REMEMBERING THE CAPTIVITY OF THE DUKE OF... - Lot 164 - Osenat

Lot 164
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1000 - 1500 EUR
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Result : 1 500EUR
REMEMBERING THE CAPTIVITY OF THE DUKE OF... - Lot 164 - Osenat
REMEMBERING THE CAPTIVITY OF THE DUKE OF BASSANO (1793-1795) Goose quill pen tip, 3.5 cm with remaining traces of ink. In a glass bottle engraved "KUBSTEIN" with glass stopper, closing by a hinged cap, in vermeil. Length of the bottle: 6 cm. Accompanied by a handwritten envelope "Small box containing a pen pipe which my grandfather used in the prison in Kubstein to write his comedies. Duke of Bassano. "and a cardboard box from the manufacturer "COUP Galerie Montpensier" annotated "Featherpipe from the mumps of my father in his prison in Kubstein, cut with a piece of flint and which he used to write his comedies. "Provenance: Descendants of the Dukes of Bassano. History: Diplomat, MARET was minister plenipotentiary in Naples and arrested by order of the Austrian government, he was imprisoned in Mantua with Sémenonville, ambassador in Constantinople, his captivity, which lasted thirty-two months, was very painful and to distract himself, he composed a play in verse. Austria exchanged the two prisoners for the daughter of Louis XVI. Maret spent part of his captivity in the citadel of Kuffstein. In his memoirs, Maret mentions this pen and probably the vial that contains it: "I needed a pen and ink, I made both. I had kept the vial [possibly the one we present with the pen] in which was contained the oil I had been granted as a cosmetic. I threw in a few pieces of iron which I detached from my door, and on which I poured a little vinegar, by means of the heat of my stove, I thus obtained a fairly concentrated dissolution of iron 1. I had some tea given to me, and after having removed some of the liquid, I placed the teapot over the flame of a lighted candle, to extract from the leaves of the tea the astringent principle which they contain. I hoped in this way to replace the gall-nut which enters into the composition of ordinary ink, and I succeeded. One can understand the joy I must have felt, when, on pouring a part of this decoction into my iron dissolution, I saw the black precipitate form. The splinters of a piece of flint which had been given to me to light my pipe provided me with a sort of penknife, which I used to cut off the cover of my bolster, in which I discovered part of the cylinder of a feather. I cut it with the penknife of my own invention, and when I had mounted it on a broom, I found myself provided with all that was necessary for writing! I began by writing essays on various subjects, but this was too fast, and the prose used up too much paper. I then imagined to write a comedy in verse. "SOUVENIR OF THE DUC DE BASSANO'S IMPRISONMENT (1793-95) TOP OF GOOSE QUILL
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