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179 - ANTRAIGUES (LOUIS-EMMANUEL-HENRI-ALEXANDRE DE LAUNAY, COMTE …
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Estimate €300 - €400
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Description
ANTRAIGUES (LOUIS-EMMANUEL-HENRI-ALEXANDRE DE LAUNAY, COMTE D'). "WE DEFENDED THE SAME CAUSE...". Autograph letter signed to the viscountess of Mirabeau. Renens near Lausanne, 27 September [1790]. 3/4 p. in-12. "It was only yesterday... that I learned that you are in Yverdon. News only reaches me late in my solitude, and I was annoyed because I was unable to send you my last letter as soon as it appeared. But this tribute from the best friend of the brave Vicomte de Mirabeau. We defended the same cause, and I hope that we will meet again to defend it, always united by the same feelings and the same esteem. Please accept my respectful homage...". Adélaïde de Robien (1756-1814) had married Viscount Boniface de Mirabeau (1754-1792), who was the younger brother of the famous tribune and who was elected deputy to the States General. The couple emigrated to Switzerland, but the viscountess remained alone in Yverdon while her husband left to join the army of the Prince of Condé. ONE OF THE GREAT ADVENTURERS OF HIS TIME, AGENT OF THE CONTREREVOLUTION IN EUROPE, LE COMTE D'ANTRAIGUES (1753-1812) began his career with the Gardes du corps, which he abandoned to travel and frequent literary circles. Elected to the States General, he became a suspect on all sides, and emigrated in 1790 with his lover, the singer Saint-Huberty (whom he then married). He became a counter-revolutionary activist and was extremely active, serving Spain and then Russia, as well as the English, while at the same time serving the interests of the future Louis XVIII. Arrested by Bonaparte in Italy, his papers were confiscated, but he was able to escape and resume his activities in connection with various European powers: Russia in particular made him a State Councillor, a diplomat in Saxony and then in England. When he arrived in London, he eventually lost his Russian accreditation and delivered the secret articles of the Treaty of Tilsitt (1807) to the English. For a time, he served as French affairs correspondent to Foreign Secretary Canning, but was later murdered in murky circumstances, his killer being shot and his papers confiscated.
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About the sale The Empire at Fontainebleau - Second day
Auction location
Auction time 06/21/2026 at 10:30 AM
Pictures credits:
Michel Bury and Henri du Cray
See original version (French)
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