We offer a selection of letters and manuscripts from men and women who, through their writings, acts or discoveries, have influenced the course of history.
Autograph letter signed « Eugène Godard » to M. de Fouville
Paris, 30th July 1869, 1 p. 1/2 in-8°
« The day after tomorrow Sunday, I will make a scientific ascent with the balloon the citta di firenze at 1400 meters »
Period film print with autograph inscription signed
N.p.n.d [c. 1910], cabinet format (14,7 x 9,8 cm)
Scarce autographed portrait of Captain Dreyfus in artilleryman’s uniform
Autograph letter signed « ADreyfus » [to général Percin]
[Paris], 21st July 1906, 1 p. in-8°
« If I have known many villains, many cowardices, I have at least had the consolation of meeting some brave men »
First edition of the 87th issue of journal L’Aurore
[Paris, 13th January 1898], 4 p. in-plano
« The truth is on the march and nothing will stop it »
Autograph card-letter signed « Z » [to Eugène Fasquelle]
[Queen’s Hotel, Upper Norwood], 1st February [18]99, 2 pp. petit in-12°
« The horrible waste we are going through… »
Set of two autograph cards signed
Paris, 1st and 6th October 1780, 2 p. in-24°
Two cards transported by mounted balloon during the Siege of Paris
Original albumen print by de Lavetier
La Haye, 2th August [1869], cdv format
« à Jules Claretie »
Letter signed « Necker de Staël » to Claire de Duras
[Paris] Sunday 11th May [1817], 3 pp. in-8°
« I have, thank God, never harmed anyone with whom I have had dealings »
Unpublished autograph manuscript, signed « Emile Zola »
[Grosvenor Hotel, London, 19 July 1898], 5 pages in-4 on ligned paper
“Of all my open letter to the president, a few lines had been skilfully extracted… to prevent the truth to shine on the Dreyfus affair”
Autograph letter signed « Émile Zola » [to his publisher Eugène Fasquelle]
Paris, 5th February 1901, 1 p. n-8° on laid paper
« I am sending you the Vérité en marche… »
Autograph letter signed « Henri Bergson » to Jean Becquerel
Paris, 24 Sept[ember] 1922, 16 pages in-8°
« From the point of view of the theory of Relativity, there is no longer absolute motion or absolute immobility »
Portrait of Empress Eugenie by W&D Downey, period albumen print
[London, c. 1871], CDV format
Elegant portrait of the Empress, with a melancholic gaze
Autograph letter signed « Beauh. de Lavalette » to Eugène de Beauharnais
N.p, [11th] May [1807], 5 p. in-12°
« We have been so dejected and discouraged by the loss of my poor cousin »
Autograph letter signed « le Maāl Duc de Broglie » to a gentleman
Paris, 8th June 1778, 1 p. in-8°
« Recommend him also to Mr. The Marquis de Lafayette, to whom I wish all the glory and happiness he deserves »
Portrait of Napoléon III by Disdéri
N.p.n.d, c. 1868, cdv format
Famous and elegant full-length portrait of Emperor Napoleon III
Photomontage on period albumen vintage print
N.p.n.d, cabinet format (10 x 13,5 cm)
Famous photomontage depicting the death of Napoleon III, surrounded by his family and loved ones
Autograph letter signed « JF » (revised draft) [to Élisa Bonaparte]
Linz, 16b 7bre [September] 1819, 2 p. in-8°
« In my correspondence I have allowed myself only one reproach against Napoleon; it is that he has too often done small things when he had the means to do great ones »
Autograph letter signed « Georges Ghika » to Liane de Pougy, princesse Ghika
Le Clos-Marie, Roscoff, 2nd July 1924, 2 p. in-4°
« It seems that your pearly body, slightly amber from distant sailings... »
Period albumen print by Alexander Bassano
[London], 28th July 1877, cabinet format (10,2 x 14,4 cm)
Superb full-length portrait of the Prince Imperial, autographed on each side of the cardboard
Letter signed « Duc de Bassano » to the Comte de la Chapelle, Alfred de Morton
[Camden Place, Chislehurst] July 1879, 1 p. in-8° on mourning paper
« I have been instructed by Her Majesty the Empress to convey to you her many thanks for the sentiments you have expressed to her in her immense misfortune »
Autograph letter signed « Adrien Bizot » to the Prince Impérial
Melun, 20 septembre 1878, 4 p. in-8°
« Sad country, Sad weather! But patience, the sun of Austerlitz is not dead! »
Portrait of the Prince Impérial by Elliott & Fry
[London, c. 1875], albumen carte-de-visite
Elegant portrait of Prince Imperial, printed in his honor after his tragic death in Southern Africa
Portrait of the Prince Impérial by Gösta Florman, period albumen print
[Stockholm, 1878], carte-de-visite format
Supere portrait of the Prince Impérial by Gösta Florman
