244 - LA ROCHEFOUCAULD (François de), 1613–1680.

LA ROCHEFOUCAULD (François de), 1613–1680. Autograph letter, undated, 1 oblong 8vo, [to M. de Duras (according to a later handwritten note in pencil)]. An urgent letter to Duras regarding a confidential mission. La Rochefoucauld implores him to undertake the journey they have agreed upon without delay, as it is of the utmost importance, and asks him to obtain his instructions from the bearer of this letter. The secrecy surrounding the very purpose of the mission and the use of an intermediary tasked with verbally conveying his “orders” underscore the confidential nature of the undertaking. If the attribution to “M. de Duras” indicated by the later note is correct, the natural candidate among La Rochefoucauld’s circle is Jacques Henri de Durfort, Marquis and later Duke of Duras (1625–1704), future Marshal of France and a prominent military figure during the reign of Louis XIV. Rare. Includes its original cultural property export certificate from the Ministry of Culture.