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181 - BARRAS (PAUL DE). Autograph letter signed to Joseph Duffour.…
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Estimate €400 - €500
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Description
BARRAS (PAUL DE). Autograph letter signed to Joseph Duffour. Fox-Amphoux ("Fos"), 12 March 1808. 2 pp. 1/2 in-4, address on spine, vestige of a red wax seal with his monogram; small tear due to opening without affecting the text, some foxing, traces of tabs. "At the moment, my dearest Dufour, of mounting my horse to go to Les Aigalades in Marseille, I receive your letter of the 3rd of this month, to which I am going to reply in a hurry. Pieirugues [Dominique Pierrugues, one of the authorised representatives of Paul de Barras] had no mission from me to see Monsieur le Maréchal, still less to propose any reduction, nor to make the slightest approach to this effect except to you alone. It was to you that I wrote to ask the Marshal [to propose to the Prince that he share in the dispute which was stopping the conclusion of the sale of the woods. The Prince's offer was 4 hundred and fifty thousand francs and my price was 5 hundred thousand...". THE "KING OF THE DIRECTOIRE", who contributed greatly to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, was expelled by the latter after the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire: he lived in Brussels from 1801 to 1804, before being authorised to return to France and to acquire the Château des Aygalades near Marseille. He went into exile again from 1810 until the fall of the Empire. THE SALE OF THE GROSBOIS ESTATE. Forced to move away from Paris, Paul de Barras sold Grosbois to General Moreau, but the latter was condemned and exiled in 1804 before being able to complete the financial settlement of the sale. The château was then acquired by various intermediaries on behalf of Joseph Fouché, who sold it to Marshal BERTHIER, Prince of Neuchâtel. BERTHIER also wanted to acquire the woods surrounding the château, which he finally obtained after lengthy negotiations facilitated by the intervention of Marshal LEFEVRE, Duke of Danzig. DOCTOR JOSEPH DUFFOUR (1761-1821), BARRAS'S PERSONAL DOCTOR, was also the doctor of the Countess of Provence (wife of the future Louis XVIII) and Josephine de Beauharnais. Appointed chief physician at the Quinze-Vingts under the Empire, he became court physician under Louis XVIII and was admitted to the Académie de Médecine in 1821.
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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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