Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord

Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice de

French statesman (1754-1838). Autograph letter signed ("Talleyrand"). [Valençay?. 8vo (184 × 116 mm). 1 p. on a single bifolium.
$ 3,786 / 3.500 € (33859/BN29443)

To "mon cher comte", informing him of a detour to Paris to see Madame de Laval. - Talleyrand, one of the most powerful French statesmen of all time, whose career straddled the Ancien régime, Revolution and Restoration was successively a bishop, a revolutionary who assisted in the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, an exile in America, and Foreign Minister to both Napoleon and his successor, the restored Bourbon king, Louis XVIII. He was also, of course, a legendary womaniser. "He believed that power and intelligence were the perfume of courtship and he wielded them with deadly charm" (Schama).

In this short note he writes that he intends to extend a journey, probably from his home at Valençay to Bourbonnes-le-Bains (Haute-Marne, a spa town) and pass via Paris, because he will have the chance to see Madame Laval "si elle passe par Paris comme je le crois". He writes that it will only extend his journey by 25 leagues (at least 100 miles). Madame Laval was the longest-standing of all his many mistresses. A noted hostess and lover of gambling, Talleyrand had first seen her at the coronation of Louis XVI and she soon became his lover. Despite other passions the two remained remarkably loyal to each other until the end of Talleyrand’s life. Contemporary Aimée de Coigny characterised Madame de Laval as "changeant d’amants presque autant que d’années" and as "maïtresse de M. de Talleyrand quand elle était jolie, actuellement son amie très exigeante". - Trace of seal at upper left-hand corner, old folds, but fine. Provenance: Karl Konstantin Kraukling (1792-1873, journalist, librarian and director of the Königliches Historisches Museum Dresden)..

buy now

Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice de

französischer Staatsmann (1754-1838). Autograph note signed. [Wahrscheinlich Philadelphia oder New York. 1 S. 54:116 mm. Unter Passepartout.
$ 3,786 / 3.500 € (74315/BN48299)

A plain, unpresuming note that probably once accompanied a small hospitality gift, inscribed by one of the most powerful French statesmen of all time to a Founding Father of the United States, reading: "Presented to hon. M. Burr / by M. Talleyrand". The Frenchman's use of English appears to be a polite signal of deference to his American host, for Burr's French undoubtedly would have been more than sufficient to understand the same note in the international language of education and diplomacy, whereas Talleyrand's command of English is largely agreed to have been extremely limited (cf.

