Description:

5th Duc de Richelieu ALS: Cardinal Richelieu's Great-Grandnephew an Imperial Russian Army Officer, Later Governor of Odessa & French Premier

A 1p autograph letter in French signed by Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, 5th Duc de Richelieu (1766-1822), signed as "Richelieu / Gal. / Mor." near center. Written at Beilsy (?) and dated the 14/15 March 1799 on cream laid paper. Displayed in a floating mount to the left of a transmittal wrapper also engrossed by Richelieu and bearing a red wax seal apparently embossed with the Richelieu family arms (three red chevrons.) Expected wear including flattened folds and weathering, else near fine. The letter is neatly and legibly written. The letter measures 7.375" x 8.875" while the overall frame measures 16.75" x 12.625" x 1.125." An old English language catalog description can be found attached to the frame paper backing verso.

Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, 5th Duc de Richelieu, was the great-grandnephew of Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), Louis XIII's Machiavellian minister immortalized in Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers." In 1799, the 5th Duc de Richelieu was serving in the Imperial Russian Army, where he had attained the rank of Major General. The 5th Duc de Richelieu was just one of several prominent French émigrés who volunteered in the Imperial Russian Army; the Duc's friend, Comte Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron (1763-1831), was another well-known French volunteer who had fled Revolutionary France for more stable climes. The Duc's Russian military service suggests that his letter correspondent was probably either Polish or Russian.

Translated from the French in full, with punctuation silently added to improve clarity:

"Sir,

I am infinitely grateful of the attention that you wanted to mark me with by sending the letters (?) that I had forgotten at the Vicar's home; I pray you to receive again, as well as to Mde [Madame] Volie mother-in-law and all of her family, the assurance of my sensitivity to the aimable reception that they wanted to give me, as well as you, Sir; I beg you thus to grant me a little place in your memory.

I have the honor to be, with the most distinguished sentiments,

Sir,

Your very humble and very obedient servant

Richelieu

Gal [General]
Mor. [Major] (?)."

The 5th Duc de Richelieu addressed this letter to "Monsieur Le Chambellan Sobolewsky &c&c." at "Lubunow." No records could be found corroborating that a Sobolewsky ever served as a Chamberlain. The surname Sobolewsky has Eastern European and Russian origins and is generally an Ashkenazi Jewish name. The place name "Lubunow" is equally mysterious; this could be the French language name of Lubnowo, located in modern day northern Poland; or of Lubnow, a town in today's southwestern Poland. The boundaries of Poland had been redrawn following three different partitions in 1772, 1793, and 1795 respectively. Both of the possible candidates for Richelieu's "Lubunow" were controlled by Prussia after the First Partition. More research is definitely needed to unravel the details of this story!

Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, 5th Duc de Richelieu, was five generations removed from his notorious predecessor the "Red Eminence"; the 5th Duc had inherited the title in 1791. In 1785, while still in his late teens, the future Duc joined French Queen Marie Antoinette's Regiment of Dragoons, and he later became the first gentleman of the chamber of French King Louis XVI. After the French Revolution, the Duc joined the Imperial Russian Army as a volunteer and was awarded the prestigious Russian Order of St. George and a golden sword in recognition of his service at the Battle of Izmail (1790). The precise chronology is unclear, but the Duc resigned from the Imperial Russian Army sometime between 1799 and 1801 after a disagreement with Czar Paul I. From 1803-1814, the Duc served as Governor of Odessa, the significant Black Sea port. The Duc triumphantly returned to France during the Bourbon Restoration and twice served as French premier, once from 1815-1818, and once from 1820-1821.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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