Description
LOUIS XVI. Testament de Louis XVI. In London: printed by W. Bulmer. For M. Peltier, [probably 1816]. Approximately 51.5 x 47.5 cm; framed under glass. Printed on silk, nominative copy for Madame Hantley. The monarchist Jean-Gabriel Peltier, publisher of the Acts of the Apostles, emigrated to London in 1792, returning temporarily to Paris after the fall of the Empire, and then permanently in 1820. The London printer William Bulmer practiced from 1790 to 1819. Header, engraved portrait of Louis XVI by Mariano Bovi after Pierre-André Le Suire. He had already been employed in London in 1792 to decorate a book published by Jean-Gabriel Peltier, Dernier tableau de Paris, ou Récit historique de la Révolution du 10 août. This copy was presented at the Château de Versailles during the Marie-Antoinette archduchess, dauphine and queen, bi-centennial exhibition, held from May 16 to November 2, 1955 (printed label with handwritten additions from the Château de Versailles, and letter signed by the museum's chief curator expressing his thanks for the loan). Print missing from the De Vinck collection. Provenance : Prince Jean-Louis de Faucigny-Lucinge (named on the label affixed at the exhibition), with a note in his hand on the verso of the frame stating: "Le Testament de Louis XVI, imprimé sur soie à Londres [...] était dans les archives de mon grand-père Charles". Joint: [Louis XVI. Testament]. S.l.n.n., [1816]. 4 pp. in-4, dry-stamped with the royal coat of arms and the name of Louis XVIII. Signed letter from Élie Decazes, as Minister of the General Police, to Napoléon Bessières, Peer de France and son of the Marshal.
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