GÉRANDO (Joseph-Marie de). - Lot 121

GÉRANDO (Joseph-Marie de). Born in Lyon on February 29, 1772—died in Paris on November 10, 1842. Member of the Council of State, Commander of the Legion of Honor, member of the Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres. A leading thinker of the early 19th century, close to Madame de Staël, and author notably of *Des signes et de l'art de penser* (1800) and pioneering works in anthropology and the philosophy of knowledge. He was also instrumental in the founding of the École des Chartes and was elected in 1832 to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. Autograph letter signed “B. de Gérando,” addressed to an unnamed correspondent. Paris, January 9, 1840. 1 page, in-4. A letter accompanying documents, revealing Gérando’s administrative and scholarly activities during the final years of his life. He announces the dispatch of a second batch of documents requested by Ramón de la Sagra, a Spanish naturalist and economist who was then associated with French intellectual circles. He asks his correspondent to kindly forward these documents along with the enclosed letter, and to make a copy using the attached list, which is intended to accompany the shipment. The tone, both courteous and methodical, reflects Gérando’s administrative rigor and the importance he placed on the controlled circulation of documents. The letter concludes with the customary closing phrases, marked by great courtesy: “with the highest regard” and “your humble servant.” This document is of interest for the study of Franco-Spanish intellectual networks and the exchange of documents in the first half of the 19th century.