DEPARTMENT OF PARIS - Lot 104

Lot 104
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DEPARTMENT OF PARIS - Lot 104
DEPARTMENT OF PARIS Certified true copy of the decree of 18 Thermidor, Year II, ordering the release of suspects in custody who are not subject to the law. Paris, 18 Thermidor Year II (August 5, 1794). Important official handwritten copy, 2 folio pages, written on printed letterhead of the Department of Paris, bearing the emblem of the Republic and certified as a true copy. The document reproduces the decree adopted by the National Convention on 18 Thermidor Year II, a few days after the fall of Robespierre (9 Thermidor, July 27, 1794), ordering the release of citizens detained as suspects when their arrest was not based on any of the grounds provided for by law. In particular, the text orders the Revolutionary Surveillance Committees to inform detainees or their families of the grounds for their arrest and to proceed without delay to release those unjustly imprisoned. This is one of the first documents marking the decline of the Reign of Terror and the gradual restoration of individual rights following the Thermidorian Reaction. This copy is certified as a true copy of the original signed by the secretaries of the National Convention, with mention of the representatives Merlin (of Douai), Barras, Delmas, and Serra, and subsequently authenticated by the authorities of the Department of Paris. Two folio-sized pages on laid paper with a printed letterhead. Original folds, some foxing and slight soiling from use; in very good condition. Historical Context Adopted on 18 Thermidor Year II (August 5, 1794), this decree constitutes one of the first legislative acts of the Thermidorian Reaction. After Robespierre’s fall, the Convention set out to gradually dismantle the emergency measures established during the Reign of Terror. The release of detainees arrested without legal basis marked a decisive turning point in revolutionary policy and heralded the imminent demise of emergency institutions such as the Surveillance Committees and the Revolutionary Tribunal. The official copies distributed to departmental administrations to ensure the immediate implementation of the Convention’s decrees are significantly less common than simple legislative prints and provide particularly interesting insights into the administrative functioning of the Republic in the aftermath of 9 Thermidor.
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