Louis-Marie de La Revellière-Lépeaux papers

The Louis-Marie de La Revellière-Lépeaux Papers consist of correspondence, official reports, printed material, subject files, personal papers and other documents, primarily in French, documenting La Revellière-Lépeaux's political career and personal life, particularly during the reign of the First Republic. The papers span the years 1789-1872, and include correspondence written to La Revellière-Lépeaux's son from researchers eager to access his father's memoirs. The papers include the manuscript draft of these memoirs, published as Mémoires de Larevellière-Lépeaux. Pub. par son fils, sur le manuscrit autographe de l'auteur et suivis des pièces justificatives et de correspondances in 1873. The bulk of the collection dates from the beginning of La Revellière's entry into politics through the period of his directorship, with most material dated between 1789 and 1799.

The collection is housed in six boxes and is organized into six series: Correspondence, Writings, Official Reports and Other Documents, Printed Material, Subject Files, and Personal Papers. Oversize materials are stored in one box.

Series I. Correspondence (box 1) is organized into two subseries: General Correspondence and Third Party Correspondence.

General Correspondence consists of letters from other French officials, scholars and colleagues. Almost all letters are incoming, although some files include drafts of outgoing letters by La Revellière-Lépeaux. Topics include the French Revolution, Theophilanthropy and deism, diplomacy, and contemporary scientific research and expeditions. Correspondents include Charles Delacroix, Victor Marie Du Pont, Alexander von Humboldt, Eloi Johanneau, Pierre Rabaut, Alexis Rochon, J. H. Vergniaud and David Bailie Warden. Three corrected drafts of letters from La Reveillière-Lépeaux to President James Monroe, dated 1818 and 1820, request Monroe's assistance in ensuring that letters from Mr. Belanger, a judge in Maine-et-Loire who has fallen on hard times, reach his brother, Mr. Benoit, in Philadelphia. The letters reference La Revellière-Lépeaux's friendship with Monroe, which was established during Monroe's visits to Paris in 1794 and in 1803.

Third Party Correspondence consists of manuscript copies of letters as well as originals. The subseries includes a copy of a letter from Nicholas Baudin, French naval officer and explorer, to the Ministry of the Navy; a letter from Besnard, the president of the department of Sarthe to the Minister of the Interior; a manuscript copy of a June 1794 letter from General George Rogers Clark to Colonel Samuel Fulton; a plea from Marie-Louis Descorches to the Minister of External Affairs regarding Turkey; an 8 page letter from Quénet Duhamel to "Citoyen Luminais" concerning a Portuguese fort on the Rio Negro in South America; and a letter from Moissonnier (the Ex-Vice Consul of the French Republic to the United States) to Jean-François Rewbell concerning the Russian Empire. There are also sets of correspondence from Adolphe Thiers and Jules Michelet addressed to La Revellière-Lépeaux's son, requesting permission to consult Revellière-Lépeaux's memoirs.

Series II. Writings , (boxes 1-3) is organized into two subseries: Memoirs and Other Writings. Memoirs consists of fifteen individual packets, titled and paginated in two separate sequences, in La Reveillière-Lépeaux's hand. La Revellière-Lépeaux's memoirs trace his public and private life from his early years until his return to Maine-et-Loire in 1819, describing his early political career and his directorship, as well as his retirement. Other Writings consists of printed materials and manuscript drafts or copies of material written by La Revellière-Lépeaux. Many of the pamphlets in this series were printed anonymously but manuscript annotations on copies in the collection attribute authorship to La Revellière-Lépeaux. Other pamphlets issued by the Convention Nationale circulated La Revellière-Lépeaux's opinions about the indictment of Louis XVI. Two pamphlets issued by the office of the Directoire Exécutif comment on public affairs. Drafts of La Revellière-Lépeaux's speeches about various regions, the government, and the financial state of the France after the revolution are also included.

Series III. Official Reports and Other Documents , (boxes 4-5) is organized into five subseries: General, Africa and Asia, Americas, Europe, and Domestic Affairs. These reports and documents were generated for the Director Exécutif and other officials during La Revellière-Lépeaux's tenure as director.

The General subseries encompasses broad international reports as well as documents that analyze France's position as a colonial power. Reports related to two significant scientific expeditions are also included. A report by explorer and botanical voyager Charles Baudin records his last 1792 voyage, and relates the political alignments that led to his arrest by Spanish authorities. Three documents relate to the search for missing explorer Jean-François de Galaup La Pérouse, a French navigator who was lost at sea in 1788 after setting sail from Australia's Botany Bay. La Pérouse had been charged with finding a Northwest Passage from the Pacific and had explored the Pacific, traveling the coasts of America, and to China, Siberia, Japan and the South Seas. In 1791, the National Assembly organized an expedition to search for La Pérouse. Aristide Du Petit Thouars departed France in command of the Diligent, hoping to reach the Pacific and pick up La Pérouse's trail after rounding Cape Horn. The expedition, beset by poor provisions and illness, stopped off the coast of Brazil for medical assistance. The ship was seized and the crew was arrested by the governor of Fernando de Noronha. A log of the Diligent, an undated report describing details of the voyage, and a narrative prepared by Du Petit Thouars after his release in August 1793 document this expedition.

