Letter from Voltaire to Frederick II of Prussia, written from Ferney and dated 18 November 1772 [D18019]
Identifiers
CMV:
CMV36684
Repository:
Shelfmark:
5-240 (VII, f.34), ‘Au roi de Prusse, à Ferney, 18 novembre 1772 (M. 8682)’
Title:
Letter from Voltaire to Frederick II of Prussia, written from Ferney and dated 18 November 1772 [D18019]
Collection(s):
Related record(s):
No related manuscripts found.
Link to Archive Catalogue:
Link to Digital Resource:
OCLC Number:
Reproductions:
Content
People:
Incipit Diplomatic:
Sire vous convenez que la belle Italie
Incipit Modernised:
Seigneur vous convenez que la belle Italie
Language(s):
In Voltaire’s Hand:
No
Brief Summary:
Letter from Voltaire to Frederick II of Prussia, written from château de Ferney and dated 18 November 1772.
Detailed Summary:
The manuscript is a lettre en vers that opens with a thirteen-line poem celebrating the intellectual and cultural contributions of Italians, French, English, and Germans. Voltaire references Thorn and Dantzik, cities linked to the work of Copernicus and Hevelius, respectively. The letter then shifts to discuss Prussian political issues, including the Prussian partition, the Treaty of St Petersburg, and the romantic entanglements between Count Grigory Grigorievich Orlov and Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia.
Status:
Physical Description
Material(s):
Extent:
1 f.
Format:
Dimensions:
Hands:
2
Watermark:
Countermark:
Binding:
The manuscript is bound with other documents in contemporary red morocco.
Additional Comments:
Materiality Keywords:
Decorations:
Additions:
The MS is a copy of original document: transcription, with a few autograph additions.
Marginalia Keywords:
Inclusions:
History
Date:
18 November 1772
Ownership:
After Voltaire’s death, the MS passed into the ownership of Catherine II and remained in the imperial and then national collection thereafter.
Origin (transcript):
Origin:
Provenance:
This MS was probably taken to St Petersburg by Wagnière in the summer of 1779 along with the rest of Voltaire’s library.
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:
123, p. 153–154
OCV Manuscript Reference:
123, p. 154
Record created by:
Record created on: