The Manuscript

 

The binding is consistent with Eighteen century work.

 

Although the title attributes the manuscript to a J. L. Poil, the works are by Grecourt.

In an early collection of Grecourt’s work published in 1747,
Poésies Diverses de Mr. de Grécourt, Nouvelle Édition, Printed in Lausanne and Geneva, the publisher mentions this fact about gathering the works of the author:

“All those who knew the Abbé de Grécourt particularly well, know how little he was enamored with the favorite taste of our fine minds and scholars. The pleasure of being bound in calfskin was never his. He pushed his indifference toward his works to the point of neglecting to keep the original or even to make a copy.
The portfolio of the most prolific author was always empty.
Only one of his friends, of distinguished rank and mind, was the compiler and custodian of all his writings; but out of certain considerations, he long refused the public the pleasure that had been his own. He finally resolved to share these writings only after seeing a good portion of them appear either truncated or riddled with errors. Nothing less than his attachment to the author’s reputation could overcome his scruples.”

The “friend of distinguished rank and mind” mentioned by the publisher, is mentioned in one of his biography:

“We would have none of Grécourt’s works if not for his friend, M. de Lasseré (Jean-Gilles de Lasseré, conseiller au Parlement, commissaire aux enquêtes du Palais.) , known for his connections with Voltaire, Brossette, and Rousseau—who collected copies of them before Grécourt’s death.“