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Premium Aurélien Lechertier MDV
31
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[VOLTAIRE – Autograph]
See original version (French)
31
-
[VOLTAIRE – Autograph]
See original version (French)
Estimate €800 - €1,200
Voluntary lot
Description
[VOLTAIRE – Autograph]
First draft, dated 10 September (1772), of the letter sent by Voltaire to Louis-François-Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (1693–1788), from Ferney, on 21 December 1792, the text of which first appeared in 1781 in the collection entitled “Curious and Interesting Letters from Monsieur de Voltaire, and from Several Other Persons Distinguished by Their Rank and Merit, with Reflections and Notes”, by Anthony Desca, published in Dublin by Hallhead.
Our letter can be regarded as the draft of the one dated 21 December and contains a few variations, such as: the first line, following the poem, which does not include “because he wishes to be educated” or the name “Mme de Ménage” in the second line of the second page; “un” cat for “le” cat in line 9; “tremble with all ‘my’ limbs” for “the” limbs in line 11; Silla for Sylla, “as I see” for “as I believe” in line 3 of the third page, as well as a few other differences, including the last one at the end of the letter, where Voltaire addresses Richelieu with his “greatest” respect, whereas in the December version it reads “most tender”.
All these differences show that our letter was indeed written a few months earlier, in September, certainly by Wagnière. He revised it in December, at Voltaire’s request, with the latter correcting it and altering the few passages cited above.
This famous letter, which Voltaire intended to send to Richelieu, was never sent; he kept it amongst his papers, as, it seems, did the copy we possess. It is now preserved in the 7th volume of Voltaire’s Manuscripts at the Saltykov-Scedrin State Public Library in Leningrad.
It is likely that our four-page quarto letter, signed
‘The Old Sick Man of Ferney
To whom too much honour is bestowed’
is the first version of the letter preserved in Leningrad.
Provenance: Héron de Villefosse Collection.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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