- Museum number
- 1859,0514.306
- Title
- Series: Lettres de Madame de Sévigné
- Description
-
First volume, part one, of the 1823 edition of Madame de Sévigné's letters; covering the editor's foreword, a review of bibliographical notices on various editions of the "Letters", an essay on the influence, taste, judgement and opinions of Madame de Sévigné, and a notice on her ancestors and descendants; extra-illustrated with 292 items, including portraits, views and letters; portraits including Louis XIII, Anne of Austria, Louis XIV and others figures contemporary to Madame de Sévigné; views of Paris and its surroundings, notably the Louvre, the Tuileries, and other related subjects, and of other cities such as Rennes (see bird's eye view No98), Dijon and others; historical scenes, such as the temporary architecture erected for the entry of Louis XIV into Paris in 1660 (No2) and the Estates-General of 1614 (No10), both engraved by by Herisset after Delamonce; a Parliament session presided by Charles Duke of Burgundy (No136); also letters and facsimiles of letters
Extra-illustrations include
No1: portrait of Louis XII by Briot, engraving, 1618
No14: allegory showing Minerva crowning a portrait of Anne of Austria resting on Fame's lap, engraving
No15: Louis XIII kneeling before a crucifix, engraving
No16: bust of the young Louis XIV, laureate, in a circular border of putti and vine, etching
No21: fragment of a family tree showing Henri IV, Marie de Médicis, Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, engraving
No40: Aesop addressing various animals whilst pointing at a bust of La Fontaine, after Oudry, etched state of illustration to La Fontaine's "Fables choisies" (Paris: Desaint & Saillant/ Durand, 1755)
No60: Fame blowing her trumpet and carrying an open book; etching; an illustration from "Douze tableaux du roy très chrétien Louis XIV" (Paris, 1655)
No66: Religion holding a portrait of Anne of Austria, on a pedestal reading "Cest votre piété qui vous rend invincible"; etching
No68: allegory with female figure seated in front of a dais, holding a Hand of Justice and a rope to which are tied, left, a figure with snakes for hair and a mask, and a soldier extinguishing a torch, with above the dais a banderole reading "Sa seule authorité peut surmonter ces monstres"; etching
No69: allegory showing the young King Louis XIV and Mazarin on a ship, with above a banderole reading "Ma navire avec vous surgit heureusement"; etching
No71: bust of a young Louis XIV between busts of Henri IV and Louis XIII, suspended from an arch, with lettered caption: "les Aygles ne font point de timides colombes"; etching
No89: Louis XIII on a chariot, protected form thunder by divine intervention, while behind him the chariot driver, who has been struck by lightning, kneels on the ground; engraving
No103: a medieval tournament showing a melee of knights carrying the standards of France and Brittany, etching
No134-135: two views of the interior of the Carthusian church in Dijon, with monuments to the Dukes of Burgundy, engraving
No223 to 230: series on the procession in honour of Louis XIV given in 1662 (the Grand Carrousel), with title and seven plates, entitled ""Praefectorum Castrorum ", etchings by Israel Silvestre
No231 to 239: "Les plaisirs de l'Isle enchantée", title and eight plates relating the festivities given in Versailles in May 1664, etched by Israel Silvestre
No240 to 245: plates from "Les divertissements de Versailles" etched by le Pautre and Chauveau in 1675-76
No246 to 250: plates from "Relation de la fête de Versailles du 18 juillet 1668" etched by Le Pautre
No256: an allegory showing Mazarin holding the hand of the infant Louis XIV and walking past a tholos lettered with the words "Un tel gage en sa main la rend Inviolable"; etching
The letters and handwritten documents include
No265 a letter from Madame de Sévigné to Madame de Belluse, unsigned and undated but "undoubtedly autograph" according to a handwritten note (No266)
No268: articles of marriage between Madame de Sévigné's daughter Françoise-Marguerite and François Adhémar de Monteil, Comte de Grignan, 1669
No285 to 291 are facsimiles of various letters
- Producer name
-
Print made by: Isaac Briot (1)
-
Print made by: Antoine Hérisset (2, 10)
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After: Jean Delamonce (2, 10)
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Print made by: Frans Harrewyn (3)
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Print made by: Abraham Bosse (5)
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After: Daniel Dumonstier (5)
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Print made by: Grégoire Huret (12)
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Print made by: Philippe Simonneau (13)
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After: Antoine Coypel (13, 51a)
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Print made by: Pierre Philippe Choffard (20, 258, 292)
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Print made by: Nicolas Cochin (23)
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Print made by: René Gaillard (28, 261, 262)
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Print made by: Michel Lasne (31, 141, 196)
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Print made by: Gilles Rousselet (32)
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Print made by: Jean Toustain (35)
-
Published by: Pierre Gallays (35)
-
Print made by: Bernard Romain Julien (36)
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After: Jean André Pujos (36)
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Print made by: Charles Étienne Gaucher (37)
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Print made by: Augustin de Saint-Aubin (38, 106, 107)
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After: Hyacinthe Rigaud (39, 77, 111, 260)
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After: Jean Baptiste Oudry (40)
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Print made by: Michael van der Gucht (42)
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Print made by: Gérard Edelinck (47, 85, 88, 210, 260)
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Print made by: Pieter Rucholle (51)
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Published by: Pieter de Jode II (51)
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After: Nicolas de Largillière (58, 271, 272)
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Print made by: C Mathey (62)
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Print made by: Louis-Pierre Baltard (63)
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Print made by: Étienne Desrochers (64)
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Print made by: Pierre van Schuppen (70)
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After: Roger de Piles (70)
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Print made by: Nicolas Habert (72, 104, 280)
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After: Jean Jouvenet (72)
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Print made by: Louis Cossin (73, 74)
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After: Claude Lefebvre (73, 74, 210)
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Print made by: Pierre Daret (79)
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After: Charles Nicolas Cochin fils (80, 105, 106, 107, 277, 278)
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Print made by: Charles Simonneau (81)
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Print made by: Pierre Drevet (82)
-
After: François de Troy (82)
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Print made by: Madeleine Horthemels (84)
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After: Philippe de Champaigne (85, 88, 173, 188, 209, 257)
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Print made by: Ange Laurent de La Live de Jully (90)
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Print made by: Marie François Dien (94, 95, 217, 219)
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After: Charles Joseph de la Celle, Chevalier de Chateaubourg (94, 95, 217, 219)
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Print made by: Jean Baptiste Réville (97)
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Print made by: F B Lorieux (97, 154, 214)
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Print made by: Claude Louis Masquelier (100, 271, 272)
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After: Jean Petitot (100)
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Print made by: Pierre Michel Adam (101)
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After: Achille Devéria (101, 153, 279)
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Print made by: Claude Henri Watelet (105, 277, 278)
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Print made by: Nicolas Perelle (108)
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Print made by: Israel Silvestre (and/or after: 108, 220, 221, 223-230, 231-239)
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Print made by: François Joullain (109)
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Print made by: Bernard Picart (111)
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Print made by: Joseph de Longueil (118)
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After: Charles Eisen (118)
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After: Frans Pourbus II (119)
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Print made by: Denis Née (134, 135)
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After: Jean Baptiste Lallemand (134, 135)
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Print made by: Edmé Moreau (137)
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Print made by: Bizard (139, 143, 146, 157, 163)
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Printed by: Jobard (139, 143, 146, 149, 152, 155, 157, 160, 163, 166)
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Print made by: Georges Jacques Gatine (145)
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After: Louis Marie Lanté (145)
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Print made by: Edmond Sagot (149, 152, 155, 158, 160, 166, 186)
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Print made by: Jean Claude Auguste Fauchery (153)
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Print made by: Jean Jérôme Baugean (159, 179)
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After: Jacques Martin Silvestre Bence (159)
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Print made by: Jean Morin (172, 173, 188, 209, 257)
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Print made by: Jacques Lubin (176)
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After: Nicolas Marie Joseph Chapuy (179)
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Print made by: Robert Nanteuil (181)
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Print made by: Jean Picart (185)
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Print made by: Nicolas de Larmessin I (187, 251, 255, 253)
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After: Jean Démosthène Dugourc (190)
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Print made by: Jean Marot (198)
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Print made by: Nicolas Regnesson (202)
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After: Ferdinand Elle (202, 206, 207, 261, 262, 263)
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Print made by: Jean Louis Roullet (206, 207)
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Print made by: Jean Lepautre (240, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246-250)
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Print made by: François Chauveau (241)
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Print made by: Sébastien Pinssio (263)
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Print made by: Jacques Chéreau (267, 284)
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Print made by: George Cooke (270)
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After: Peter De Wint (270)
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Print made by: Pierre François Bertonnier (279)
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After: Louis Tocqué (281)
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Print made by: Antoine Louis Romanet (282)
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After: Jean-Simon Berthélemy (282)
- Production date
- 1823 (edition)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 313 millimetres (sheet size)
-
Width: 230 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné (1626-96): "Lettres", Paris 1823 (edited by M. Gault de Saint-Germain; first edition published 1725).
The twelve volumes of the 1823 edition have been extra-illustrated with 9316 prints (etchings, engravings, lithographs; some contemporary to Madame de Sévigné, others made as late as the 19th century), drawings and handwritten documents by Ellis Ellis, Esq. of Bath, and rebound by J. Wright (see stamp under first print) in thirty-eight quarto volumes in 1847, and bequeathed in 1859 (a letter dating from 12 April 1847 written by Ellis Ellis and indicating his intent to bequeath the volumes to the British Museum has been pasted at the beginning of the first volume). The volumes were given register Nos. 1859,0514.306 to 343. Within each volume the prints have been consecutively numbered.
There is a manuscript index (shelved at Desk D.1.4-6) in three volumes, two being devoted to portraits, the third to history and topography. There is no index to artists and engravers, or to the many sorts of prints (book-illustration, costume plates etc) in which the volumes are very rich. The quality is high, with many proofs; larger prints, however, had to be cut or folded, whilst other prints were trimmed.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2022-23 6 Sept-22 Jan, London, BM, G90a '2 million prints: online for all'
- Associated names
-
Illustration to: Madame de Sévigné
-
Portrait of: Madame de Sévigné (76, 100, 267, 283, 284)
-
Portrait of: Louis XIII, King of France and Navarre (1, 3, 5, 12, 15, 21, 48, 89, 187)
-
Portrait of: Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre (30, 35, 50, 51, 52, 69, 78, 79, 111, 218, 253, 256)
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Portrait of: Anne of Austria, Queen and Regent of France (14, 21, 25, 31, 32, 33, 34, 79, 254, 255, 257)
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Portrait of: Denis Marius de Perrin (28)
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Portrait of: Jean François de la Harpe (36, 65, 67)
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Portrait of: Jean François Marmontel (37)
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Portrait of: Louis Jules Barbon Mancini Mazarini, Duke of Nivernois (38, 83)
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Portrait of: Jean de La Fontaine (10, 39, 40)
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Representation of: Aesop (40)
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Portrait of: Jean Louis Guez de Balzac (41)
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Portrait of: Vincent Voiture (42)
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Portrait of: Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy (47, 210)
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Portrait of: Pierre Bayle (57, 64)
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Portrait of: Jean Bouhier (58)
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Portrait of: Claude Bouhier de Lantenay (59)
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Portrait of: Jean Bouhier (61)
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Portrait of: Françoise Marguerite de Sévigné, comtesse de Grignan (62, 263, 264, 269)
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Portrait of: Cardinal Jules Mazarin (69, 256)
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Portrait of: Gilles Ménage (70)
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Portrait of: Dominique Bouhours (72)
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Portrait of: Valentin Conrart (73, 74)
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Portrait of: Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (77, 82)
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Portrait of: Antoine Léonard Thomas (80)
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Portrait of: Blaise Pascal (81)
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Portrait of: Robert Arnauld d'Andilly (85)
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Portrait of: Antoine Arnauld (88)
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Portrait of: Bernard de Fontenelle (90)
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Portrait of: Henri de Sévigné (94, 95, 101, 217)
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Portrait of: Jacques Bénigne Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux (104)
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Portrait of: Prosper Jolyot, sieur de Crébillon (105)
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Portrait of: Alexis Piron (106)
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Portrait of: Jean Philippe Rameau (107)
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Portrait of: Jean Racine (109)
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Portrait of: André Frémiot, Archbishop of Bourges (112)
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Portrait of: Philippe Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duc de Mercoeur (115)
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Portrait of: Henri de Lorraine, Duc de Mayenne (117)
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Portrait of: Henri IV, King of France and Navarre (118, 119)
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Portrait of: Nicolas Brulart, Marquis de Sillery (121, 141)
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Portrait of: St Jane Frances de Chantal (124, 125, 128, 131, 132, 168, 169, 197)
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Representation of: John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (134)
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Portrait of: Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (136, 138)
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Representation of: Joanna of Flanders (145)
