With page numbers 25-48 written in ink in upper right hand corners; it appears there has been an attempt to obliterate them. The number 373 also appears on the upper left corner of the first page.
An accompanying note indicates that the poems are in the hand of Voltaire's secretary; however, there is no further evidence to support this claim.
Bound with a codicil to Voltaire's will (MA 634.1), which has been cataloged separately; see related record for more information.
A manuscript copy of several poems of Voltaire, some of which were originally included in letters to the dedicatees. The poems include: Epitre au Roy de Prusse (first line: Les fileuses des destinées; appears in a letter to Frederick the Great, 9 March 1747); A M. Algarottia (first line: Enfant du Pinde et de Citere; appears in a letter to Francesco Algarottia, 21 Feb. 1747); Epitre a Vranie (?) (First line: Tu veux donc charmante Vranie); [title and poem illegible]; Lettre a M. Pallu (the text of a letter [not a poem] to Bertrand René Pallu, 20 Feb. 1744) ; Sur M. de Lafaye (first line: II a réuni le mérite); A messieurs de Sade (first line: Trio charmante que je remarque, 1732); Sur le portrait des Mlle. la princesse Talmont (first line: Les dieux, en lui donnant naissance); La mule du Pape (first line: Frères très cheres, on lit dans St. Mathieu, 1733); Sur le portrait de M. de Maupertuis (first line: Ce monde mal connu qu'il a se mesurer, 1741); Madrigal [a Madame du Pompadour] (first line: Moins ambitieuse et plus belle); Autre [a Madame du Pompadour] (first line: En fin [i.e., Ainsi] donc vous réunissez); Sur le poète Roi (often titled Epigram, first line: Connaissez-vous certain rimeur obscur, ca. 1744); Roy le poete Calotiu (?); A Mlle. B.R. [the Marquis de Boufflers] (first and only line: Vos yeux sont beaux, mais votre ame est plus belle).