The manuscript appears to be a historical portrait of the Court of Louis XIII. Phrases ‘Très mauvais’ and ‘Louis XIII’, featured in the title, are written in Voltaire’s hand.
The manuscript is bound with other documents in contemporary red morocco.
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History
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Ownership:
After Voltaire’s death, the MS passed into the ownership of Catherine II and remained in the imperial and then national collection thereafter.
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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), p.9.