Autograph letter from Voltaire to Frederick II, dated 29 August 1742 [D2647].

Identifiers

CMV:

CMV33970

Shelfmark:

5-240 (VII, f.1-2), ‘A Frédéric [V] ‘29 août’ (Moland 1526)’

Title:

Autograph letter from Voltaire to Frederick II, dated 29 August 1742 [D2647].

Related record(s):

No related manuscripts found.

Link to Digital Resource:

Link to Archive Catalogue:

OCLC Number:

Reproductions:

Content

People:

Incipit Diplomatic:

Après votre belle campagne,

Incipit Modernised:

Après votre belle campagne

Language(s):

In Voltaire’s Hand:

Yes

Brief Summary:

Autograph letter from Voltaire to Frederick II, dated 29 August 1742.

Detailed Summary:

The manuscript comprises a draft of a “lettre en vers,” adorned with two poems framing the main body of the letter. While the poetry, adhering to the customary style of the 18th century, extends compliments and praise to the recipient, the letter’s substance delves into Voltaire’s work Siècle de Louis XIV (1751) and the tumultuous events unfolding in Paris, spurred by Joseph Omer Joly de Fleury. It also references D2632, an autograph letter from Frederick II, king of Prussia (the Great), to Voltaire (François Marie Arouet), penned from Potsdam on Tuesday, 7 August 1742. Moreover, in MS1, Voltaire inadvertently omitted a verb in a sentence, which should have read ‘Je vais pendant les trois ou 4 jours que je.’

Genre(s):

Status:

Physical Description

Material(s):

Extent:

2 ff.

Format:

Dimensions:

Hands:

1

Watermark:

Countermark:

Binding:

The manuscript is bound with other documents in contemporary red morocco.

Additional Comments:

Materiality Keywords:

Decorations:

Additions:

Marginalia Keywords:

Inclusions:

History

Date:

29 August 1742

Ownership:

Origin (transcript):

Origin:

Provenance:

Bibliography

Bibliography:

Fernand Caussy, Inventaire des manuscrits de la bibliothèque de Voltaire conservée à la bibliothèque impériale publique de Saint-Pétersbourg (Geneva, Slatkine reprints, 1970)

OCV Reference:

OCV Manuscript Reference:

Record created by:

Aušra Bukniute

Record created on:

29 August 2024