Lot 93
French Revolution
Reign of Terror Incredible Archive of Prisoner's 55+ Letters
French language archive, circa 1792-1801, documenting the imprisonment of a revolutionary named Lefebvre, who once served as a government official and possibly as a National Convention delegate. Lefebvre and dozens of his colleagues were arrested in September 1794 on charges of conspiracy and colluding with "outside forces." The archive dates from the waning days of the Reign of Terror. It paints a dark portrait of the social, economic, and political conditions in revolutionary France as seen through the eyes of "un prisonnier d'État"--a state prisoner.
Lefebvre's Letters
The archive includes over 55 letters written by Lefebvre to his wife in Paris, comprising 100+ handwritten pages. It also includes additional letters from other individuals and 14 documents relating to Lefebvre's political career, arrest, imprisonment, and post-prison life. During his incarceration between September 1794 and December 1795, Lefebvre stayed in at least five different prisons in Paris and northeastern France, and we can track his movements through his location notations. With few exceptions, Lefebvre used the Republican dating system when drafting his letters. These dates have been converted back into Gregorian form for ease of reading.
The majority of the letters are inscribed on cream bifold paper, ranging in length from 1p to 6pp, signed by Lefebvre as "Lefebvre." With several beautiful examples of letters written on partly printed "Liberté / Fraternité / Egalité" sunburst letterhead. Most contain integral address leaves, some of which bear wax seals or philatelic markings. With expected wear including light paper folds, uneven toning, chipped edges, and isolated discoloration. Else in good to near fine condition.
Excerpts of the archive have been translated without any changes to punctuation, but with silent corrections to the original French misspellings. The archive should yield new and exciting discovers when fully transcribed and translated!
The archive provides us with outstanding insights into this tumultuous time period of French history. Historians have traditionally marked the end of the Reign of Terror with Robespierre's execution in July 1794, but others, such as Mette Harder, have pointed out that governmental arrests of its own members continued well into 1795, and seem to have suggested a deeper political existential crisis.
During the Reign of Terror, the conservative Girondins and the radical Jacobins wrestled for control of the new republican agenda. Their struggle for power resulted in the formation of a police state, in which systematic surveillance reached a new zenith. The Committee of General Security, established in October 1792, the Committee of Public Safety, established in April 1793, and the Law of Suspects, passed in September 1793, further fostered a culture of paranoia. The vaguest charges, leveled by unidentified or even imaginary informants, were sufficient enough to prompt arrest.
Significant Events and People Mentioned in Lefebvre's Letters
In this archive, Lefebvre mentions numerous significant events, institutions, and leaders of the French Revolution. Events include the Storming of the Bastille (14 July 1789); the 1791 Penal Codes; the Rebellion of the Paris Commune (1789-1792); the Insurrection of 10 August 1792; the Thermidorean Reaction (9 Thermidor An 2 / 27 July 1794); and the Conspiracy of St. Lazare (24-26 July 1794), among others.
Institutions or individuals mentioned therein include: the National Convention; the Committee of General Security; Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet (1746-1824), a French revolutionary who prepared reports on Louis Capet and food shortages among other things; and Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville (1746-1795), a zealous public prosecutor nicknamed the "Purveyor to the Guillotine" who was himself executed after Robespierre's fall.
Storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789, the symbolic beginning of the French Revolution, in which the people raided the fortress-prison, freed its prisoners, attacked its guards, stole its gunpowder stores, and dismantled it stone by stone.
On 14 April [n.y.], Lefebvre wrote disapprovingly of societal elements who took advantage of unstable conditions for their own financial gain. He wrote in part: "If they want to remediate the public misery or diminish it I wouldn't even pay attention to what they would say about this subject but evil exists it is large it is terrible…One profits from unfortunate circumstances to give barbarous pleasure to torment all those who, since the first day of the revolution, put all their cares into removing the plagues that overwhelm us today, because who can forget the 14th of July 1789…"
Penal Codes of 1791
On 3 September 1795, Lefebvre wrote disconsolately that he had already been imprisoned for a year. He also referred to the Law of 6 September 1791, which was issued in advance of the Penal Code of 1791 (late September-early October 1791). These codes, considered generous in accordance with Enlightenment standards but cruel by today's criteria, clarified questions relating to crime and punishment. Lefebvre might have been particularly interested in the statute capping detention at six years.