Photomontage on period albumen print
N.p.n.d, cabinet format (10 x 13,5 cm)
Extremely rare photomontage depicting the killing of the Prince Imperial by the Zulus, in southern Africa
Nineteen period albumen prints
The Imperial Family and its entourage, CDV format
Exceptional gathering of nineteen vintage albumen prints offering a wide panorama of the imperial family, its relatives and supporters
Autograph dispatch signed « Napoléon » to Charles Duperré
[Wilhlmeshoehe castle, 6-8 September 1870], 1/2 p. in-8°
« Where is the Empress »
Autograph letter signed « Beaumarchais » to comedian Préville
Paris, 31st March 1784, 2 pp. on bi-folio in-8°
« My play isn’t a big thing ; but seeing it in the theater is the result of four years of fighting »
Autograph aphorism signed « H. Bergson »
N.p.n.d, 1/4 p. in-8°
« As soon as we love the best in life, we become indifferent to death »
Autograph letter signed « H. Bergson » to Raphaël Cor
Paris, 22nd March 1935, 2 p. in-8°
« I find interesting the relationship you establish between immoralism and the sexual question… »
Autograph letter signed “B”
Prague, 14th March 1835, 4 pages in-8
“What a fateful event that the death of this excellent Emperor”
Autograph letter signed « Caroline » to a prince
[Naples, 15th May 1813], 2 p. in-8°
« I have just received the telegraphic news of the victory won by the Emperor »
Autograph letter to Laure de Cottens
Paris, 24th March 1835, 4 p. large in-8°
« I still want to go and die out of France »
Autograph letter signed « Le Vte de Chateaubriand » to Abel
Paris, 29th 7bre [September] 1815, 4 pp. in-8°
« I demanded freedom of thought, which brought Buonaparte’s fury and his new threats to have me shot »
Autograph manuscript signed « JB Clément »
N.p, dated 23rd April 1869, 4 p. in-8°
« J’en couperai pour cette belle France / Dont j’ai chanté la gloire et les revers »
2 stereoscopic views of Paris during the Commune of 1871
Original photographs, albumen prints 7,7 x 7,4 cm. Mounted on printed Bristols
Autograph letter to Jacques Pierre Brissot de Warville
N.p.n.d [Paris, soon after the 24nd of March 1792], 1 p. 1/2 small in-4°
« Here are 2 little things that seem to me likely to destroy the effect of the King’s letter… »
Autograph letter signed “V Considérant” tp Mr Berger
Paris [Probably 1848], 2 pages in-8
Rare letter of the philosopher
Two autograph letters signed « Gaston Doumergue » to notary Leverne
Paris, 11th November 1926 et 21st May 1931, 2 p. in-8°
«I request you to hand over to Mrs. Graves all remaining documents in your study concerning our agreement of July 1926 »
Autograph letter signed “Victor H” [to Joséphine Trébuchet]
Brussels, 19th December [1851], 1 page in-8°
“I fought for the right, for the truth, for the righteous, for the people, for France”
Autograph letter signed « Isabel de Borbon » to Anna de La Grange
Lequeitio, 4th August 1883, 4 p. in-12° on flowered paper
« You love me, I know it, as I love you »
Autograph manuscript signed « Jean Jaurès »
[Paris], c. 1st April 1905, 12 p. in-4°
« Several Republican groups are concerned about how to ensure the swift passage of the law on the separation of church and state »
Autograph letter signed « Laperouse » to Poussielgue
Paris, 18th June 1785, 1 page in-8, address on verso
“I will be gone from Brest…”
Letter signed « Lamartine » to Louis de Jacquelot
Paris, 8 9bre [November 1840], 2 p. in-8°
« The serious circumstances in which we found ourselves made me go out… of my usual calm in politics »
Lettre autographe signée “F. de Lamennais” à M. Lasneau
Paris, 20 juin 1825, 1 page in-8
“Two copies of my Imitation”
Autograph postcard signed « Albert » to his daughter Florise
Bruges [14 December (1922 ?)], 1 p. in-8°
« Will be in Paris tomorrow »
First edition of the Little Red Book
[Beijing, May 1964], 250 p. in-16° (13,8 x 10 cm)
« Politics is was without blood, while war is politics with blood »
Autograph letter signed « Masaryk » to a political activist
S.l, 21st December 1893, 2 p. 1/4 in-8°
« If the party turns against me, it opposes the men of confidence, as well as the vote of confidence that was granted to me »
Autograph letter signed « Charles Maurras » to Louis-Xavier de Ricard
S.l, 31st December [1892], 15 p. in-8°, bespoke binding by Michel Kieffer
« I confess that I am anti-Jewish without being anti-Semitic »
Autograph letter signed « EL VIEJO » to his mistress Jeanne Schneider
Fresnes prison, « QHS » 3rd March 1977, 2 pp. in-4°
« I wrote a letter to Badinter to put him in his place! because I accept criticism… but not from a guy like him »
Autograph letter signed « Ton pirate » to his mistress Jeanne Schneider
[Prison de la Santé, Paris], 5th April [19]76, 2 pp. in-8°
« I spent a good part of the day writing my book »
Autograph letter signed « Ton N°I el Viejo » to his mistress Jeanne Schneider
Fleury-Mérogis prison, 3rd December 1976, 3 p. in-4°
« I’m not a patient man with the 97% of faggots that surround us… I may kill one at the first serious discussion »
Autograph letter signed « Ton pirate » to his mistress Jeanne Schneider
Fresnes prison, « QHS », 2nd March 1977, 2 pp. in-4°
« What a mess did my new book create »
Autograph letter signed « Bibi » to his mistress Jeanne Schneider
[Saint-Vincent de Paul prison, Québec], 9 August [19]72, 2 pp. in-8°
« Our turn will come… dying is also part of life. In the meantime I’m alive and well »
Autograph letter signed « Eugénie » to Hortense Cornu
[Camden Place, Chislehurst] 13th January [1875], 8 pp. in-8°, mourning paper
« What a singular destiny which makes it so that the most French hearts, the Napoleons, must all to this day be laid in a foreign coffin »
Autograph letter signed « Eugénie » to an unknown recipient
[Camden Place, Chislehurst], 4 February [18]73, 1 p. 1/2 in-8°
« Sensitive to your sympathy and the regrets you express to me for the one we mourn »
Autograph letter signed « Eugénie » to Marie-Thérèse Bartholoni
Farnborough Hill, Hants, 4th November 1908, 4 p. in-8°
« The 15th of November has long ceased to be a feast for me, and the ranks of those who once celebrated it are thinning every day, for death is mowing down all around us »
Autograph letter signed « N » to Empress Eugénie
[Camden Place, Chislehurst], 2nd August [1872], 1 p. 1/2 in-8°
« Your absence leaves a great void and although we live under the same roof we see little of each other, it is always very sweet to feel close to those we love »
Letter signed “Necker” to Mrs les Commissaires du Roi au Dept. du Nord
Paris, 27th July 1790, 1 p. in-folio on laid paper
Original photograph by Vezenberg – Co. in S. Petersburg
Period albumen print (1896). Business card format
Moving portrait of the Romanov family in 1896
Autograph letter signed « L. Pasteur » to Professor Charles Bouchard
Paris, 19 July 1888, 3 pages in-8°
« We have tested his immunity by inoculation on the brain’s surface »
Autograph letter signed twice, « Louis Pasteur » and « LP », to Comtesse Greffulhe
Paris, 20th February 1892, 2 pages squared in-8 on double sheet, Institut Pasteur letterhead.
“Think of the unnameable number of dogs which there would be to vaccinate in Paris !”
Autograph letter signed « Petain » [to Jean-Louis Forain ?]
N.p, 10th August 1918, 1 p. in-8° on his letterhead
« A few corpses descend the Marne along the water… »
Autograph letter signed « Jean Potocki » to Firmin Didot
Tulczyn, 1st December [1810], 1 1/4 p. in-4°
« I realize every day that it is difficult to see clearly in science when you are so far from the home of the enlightenment »
Autograph letter signed « Louis-Napoléon » to his friend Pierre de Bourgoing
Camden Place [Chislehurst], 27th February 1871, 2 p. in-8°
« Who would have thought, when we were fighting there with chestnuts last summer, that the French and the Prussians would cut each other’s throats! »
Autograph letter signed « Louis-Napoléon » to Édouard Frémy
Camden Place, 16th March 1872, 1 p. 1/2 petit in-8°
« I will reread these pages, which, as you say so well, are made to console us, and to give us hope for a better future »
Autograph letter signed « Louis-Napoléon » [to Marie Trotter]
Camden Place, Chislehurst (Kent), the 25th of March, 1871, 1 p. in-8°
« Thanks be to God, the Emperor is now with us… deeply moved, as we all were, by the sympathetic reception he had received from the English nation. »
Autograph letter signed « Louis-Napoléon » to Charles de Morny
Paris, 10th March 1865, 2 pp. in-8°
« In the future I will show you as much friendship as the Emperor showed to your father »
Autograph letter signed « J. Stalin » to Marietta Sergeevna Shaginyan
N.p, 20th May 1931, 1 p. in-folio, red ink, in russian
« Just tell me concretely who I need to put pressure on »
Autograph letter signed “Princesse de Chimay” to a friend
S.l, 27 May [circa 1816], 2 pages in-8
“by grace by charity by all that you will please my friend be human”
Autograph letter signed « Joseph Vacher » to doctor Lacassagne
[Prison of] Belley, le 30 Xbre [December] 1897, 4 p. in-8°
Letter of a serial killer