[SAINT-DOMINGUE]. Joseph-François FOULQUIER (1745-1789), intendant of Guadeloupe and Martinique, French painter and engraver. Curious about the natural sciences and astronomy, he brought astronomers, physicists, draughtsmen etc. to these colonies, and sent plant samples to the king's gardens. He is best known today for his "grotesque and satirical compositions", which are held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. Autograph letter signed, addressed to his father. Paris, July 29, 1780. 2 pp.1/2 in-4, address and postmark on verso of second leaf. "The King has just honored me with a vast and honorable commission by charging me with bringing to St. Domingue the new laws he has kindly given to his Colonies. At the same time, His Majesty has charged me with observing in the relations and organization of the Colonies all that may be useful to the State; and has honored me with the good of the Intendancy of St. Domingue to administer there at the time when M. Président de Bongard [...] will leave his colony [...]. No one has ever received a commission as vast and as important as the one with which the King honors me at this time. Foulquier informs his addressee Monsieur Raby, a merchant, of the details of his trip, etc. It was Intendant François-Joseph de Foulquier who, in 1786, proposed to the King the creation of a botanical garden in Saint-Pierre. But the king did not follow up his request. In 1785, Foulquier was appointed intendant in Saint-Domingue, Guadeloupe and Martinique.