BELLART (Nicolas-François) (1761-1826) - Lot 308

BELLART (Nicolas-François) (1761-1826) French lawyer, magistrate and politician. Public prosecutor at the Royal Court of Paris during the Restoration, he was a leading figure in the royal judiciary and was involved in several major court cases during the reign of Louis XVIII. Official document signed "Bellart", Paris, May 29, 1818, in-folio printed by the Cour royale de Paris - Parquet - Ordre du Procureur général, with official wet stamp. Administrative order prescribing the immediate release of a prisoner from the Bicêtre prison who has served his full sentence. The document enjoins: "The concierge of the Maison de Bicêtre will immediately release, if he is not detained for any other reason, the named Jean-Benoît Poinsard..." Poinsard had been convicted of : "domestic theft to six years' imprisonment, by order of the Paris Assize Court of March 24, 1812, executed on the following May 30. The order notes that the sentence has now expired and prescribes his immediate release. This document provides particularly concrete evidence of the workings of criminal justice under the First Restoration. It sheds light on the administrative mechanisms surrounding the execution of sentences and the formalities involved in releasing prisoners from the major Parisian prisons. The piece bears the official seal of the public prosecutor's office, as well as the autograph signature of Bellart, whose career was marked by a strong influence in the French magistracy of the early 19th century. A typical document from the penitentiary administration under Louis XVIII, associating a major figure in French justice with a prisoner release procedure. Condition: good overall; administrative folds; some marginal foxing; well-preserved wet stamp; clean signature.