1806 French Letter from Middle Class Gentleman to a Local Physician on Financial Matters

On offer is a fine piece of correspondence dating from the first years of 19th century France.

The letter was written by a Monsieur Pallan and is addressed to Monsieur Dubreuil, a medical doctor living in “St. Germain en Raye / near Paris”. In the letter, Pallans asks Dr. Dubreuil to pay on his behalf for the use of a mineral bath house from the 1st to the 8th of the following month.

An excerpt follows: 

J'ai compli sur vous pour payer pour moi de 1re au 8me du moi prochaine la somme de 1.76# et je vous prie parce que toutes fois que...

[Translation: I have relied on you to pay for me from the 1st to the 8th of next month the sum of 1.76#* and I beg you because every time…] (* this is most likely an quick abbreviation for French Franc)

Further in the letter, he refers to a number of other financial transactions such as this one:

... Cette somme est destine a payer un hypotheque de 2,400# qui existait lieu la maison que j'ai achete a Paris…

[Translation: This sum is intended to pay a mortgage of 2,400# that existed in the house I bought in Paris…]

There are references to other financial and property transactions as well.

For a historian interested in what would appear to be middle or upper-middle class affairs in Napoleon’s France, this letter offers a unique insight.

The letter measures 9.5 inches by 7.0 inches. It is a single sheet folded to create 4 pages. It is 75% complete. The back page has a small piece that has been torn from the edge. Otherwise, it is in very good condition. On the very back page, there is the full name and address of the recipient. The handwriting is quite tight but legible.