, Virgil’s Eclogue VIII is one of his ten eclogues. The text opens with a 16-line introduction, followed by two love songs: Damon’ song and Alphesiboeus’s song. Additionally, Eclogue VIII is largely inspired by Theocritus’s Idyll 2.

Horace’s poems from Odes Book III: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, explore themes such as Virtue (Ode 2), Integrity and perseverance (Ode 3), Wise Counsel and Clemency (Ode 4), Virtue and Fortitude, dedicated to Augustus (Ode 5), and Constancy (Ode 7). The first six odes, written in the Alcaic metre, and are often considered an independent group within the larger collection and are commonly referred to as ‘The Roman Odes’.