{"product_id":"10514-saint-simon-madame-de-perregaux-jean-frederic-my-brother-charges-me-to-deliver-it-to-you-myself-autograph-letter-signed-veuve-st-simon-to-the-banker-perregaux-1792","title":"Saint-Simon, Madame de. (fl. 1792) [Perregaux, Jean-Frédéric. (1744–1808)] \"My brother charges me to deliver it to you myself\" - Autograph Letter Signed \"Veuve St Simon\" to the Banker Perregaux, 1792","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003eFascinating ALS from a widowed member of the Saint-Simon family to the Swiss-born Paris banker Jean-Frédéric Perregaux, sending him a letter from her brother and, being ill and confined to the house, asking him to call on her to discuss its business. Rue du Bouloi no. 35, \"ce samedy\" [Saturday], docketed by the recipient \"Paris le 22 [?]bre 1792 \/ Mme de St Simon \/ R[épon]d[u]\"; 1 p., with integral address leaf, \"A Monsieur \/ Monsieur Perregaux rue de Mirabeau no. 5 \/ à Paris,\" and remnants of red wax seal. In full (translated from the French): \"My brother, from whom I have just received a letter, Monsieur, charges me to deliver it to you myself and to speak to you of its object, of which his letter will inform you. Certainly [?] my wish had been to call on you, but I have been ill for several days. If it would not be too much trouble [?] to do me the honor of coming to see me, you would oblige me greatly; the hour is entirely of your choosing, as you will always find me in, since I do not go out at all. If, however, your affairs do not allow you, Monsieur, to do me the honor of coming to my house, I shall make every effort to go to yours tomorrow, and in that case I beg you kindly to let me know at what hour my visit would best suit you. My brother asks me to deliver this letter to you as promptly as possible. I await your reply, Monsieur, and have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most distinguished esteem, Monsieur, your very humble and very obedient servant, \/ Veuve St Simon.\" Later pencil attribution \"Saint Simon\" and a further pencil note to lower margin, and \"[1792]\" in pencil to upper corner. Mailing folds, else very fine. 5.5 x 7.25 inches (folded); 14 x 18.4 cm.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003ePerregaux (1744–1808) ran the most important private bank in revolutionary Paris, serving a clientele that ran from the old court nobility and the émigrés to the revolutionaries themselves, and he later became one of the founders of the Banque de France in 1800. The address dates the letter closely: the rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin, where Perregaux kept his house and bank, bore the name rue Mirabeau, in honor of the revolutionary orator, only from 1791 to 1793.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003eHereditary titles had been abolished in June 1790, and the writer signs not as marquise or vicomtesse but simply as \"the widow St Simon.\" She cannot be the wife of the great memoirist, Marie-Gabrielle de Durfort de Lorge, duchesse de Saint-Simon, who died in 1743. Of the widows of the Rouvroy de Saint-Simon family alive in 1792, one is especially tempting: Adelaïde-Blanche-Marie de Rouvroy de Saint-Simon (1759–1820), widowed in January 1790 by the death of her husband and cousin, Louis-Charles, vicomte de Saint-Simon, marquis de Montbléru. Her brother was Claude-Henri de Saint-Simon, the future founder of Saint-Simonism, who in these very years was amassing a fortune speculating in confiscated church lands, the kind of business that passed through bankers such as Perregaux. The identification remains unconfirmed, but a letter carried from a brother by a housebound widow to the leading banker of the day, in the year that saw the fall of the monarchy and the September Massacres, speaks eloquently of how the nobility's affairs were being conducted in 1792.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);\"\u003eOriginal French: \"rue du Bouloi no 35 ce samedy \/ Mon frère dont je viens de recevoir une lettre, Monsieur, me charge de vous la remettre moi-même et de vous parler de son objet dont sa lettre vous instruira. Certainement [?] mon désir avoit été d'aller chez vous mais je suis malade depuis plusieurs jours. S'il vous étoit [?] pénible de me faire l'honneur de venir me voir vous m'obligeriez sensiblement, l'heure est absolument à votre choix, vous me trouverez toujours ne sortant point du tout. Si cependant vos affaires ne vous permettoient pas, Monsieur, de me faire l'honneur de venir chez moi, je ferai mes efforts pour aller demain chez vous et dans ce cas-là je vous prierai de vouloir bien me mander à quelle heure ma visite vous conviendra le mieux. Mon frère me demande de vous remettre cette lettre le plus promptement possible. J'attends votre réponse, Monsieur, et ai l'honneur d'être avec les sentiments de l'estime la plus distinguée, Monsieur, votre très humble et très obéissante servante, \/ Veuve St Simon.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46093424427167,"sku":"10514","price":250.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0512\/4826\/7423\/files\/Saint_Simon_Autograph_Letter_Signed_10514.jpg?v=1722187934","url":"https:\/\/www.schubertiademusic.com\/products\/10514-saint-simon-madame-de-perregaux-jean-frederic-my-brother-charges-me-to-deliver-it-to-you-myself-autograph-letter-signed-veuve-st-simon-to-the-banker-perregaux-1792","provider":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}