French journalist and publisher (1814-1900). "Un épisode de la semaine infernale du 21 au 28 Mai 1871". Manuscript with autograph revisions signed. [Likely San Sebastián, Spain. 8vo. 13 pp. on blue squared paper, written on rectos only.
$ 46,224 / 45.000 €
(76529/BN49406)
A long, unpublished manuscript recounting the horrors of the "Semaine sanglante" of May 21st through 28th, 1871, which saw the defeat and collapse of the revolutionary government of Paris. Originally drafted as a preface to a never-published sequel volume to Lachâtre's 1870 "Nouvelle encyclopédie nationale", what the author conceived as an apology for the book's long delay constitutes a powerful first-hand account of the "Bloody Week" and of his own persecution. The manuscript is written in a scribal hand but is extensively revised in Lachâtre's own, characteristically graceful handwriting, showing his deletions, insertions and various textual changes on almost every page.
Lachâtre describes the Communards' heroic resistance, in which women fought on the barricades alongside their husbands, brothers and sons against the vastly more numerous and better equipped army. He deplores the atrocities which the Communards, too, committed in their desperation (such as the execution of no fewer than 123 clergymen and gendarmes who had been taken hostage), but his emphasis is clearly on the indiscriminate, ruthless cruelty with which the invading soldiers slaughtered men, women and children, the decrepit and infants alike, if they suspected them of any connection at all with the Commune: "Les Versaillais massacrent, fusillent, percent de leurs sabres - baïonnettes et par milliers tous ceux qui leur tombent sous leur main, innocents ou coupables, hommes et femmes, enfants et vieillards; la vapeur du sang les énivre, la soif de la vengeance les pousse à chercher de nouvelles victimes; ils parcourent les rues, envahissent les maisons, fouillent les demeures des citoyens, arrachent de leur lit les malades, tuent tous ceux qu'ils soupçonnent avoir été partisans de la Commune [...] Ceux là sont conduits par files innombrables, prisonniers de tous les âges, hommes et femmes, des mères tenant de petits enfants par la main, quelques unes allaitant un nouveau-né; ces longues files de victimes enchaînées vont s'engouffrer dans les cours des casernes dont les portes se referment avec un bruit lugubre, et où toutes sont massacrées, toutes, jusqu'à la dernière!!!" - Lachâtre himself barely escaped into hiding before a platoon of soldiers arrived looking for him and his associate Félix Pyat (1810-89), with whom he had published the radical papers "Le Combat" and "Le Vengeur": "Se décida à abondonner la place, laissant chez lui deux femmes, deux jeunes filles dont une de dix ans à peine, son enfant. Dans la maison se trouvait également le caissier de la librairie, M. Profilet, vieillard inoffensif, qui jamais ne s’était occupé de politique [...] On était au mercredi, 22 mai! Vers les deux heures de l’après-midi, moins d’une demi-heure après le départ du citoyen Maurice La Châtre, la maison est envahie par une troupe de soldats [...] Après une heure de mortelles angoisses pour le pauvre caissier, il est lui-même emmené prisonnier! Mr. Profilet était porteur d’une montre en or avec sa chaîne, et d’une somme de 400 fr en pièces d’or, quand il fut enlevé de sa maison… Où fut-il conduit par les soldats de 55e de ligne? Quel a été le sort réservé à ce vieillard inoffensif, absolument innocent de tout acte insurrectionnel? C’est ce que ni sa famille, ni ses amis n’ont jamais su! [...] Nous vous devions le récit de ces évènements, chers lecteurs [...] A vous, aimables lectrices, à vous, chers lecteurs, amis connus et inconnus, l’auteur adresse de la terre d’exil de salut fraternel". - Slight paper flaws to bottom edge of the final leaf, otherwise very well preserved. At the head of the first page, Lachâtre has inscribed the manuscript to his longtime collaborator Félix Pyat: "Maurice LaChâtre à Félix Pyat". A diplomatic transcription of the full text is available upon request..
französischer Journalist und Verleger (1814-1900)]. Judgment. Handwritten document, unsigned. Versailles. 19.12.1873. 1 S. Folio.
