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an old manuscript with a handwritten letter on it and a picture of a bird on the page
Ader

377 - Joseph de MAISTRE. Autograph letter.
See original version (French)

Estimate €400 - €500
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Description
Joseph de MAISTRE. Autograph letter. ‘Your friend and brother Joseph’, Turin, 19 August 1818, to the Chevalier de Saint-Réal in Genoa; 3 pages in-4, address (small tear caused by a broken seal). Family letter (Chevalier Jacques-Alexis de Saint-Réal had married Anne de Maistre, sister of Joseph and Xavier). Saint-Réal has just been appointed Intendant of the Navy in Genoa, and his brother-in-law is delighted at his arrival with his wife at their ‘dock’. He, for his part, is up to his neck in paperwork, having opened all his files, and with the help of his daughter Constance, he has ‘finally managed to extricate myself from this chaos in which I was completely losing my head. […] You will shortly receive the extract from my *Philosophical Lucubrations*’ in exchange for the Chevalier’s geological observations… Maistre then gives news of the family: his children ‘make him, it must be admitted, as happy as one can be here on earth’; his two daughters have made great progress: ‘it may be a father’s delusion, but I see them improving every day. Make fun of me if you like. My Rodolphe is also making excellent progress’; his wife Françoise, whom he praises highly, is working wonders. But he cannot recover from ‘the enormous loss’ he suffered with the death of his brother [André-Marie de Maistre, the unordained Bishop of Aosta, who died on 18 July 1818]: ‘That dear André is always before my eyes. Sometimes I speak to him; never has there been a dead person more alive to me.” He hopes, however, for a future reunion: “Shall I, or shall I not, cross the Alps? It is still an unsolvable problem”… Formerly in the collection of Maurizio Seyssel of Aix.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale Letters and Autograph Manuscripts – Part II
Auction location
Auction time 10/14/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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