?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
(HAITI.) Toussaint Louverture. Signed letter discussing friction with the remaining French officials in Haiti. Letter Signed to "Citoyen Vincent" on printed "Toussaint Louverture" letterhead. 5 pages on 3 sheets plus final blank, bound with paper backing; minimal wear and foxing. Np, 18 September 1798
In this original signed letter to Haiti's French director of fortifications, the revolutionary leader of Haiti wrangles with with last vestiges of shared control with France. He complains of the French-appointed governor Gabriel, comte d'Hédouville, accusing him of fomenting dissent: "La plus parfaite concorde régnait á son arrivée et déjà il se manifeste des germes de divisions, il porte un esprit soupçonneux contre les hommes qui ont le mieu servis la république, il ne reve que complots, rassemblements, que soulevement" (in English, "The most perfect harmony reigned on his arrival and already the seeds of divisions are showing. He carries a suspicious spirit against the men who have best served the republic. He only dreams of plots, gatherings, and uprising"). In closing, he assures his correspondent that the nation's formerly enslaved leadership embraced the rule of law: "les noirs ont reçus leurs anciens maitres à bras ouverts. . . . Ils seront toujour bons, humains et amis des lois" ("the Blacks received their former masters with open arms, and will always be good, humane and friends of the law"). Provenance: Christie's London sale, 29 June 1995, lot 413.