The Africa and Asia subseries consists of seven reports relating to France's affairs with nations of those continents. Five reports from Lord Claude Etienne Savary, resident of Cairo from 1776 to 1779, relate to work he was undertaking for France and detail his observations and proposals for improving trade and communication in the Near East, as well as for promoting French interests in the region. There are also reports about trade around the Red Sea and an undated report about the Russian military.

The Americas subseries consists of ten reports and memorandums which document France's relationship with her colonies in the Americas, with the United States, and with other colonial powers. One 1796 report explores the importance of the Spanish ports of San Domingo and of Louisiana, shortly before the ceding of Louisiana back to France in 1800. There are several documents that relate to the new American republic, including a report about the "claims" of General George Rogers Clark, an American Revolutionary hero who was commissioned as a French officer in 1793, and a proposal about how to align and strengthen French and American interests. Other documents include "Le Dernier Cri du Desespoir, La Guadeloupe," an account of affairs in Guadeloupe; a memorandum prepared by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier which estimates the kind of forces, equipment and supplies that would be needed to conquer Canada; a report about Guiana; and notes and reports related to French diplomatic efforts in North America, including a three page report about the French consul in New York.

The Europe subseries consists of reports and supporting documents related to French relations with European nations, reporting on specific regions, and documenting events and opinions during the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1801).

A group of material related to Italy is present, including a draft of instructions for General Napoleon Bonaparte regarding the organization of Italy after the success of the French campaign in Italy. The draft, dated April 7, 1797, is in the hand of La Revellière-Lépeaux and signed by four members of the Directorate. The Italian material includes a 48 page proposal from Italian sculptor Giuseppe Ceracchi arguing for the relinquishment of the state of Rome in January 1796; two official copies of documents written in 1796 by officers of the Commission of Sciences and and Arts who were posted with the French army in Italy; a 1797 memorandum about Malta and Italy that was written by A. M. Eymer; and a report outlining Emanuel Baller's service supplying "sustenance" and rations to French troops in Italy. Documents related to other parts of southeastern Europe include a 1799 report from the Consul of the French Republic at Salonica (Thessalonike) in Greece discussing a military plan to counter British and Russian power in the Mediterranean; an undated report listing the advantages of possessing islands in the Ionian Sea; and an undated report about French holdings in the Adriatic Sea. The subseries also includes a 1793 packet of supplementary material, originally attached to a dispatch from the Swiss Alpine town of Vicosoprano, with copies of correspondence from François Barthélemy, the French minister to Switzerland and a key participant in negotiating the Treaties of Basel in 1795; an analysis of the European political system by Antoine Diannyère, political arithmetician, accompanied by a letter written in his hand to La Revellière-Lépeaux dated February 13, 1796; an undated report on Poland; a report about the petroleum fields in Andernach that England relies on; a detailed plan for European nations to unite against England's growing empire; and an undated document transcribing entries from the journal of a passenger who was on board the French frigate La Loire on its expedition to Ireland. The journal entries are accompanied by a letter dated February 22, 1799, from Reveliere.

French Domestic Affairs consists of reports, memorandums, notes and other documents pertaining to the administration of political, social, and cultural affairs within France, including relations between central offices and local government bodies. There are two documents relating to the administration of mines in France, including a 1796 proposal to enlarge the office. Three documents relate to Bergevin's Globe, a sculpture of the world, eight feet in diameter, that was commissioned for the Library of the Four Nations in 1796. One 1799 report from François Christophe Kellerman, a retired French Marshal, analyzes in detail the expenditures and accounts of the Constitutional Guard. Three documents relate to the institution and administration of the French National Lottery while two other short reports, both a page, concern Victor Du Pont's voyage for the Institut National des Sciences. Another selection of documents records communication related to governance on the local and regional level. Reports from committees and delegates from the departments of Gers and Sarthre provide insight into regional matters, as well as how local government bodies interacted with the Ministry of the Interior (Ministre de l'Interieur) and the Directory. One manuscript analyzes the administration of internal tariffs; two memorandums relate to the cases and issues of specific French citizens.

Series IV. Printed Material , (box 5) consists of pamphlets and other printed publications, arranged alphabetically by title. Among other works, the series includes an open letter to Louis XVI in 1792, a few months before the proclamation of the First Republic, and several issues of the Journal du Département de Maine et Loire... from 1791 and 1792. A number of the publications are works emanating from various regional Friends of the Constitution (Société des amis de la Constitution).

Series V. Subject Files , (box 5) covers two main topics: L'Academie Celtique and Theophilanthrophy, with the bulk of the material relating to La Revellière-Lépeaux's interest in the latter. The L'Academie Celtique material consists of sketches and notes examining the significance of Celtic monuments in France. The five documents related to Theophilanthropy include a report issued by the Office of Theophilanthrophy (Bureau de la Théophilantropie) in 1798; a memorandum about the Free Mason connection to the French Revolution; a report considering Theophilanthrophy's relationship with the Republican government; a list of the first members of the "Culte Theoph."; and a proposal for replacing Catholicism as the national religion of France.

Series VI. Personal Papers , (box 5) consists of travel documents and a security pass.

Oversize material, found at the end of the collection (box 6) is arranged in series order.