LE ROUX, Étienne (attributed, most likely). - Lot 192

Lot 192
Go to lot
Estimation :
80 - 100 EUR
Bid on drouot.com
LE ROUX, Étienne (attributed, most likely). - Lot 192
LE ROUX, Étienne (attributed, most likely). L.S. “Le Roux,” Paris, May 13, 1793 (handwritten note: Year II of the Republic), 1 folio page, addressed to the district of Montreuil. An important letter regarding the retention of bakers in their positions during the first months of the War in the Vendée. Addressed to the administrators of the Montreuil district, this letter was written by a war commissary and senior commissioner of the Executive Council, positions expressly indicated beneath the signature. The signatory informs the district that young bakers are seeking to enlist in the contingent intended to come to the aid of the rebellious departments in the West: “I have just learned that the citizen baker’s apprentices are enlisting for the contingent you are required to provide to come to the aid of the departments of the Vendée… ” He immediately points out that the decrees of the Commune and the public interest require that the bakeries remain open to ensure the capital’s food supply: “The citizens demand that you not allow the bakeries to be abandoned… ” Fearing the unrest that a bread shortage would cause, he demands that every means be employed to prevent their departure and concludes with a phrase characteristic of revolutionary rhetoric: “Apprentice bakers must be exempt from conscription; it is enough to tell Republicans what the law requires for it to be enforced. ” This letter serves as a first-rate account of the difficulties faced by the revolutionary government in the spring of 1793, when the Republic was simultaneously confronted with the Vendée uprising, the war against the coalition powers, and growing tensions over Paris’s food supply. It illustrates the policy of exemption granted to certain professions deemed indispensable to the maintenance of public order, particularly bakers, whose work is considered essential to social peace. The signatory is most likely Étienne Le Roux, the war commissioner in charge of financial affairs, several of whose administrative letters are preserved in the revolutionary archives from 1793. The signature, the office mentioned, and the known documents from this commissioner make this attribution highly probable, although it still requires confirmation by comparison with an indisputable autograph. In very fine condition. Layered paper. Calligraphic handwriting of remarkable legibility. A few small marginal tears that do not affect the text.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue