L'envoi des livres et des manuscrits de Diderot en Russie : quelques documents

Georges Dulac : Diderot's books and manuscripts sent to Russia : some unpublished documents. Two letters from Mme de Vandeul and several reports by Grimm (and annexed documents) throw light on the relations between the Diderot-Vandeul family, and the Empress and her Parisian «factotum » in 1784-5. We see in particular that the Vandeuls gave up D's manuscripts, after completing the collection, without any immediate profit. But, like D himself, they hoped to continue to enjoy the Empress's protection, via Grimm, to whom he had «bequeathed » his daughter. As for the manuscript collection, Grimm seems to have been worried by what Catherine II might find there ; he sent the piece on Princess Daschkoff directly to the Empress, accompanied by a commentary which shows his ambiguous attitude towards D. Finally, it is established that two catalogues were sent to Russia : one of the manuscript collection and the other of the books, drawn up in 1785 by a certain De Villière.Dulac Georges. L'envoi des livres et des manuscrits de Diderot en Russie : quelques documents. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°12, 1980. Représentations de la vie sexuelle. pp. 233-245