KING LOUIS XVIII (FRANCE) - MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT SIGNED 01/25/1777 CO-SIGNED BY: JEAN FRANCOIS T. CHALGRIN - HFSID 257047

ARC de TRIOMPHE: KING LOUIS XVIII and JEAN-FRANÇOIS-THÉRÈSE CHALGRIN. Manuscript DS: "Louis Stanislas Xavier", 1p, 10¼x15. Versailles, 1777 January 25. In French, not fully translated. Order to Denis Pierre Jean Papillon, Treasurer General of Finances, to pay "Chalgrin, First Architect and Intendant of our Buildings, the sum of three thousand livres that I have granted to him justly as an extraordinary gratuity in return for his services." Endorsed on verso, as a receipt: "Chalgrin" (1777 February 4). Louis Stanislas Xavier (1755-1824) was the grandson of King Louis XV and the brother of Kings Louis XVI and Charles X. After the death of King Louis XVI in 1793 by guillotine, he proclaimed himself Regent, and after the death of King Louis XVII in 1795, he took the title of KING LOUIS XVIII. During Napoléon's rule (1796-1814), he traveled throughout Europe, engaging in royalist conspiracies. Louis XVIII reigned as King of France from 1814 until his death in 1824, except for the Hundred Days Napoléon ruled in 1815 before Waterloo. JEAN-FRANCOIS-THERESE-CHALGRIN (1739-1811) had become First Architect to the household of the Count de Province (Louis Stanislas Xavier) in 1775. At Versailles, for the Countess de Province, he designed a small pavilion that still survives. In the year of this document, Chalgrin helped to complete the Church of Saint-Sulpice. After the Revolution, for the French Directory, he transformed the Luxembourg Palace into a government building. The Salle de Séances that Chalgrin built now serves as the Hall of the French Senate. In 1806, he was commissioned by Napoléon to design a commemorative arch to the victorious armies of France. Chalgrin designed the Arc de Triomphe and supervised its construction until his death in 1811. It was completed in 1836. Stained and soiled at left margin, touching text. Soiled, nicked and creased at all edges. Separations at folds. Nailhead-size hole at lower blank margin.