Lettre autographe inédite signée du Marquis de Sade, alors en liberté, au commencement de la Terreur

Unpublished autograph letter signed and dated, written in black ink and addressed to a notary. On the verso, probably in the hand of a secretary, the inscription "Sade du 1er avril 1793"; below this inscription, a short sentence in the Marquis's hand: "so that I may write to Gaufridy to send him money".

Some transverse folds from the original folding for posting.

Lengthy letter addressed to a notary while the Marquis, freed on April 2, 1790 by the abolition of royal warrants, is at liberty and attempting to put his affairs in order. After the Revolution his sons emigrated and he did not follow them. His name nevertheless appears on the list of persons who left France due to the revolutionary troubles: "I hope that with all this I will manage to have my name erased from that fatal list of émigrés." Anxious not to be considered a ci-devant Marquis in this period preceding the Terror, he insists on the persecution of which he claims to be a victim despite his good will: "It is an unparalleled atrocity that such a trick should have been played on me, who have not left Paris since the revolution, and who since that time have not ceased to give the most unequivocal proofs of my patriotism".

In this letter Sade also denounces the complexity of the workings of the French administration after the Revolution: "I have just sent M. Lions the appropriate certificate of residence and I have attached a petition to the district which he tells me is (...) essential." Impecunious, he begs his lawyer "to excite the zeal of those who owe [him] and to urge them to pay as much money as they collect immediately to M. Gauffridi (sic)" and does not hesitate to show himself obliging in order to achieve his ends: "spare no effort then I beseech you (...) always preserve for me your care and your friendship (...) I embrace and greet you with all my heart."

Sade's efforts would prove futile; in December 1793 he was imprisoned at the Madelonnettes, before being admitted, through the good offices of his friend Mme Quenet, to the Coignard de Picpus establishment, a nursing home sheltering wealthy suspects.

Interesting unpublished letter showing the unfortunate Marquis at bay, during one of his rare moments of freedom.