Account book, 1785-1807 - Lot 248

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Lot n° 248
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Account book, 1785-1807 - Lot 248
Account book, 1785-1807 Expense register, from January 1785 to September 1807, in the hand of Mr. le baron de Breteuil. Continued in the hand of made la csse de Matignon. Register of laid paper lined in red, in-8, 16,2 x 12,5 cm, [108] ff, 4 blank ff, [34] ff, contemporary binding in green morocco, large gilt lace framing on the boards, spine entirely decorated with gilt motifs, pink silk gusset on the first back cover, gilt edges. Important account book of the Baron de Breteuil continued after his death in November 1807 by his daughter, the Countess de Matignon. Binding very worn, second cover missing. One leaf (f. 81) cut but present. Pinholes and remnants of stamps used to attach loose parts. At the rate of one or two pages per month, M. de Breteuil noted precisely all the expenses of his house and indicated the monthly and sometimes annual total. The monthly list most often opens with My daughter (1500 livres in general until July 1788, then 1000 l. and much less under the Revolution), followed by the current expenses: The office (about 1000 l.), The kitchen and The stable (about 4000 l. each) as well as The infirmary (about 200 l.) One finds regularly purchases of various objects (more than 1000 l. in general). Until 1789 the annual total is a little more than 300.000 l. The number and the importance of the expenses are reduced significantly from 1792, then resume a rhythm of 3000 l. monthly from 1800 and until the end of her life. Mme de Matignon entered her accounts from December 1807. One finds there the reimbursement of the expenses made by Jeannette (her maid? to whose children she will regularly pay money), the kitchen, wine, chocolate, the wages of the servants, the gardener, donations to the poor, etc. but also fashion expenses (dresses for her and her daughter, ball dress, trimmings, ribbons, laces, bills of lingerie, etc.), a hat, a royal almanac, curtains, the painting of a carriage, a lamp of the dining room, etc. The monthly expenses are quite regular around 2500 to 3500 l. Remarkable and rare testimony of the daily life of the Parisian high aristocracy before and after the Revolution. -B20
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