$ 10,272 / 10.000 €
(76531/BN49408)
Copy of a court martial's judgment, sentencing the bookseller Maurice de La Châtre to be deported and imprisoned in a fortress for his involvement in the Paris Commune of 1871: "3ième Conseil de Guerre de la 1ère Division militaire séant à Versailles. Jugement par Contumace. Le 3ième Conseil de Guerre permanant de la 1ère division militaire a rendu le jugement suivant: Aujourd'hui 19 décembre 1873 le 3ième Conseil de Guerre de la 1ère Division militaire séant à Versailles, ouïr le commissaire du Gouvernement dans ses réquisitions et conclusions, a declaré le nommé Delachartre (Claude Maurice) homme de lettres et libraire éditeur, contumax, à l'unanimité, coupable d'avoir en 1871, à Paris, pratiqué des intelligence avec les directeurs et commandants de bandes armées dans le but d'envahir des places et des postes appartenant à l'état & de faire attaque et résistance à La Force publique agissant contre les auteurs de ces crimes.
- 2° à la l'unanimité coupable d'avoir à la même époque et au même lieu participé à un attentat dans le but de détruire & de changer le gouvernement. En conséquence le dit conseil condamne par contumace, à l'unanimité le nommé Delachartre (Claude Maurice) Sus-qualifié, conformement aux articles 96, 88, 87 du code pénal, 5 de la constitution de 1848, et de la loi du 16 Juin 1850 et 135 du code de Justice militaire, à la peine de la déportation dans une enceinte fortifiée. Le dit Jugement à commencé à recevoir son exécution le 30 Xbre 1873". - Lachâtre, who at this time was publishing the first French translation of Marx's "Kapital", had been able to avoid arrest by flying to Spain, where he lived in San Sebastián, near the border, under the name of "Leconte". Driven away by the Carlists two years later, he again escaped to Brussels and later to Vevey in Switzerland before finally returning to France in 1879. - Traces of folds; some brownstaining; some slight defects to upper edge..
publisher (1814-1900). 4 autograph manuscripts. San Sebastian, Paris, and no place. 8vo. (3¼+1½+1+3½ =) 9¼ pp. on 2 bifolia and 5 single leaves. Includes 2 bills of exchange signed (oblong 8vo, [1+1 =] 2 pp.) and a copy of a letter to Emmanuel Arago (8vo, 2 pp.).
$ 28,762 / 28.000 €
(76573/BN49533)
Address list (Karl Marx, Longuet, F. Engels, Louis Blanc, etc.). - Draft of an appeal to the figureheads of the events of the Paris Commune to participate in a Memorial celebration, recounting how Lachâtre was sentenced by a council of war for having, among the papers seized at his home, a letter addressed to Félix Pyat. - "Programme de l'avenir" (Programme of the Future) signed (San Sebastian, 31 May 1873), advocating equality of civil and political rights of men and women, separation of church and state, abolition of the death penalty, etc., declaring a "République fédérale, démocratique, sociale, universelle".
- Letter, incomplete at the beginning, (to Henri Oriol?) concerning a journal's publication and its financial provision, the payment of a fine, etc. - Includes 2 bills of exchange signed (Paris, 10 June 1868) for Messrs. Comas y Jarmot in Barcelona, and the copy of a letter to Emmanuel Arago (Paris, 24 Nov. 1870)..
publisher (1814-1900). Autograph document signed. Barcelona. 10.08.1862. 4to. 1 page on blue squared writing paper. Mounted on cardboard carrier. With some addenda.
$ 8,731 / 8.500 €
(76574/BN49534)
Extract from his will, stating that he would die as he lived, a free thinker, wishing no religious ceremony to take place at his funeral, his cortège to be that of a poor man without splendour: "Je mourrai, comme j’ai vécu, en libre penseur et attaché à la doctrine spirite; en conséquence aucune cérémonie religieuse ne devra avoir lieu lors de mon inhumation: mon convoi sera celui des pauvres, sans apparat [...]". He then gives detailed instructions for the embalming of his corpse and finishes by determining the distribution of part of his fortune to the poor and destitute, as well as to existing or newly founded humanitarian institutions: "[...] en faveur des pauvres, des déshérités de ce monde et des établissements humanitaires existants ou à fonder [...]".
