Draft of reply to a letter of Adanson dated 20 May 1771 in which Adanson congratulates La Billarderie with his appointment as successor to the “intendance du jardin et du cabinet” [d’histoire naturelle] of Louis XV. Annotated with subject and dates concerning de Buffon and La Billarderie. Draft of Adanson’s letter on separate leaf; this reply of La Billarderie, who became “directeur-général des bâtiments et jardins” in 1774, is in polite terms. Cuvier judged his policy favorable to the development of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris in his éloge of Thouin, however, the disappearance of the Trianon garden, in which Adanson was interested, could not have been prevented. [Comte La Billarderie is not to be confused with the botanist La Billardiére.]