BIB_ID
308755
Accession number
MA 986.20
Creator
Voltaire, 1694-1778.
Display Date
1739 Sept. [20].
Credit line
Purchased by J.P. Morgan Jr., 1923.
Description
1 item (4 p.) ; 22.4 cm
Notes
A retained draft, headed "Au [prince] royal de Prusse."
Part of a large collection of letters from Voltaire to Frederick the Great. Letters have been cataloged individually; see collection-level record for more information.
Probable day of writing from Besterman.
Part of a large collection of letters from Voltaire to Frederick the Great. Letters have been cataloged individually; see collection-level record for more information.
Probable day of writing from Besterman.
Provenance
Charavay sale (Paris, 17 April 1880), p.11, in no.28; Morrison collection; Sotheby's (London, 19 April 1918), p.289, in no.1768; purchased by J.P. Morgan Jr. from the London dealer J. Pearson & Co. in 1923.
Summary
Telling him about his dislike of Paris; discussing Mahomet and sending him two of its acts; discussing Voltaire's persecution in France; sending him some verses on the subject; mentioning reading Machiavelli [Opere di Nic. Machiavelli] in reference to Frederick's refutation of the latter; saying that he saw fireworks in Paris; praising the works of Bouchardon, Vaucanson and Rameau.
Catalog link
Department