D'ALEMBERT (Jean Le Rond) Paris, 23rd April 1767. Autograph letter signed. 3 p. in-8. Interesting and mysterious letter from D'Alembert (1717-1783), philosopher and mathematician, one of the directors of the Encyclopédie, on his Mélanges de littérature & "l'homme sans poche" : "I beg you, Sir, to kindly receive, as a mark of my attachment and gratitude, this fifth volume of my mélanges de Littérature which has recently appeared [i.e. volume V of his Mélanges de littérature, d'histoire et de philosophie, Chatelain & Fils, 1767], & which you would have received more than eight days ago if I had found a convenient opportunity to send it to you; I hope that you will find in it a few pieces whose reading will compensate you for the dryness of most of the subjects I have dealt with in it. Mr Tillet sent me the letter that the man without a pocket wrote against you, which I found very annoying. But he told me that he did not have the rest of this letter, in which I am mentioned [...]". D'Alembert asked for this document "I will try to correct myself, in case by chance, the man without a pocket was right", and added: "I know for a fact that Mr Walpole is aware of what is for sale at your Jacobins; I do not know if he will buy it, but I have been assured that he has spoken about it to several people; so urge your monks not to hurry to destroy this work. I am still missing from your Ephemerides the years 1757, 1758 and 1759. If they come to hand, I recommend them to you [...]". Bibliography: Letter listed under number 67.33 "D'Alembert à Non identifié", in his Correspondance V/1, from the CNRS.