Autograph copy of a letter from César de Missy to Voltaire, dating to c.20 September 1742 [D2659]
Identifiers
CMV:
CMV33821
Repository:
Shelfmark:
Français 12933 (fol.63-64)
Title:
Autograph copy of a letter from César de Missy to Voltaire, dating to c.20 September 1742 [D2659]
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Reproductions:
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MF 23567
Content
People:
Incipit Diplomatic:
Avec de la prose comme la vôtre, Monsieur, l’on peut fort bien se passer de vers, sur tout quand on n’a nul droit de s’y attendre, & que l’on est assez discret pour ne souhaiter d’autres vers dans une lettre que ceux qui s’y trouvent d’eux-mêmes au bout de la plume.
Incipit Modernised:
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In Own Hand:
Brief Summary:
Autograph copy of a letter from César de Missy to Voltaire, dating to c.20 September 1742.
Detailed Summary:
De Missy writes that he luckily received Voltaire’s last letter (D2648) whilst in the company of a bookseller who has agreed to carry out Voltaire’s commission for a universal history, and, provided he obtains the consent of his Father, will also undertake a new edition of Voltaire’s works. He adds that the bookseller does not believe they should wait until then to publish Mahomet, stating that the bookseller would have printed it on the spot if he had it. De Missy promises that it would be printed correctly as he himself would read the proofs. He asks Voltaire to send him a memorandum of what he must, and what he could, say to the bookseller. The letter then turns to Voltaire’s persecution in France, with de Missy noting that superstition makes the greatest souls very small and causes them to be petty.
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Physical Description
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Extent:
2 ff.
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Hands:
2
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Additional Comments:
The paper is folded to create a right-hand margin on the recto sides and a left-hand margin on the verso sides.
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Decorations:
Undecorated
Additions:
De Missy’s address, to which he asks Voltaire to write, is underlined on f.63v. There are minor corretions throughout in the form of crossings out and the addition of corrected text superscript. A pencil note at the top of f.63r has been added in a later hand which explains that this text is a copy of a letter written in response to a letter dated 1 September 1742 (D2648). F.63r is stamped with the library stamp of Louis-Nicolas-Jean-Joachim de Cayrol and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
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