Letter from Voltaire to Denis Diderot, written from château de Ferney to Paris and dated 20 April 1773 [D18327]
Identifiers
CMV:
CMV36745
Repository:
Shelfmark:
5-240 (VII, f.140), ‘Diderot, 20 avril 1773 (M. 8818)’
Title:
Letter from Voltaire to Denis Diderot, written from château de Ferney to Paris and dated 20 April 1773 [D18327]
Collection(s):
Related record(s):
No related manuscripts found.
Link to Archive Catalogue:
Link to Digital Resource:
OCLC Number:
Reproductions:
The Besterman Collection, Geneva, photocopy
Content
People:
Incipit Diplomatic:
J’ai été bien agréablement surpris, Monsieur, en recevant une Lettre signée Diderot lorsque je revenais d’un bord du Styx à l’autre.
Incipit Modernised:
J’ai été bien agréablement surpris, Monsieur, en recevant une Lettre signée Diderot lorsque je revenais d’un bord du Styx à l’autre.
Language(s):
In Voltaire’s Hand:
Partly
Brief Summary:
Letter from Voltaire to Denis Diderot, written from château de Ferney to Paris and dated 20 April 1773.
Detailed Summary:
The writer expresses profound gratitude and delight upon receiving a letter from Diderot, likening it to the joy a wounded soldier would feel if a celebrated general had written to him. Despite their own declining health and the encroachment of death, they remain in high spirits and reflect on the transient nature of life. They praise the artistic talents of various figures, noting the unique genius of La Fontaine and others, and express deep respect and admiration for the recipient, acknowledging their own limited capacity to engage fully due to illness.
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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 manuscript carries a few autograph additions, while the letter’s envelope is endorsed with ‘à Monsieur Monsieur Diderot etca à Paris’.
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History
Date:
20 April 1773
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. 394–395
OCV Manuscript Reference:
123, ‘MS2’, p. 395
Record created by:
Record created on: