138 - GASTON of France, 1608–1660.

GASTON of France, 1608–1660. Autograph letter signed “Gaston,” Paris, May 12, 1622, ½ page in-4, to one of his sisters, probably Christine of France, Princess of Piedmont. A charming letter expressing brotherly affection from the future “Grand Monsieur,” aged only fourteen, thanking his sister for the seashells she had gathered for him herself: “"My sister, I will always greatly cherish whatever you give me, especially the seashells you sent me, since you gathered them yourself."" In return, the young prince offers her his affection, “which Valin will assure you will be shown to you whenever you desire it.” The son of Henry IV and Marie de’ Medici, and the younger brother of Louis XIII, Gaston of France was still only fourteen years old and had not yet become Duke of Orléans (he would receive this appanage in 1626). The man who would later be nicknamed the “Grand Monsieur” (to distinguish him from the “Petit Monsieur,” Philippe, brother of Louis XIV), would become one of the most turbulent figures of Louis XIII’s reign, engaging in numerous conspiracies and acts of opposition against Richelieu before taking part in the Fronde. The recipient is not named. Gaston had three surviving sisters at the time: Elizabeth of France (1602–1644), Queen of Spain since her marriage to Philip IV; Christine of France (1606–1663), married to Victor Amadeus of Savoy and Princess of Piedmont; and Henriette-Marie of France (1609–1669), still in France, who would become Queen of England in 1625 through her marriage to Charles I. Christine of France seems to us to be the most likely recipient. Having resided at the court of Savoy since her marriage in 1619, she could naturally have sent her younger brother, from Italy, these “seashells” that she herself had collected; the presence of an intermediary, Valin (unfortunately unidentified), tasked with conveying Gaston’s feelings to the princess, also fits better with a sister who was far from the French court. Henriette-Marie, who was still living with her family in France, seems less likely; Élisabeth, who was living at the Spanish court, remains a possibility as well. Preserved in its Charavay pouch (bearing the number 43460).