The Rebellion of the Paris Commune, circa 14 July 1789-10 August 1792, which led to the king's overthrow and the formation of the First French Republic.
Lefebvre wrote on 2 December [1795] that: "…with a little good sense one can't conceive of a relationship concerning such a large mass of arrested people from everywhere in the Republic, and who for the most part do not even know each other, and that they present all of them as [being] complicit in a conspiracy that could have existed but of which I never knew and of which this is all still a mystery to me, with the exception of the Rebellion of the Commune…"
Insurrection of 10 August 1792, called "10 Août" or the "Second Revolution," when Louis XVI surrendered the Tuileries Palace after it was attacked by republican forces.
On the third anniversary of the triumphant "Second Revolution," or 10 August 1795, Lefebvre bemoaned the state of the Republic. "It was discussed between us whether we should celebrate the holiday today no one felt the inclination whatever the suitability of our celebrating it, almost all of us having participated in the success of that day, but it must be sufficient that some celebrate and for me at least the satisfaction of having served my country…I so desire that next year the festivities of 10 August will be complete for one can't say that it is like that this year one must celebrate victory not the vanquished…"
Thermidorian Reaction, or 9 Thermidor l'An II (27 July 1794), when Maximilien Robespierre and his followers were denounced, arrested, and guillotined.
On 16 April 1795, Lefebvre wrote: "You can be assured that all of this is as strange to me as the conspiracy of 9 thermidor as well as I demonstrated that all its events didn't sadden me my courage is as strong as my conscience is pure I don't have any more to fear…"
Conspiracy of St. Lazare (24-26 July 1795), part of a larger system of purging French Revolutionary era prisons, where prisoners faced false charges and summary executions; and Fouquier-Tinville.
Lefebvre wrote on 26 June 1795: "…these men have the Reputation of fabricating Lists of people implicated in the Conspiracy of lazare…the debates on the legal proceedings of fouquier tinville did not a little contribute to their [earning] a bad reputation and spilling over on all those who were not more circumspect there were some who seemed to have nothing to lose their conduct and their calumnies that they take on our account in Paris all that makes me suspicious…"
Comité de Surété Générale, or, Committee of General Security, the French parliamentary committee that acted as a police arm.
On 3 September [n.y.], Lefebvre wrote: "I go this afternoon to a review of my conduct by the Committee of Security…"; and two days later, he wrote: "I await a response regarding the conduct review that I did before the Committee of General Security and I don't doubt that they will take me out of this place where I should never have been put…"
Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet
Lefebvre wrote on 22 September [n.y.]: "I had the occasion to see the analysis of the report that Robert Lindet gave to the Convention on the situation of the republic it gave me pleasure that I haven't felt for a long time…"
Themes
Several themes emerge from Lefebvre's letters. First among them is Lefebvre's very human response to his situation. One sees the anguished confusion of a man who did not understand why he had been arrested, and whose right to due process was constantly undermined by institutional entropy. Lefebvre was incensed at the miscarriage of justice--one of the fundamental rights that the French Revolution was meant to safeguard. Lefebvre believed that in this and in many other ways, the "new" revolution had betrayed the old, or real, revolution--the spirit of 14 July 1789. Lefebvre's letters demonstrate that he was a true revolutionary firmly committed to the ideals of 1789, and the present condition of French politics alarmed and saddened him.
Betrayal of Faith in Human Nature and Revolutionary Ideals
26 April 1795, Cambrai: "It seems more clear--that this Revolution, one that we have wrought in all senses--we were not able to predict…the result of all that has happened to me during the last six years…since 14 July 1789."
8 May 1795, Cambrai: "It is always by fear and violence that establishes tyranny."
8 June 1795, Fort de Scarpe: "But hatreds and vengeance don't follow, they believe that they have all won because they can put in their [prisons] the man who displeases them or who doesn't share their opinion because today one takes opinion for faction I received the note announcing that the Convention will meet for a term…I hope that the Convention will give us a Constitution…that will reunite all the good citizens to the general interest, and mend all the parties and factions…"
26 June 1795, Douai: "…the Malevolence that poisons all transforms the most just complaints into crimes, [serving as] a pretext to redouble unjust persecution…intrigues and calumnies have succeeded in pulling down good men such is the effect of the revolution when circumstances silence the Laws…"
26 July 1795, Fort de Scarpe: "I wouldn't take a step to return to a society where I believe that I would only encounter disagreement and injustice but that Misfortune has already accustomed me to it…"
6 August 1795, Fort de Scarpe: "…their diatribes their vociferations the torment that they have given out in order to find the guilty their conduct only demonstrates their powerlessness…"
1 September 1795, Fort de Scarpe: "I hate the bad people and feel pity for the good people who are all victims of the dreadful cruelty that surrounds us today the society where…an upright man can no longer live…"
26 March [n.y.], [n.p.]: "…they made still more arrests so that I can scarcely hope for liberty…men are always mean, ambitious and vindictive…those who follow the Laws of nature and of Society cannot defend themselves against the intrigues that pursue them…"
27 September [n.y.], [n.p.]: "They accuse people of crimes that they haven't even thought of committing all the calumnies cannot have the character only brought by the truth…"
14 December [n.y.], [n.p.]: "My philosophy begins to abandon me I don't believe in the best, but in the worst possible worlds…"
Food shortages
8 May 1795, Cambrai: "One must have courage and patience at present that the cupidity of merchants is well known I hope that the Convention will take measures to stop these pitiless vampires that starve not only our fatherland but the entire world."
3 September 1795, Fort de Scarpe: "They sell us baskets of potatoes, as baskets of strawberries, for 4-5 # it isn't enough for the meal of a single person despite the abundance of the harvest bread is always 12 and 15 # the livre I can't conceive how the majority of people live I believe that there is an accord between speculators, hoarders and farmers who have formed a conspiracy against the people and the probity of whom history does not furnish an Example and that they would execute it if they stopped their awful robbery…"
Prison conditions
The five prisons where Lefebvre was incarcerated ranged in the quality of living conditions, food supply, and treatment by guards. Lefebvre stayed at the following prisons:
-Prison du Luxembourg: An Italianate royal palace in Paris converted into a prison. One of the more salubrious prisons of Paris, it once housed the deposed royal family, ousted Girondin leaders like Georges Danton, and the painter Jacques-Louis David. (4 letters)
-Benedictins Anglais: A convent established by English Benedictine monks in Paris used as a prison after 1793. (3 letters)
-Citadelle de Cambrai: Located in the French frontier city of Cambrai, the Citadel of Charles V was comprised of guardhouses, dormitories, and arsenals. (5 letters)
-Douai: Another French frontier city, Douai had an entire prison network comprised of old convents, administrative buildings, and fortresses. One of these was the Fort de Scarpe, constructed in the 1670s, and reserved for mostly military prisoners. (7 letters from Douai, 15 letters from Fort de Scarpe)
-Port-Royal Abbey, also known as Prison de Port-Libre or Prison de la Bourbe. Three tantalizing passing textual references to "Port Libre" and to "la Bourbe" suggest Lefebvre had once been incarcerated there, but before our archive begins. This former convent was used as a prison after 1793 and housed VIPs like the royal governess and Louis XVI's lawyer.
15 May 1795, Cambrai: "The guy in charge of our guards, [whose duty it is] to surveil, to spy on the smallest of our gestures, to torture us, to regulate the quantity of air that we should breathe there is not a less honorable and less difficult job in the republic, one which he performs with a rare exactitude. As he is an old Corporal of l'Ancien Régime accustomed to obey blindly the caprices of the chiefs, he also mandates blind obedience…he has already threatened one of us with the dungeon…"
25 May 1795, Fort de Scarpe: "…we are incomparably better here than at the Citadel of Cambrai we always have a livre and a half of bread each day."
9 June 1795, Fort de Scarpe: "Here we have not undressed not having any woolen cloth and [having] only bread and water and it seems to me that they are jealous of the air that we breathe."
In addition to requesting books from his wife, Lefebvre also asked for food, clothing, and basic supplies. Lefebvre asked for fresh produce, such as leafy vegetables and grapes, and also appreciated thoughtful gifts of wine, brandy, eggs, and meats. The prisons were so cold that Lefebvre wrote ironically that he wore heavy clothing even in summer (see 26 April 1795 letter.) Lefebvre's wife sent him handkerchiefs, shirts, sweaters, paper, feather pens, sealing wax, soap, and craftsman's tools.
