STAËL (de), Germaine (1766-1817)

STAËL (de), Germaine (1766-1817)

Autograph note to Claire de Duras
N.p.n.d, “Sunday” [after 1815], 1 p. in-12°

Affectionate note to her “dear duchess,” Claire de Duras

« êtes-vous arrivée dear duchess, comment est votre santé ? voulez-vous me voir à 4 heures – allez-vous ce soir chez M[a]d[am]e de La Châtre ? enfin vous verrai-je c’est tout le but de mes questions –
Dimanche – »

A leading figure of European intellectual life at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Germaine de Staël benefited from an enlightened education and an environment conducive to the exchange of ideas from an early age. From the turbulent years of the Revolution to the dawn of the Restoration, the social upheavals of her time provided ample material for her intellectual production, making the mother of Delphine an essential mediator between Enlightenment thought and the emerging Romantic movement. As the Restoration began and her life drew to a close, she developed a deep affection for Claire de Duras, whom she fondly called her “Dear Duchess” — eleven years her junior, and not yet embarked on her literary career. Their intellectual affinities and mutual esteem no doubt helped to soften the final years of Madame de Staël, who passed away in July 1817.

Marie Charlotte Louise Perrette Aglaé Bontemps (1762–1848), known as the Countess de la Châtre — for whom Vigée Le Brun painted a sumptuous portrait on the eve of the French Revolution — was the daughter of Louis Dominique Bontemps (1735–1766), first valet to King Louis XV and governor of the Tuileries Palace.