Letter from Voltaire to chevalier de Montfort, dated 21 February 1770 [D16172]
Identifiers
CMV:
CMV36753
Repository:
Shelfmark:
5-240 (VII, f.151), ‘A M. le chevalier de Montfort, officier d’artillerie à Florac, en Gévaudan, 21 février 1770 (M. 7793)’
Title:
Letter from Voltaire to chevalier de Montfort, dated 21 February 1770 [D16172]
Collection(s):
Related record(s):
No related manuscripts found.
Link to Digital Resource:
Link to Archive Catalogue:
OCLC Number:
Reproductions:
The Besterman Collection, Geneva, photocopy
Content
People:
Incipit Diplomatic:
Monsieur, Celui à qui vous avez écrit se sent très indigne des éloges que vous voulez bien lui donner; mais il est touché de vôtre mérite et du soin que vous avez pris de vous instruire.
Incipit Modernised:
Monsieur, Celui à qui vous avez écrit se sent très indigne des éloges que vous voulez bien lui donner; mais il est touché de votre mérite et du soin que vous avez pris de vous instruire.
Language(s):
In Voltaire’s Hand:
No
Brief Summary:
Letter from Voltaire to chevalier de Montfort, dated 21 February 1770.
Detailed Summary:
The recipient of the letter is humbled by the praise given to them and is touched by the recognition of their efforts. They find Calmet’s work to be weak and inadequate, particularly criticising its argument regarding Saint Peter’s journey to Rome, which they find poorly substantiated. The letter also dismisses various historical claims about early Christian figures as dubious, suggesting that ecclesiastical history has been misrepresented for financial and political gain. The writer concludes by advising that while such errors are entrenched, a discerning mind can remain unaffected by them.
Keyword(s):
Genre(s):
Status:
Physical Description
Material(s):
Extent:
1 f.
Format:
Dimensions:
Hands:
1
Watermark:
Countermark:
Binding:
The manuscript is bound with other documents in contemporary red morocco.
Additional Comments:
Materiality Keywords:
Decorations:
Additions:
Wagnière headed MS1 ‘à Mr le cher de Montfort, officier d’artillerie, à Florac en Gevaudan’.
Marginalia Keywords:
Inclusions:
History
Date:
21 February 1770
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:
120, p. 47–48
OCV Manuscript Reference:
120, ‘MS1’, p. 48
Record created by:
Record created on: