Autograph letter signed from Voltaire to Jean Le Rond D’ Alembert, written from Potsdam and dated 5 September 1752 [D5005]
Identifiers
CMV:
CMV36643
Repository:
Shelfmark:
MS 121.16
Title:
Autograph letter signed from Voltaire to Jean Le Rond D’ Alembert, written from Potsdam and dated 5 September 1752 [D5005]
Collection(s):
Link to Archive Catalogue:
Link to Digital Resource:
OCLC Number:
Reproductions:
Content
People:
Incipit Diplomatic:
vraiment monsieur c’est a vous a dire je rendray grace au ciel et resterai dans rome.
Incipit Modernised:
Vraiment monsieur c’est à vous à dire, je rendray grâce au ciel et resterai dans Rome.
Language(s):
In Own Hand:
Yes
Brief Summary:
Autograph letter signed from Voltaire to Jean Le Rond D’ Alembert, written from Potsdam and dated 5 September 1752.
Detailed Summary:
Besterman read the date as ‘9’ September, but the number looks very like the ‘5’ of ‘1752’. The letter was sealed using a blue sealing wafer, alternatively known as ‘pains à cacheter’. Voltaire sometimes referred to them as ‘petits pains’ [see, for instance, D8717 or D8927]. Wafer seals were used for social equals or inferiors only, reflecting the friendship between Voltaire and D’Alembert.
Keyword(s):
Genre(s):
Status:
Physical Description
Material(s):
Extent:
2 ff.
Format:
Dimensions:
230 x 188 mm
Hands:
1
Watermark:
Countermark:
The paper is countermarked with the initials ‘HR’.
Binding:
Unbound
Additional Comments:
The letter was sealed using a blue wafer seal, alternatively known as ‘pains à cacheter’. The wafer is extant on f.2r, and has caused some damage to the same folio. The MS features three vertical and two horizontal fold lines, and there are several tears and small holes along these, some of which have been repaired with tape. There are several small blobs of wax on f.2v, and an ink stain on the same.
Materiality Keywords:
Decorations:
Undecorated
Additions:
The first five words of l.2 on f.1r have been underlined.
Marginalia Keywords:
Inclusions:
History
Date:
Ownership:
Owned by Theodore Besterman (1904-1976).
Origin (transcript):
Potsdam
Origin:
Provenance:
Passed at the Castaing sale in Paris on 28 June 1973 (Lot. 164).
Bibliography
Bibliography:
This letter has been edited in D’Alembert’s correspondence online: http://dalembert.academie-sciences.fr/Correspondance/navgenerale.php?book=5210&version=manuscrit1.
OCV Reference:
OCV Manuscript Reference: