[MANUSCRIPT - DE LAGRENE FAMILY]. LETTERS ADDRESSED TO MME D - Lot 234

[MANUSCRIPT - DE LAGRENE FAMILY]. LETTERS ADDRESSED TO MME DE LAGRENE. I. 1833-1873. - II. April 1862. - III. Letters from C. Leman to the Lagrenés. 1836-1873. S.l., 1833-73, 3 vols. large in-8, cherry half-chagrin, ribbed spine, double cold fillet on boards, gilt heads [contemporary binding], rubbed headbands and hinges. 1) 82 L.A.S. or B.A.S. laminated on fine paper, mounted on tabs. - 2) 45 L. A. S. - 3) 64 L.A.S. Important collection of passive correspondence: it includes, unfortunately in no chronological order, 191 missives addressed mainly to Maria Warinka Doubenskaïa (1810-1901), wife since 1834 of Count Melchior-Joseph-Théodose [and not Théodore, as we usually read] de Lagrené (1800-1862), a diplomat famous for having been the first French minister plenipotentiary in China to negotiate a treaty between the two countries (Treaty of Huangpu, one of the famous Treaties of Unequal, October 24, 1844). Lady-in-waiting to Grand Duchess Marie, a relative of the Tolstoys and courted by Pushkin, Warinka Dubenskaya was noticed by the young diplomat then serving as embassy secretary. They had six children (Gabrielle, Olga, Victor, Louis, Edmond and Arthur). Some of the letters are addressed to the Count (notably those from Madame C. Leman, grouped together in Volume III), but also to his eldest daughter Gabrielle. Volume II is entirely devoted to bills and letters of condolence addressed to the Countess following her husband's death on April 26, 1862 (and not January, as many biographical notes state). The set is entirely private and worldly in character (the Lagrenés were among the families most involved in the social life of the time), and teems with information on Parisian life and the salons: starting a little before Maria Warinka's marriage, these letters give a good idea of the network of relations in this still almost exclusively aristocratic diplomatic milieu; among the signatories are the names of : the Pozzo di Borgo family; Marshal Randon; Césarine d'Houdetot, Baronne de Barante (woman of letters, wife of Prosper de Barante); Thérèse Apponyi (wife of the Austrian ambassador); Edward Lee Childe ; Count Rambuteau (former Prefect of the Seine); Narcisse de Salvandy, Abel Villemain, Tanneguy Duchâtel (ministers); Henriette Guizot (one of the minister's daughters); Charles-Ernest Beulé, etc. Of note are several letters from Arthur de Lagrené, who was making a career in the navy, to his mother (e.g. this one dated December 1, 1869). [Ref. 29474]