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Portrait of: St Francis de Sales (171, 172, 174)
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Portrait of: Jean Pierre Camus de Pont-Carré, Bishop of Belley (173)
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Portrait of: Pierre Jeannin (176, 177, 181, 182)
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Portrait of: Henri de Schomberg, Comte de Nanteuil (183, 184)
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Portrait of: Jean Caylar d'Anduze de Saint-Bonnet, Marquis de Toiras (185, 200)
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Portrait of: Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu (188, 191)
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Portrait of: Henri de Talleyrand-Périgord, comte de Chalais (190)
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Portrait of: Charles de Schomberg, Duc d'Halluin (193, 194, 195)
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Portrait of: Henri Cauchon de Maupas (196, 199)
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Portrait of: Charles Cauchon de Maupas, Baron du Tour (202)
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Portrait of: Anne de Gondi (204)
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Portrait of: Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Barbezieux (209)
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Portrait of: Charles de Sévigné (219)
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Portrait of: Françoise Louise de la Baume le Blanc, Duchess of la Vallière (251, 252)
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Portrait of: François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg (260)
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Portrait of: Mrs Anne Dacier (261)
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Portrait of: André Dacier (262)
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Portrait of: Pauline de Grignan, marquise de Simiane (271, 272)
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Portrait of: Charles Emmanuel Philibert de Simiane, Marquis di Pianezza (273)
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Portrait of: Romée de Villeneuve (274, 276)
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Portrait of: Louis de Villeneuve (275)
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Portrait of: Claude Alexandre de Villeneuve, Comte de Vence (277, 278)
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Portrait of: Jean Baptiste Massillon, Bishop of Clermont (279)
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Portrait of: Charles de Villeneuve de Vence, Bishop of Glandèves (280)
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Portrait of: Françoise de Castellane, Marquise de Mirabeau (281)
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Portrait of: Julie de Villeneuve de Vence de Saint-Vincent (282)
- Associated places
-
Topographic representation of: Louvre (7, 16, 17, 18, 23, 2, 63)
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Topographic representation of: Tuileries Palace (6, 24, 54)
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Topographic representation of: Palais-Royal (8)
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Topographic representation of: Palais du Luxembourg (27, 189, 192)
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Topographic representation of: Notre Dame (42)
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Topographic representation of: Bastille (44)
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Topographic representation of: Château de Madrid (46)
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Topographic representation of: Vosges, Place des (56)
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Topographic representation of: Dijon (108, 134, 135, 175)
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Topographic representation of: Vincennes (11)
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Topographic representation of: Rennes (98)
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Topographic representation of: Nantes (99)
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Topographic representation of: Grenoble (102)
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Topographic representation of: Reims (126, 137)
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Topographic representation of: Anet (129)
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Topographic representation of: Arcueil (127)
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Topographic representation of: Château de Chilly-Mazarin (133)
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Topographic representation of: Rouen (147)
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Topographic representation of: Lyon (148)
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Topographic representation of: Semur (164, 166, 179)
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Topographic representation of: Château de Fontainebleau (215)
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Topographic representation of: Chantilly (château 216)
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Topographic representation of: Palace of Versailles (220, 221)
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Topographic representation of: Montelimar (270)
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Topographic representation of: Hôtel de Ville
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Topographic representation of: Hôtel de Soissons
- Acquisition date
- 1859
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1859,0514.306