LS in French, signed “Voltaire,” one page, 7.25 x 9, February 2, 1764. Letter written from his home at Ferney, sent to bookseller and magistrate Paul Vaillant, sheriff of London. In full (translated): "I have waited in vain, Monsieur, for the packet you announce to arrive in order to reply to your letter of the 16th of November. I have no news of it. Something must have gone wrong; I am finally going to write to Versailles for information, even though I have renounced all the world’s courts. I thank you for your report that was in your letter. It is rather comical that Lord Ferrers said his Pater on the gallows and that a man who is going to be hanged asks for his daily bread. For my part, being quite old, quite infirm, and nearly blind, I am content with saying, 'Thy will be done.'" In very good condition, with creasing, edge tears, and seal-related paper loss to the integral address leaf. As sheriff in 1760, Valliant oversaw the execution of Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers—the last peer to be hanged—following his conviction for murdering his steward.
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