Earl, p. 290). - Talleyrand's career straddled the Ancien régime, French Revolution and Restoration; he was successively a bishop, a revolutionary who assisted in the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, an exile in America, and later Foreign Minister to both Napoleon and his successor, the restored Bourbon king, Louis XVIII. Talleyrand had left revolutionary France just before the beginning of the Great Terror on a diplomatic mission to Britain, but earlier French exiles pressured Pitt to expel him to the Republic, where a warrant for his arrest had been issued in the meantime. "A return to France meant certain death, and most of the other countries of Europe were openly hostile to him for the part he had played in the early days of the Revolution. In mid-February, 1794, he booked a passage on the American ship 'William Penn'. He had made up his mind; the United States would be his refuge until such time as France returned to a normal, stable, and reasonable condition" (Earl, p. 282). - In America, Talleyrand settled comfortably into the cosmopolitan society of Philadelphia, the federal capital and a haven for Gallic émigrés. Fortified with his reputation as well as with warm letters of recommendation to Washington, Benjamin Rush and the Hamilton family, the French exile found American drawing rooms open to him, and "from his April arrival until his visit to New York in June, 1794, Talleyrand was hardly ever without an invitation to dinner" (Earl, p. 289). One of his famous hosts was Aaron Burr, two years Talleyrand's junior and then serving as U.S. Senator representing New York. At his Richmond Hill estate in Manhattan, which he had purchased in 1794, Burr "maintained a liberal establishment, and exercised the hospitality which was then in vogue. Talleyrand, Volney, Louis Philippe, and other strangers of distinction, whom the French Revolution drove into exile, were [there] entertained with princely profusion and elegance" (Parton I, p. 154). Burr's biographer Parton reports that Talleyrand was among those with whom the Senator "became particularly intimate" (ibid.), and it is possible that Burr, who like Talleyrand had forsaken theology for politics, sensed in his guest a kindred instinct for nimbly "doubling one's choices" in that ever-shifting world. Indeed, Alexander Hamilton's biographer Chernow describes Burr as an "agile opportunist", a "chameleon who evaded clear-cut positions on most issues and was a genius at studied ambiguity" - a portrait recreated in the words put into his mouth by a recent broadway hit: "Talk less, smile more - don't let them know what you're against or what you're for." The loose friendship between the two statesmen, both notorious womanizers, lasted throughout the Frenchman's American exile: as late as 1796, Parton writes, Talleyrand was among the notabilities invited to a dinner party which Burr gave at his Philadelphia residence for the Mohawk chief Joseph Brant (cf. p. 204). - When the political climate in France changed after the fall of Robespierre and the threat of the guillotine receded, Talleyrand petitioned to the National Convention for permission to return. The intercessions of Madame de Stael and other friends proved successful. "On June 3, 1796, Talleyrand paid a visit to the French Minister to the United States, Pierre Auguste Adet, and received his passport. The last barrier had been hurdled" (Earl, p. 297). On 13 June, Talleyrand left Burr and the United States behind him, sailing back to Europe and an extraordinary career on the Danish vessel "Den Nye Prove" - "The New Enterprise". His host Burr would go on to serve as third U.S. Vice President, though his political career was to be ruined when he famously shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel, eight years hence. When the tables were turned and Burr himself was an exile in France in 1810, the affair proved to have frustrated his hopes of gaining access to Napoleon through his old acquaintance, who had also been a friend of his opponent's: "when Burr requested an interview, Talleyrand rebuffed him with a haughty note: 'General Hamilton's likeness always hangs over my mantle'" (Merrill/Endicott, p. 32). - A slight waterstain. Removed from an old collection; mounted on backing paper with the collector's bio-bibliographical annotation "Galerie hist[orique] des contemp[orains] VIII. 319b" (referencing the 8th volume of the said work, published in 1820)..

buy now

sold

 
Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles-Maurice de

Brief mit eigenh. U.
Autograph ist nicht mehr verfügbar

Written in his role as Foreign Minister under Napoleon to the politician Antoine François Péré (1746-1835) regarding his wish to be included in the Department of Foreign Affairs. Talleyrand has received Péré's request, but the subject will not be raised until the coming Vendémiaire (October/November). Talleyrand will see to it that all the necessary documents and testimonials are submitted to him by then: "J'ai reçu, Citoyen, la pétition par la quelle vous m'exprimez le désir d'être compris dans l'organisation du Département des Relations Extérieurs. Le travail à faire sur cet objet est remis au mois de Vendémiaire prochain. A cette époque j'aurai soin de me faire représenter votre demande et les titres ou les témoignages sur les quels vous l'aurez appuyée [...]" (I have received, fellow Citizen, the petition by which you express to me the desire to be included in the organisation of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The work to be done on this object is postponed until the month of the coming Vendémiaire. At that time, I will be sure to have your request put to me and the titles or testimonies on which you base it"). - On the printed letterhead of the "République Française". Somewhat foxed.


Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles-Maurice de

Eigenh. Brief mit U.
Autograph ist nicht mehr verfügbar

Written in his role as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the Directorate. Addressed to the Ambassador of Sardinia, Prospero Balbo (1762-1837) in order to arrange a meeting for the following afternoon as a public hearing would be held: "Demain est un jour d'audience publique: voulez vous permettre que notre rendezvous soit pour aprèsmidi à une heure et demie [...]". (Tomorrow is a day of public hearing: would you allow that our meeting take place in the afternoon at half past one [...]".). - Talleyrand was appointed Citizen's Foreign Minister by the Directorate in 1797 under the leadership of Paul de Barras through the intercession of Madame de Staël. - With the watermark of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a torn hole resulting from letter opening.


Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice de

Eigenh. Brief mit U.
Autograph ist nicht mehr verfügbar