SADE Donatien-Alphonse, marquis de (1740-1814)

L.A. [to his businessman Gaspard-François-Xavier GAUFRIDY]. S.l., [June 1775]. 4 pages in-4 in ink on paper (marginal wetnesses, frayed edges with loss of some letters). "I do not know the fate of St-Louis, Monsieur, and have not yet heard of him; if you have paid him, I hope you will not have forgotten to make him defend La Coste, because he would only stay there to make a fuss [St-Louis was a valet of Sade's at the castle of La Coste, who defended the servant Nanon when she made a slanderous fuss after giving birth to a child without a declared father]... What do you say about this new train, this mother of the young secretary who did not ask for her child at all, who by all her letters even recommended to him to be attached to me and to serve me well, arrives now without warning to make the devil's chime in Aix. It is clear that they are working against me in a deafening way, and that they do not want to explode until everything is in order; they want this child more to make him declare new impostures. This conduct of the King of Lion's prosecutor is quite extraordinary; they have put my mother-in-law to sleep, blinded her and are deceiving her. We are warning her with this letter, and we are definitely giving her the alarm about these new maneuvers, which really seem disturbing... M. de Castillon [prosecutor of Aix-en- Provence] has conducted himself in this matter with a prudence and a desire to serve which deserves our gratitude forever; Oh, great God, if we had still had the imbeciles of the past, this would have been a matter for four horses to pull [écarteler]... at least. This magistrate seems to me to be very wise, very honest, and very reasonable. Finally, Madame has left to go and give the child into her hands herself, and to bring him back if she can, since we have calculated that it is necessary to remove weapons from these people, as much as possible [...]". Attached are 9 letters and documents concerning the Marquis de Sade, including 4 from the famous Gothon, all addressed to Sade's notary and lawyer, Gaufridy, March 7-July 21, 1777. These letters concern the denouement of this affair when Sade has just been imprisoned again in Vincennes (February 13, 1777). The young Lamalatie appeals to Gaufridy ("Je vous prie d'avoir la complesance de me chercé un place qu'il soit onaite dans la ville d'Apt parce je n'é point le désain de m'an retounair ché moy ", letter published by Jean-Jacques Pauvert in Sade vivant, t. II, 1989, p. 50, 1 page in-8 in ink on blue paper), three persons inquire about his fate (a bourgeois from Bordeaux named Fillon (April 24, 1777 and July 21, 1777; 2 letters in-4 and in-8 of 2 pages), a man writing from Aix named Boyer (May 20, 1777, 2 pages in-12), and a Mr Reynard-Lespinasse informs about the preparations for his return trip (June 3, 1777, 1 page in-8), and a letter addressed to Gaufridy ([August 1777], 1 page in-8). The 3 autographed letters signed by Gothon show her unfailing loyalty to Sade. Gothon was employed as a servant by the Sades at La Coste, where she made herself indispensable and even participated in the material management of the household. The Marquis wrote of her "Well, yes, in truth [...], she was the most beautiful c... that had escaped from the mountains of Switzerland for more than a century". The 3 letters are addressed from La Coste, March 2, April 11, and a last one from April (6 pages in-8 and 3 leaves with address of Gaufridy).