PRIVAT. - Lot 268

PRIVAT. Physician to King Louis XIII. P.S. "Privat". 1630; oblong parchment in-4. Beautiful handwritten document on parchment, entirely autographed and signed by the ordinary physician to King Louis XIII, relating to the payment of his annual wages. The document constitutes a receipt addressed to the Treasurer of the King's Household for the sum of "six cens livres", corresponding to the fees due "pour mon estat et appointements de six derniers moys de l'année mil six cens et trente". The text, written in elegant 17th-century administrative cursive, bears witness to the financial workings of the royal household under Louis XIII, and to the remuneration attached to court medical positions. The large, well-marked "Privat" signature appears at the bottom of the document. On the reverse, an autograph receipt for the sum of "six cens livres", in accordance with administrative practice designed to facilitate payment control and accounting archiving. Beautifully presented document, on quality vellum, preserved in good condition despite old folds, slight soiling and traces of use typical of this type of seventeenth-century administrative document.