An appeal for donations has been launched to help the French State acquire the manuscripts of Émilie Du Châtelet and Voltaire that will be sold at auction in Paris by Christie’s on 29 October.
The appeal, undertaken with the approval of the Archives de France and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, aims to assist public libraries and archives in France to preempt at the sale. All contributions received will be made over to the public bodies able to make purchases on 29 October. Payments made will not be banked until after the sale.
Substantial tax credits are available to those paying tax in France and all donors may appear, if they wish, on the published list of donors.
Donations play a double role, financial and moral. All contributions, at whatever level, support the decisions that must soon be taken by those who will determine the public funding available.
Donations can be made by French cheque, Visa or Mastercard, bank transfer (all charges at the expense of the donor, please) and by Pay Pal.
You may find the following links useful:
- Presentation of the appeal and of the discovery of the manuscripts
- An article on the history of the manuscripts, due to appear on 12 October in the “Cahiers Voltaire” 11 (PDF opens new window)
- Get PDFs of the appeal (colour or mono) to be distributed or printed
- Get banners for your web site linking to the appeal
- The sale catalogue should soon be available at Christie’s website
- Make a donation
On behalf of
Andrew Brown
Président
Fonds de dotation Voltaire
26 Grand’rue, F-01210 Ferney-Voltaire
Téléphone: 04 50 28 06 08
Fax: 09 59 34 42 11
Courriel: contact@fonds-voltaire.org
Site web: fonds-voltaire.org