Autograph draft of a letter : place not specified, to Frederick the Great, 1739 Feb. 28.

Record ID: 
308753
Accession number: 
MA 986.18
Author: 
Voltaire, 1694-1778.
Credit: 
Purchased by J.P. Morgan Jr., 1923.
Description: 
1 item (3 p.) ; 20.1 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.

Summary: 

Discussing, at length, a scientific experiment consisting of depriving a watch of air to see if its mechanism still works; telling him about the relationship between the earth and the sun, the moon and air; sending him a revised version of La Henriade.

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.