Diderots PENSÉES PHILOSOPHIQUES had appeared about the same time as LES MOEURS and both books caused quite a stir. One of the several pamphlets and books trying to refute several opinions of the two books was by Samuel Formey, perpetual secretary of the Académie des Sciences de Berlin. Oddly enough it was this very Formey, who then invited Diderot and Toussaint to become corresponding members of the Academy in 1751. There are two possible explanations. On the one hand Formey really liked LES MOEURS, he just some parts of it dangerous. On the other hand Toussaint collaborated with Diderot on the ENCYCLOPEDIE (he was in charge of the articles on law during the first two volumes). In a special way Formey himself contributed articles to the ENCYCLOPEDIE, too. He had written on a dictionnary by himself before the Encyclopedie, and when Diderot and D'Alembert announced their work, Formey abandonned his project, selling the articles to the Encyclopedistes. So, being connected with the Encyclopedistes, Formey might not even have been aware of the fact, that Toussaint was the author of LES MOEURS and DIDEROT the one of the PENSEES PHILOSOPHIQUES.
To my knowledge there is no estate of Toussaint kept in an archive in Berlin or somewhere else. Four letters to Samuel Formey in former possession of the Staatsbibliothek Berlin are now kept in Krakau, Poland in the Estate Varnhagen van Ense (in the University Library). Three date from after 1767, dealing with mostly with financial issues (Toussaint borrowing money from Formey). Then there is one from 1751, which was the letter Toussaint sent to give thanks for his election to the academy, of which I give a complete transcript on the next page.
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