Autograph draft of a passage of Siècle de Louis XIV concerning revolts and the manner in which the magistrates and statesmen attempted to observe propriety and enact their agendas
Identifiers
CMV:
CMV32897
Repository:
Shelfmark:
MS 4, ‘Siècle de Louis XIV’
Title:
Autograph draft of a passage of Siècle de Louis XIV concerning revolts and the manner in which the magistrates and statesmen attempted to observe propriety and enact their agendas
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Content
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Incipit Diplomatic:
on ne commença pas d’abord par la révolte. les esprits ne s’aigrirent et ne se enhardirent que par degrés.
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Brief Summary:
Autograph draft of the passage at OCV, vol.13A, ch.4, p.58, l.79-175
Detailed Summary:
This passage describes the revolts and the manner in which the magistrates and statesmen attempted to observe propriety and enact their agendas more subtly. Voltaire writes that Cardinal Mazarin sought to skilfully divide the judiciary by exempting the upper courts from the paulette (the tax invented by Paulet under Henry IV) however, the Cardinal spoke French poorly and his weak pronunciation made him subject to ridicule, rendering his efforts ineffective. On 20 August 1648, the Prince of Condé was victorious at Lens and the ten-year-old king pronounced that Parliament would be very angry. The parliamentarians complained about being called rebels. The Queen and Cardinal resolved to have three of the most stubborn magistrates kidnapped but the Cardinal decided to do this at noon rather than midnight which incited the public to riot. The Queen eventually agrees to return the prisoners. The passage ends with a line that features later in the text (OCV, vol.13A, p.62, l.175).
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Physical Description
Material(s):
Extent:
4 ff.
Format:
Dimensions:
200 x 150 mm
Hands:
1
Watermark:
F.1 and f.2 feature a watermark of a crown and a bell. F.3 and f.4 feature a watermark reading: ‘Montgolfier | A Annonay’. This suggests that the second sheet of paper was manufactured by the Montgolfier brothers at Annonay in Ardèche, France.
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Additional Comments:
This manuscript is written as if to be folded as a booklet. The pages feature fold lines that would enable this, but there are no suggestions that it was ever bound in this format. P.5 features two small holes on the right-hand side next to an area of discolouration which does suggest it was bound at some point, but the lack of corresponding holes or marks on the other pages indicates that this page may have been bound on its own.
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Decorations:
Undecorated
Additions:
Voltaire has made numerous revisions throughout the manuscript in the form of additional marginal notes and crossings out. Dates corresponding to the events described in the text are provided in the margins. The dates given are: ’14 Maij 1748′ (p.2), ‘1648 20 Aout’ (p.3), and ’26 aout 1648′ (p.6). The first of these three dates is an error made by Voltaire that was amended in the printed edition of the text. The correct date should by 14 May 1648.
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Bibliography
Bibliography:
J. Vidal-Mégret, Collection d’autographes littéraires, lettres et manuscrits des XVIIe, XVIIIe, XIXe et XXe siècles. 2ème partie. Catalogue de la vente aux enchères du 26 février 1969 à l’Hôtel Drouot (Paris, 1969), No.156 (2).
OCV Reference:
OCV Manuscript Reference: