Laudatory poem on the old country-seat "Amelisweert", near Utrecht, written in honor of his host, the Marquis de Saint Simon, by the famous French author of the "Mariage de Figaro", Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799). Having won great fame and fortune by his literary work De Beaumarchais experienced great difficulties during the Great Revolution which caused him to flee France in the 1790s. And in the course of his travels he several times visited the Netherlands between 1792 and 1794. The added "Envoi", starts with the lines: "Ami, ces rimes redoublées, peut-etre au hazard enfilées, pour toi ne sont pas d'un grand prise, Mais reçois en gré mes excuses, c'est D'Amsterdam que je t'écris;". So De Beaumarchais probably had the poem copied, and sent it after he had left in gratitude for the hospitality he had enjoyed. The proprietor of the castle "Nieuw Amelisweert" to which the poem is addressed was Maximilien Henri de Saint Simon, Marquis de Sandricourt (1720-1794), which means that the poem must have been written before 1794. The watermark in the paper shows a GR with Crown, which was fairly common in late 18th century paper. A little browned and frayed, with some folding lines. Otherwise in good condition. Cf. Buijnsters, P.J, Nederlandse literatuur van de achttiende eeuw. Utrecht, 1984.