Lettres de J.F.M.F.*** à F.se. P.***, inutiles et ennuieuses. Promettre est un, & tenir est un autre. Suite de La Fontaine.
A Tendre, Aux dépens de l’Amour, 1000700709 [Luxeuil, 1779].
In-4 (220 x 190 mm), 39 pp, 9 ff. framed left blank, 15 ff. blank, marbled brown basane, ornate smooth spine, red edges; binding rubbed and stained, three joins formerly restored (Period binding).
Gallant collection of love letters illustrated with 31 small pen-and-ink drawings as headbands and tailpieces.
"En un mot, elle est belle, sociable et spirituelle."
The author of these 14 letters, a resident of Luxeuil, is a descendant of a companion of Henri IV who took part in the battle of Ivry. He is the husband of Françoise Pierron, whose portrait he paints, and transcribes their love correspondence from their first meeting in June 1775 to their proposed marriage in August of the same year. She lives in Amance, is 25 years old and wealthy, he is not, but from an “honest family, of good morals and I like him”, she writes to her brother, Conseiller du Roy. The last letter is a reminder from the bride-to-be to her brother, who is slow to give his consent.
A charming manuscript documenting the birth and adventures of a love marriage.
Antique Eugène Malterre bookplate on one endpaper. Small collector's stamp on title, indicated as “cachet de Barenton” on one endpaper.
2 200€
In stock
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