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Letter by Bougainville to wife of Paris naval minister, French Ambassador to the United States

[AUTOGRAPH]. BOUGAINVILLE, Hyacinthe-Yves-Philippe Potentien, Baron de.
[Letter to Baroness Hyde de Neuville (Anne Marguerite Henriette de Marigny Hyde de Neuville].

Signed.



[Brest?, 1820-1822]. (20.6 x 16.5 cm). Signed. [3, 1 blank] pp.

Interesting letter from the famous French explorer Hyacinthe de Bougainville to Baroness Hyde de Neuville (died 1849), the wife of Baron Jean-Guillaume Hyde de Neuville (1776 - 1857), French aristocrat, diplomat, and politician.
In this letter Bougainville refers to an earlier visit with the Baroness on his vessel La Seine (which he commanded from 1819-21) and a meeting he had with her and her husband in Washington. He also asks whether she can arrange a new meeting between him en her husband.

''Baroness Hyde de Neuville, (Anne Marguerite Henriette de Marigny Hyde de Neuville), arrived in New Jersey from France, with her husband, in 1807. After the French Revolution, she secured the life and safe passage of her husband, who was a royalist, by traveling alone across Europe to intercede with Napoleon.
In order for the couple to escape from France, she posed as her husband's mother until they arrived safely in the U.S. They settled on a merino sheep farm in the New Brunswick area. For a number of years, the couple journeyed to New York City and to various settlements along the Hudson. After Napoleon was defeated and the King restored to the throne, the de Neuvilles returned to France. However, the Baron was rewarded for his loyalty and named French Ambassador to the United States, so the couple returned there to take up residency in the new capital, Washington. Baroness Hyde de Neuville continued to produce watercolours, many of which survive to tell us about life during the Federalist era. She often depicted scenes of Native American life, as well as pictures of African Americans. Both were rather rare subjects for an artist to choose, especially one committed to keeping a
monarchy in power'' (New Jersey Woman's History).

Hyacinthe-Yves-Philippe Potentien, Baron de Bougainville (1781-1846), son of the great explorer Louis de Bougainville, commanded the French circumnavigation with orders to re-establish diplomatic ties with Cochin China. He called on Bourbon Island (Réunion), Pondicherry, Manila, and Macao. Other places visited were Singapore, Batavia, Port Jackson, Valparaiso, and Rio de Janeiro.

Small hole in margin not affecting text. Fine letter by the famous circumnavigator Hyacinthe de Bougainvile.
On Bougainville: Howgego,1800-1850, B-50; on the De Neuvilles: New Jersey Women's History (to be consulted through http://www.njwomenshistory.org/Period_2/neuville.htm).

Related Subjects: Australia & New Zealand  Autographs, Letters & Documents  Circumnavigation 

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