- Large tear in the upper half, barely touching text. - Includes additional documents: - Autograph note about donations of merchandise (8vo, 1 page, no place or date). - 8 copies of birth and baptismal certificates of Lachâtre, Marie and Rose Garrète, Jeanne Letellier, Maurice and Enrique-Estevan Arture José Oriol (folio, 8 pp. on 7 bifolia; oblong 4to, 2 pp.). - 2 wills of Marie-Ange Oriol (8vo, 1 page on bifolium; 4to, 1 page, Paris and Nanterre, 25 Aug. 1900 and 15 Feb. 1903). - Obituaries for her and Henry Oriol (4to, 2 pp. on one single leaf and one bifolium). - 12 legal documents (folio, 7 libella comprising 124½ pp. on 30 bifolia; 4to, 30 pp. on 8 bifolia and a single leaf) concerning: the sale of a house to Lachâtre (Paris, 18 Aug. 1888), Madame Oriol as his sole heiress (Paris, 15 June 1903), donations by Lachâtre (Paris, 26 Sept. 1882), guardianships of Marie-Ange Garrette and Marie Eugénie Renard (no place, 30 April 1875), decisions of a family council (Paris, 31 Oct. 1881), the sale of business assets (Nanterre, 31 May 1900; a booklet of Parisian annoncements and three receipts enclosed); the case "Association Syndicale du Commerce" against M. Oriol (no place or date), the inheritance of the Picourts (no place, 3 Jan. 1887), the accusation of Joachim-Agathon-Adjutor Rattel and Rose Pauline Jenny Lefebre (Paris, 29 April 1902), the lease of a property in Nanterre (Paris, 20 March 1903), and the modification of Lachâtre's legacy to Aurélie Genre (Fontenay-sous-bois, 11 May 1909). - 11 receipts of payments by Lachâtre, Marie Thérèse and Marie-Ange Garrette (oblong 8vo, 10 pp.; 4to, 1 p., Paris and Fontenay-sous-bois, 1880-82, 1905-06, 1919-20). - 3 documents of financial content (8vo, 1½ pp. on bifolium; 4to, 3 pp.): mortgage certificate involving Lachâtre, Marie Thérèse and Marie-Ange Garrette (Paris, 4 March 1885), letter by M. Bourgoins to Henry Oriol about a mortgage loan to Lachâtre and Mlle. Garrette (Paris, 5 Sept. 1887, on headed stationery of the notary's office Philéas Vassal), and a bill documenting a conditional loan to Lachâtre (13 Aug. 1898). - 2 certificates (folio, 2 pp. on one bifolium and one single leaf) of membership of Marie-Ange Oriol in the "Association Syndicale du Commerce & de l'Industrie" (Paris, 12 Feb. 1909; their statutes on the remaining 3 pages of the bifolium), and of voluntary enlistment for Maurice Pierre Leboucher (Nanterre, 23 Jan. 1901). - Request for payment by Crédit Lyonnais to Mme Oriol (4to, 1 p., Paris, 21 Jan. 1920). On headed stationery. - 2 notes about shares of the "Société Anonyme la Librarie du Progrès" Lachâtre has assigned to André Girard and H. France (8vo and oblong 8vo, 2 pp., Paris, 5 Jan. 1899). - Bill for the construction of a wall between two properties, one belonging to Lachâtre (4to, 1½ pp., Paris, no date). - Letter by the mayor of Le Mans to Edouard Blot in Paris about M. Faivre (8vo, 1 p. on bifolium with autograph address on verso, Le Mans, 3 July 1875). - Copy of a telegram by Henry Oriol, probably to his wife ("Garette") in San Remo (4to, 1 p., Paris, 4 April 1878). - Blank receipt of the Librairie du Progrès, a typescript citation of Victor du Bled's "Société française du XVIe Siècle au XXe Siècle" verso: "[C]e qui fait le monde, c'est la femme. Elle y est souveraine [...]" (tall 4to, 1½ pp.)..
publisher (1814-1900). 4 autograph documents signed and 3 documents signed. Paris. 4to. 19½ pp. on 1 bifolium and 8 single leaves. With fiscal stamps.
