Letter signed from Voltaire to César Gabriel de Choiseul, duc de Praslin, written in the hand of Wagnière from Les Délices and dated 21 May 1763 [D11221]
C0710, vol.7, f.41, ‘John Hinsdale Scheide Collection of Three Centuries of French History, 1510-1816’
Title:
Letter signed from Voltaire to César Gabriel de Choiseul, duc de Praslin, written in the hand of Wagnière from Les Délices and dated 21 May 1763 [D11221]
Letter signed from Voltaire to César Gabriel de Choiseul, duc de Praslin, written in the hand of Wagnière from Les Délices and dated 21 May 1763.
Detailed Summary:
The MS forms part of a collection of letters and documents from royals, nobles, and celebrities in France from the reign of Louis XII to the start of the French Revolution. This collection consists of 386 letters and is comprised of examples of the most famous names of three centuries of French history, including Louis XII, Francis I, Henri II, Catherine de Medicis, Francis II, Charles IX, Henri III, Duc de Guise, Henri IV and his wives, Clement VIII, Louis XIII, Anne of Austria, Cardinal Richelieu, Louis XIV and his wife Marie Thérèse, Marquise de Maintenon, Jean Baptiste Rousseau, Marquise de Sévigné, Cardinal Mazarin, Duc d’Orleans, Louis XV, his wife and daughters, Marquise de Pompadour, Comtesse du Barry, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Cardinal Fleury, Chevalier D’Éon, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Princesse de Lamballe, Charles X, Louis XVI, Jacques Necker, Mirabeau, and Lafayette.
The MS appears to have been letterlocked using the ‘Tuck-and-Seal’ method. There is some discolouration to the left-hand side of f.1r, and a small tear to the bottom of the same. F.2v has been affixed to the volume and is therefore not accessible. Ink from the facing pages has transferred onto f.1v-2r. Several small holes along the central bifolium fold line suggest that the letter may once have been sewn into a bound volume.