The letter is not dated and contains no place of writing. Maupassant's name does not appear on it as the addressee. The likely date and place of writing were provided by Yvan Leclerc, director of the Centre Flaubert du laboratoire CÉRÉdI, Université de Rouen, in September 2019. Leclerc also confirmed that the addressee is Maupassant. Transcription and notes by Yvan Leclerc available in the Collection File.
The provenance of this item is unclear. It may have been acquired with the manuscripts of "Boule de Suif" (MA 6658) and "Une Répétition" (MA 6660), part of The Dannie and Hettie Heineman Collection, which was given to the Morgan by the Heineman Foundation in 1977.
Housed with a series of notes in Flaubert's hand (MA 23020) and four notebook pages on which appear the days of the week, small sketches in ink and colored pencil, and unidentified numbers (MA 23021). The artist has not been identified, but possible candidates include Maupassant and the illustrator Edouard Riou.
Saying that he has just written to Léon Hennique and recommending that Maupassant read the letter; referring to Naturalism; praising Maupassant's story "Boule de Suif" and comparing it favorably to Hennique's novel Les Hauts Fait de M. de Ponthau.