$5,288
(French Royalty and Potier Family), Large and impressive family album of autograph letters, documents, and engravings by and pertaining to the Potier family, containing over two hundred manuscripts, comprising over six hundred pages, many on vellum, spanning the time period of the mid-16th century through the 18th century, (good condition overall, mounted in a large quarto album and a smaller album). Note: The Potier family maintained an extremely close and powerful connection to the French Crown as evidenced by nine documents signed by Marie de Medici and three signed by Louis XIII. Members of this family include Nicolas Potier, member of Parliament and later Chancellor under Marie de Medici. Despite the continuing support from the Royal Family, the Potier family took a turn for the worse during the reign of Louis XIV, and numerous documents relating to poor finances show the diminishments of Potier power in the late 17th century. A document signed by Louis XV promoting Louis Leon Potier to Lieutenant General shows the favor of the monarchy; however, the decline was unabated and in 1797 the revolution resulted in the execution by guillotine of the family due to their sympathy with the Crown.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2005-10-30