$ 12,840 / 12.500 €
(76575/BN49535)
Contracts, four of which drafted by Lachâtre, stating his sale of the plates for the "Histoire de la Bastille" by Arnoult, Alboize and Maquet to Mme Languet (21 June 1881), of "N’a-qu’un-œil" by Cladel and of Marx's "Le Capital" to Auguste Milbert and his wife Mme Bonaventure-Milbert (31 Dec. 1882), of the "Histoire de la Bastille" and "Histoire du Donjon" by Arnoult, Alboize and Maquet to William Heiss (31 Dec. 1882), as well as the plates and copyright to the "Dictionnaire universel de Lachâtre", the plates of the "Mystères du peuple" by Eugène Sue, as well as a large stock of books (sewn or unbound) to Henry Oriol (31 Dec.
1882). - Cession of the bookshop "Librairie du Progrès", up to this point owned by Henry Oriol and Mlle Marie-Ange Garrette, to Lachâtre and others (31 Dec. 1885). Second leaf somewhat brownstained. - Contract in duplicate between Lachâtre, Marie-Thérèse Garrette and the other shareholders of the "Librairie du Progrès", stating that copyright and licence fees will not be paid in cash, but transferred to the respective accounts of Lachâtre and Garrette for a period of at least three years (26 Aug. 1886). - Furthermore enclosed are 6 documents, 3 letters and 2 postcards, partly addressed to Lachâtre; 4to and oblong 8vo, 19½ pp. on 9 single leaves and 1 sewn libellum comprising 2 bifolia: - Two postcards addressed to Lachâtre, one by the Lisbon publisher Joaquim Gonçalves Pereira, expressing his opinion on the engravings sent to him (22 Nov. 1892), the other by an unidentified Belgian bookseller, asking for several pages of Lachâtre's dictionary (1 Sept. 1897). - Letter by the paper manufacturer George Gratiot & Cie, probably to Lachâtre, about archival files the addressee had sent him (6 March [?] 1886). On headed stationery. - Letter by an unknown writer giving an inventory of the "Dictionnaire Lachâtre" (27 May 1921). - Document signed by Edouard Ducret paying his debt to Henry Oriol (26 Oct. 1883). - Cessions of copyright of "N’a-qu’un-œil" by Cladel and Marx's "Le Capital" to Mme Milbert (1890), of Ducret's "Un baiser funeste" to Henry Oriol (11 March 1886), and of the work of Eugène Sue to the "Société Jules Rouff" (29 July 1904). - Two contracts stating the sale of two journals owned by Henry Oriol to J. Le Poullain (2 July 1880), as well as the printing of the same (2 July 1887). - Furthermore, the statutes of the "Librairie du Progrés", in duplicate (4to, 4 pp. on 2 bifolia), as well as 6 blank 4to leaves of the bookshop's headed stationery..
publisher (1814-1900)]. Collection of 47 autograph letters signed and 2 autograph letters, mostly sent to Maurice Lachâtre. Anger, Paris, Bautiran, Agen, Sceaux, Batignolles Maisons-Laffitte, Luzancy (Saâcy), Irancy (Vince. 4to (4) and 8vo (45). Altogether 110¾ pp. on 43 bifolia and 6 single leaves.
$ 8,731 / 8.500 €
(76576/BN49536)
I: Guillaume Angebault, bishop of Angers (Angers, 7 April 1846), with autograph address on verso and seal residue. - II: Odilon Barrot [Paris, 1845], thanking for "l'Histoire des papes". - III: Cabet's widow, 2 letters (Paris, 7 & 20 March 1857), thanking for the "Dictionnaire" that continues her husband's dream. Both letters on mourning stationery. - IV: Marc Caillard (Paris, 2 Jan. 1874). With stamped monogram and address. - V: Cappelle's widow (Beautiran, 5 May 1870). - VI: Priest Coquand, 4 letters (Paris, 12 May & 26 July 1854, 9 Aug.
