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Manuscript DS in French, signed "Marie Antoinette," one page, 9.5 x 14.5, November 20, 1789. Document addressed to the Administrator of the Royal Treasury during the first months of the Revolution, directing Marc Antoine Francois Randon de la Tour to pay for expenditures of the household. In part (translated): "Pay in cash to our two valets of the wardrobe the sum of seven hundred and thirty two livres, which we granted them as an additional food payment, in consideration of their service during the year." Signed at the conclusion in ink by Marie Antoinette, and countersigned by Pierre Jean Baptiste Beaugeard. In fine condition, with light foxing and toning to edges.
In 1788, the spending of the Royal Household alone made up 13% of total state expenses. By 1789, the country's finances were in disarray and the impoverished people were in uproar over the king's absolute power and frivolous lifestyle. On October 5, 1789, an angry mob marched on the Palace of Versailles and attempted to kill Queen Marie Antoinette. After the situation was defused by the Marquis de Lafayette, Marie Antoinette and the royal family were forced to return to Paris from Versailles and placed under house arrest in Tuileries Palace. This document, dating to mere weeks after their arrival at Tuileries, documents the reality of Marie Antoinette's ostentatious lifestyle, reinforcing the legend of the queen’s extravagant spending.
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