904 - MIRABEAU, Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Marquis de (1749–1791). Set of two signed autograph documents and one other document. [Circa 1782–1785]. Approximately 10 pp. 1/3 in-4 and folio.

MIRABEAU, Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Marquis de (1749–1791). Set of two signed autograph documents and one other document. [Circa 1782–1785]. Approximately 10 pp. 1/3 in-4 and folio. A fascinating collection relating to the separation of the Mirabeau couple, following the scandal of the eponymous affair. It consists of: - An autograph letter signed by Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, signed “The Count of Mirabeau, Jr. – Rue Neuve des Mathurins, across from the Chaussée d’Antin.” Undated. 2 pp. in-4. “I sent for you at your home, Sir, yesterday evening, and learned from you that the Minister of Justice had graciously agreed to allow you to serve as the rapporteur for the petition I submitted to the Council to obtain the annulment of thejudgment of the Parliament of Provence dated July 5, which separates me from Madame de Mirabeau in body and residence until further notice and order. The desire I had to have you serve as rapporteur, Sir, despite not having the slightest honor of knowing you—nor you, nor any of your associates—must serve to demonstrate to you both the reputation you enjoy and my firm resolve to owe justice only to the Enlightenment and to the integrity of my judge. It does not require all your kindness and all your virtues to appreciate the importance of a legal proceeding that may deprive me forever of my wife and of the joy of being a father; not to mention the considerations (less important to my heart, yet serious nonetheless, and which alone have instigated this lawsuit) regarding the substitutions and the vast fortune at stake. […]". - Signed letter from Chevalier Pierre-Joseph de Colonia, Attorney General at the Parliament of Provence, Master of Requests, and Intendant of Commerce, later Intendant of the General Farms. No place, February 13, 1784. 2 pp. in-8. Recommendation for the Countess of Mirabeau to Mr. de Velledeuil, Intendant of the Department of the General Revenue: “[...] Madame the Countess de Mirabeau, a woman well known for her misfortunes, who told me that she was to have the honor of seeing you tomorrow [...] if the ruling of the Parliament of Aix were overturned, Madame de Mirabeau would fall back into an abyss of misfortune whose end and consequences could not be foreseen; if there is any matter in the world where public opinion and considerations might have a great deal of influence, it is this one [...]”. - Handwritten memoir from the period. No place, no date. 7 pp., folio size, bound with a pink silk ribbon. A lengthy summary of the facts relating to this case, ranging from the accumulation of debts to infidelities, from the elopement with Mme. de Monnier to the trial—including a chronology of the legal proceedings—in favor of Mme. de Mirabeau. Included is a folder made of watermarked laid paper with a title, from the period. Fascinating. Mirabeau “the Younger,” a turbulent young man, a libertine, crippled by gambling debts, and no stranger to prison, had married Émilie de Covet-Marignane, daughter of the powerful Marquis de Marignane. He later met Sophie de Monnier, wife of the Marquis de Monnier, with whom he eloped to the United Provinces. Caught up with in Amsterdam, she was confined to the Convent of the Saintes-Claires, while Mirabeau returned to the Vincennes dungeon, where he devoted himself to writing. His wife filed for legal separation in 1782 and obtained it in 1783.