GILBERT du MOTIER de LAFAYETTE
His signed, handwritten letter, forwarding a copy of a novel by Sir Walter Scott, to be bound
ALS: "Lafayette" in French, half-page, 5x7¼. La Grange, 1823 August 31. In full: "I hasten to send to Mr. Leonard the new novel by Sir Walter Scot (sic) [Item not included.] which has just been in the colony of La Grange. When he and his family will no longer need it, I hope he will be kind enough to give it to Mr. Meslane so it can be bound like the other works by the same author." In a postscript. Lafayette adds: "Here is a volume by Berenval which I forgot to include in my last shipment." In 1800 Lafayette returned to France to retire at his castle of La Grange, in Brie, about 43 miles from Paris. He declined Thomas Jefferson's offer in 1805 to the governorship of Louisiana. In 1824, the year after this letter, the American Congress passed a resolution inviting the 65-year-old Lafayette to visit the U.S. He did so, and traveled through the country for 14 months, visiting every state and receiving enthusiastic affection. Congress voted him a grant of $200,000 and a township of 24,000 acres for his service to the United States in the Revolutionary War. SIR WALTER SCOTT'S works include Lady of the Lake (1810), Rob Roy (1817), and Ivanhoe (1819). He was a prolific writer. His newest novels at the time were The Fortunes of Nigel (1822), Halidon Hall (1822), Peveril of the Peak (1822), The Pirate (1822) and Quentin Durward (1823). Very slightly rippled. Vertical shading runs along blank left margin, else fine.