144 - GOUGES, Olympe de (Marie Gouze) [Montauban, 1748 –, 1793], woman of letters.

GOUGES, Olympe de (Marie Gouze) [Montauban, 1748 –, 1793], woman of letters. Signed letter addressed to Mr. Fervan, Minister of War. Paris, August 24, 1792; 2½ pages, in-4°. “Every good citizen, Sir, has welcomed your return to the Ministry with pleasure, and I, in particular, feel genuine satisfaction, convinced, Sir, that the services I have rendered to my country will count for something in your eyes. My son was a second lieutenant in the regiment of which you were colonel; you promised me that, upon your promotion to the Ministry, you would take an interest in his fate.” She then explains her son’s military career and why he should be promoted. “Sir, my son deserves to receive this rank over many other patriots of equal merit; he possesses military skill, and by granting him this favor, you will, sir, be doing justice to the good cause he will defend to the last drop of his blood.” Enclosed is a letter from a secretary of Olympe de Gouge addressed to Madame Duchêne, a bookseller on Rue Saint-Jacques, explaining the shipment of several copies of books that Olympe de Gouge is sending to Madame de Gouges to sell: “50 copies of *The Enslavement of Blacks*, 50 of *Forced Vows*, and 50 of *The French Spirit*. The plays are all priced at 30 for 20, and *L’Esprit français* at 15 for 10.”