Who was Prisoner Lefebvre?
Historical records do not reveal much information about Lefebvre, but we can reconstruct the basics. For example, a document included within the archive dated 28 April 1796 indicates that Lefebvre was once a member of the 12th Municipal Administration of the Canton of Paris, Department of the Seine. Prior to his imprisonment, Lefebvre lived on the Rue Neuve-Sainte-Geneviève, now known as the Rue Tournefort, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris on the Left Bank.
Lefebvre's letters referring to philosophy, history, politics, and literature indicate that he was highly educated. He was familiar with the work of two great French philosophes of the period, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (see 16 June 1795 letter mentioning Confessions) and Voltaire (14 December [n.y.] letter alluding to Candide.) His 26 April 1795 letter from Cambrai prison contains a typical request for more reading materials: "…3 volumes of roman revolutions [René Aubert de Verdot's History of Revolutions in the Roman Republic (1727)] and the friend of men [L'Ami des Hommes: or, Treatise on Population, (1759-1762)] by Mirabeau the elder and a copy of the Constitution." Lefebvre's beautiful handwriting also indicates a certain level of education, as does his knowledge of cabinetmaking; his letters mention various pieces of furniture he was making in prison.
Accusations Against Lefebvre
Lefebvre's knowledge of furniture may have determined his specific role in local revolutionary government. Archival documents suggest that Lefebvre was involved in liquidating state assets, the real estate and personal property belonging to émigrés, banned religious institutions, and the like; see the archive's copy of the National Convention's 2 January 1793 decree. Lefebvre was accused of mishandling such a sale in February 1793. (Similar protestations of innocence--on different charges--would be repeated in innumerable letters sent from prison between 1794-1795.) On 21 February 1793, Lefebvre wrote to the General Assembly in part: "I do not believe that I deserve to have lost your confidence in this operation or in any other, however I learn that, on a daily basis, people have raised doubts regarding my probity in the bosom of the Assembly…I declare that I have neither hate nor resentment against anyone, [that] I do my duties and merit the esteem of good citizens…"
Over a year later, Lefebvre was in prison on different charges. On 22 October 1794, he wrote to his wife: "…there is a decree that says that in two months the Committee of General Security will put in judgement or in liberty all detainees it is the Execution of this Law that you must Get for me And my colleagues Thus 31 days since we were arrested it is necessary that the Law is enforced And that justice is served because it is [better] to die one hundred times than be Relegated here…you tell me that you haven't obtained permission to see us as for the reasons for our arrest I don't know what they are…"
On 16 April 1795 from the prison at Cambrai, Lefebvre wrote: "They accuse us also of correspondence…I haven’t written a letter like that I haven't received or retained letters from outside people other than from you [so that] you have the occasion to Claim the justice that is due to me."
Three days later, on 19 April 1795, Lefebvre copied out a petition that he and eight other prisoners signed and submitted after learning of a Constitutional law mandating the prompt processing of prisoners. This document elaborates on the charges brought against them. "They accuse us of having engaged in criminal correspondence with the Outside we deny the existence of such a collective [or individual] correspondence…We affirm that we are in perfect ignorance in this regard and in the case where our accusers pretend the contrary they incur the obligation to convince us…"
Lefebvre's Fate
The records indicate that Lefebvre was freed, but the exact circumstances are not known. Documents in the archive reveal that Lefebvre was relieved of his duties as a member of the 12th Municipality of the Canton of Paris, Department of the Seine, in late April 1796. (Was this in consequence of his prior imprisonment, or another scrape with the law?) A document dated 14 January 1796 acknowledged Lefebvre's recent request for reimbursement of travel expenses from prison to Paris. To add insult to injury, however, the revolutionary bureaucrat denied Lefebvre's request pending more information, and also speculated as to how the former prisoner had arrived at the requested sum of 1,000 livres.
Lefebvre was one of the estimated 300,000 persons imprisoned during the Reign of Terror. Of these, it is estimated that some 20,000 people were executed, and 10,000 died without trial in prison.
A powerful collection of manuscripts and documents from Revolutionary France!
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