Epître dédicatoire de la tragédie d’ORESTE à la duchesse du Maine
Identifiers
CMV:
CMV32966
Repository:
Shelfmark:
MS 1
Title:
Epître dédicatoire de la tragédie d’ORESTE à la duchesse du Maine
Collection(s):
Link to Archive Catalogue:
Link to Digital Resource:
OCLC Number:
Reproductions:
Content
People:
Incipit Diplomatic:
Madame Vous avez vû passer ce siecle admirable a La gloire du quel vous avez tant contribué par vôtre gout et par vos Exemples ce siecle qui sert de modelle au notre en tant de Choses et peut être de reproche, Comme il en servira a tous les ages.
Incipit Modernised:
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In Own Hand:
Brief Summary:
A presentation copy of the dedication of the tragedy d’Oreste to the duchesse du Maine, with corrections in the hand of Voltaire.
Detailed Summary:
The dedication of the tragedy d’Oreste to the duchesse du Maine, protector of Voltaire, which contains numerous corrections by Voltaire as well as passages that do not appear in the printed dedication. Voltaire recalls the splendour of Louis XIV, to which the duchesse du Maine contributed so much, particularly with regard to her taste for the interpretation of plays. Voltaire writes that he has not forgotten that the duchesse du Maine offered him a secret asylum in her Château de Sceaux four years earlier, where he wrote Zadig. In an appended note, Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon, duchesse du Maine writes that she does not deserve such praises but that she approves of the epistle.
Genre(s):
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Physical Description
Material(s):
Extent:
10 ff.
Format:
Dimensions:
170 x 128 mm
Hands:
3
Watermark:
P.1-2, 7-8, 11-14 and 17-20 both feature identical watermarks that read: ‘I[heart]BOVCHET FIN’. P.3-6, 9-10, and 15-16 meanwhile feature an alternate watermark, this time an angel holding a banner reading: ‘AL PONTE’.
Countermark:
Binding:
Additional Comments:
The pages feature an additional horizontal fold line suggesting that they were once folded in half.
Materiality Keywords:
Decorations:
Undecorated
Additions:
The text, in a secretarial hand, possibly that of Ponce Simon Tinois, has been revised by Voltaire and features many additional notes and crossings out in his hand. There is a marginal note on p.10 reading: ‘enquelque sorte’. There is another marginal note on p.13 reading: ‘vers’. Both notes are written in Voltaire’s hand. A comment on the dedication, in the hand of Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon, has been appended to the end of the text.
Marginalia Keywords:
Inclusions:
Two identical excerpts cut from the catalogue of the Vidal-Mégret auction held in Paris on 29-30 May 1968 are included, one of which is glued to a strip of pale orange cardboard and outlined in both green and blue felt tip pen, bearing a marginal note that reads: ‘fr[ancs].11,500 + tax’.
History
Date:
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Origin:
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Bibliography
Bibliography:
Theodore Besterman, ‘Miscellany/Mélange’, SVEC 79 (1971), p.7-19.
OCV Reference:
OCV Manuscript Reference: