TALLIEN, Thérésa Cabarrus, dite Madame (1773-1835)

Autograph letter signed “Th. C. de Camaran” to Mme Devin
Np, 29th May 1807, 1 page in-4

“All the feelings I owe you”

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TALLIEN, Thérésa Cabarrus, dite Madame (1773-1835)

Autograph letter signed “Th. C. de Camaran” to Mme Devin
Np, 29th May 1807, 1 page in-4
Fold marks, perforation on second sheet due to seal removing.

Charming letter from the muse of the Thermidorians and the Directoire


“Je suis trop vivement touchée Madame de votre délicate attention et de votre rare bonté pour pouvoir laisser à un autre le soin de vous parler de ma reconnaissance; pardonnez-moi Madame de n’avoir pu résister au désir, au besoin de vous adresser directement les expressions de tous les sentiments que je vous dois et que le tems n’a fait que fortifier. Mes vœux à vous savoir bien convaincue de leur sincérité et à pouvoir de tems en tems vous rappeller que je suis et serai tout ma vie votre dévouée et respectueuse servante.
Th. C. de Camaran”


Theresa Cabarrus, known as Madame Tallien, is an aristocrat who adhered to Enlightenment ideas, but when the Jacobins establish terror, she had to flee Paris. Like many of her friends Girondins, she was arrested but, the representative of the Bordeaux Convention, Jean Lambert Tallien, asked to meet her and later on arranged for her release. Having become his companion, she later used his influence with him and managed to save many Bordeaux from the guillotine, hence his nickname “Our Lady of Good Relief”. In July 1794, on suspicion of softness, Tallien was summoned to Paris and Theresa was arrested. As she goes to be guillotined, she urges her lover to act, calling him a coward. He then decided to enter into a conspiracy against Robespierre and, on 9 Thermidor (27 July 1794) he took a decisive part in the assembly in the confrontation that brought down the great revolutionary. Theresa becomes “Our Lady of Thermidor.”

We attach: Various letters (revolutionary era) and an autograph poem by illustrious strangers