Collection Guide
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Lafayette (Marquis de) Collection
mssLafayette
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Marquis de Lafayette collection
Creator:
Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch
Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834
Identifier/Call Number: mssLafayette
Physical Description:
2.84 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1779-1835
Abstract: A collection of letters and papers by
and to the Marquis de Lafayette, members of his family and friends.
Language of Material: Materials are in English and
French.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Marquis de Lafayette collection, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Assembled in the Library, 1927.
The nucleus of the collection came from a dealer in France, with smaller lots purchased
from George D. Smith, William K. Bixby, the Anderson Galleries, and other dealers, before
1927.
Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) was a
French general and political leader, and a hero of the American Revolution. After returning
to France in 1782, Lafayette served as a member of the Assembly of Notables in 1787 and the
Estates-General in 1789, vice president of the National Assembly and the commander of the
National Guard. In 1792, he was captured by the Austrians and imprisoned at Olmutz prison;
after he was liberated in 1797 by Napoleon, Lafayette returned to France. He died in Paris
on May 20, 1834.
A collection of 78 items from 1779 to 1835; it contains miscellaneous correspondence and
papers, in French and English, dealing with Lafayette's family, property, military and
political career, particularly his imprisonment by the Austrians and his visit to the United
States in 1824 to 1825. Included are individual letters dealing with his command in the
American Revolution and his role in the French Revolution. The collection holds 37 letters
written by Lafayette; other correspondents include, among others, Erick Bollman; Adrienne de
Noailles, Marquise de Lafayette; Georges Washington Lafayette; and Auguste Adolphe Frederick
de Hennings.
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1930. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the
finding aid derived from a legacy summary report.
Arranged chronologically.
Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssHM 9407-9455, mssHM 9549-9560, mssHM
21610-22162.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
France -- History -- Revolution
1789-1799
Louisiana -- History
United States -- History -- Revolution,
1775-1783
Letters (correspondence) -- France -- 18th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 18th century
Legal documents -- Louisiana -- 19th century
Bollmann, Erick,
1769-1821
Hennings, August,
1746-1826
Lafayette, Georges
Washington Louis Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1779-1849
Lafayette, Marie Adrienne
de Noailles, marquise de, 1759-1807