"I'VE JUST TAKEN THE DRUG. You really have to have all the c - Lot 237

Lot 237
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1200 - 1500 EUR
"I'VE JUST TAKEN THE DRUG. You really have to have all the c - Lot 237
"I'VE JUST TAKEN THE DRUG. You really have to have all the confidence I have in Mr Corvisart not to think you've been poisoned..." MARIE-LOUISE. Autograph letter signed "Louise", addressed to her "dear duchess" [to the Duchesse de Montebello Louise Guéhenneuc, widow of Marshal Lannes]. S.l., [April or early May 1812]. 1 p. 1/2 in-12. Beautiful letter to Marshal Lannes. "My dear duchess! I've just received your letter and I'm going down to the Emperor to ask what I should do about Mr Lacépède and I'll write to you right away. I'm going to start by scolding you for not telling me anything about your health... and what Monsieur Corvisart [Napoleon I's personal physician, Jean-Nicolas Corvisart] has ordered you to do. I want details of everything that interests you. I'm currently taking a drug he ordered. He finally found me ill and told me that I needed to take care of myself and take something when I'm alone in St-Cloud [Marie-Louise, a bit of a hypochondriac, often complained of minor or imaginary ailments]. I still have his fingerprints in my stomach, and I think he found something wrong there, because he told me he was happy to have examined me for treatment. He was also angry about a bet he lost against me, but that's a story too long to write and I'll tell you about it. I promise not to eat because I haven't been hungry for at least eight days. I hope you won't say that this nausea is a consequence of pregnancy. My stomach still hurts and I'm terribly sad." Marie-Louise took up the pen again shortly afterwards to write: "I've just taken the drug. You really have to have all the confidence I have in Mr. Corvisart not to think you've been poisoned... The Emperor tells me to notify Mr de Lacépède this evening to come at 8 or 8.30, so I beg you to tell him right away. I beg you to believe in my friendship..." Lady-in-waiting to Empress Marie-Louise, Marshal Lannes had been widowed in 1809. Born Louise Guéheneuc (1782-1856), she was the senator's daughter, and was Joséphine's lady of the palace before becoming Marie-Louise's lady-in-waiting.
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