Archive of six items signed by 18th and 19th century French military and police officials such as Francois Franchet d’Esperey, Antoine Gaston de Roquelaure, Georges Ernest Boulanger, Emmanuel Arago, and Patrice de MacMahon, which consists of roughly three ALSs, an ANS, and two DSs, all in French, including: an ALS, signed “Gal. Boulanger,” one page, both sides, 5.25 x 8.25, “War Minister, Minister’s Cabinet” letterhead, April 23, 1887, addressed to Alfred Duquesne, a Parisian publisher who had asked General Boulanger to intercede on his behalf to secure him the Legion d’Honneur, in part (roughly translated):“Be persuaded that I will do personally all that will be possible to hasten the realization of your desire, very-happy [sic] if it permits me to give you satisfaction”; a DS, signed “Le Malde chamilh,” one page, 7.25 x 9.25, “Decoration of the Lily”letterhead, March 13, no year,which grants “M. Guillot” the Fleur de Lys award, with lower left featuring original red wax seal studded with three Bourbon fleur de lys; an ALS, signed “le duc de Roquelaure,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 6.5 x 8.75, April 9, 1709, addressed to his nephew informing him that 400 lestiers of wheat had just arrived by boat delivered by one Roche de Marseille, and despite a“small difficulty with the execution of the sale,” Roquelaure thought that the nephew could still purchase the wheat for little over the estimated price minus the transportation costs; a partly printed DS, signed “Franchet Desperey,” one page, 8 x 11.75, “Interior Minister, Direction of the Police” letterhead, May 21, 1826, addressed to“M. the Prefect of Ille and Vilaine, at Rennes”and concerning a“liberated condemned” criminal named Moquet; apparently, the Ministry was not aware of charges levied against Moquet or his subsequent sentence, and thus requested instruction from local authorities; an ANS, signed “Emm. Arago,” one page, 5 x 8.25, “Interior Minister, Cabinet of the Minister” letterhead, undated, inscribed by at least three different hands, which orders a soldier named Ange de St. Louis to be granted an extension of immediate leave, with the same soldier also recommended to Capt. Zhory; and an ALS, signed “Mald MacMahon,” one page, 5.25 x 8, “Second Army Corps, Commanding Marshall, General Headquarters”letterhead, July 10, 1861, addressed to“my dear colonel,” and penned from the camp at Chalons in northeastern France, MacMahon“calls attention to” his nephew Pierre de Souriet, who was scheduled to take placement exams for admission to military school in Paris. MacMahon admitted embarrassedly that his sister “really insisted” that he write the colonel, so emphatically that “it was impossible to refuse”her. In overall very good to fine condition.
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