Autograph letter from Voltaire to Frederick II, dated 2 May [1759] [D8283]
Identifiers
CMV:
CMV33979
Repository:
Shelfmark:
5-240 (VII, f.18-19), ‘[V] ‘Au roi de Prusse, 2 mai 1758’ (M. 3838)’
Title:
Autograph letter from Voltaire to Frederick II, dated 2 May [1759] [D8283]
Collection(s):
Related record(s):
No related manuscripts found.
Link to Digital Resource:
Link to Archive Catalogue:
OCLC Number:
Reproductions:
Content
People:
Incipit Diplomatic:
Héros du nord, je savais bien
Incipit Modernised:
Héros du nord, je savais bien
Language(s):
In Voltaire’s Hand:
Yes
Brief Summary:
Autograph letter from Voltaire to Frederick II, dated 2 May [1759].
Detailed Summary:
The manuscript is a draft of a lettre en vers, written chiefly in the hand of Voltaire. It opens with an original 18-line poem by the author and concludes with two lines from Épîtres (I, 83–84) by Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux. The text also alludes to “Congé” by Frederick II of Prussia, Gargantua by François Rabelais, the Gospel of Matthew, and further passages from Boileau’s Épîtres.
Furthermore, as noted by T. D. N. Besterman, Caussy claims that the same volume (f. 26) contains another holograph draft of this letter; however, this assertion is unfounded.
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Physical Description
Material(s):
Extent:
2 ff.
Format:
Dimensions:
Hands:
2
Watermark:
Countermark:
Binding:
The manuscript is bound with other documents in contemporary red morocco.
Additional Comments:
Materiality Keywords:
Decorations:
Additions:
Voltaire headed MS1 ‘au Roy de Prusse 2 may’, to which another hand added the year 1758, which was followed by ED1.
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History
Date:
[2 May 1759]
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:
vol.104, p.148–149
OCV Manuscript Reference:
vol.104, ‘MS1’, p.149
Record created by:
Record created on: