BARRAS (PAUL DE). - Lot 181

Lot n° 181
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Estimation :
400 - 500 EUR
BARRAS (PAUL DE). - Lot 181
BARRAS (PAUL DE). Autograph letter signed to Joseph Duffour. Fox-Amphoux ("Fos"), March 12, 1808. 2 pp. 1/2 in-4, address on spine, remnant of red wax seal with his monogram; small tear from opening without affecting text, some foxing, traces of tabs. "At the moment, my dearest Dufour, of mounting my horse to go to Les Aigalades in Marseille, I receive your letter of the 3rd of this month, to which I will reply, in haste. Pieirugues [Dominique Pierrugues, one of Paul de Barras's authorized representatives] had no mission from me to see Monsieur le Maréchal, still less to propose any reduction, nor to make the slightest approach to this effect other than to you alone. It was to you that I wrote to ask Mr. le m[aréch]al duc [to propose to Mr. le prince to share the dispute which was stopping the conclusion of the sale of the woods. The prince's offer was 4 hundred and fifty thousand fr. and my price 5 hundred thousand...". THE "KING OF THE DIRECTOIRE", who played a key role in Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power, was expelled by the latter after the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire: he lived in Brussels from 1801 to 1804, before being authorized to return to France and acquire the Château des Aygalades near Marseille. He was exiled again from 1810 until the fall of the Empire. THE SALE OF THE GROSBOIS ESTATE. Forced to move away from Paris, Paul de Barras sold Grosbois to General Moreau, but the latter was condemned and exiled in 1804 before he could complete the financial settlement of the sale. The château was then acquired by various intermediaries on behalf of Joseph Fouché, who sold it to Marshal BERTHIER, Prince of Neuchâtel. The latter also wanted to acquire the woods surrounding the château, which he finally obtained after lengthy negotiations facilitated by the intervention of Marshal LEFEVRE, Duke of Danzig. BARRAS' personal physician, DOCTOR JOSEPH DUFFOUR (1761-1821) was also the personal physician of the Countess of Provence (wife of the future Louis XVIII) and Josephine de Beauharnais. Appointed chief physician at the Quinze-Vingts under the Empire, he became court physician under Louis XVIII and was admitted to the Académie de médecine in 1821.
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