243 - LA FAYETTE (Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Countess of), 1634–1693.

LA FAYETTE (Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Countess of), 1634–1693. L.A., n.p., October 16 [1657], 1 p. and ½ in-4, to Abbé Ménage (handwritten address) (a few ink stains and marginal water stains). An interesting letter to Gilles Ménage, written during Madame de La Fayette’s first pregnancy. Unwell and pregnant with her first child, the future Abbé Louis de La Fayette, who would be born in early March 1658, Madame de La Fayette responds with tender irony to the reproaches in the letters from her former teacher and friend. She assures him that she has never stopped writing to him and blames the postal service for the lost letters, while asking for some leniency due to her health. The letter also attests to the extent of the social and literary network that connected the two correspondents: the Brissacs, who were close to the Gondis; Julie de Montausier and her sister Mlle de Rambouillet, prominent figures at the famous salon; as well as Salmonet, a confidant of Cardinal de Retz and Ménage. The mention of Mlle de Rambouillet, who would become the Countess of Grignan in 1658, supports the traditional dating of the letter to 1657. Includes its handwritten transcription and its original certificate of export for cultural property issued by the Ministry of Culture.