1855, 20 July 1856), on the political situation. One letter cut, three letters with lithographed letterhead. - VII: Cardinal Donnet (Agen, 10 Sept., no year). With blindstamped vignette of the "Grand Seminaire". - VIII: Baron Dupotet (Paris, 27 July 1867). - IX: Jules Favre to a prefect (Sceaux, 3 Sept. 1850), for the removal of the interdiction of "l'Histoire des papes" & "Mystères du peuple". - X: Dr. André Gastier (Paris, 21 & 27 Jan., 9 & 25 July, 4 Aug., 8 Nov. 1855). A statement of charges by a further hand on verso. - XI: Baron de Gazan (Paris, 18 Sept. 1843). Lithographed letterhead "Division Hois Paris". - XII: Émile de Girardin (n. p. o. d.). - XIII: Guinard, letter fragment (Paris, 20 March 1857), concerning Cabet. Monogrammed stationery. - XIV: Baroness de Lachâtre, 3 letters (Batignolle & Maison Laffitte, 4 Sept. 1856, 21 June 1859, 19 March 1860). - XV. Paul Lacroix [Paris, Nov. 1841], with autogr. address on verso. - XVI: Denis Larabit, 6 letters (Paris, Luzancy & Irancy, 5 Oct. 1854, 8 Nov. & 3 Dec. 1855, 10 Feb. 1856, 3 Oct. & 30 Sept. 1857) praising Napoléon III (letter, 5 Oct. 1854): "Notre Empereur est déjà un grand Empereur, plus fort que tout les diplomates de l'Europe" ("Our Emperor already is a great Emperor, stronger than all the European diplomats"). - XVII: André-Saturnin Morin, 2 letters (Paris, 17 April [1874] & 19 June 1875), about "la Bibliothèque démocratique". Monogrammed stationery. - XVIII: Michel Morphy, 2 letters (Prison de la Santé, 12 June & 10 July 1883). - XIX: Alfred Naquet (Paris, 29 Oct. 1876), about Félix Pyat. - XX: Jean Robinet (Paris, 13 May 1876). - XXI: A. Rogeard (Marde?, 3 Aug. 1870). - XXII: Abbot Géraud Rouquette (Paris, 3 Feb. 1874). - XXIII: Julien Sacaley (Paris, 30 April 1857), headed "Cabinet de l'Empereur". - XXIV: Jules Simon, 2 letters (2, Paris, n. d. & 1867). With lithogr. address, one letter headed "corp légistlatif". - XXV: Léon Talabot (Paris, 27 Feb. 1848). - XXVI: Mr Thiers, autograph (?) letter with thanks in the name of the council's president ([Paris], 6 April 1840), headed "Présidence du Conseil des Ministres. Cabinet". - XXVII: General Emmanuel de Wimpffen, 4 letters (Paris & Dieppe, 31 Oct. 1878, 24 March & 25 July 1879, 9 Nov. 1883). Interesting letter about approaches to keep Lachâtre's favour, allowing him to return to France. - Includes 5 documents: ADS. 4to. 1 p. Jean-Francois Marecat, serjeant-at-arms, summons (Paris, 17 Feb. 1845), letterpress; DS. 4to. 1 p. on bifolium. Authorisation to visit Montholon at the Château de Ham (Paris, 12 April 1841). Headed "Direction de la Police générale du Royaume"; DS. Folio, 1 p. on bifolium. Help for Sergent-Marceau (Paris, 7 Jan. 1847), lithogr. form with autogr. insertions, headed "Bureau des Secours généraux"; MS. 4to. 2½ pp. on bifolium. Tenancy agreement of Lachâtre's apartment signed by Eugène Scribe (Paris, 12 Jan. 1853). With 2 stamps; ADS. Folio. 1 p. on bifolium. Passport by the state secretary (20 Nov. 1878) for returning to France. Lithogr. letterhead of the "Direction de la Sûreté générale", stamped. - Additional documents: Copy of Lachâtre's criminal record (1877). 4to. 3 pp. on 2 bifolia. Noting the Assize Court in Liège and "insult of morals" ("outrage aux moeurs"); autogr. visiting card signed (107 x 68 mm, 2 pp.). Marguerite Blot to a Madame; ALS. 8vo. 1 p. Aurelie Genry? to Mme Oriol (Fontenay, 24 May n. y.); ALS. 8vo. 2 pp. on bifolium. Eugenie Chapelier to a female friend (Brussels, 9 Nov. n. y.); ALS. 8vo. 1 p. Eduard Patalis to a president (Paris, 14 March 1894?). Letterhead "Le XIXe Siécle"; ALS. 8vo. 1 p. on bifolium. Henri Fursy [i. e. Dreyfus] (Montmartre, 29 Aug. 1901?). Headed "La Boite à Fursy"; AL (fragm.). 8vo. 2 pp. on 2 ff., author and addressee unknown. - Slight damage to some letters..