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Lot 1138
Lafayette, Marquis de. Autograph Letter unsigned by Lafayette (identified "Billet de M. de la Fayette" in a contemporary hand), in French, to an unidentified diplomat, n.p., n.d. (c. 1819), 1p, 7 x 5 in. In part: "..Here is what M. Gallatin [U.S. minister to France] writes me, which should not be mentioned, for you other diplomats are ticklish to a point. You will see that he knows nothing about the conduct of his colleague Forsyth [U.S. minister to Spain] in this matter; the note of the ambassador was addressed to the Spanish minister….Mr. Gallatin does not state that Mr. Forsyth signed the note, not even that he proposed it. News is expected daily of the negotiations between Mr. Adams and Mr. de Neuville; there is no positive information…."
The negotiations which Lafayette refers to here were between American Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and Spanish foreign minister Don Luís de Onís, which led to the Transcontinental Treaty of 1819, or the Adams-Onís Treaty, by which the United States acquired Florida from Spain and Spain relinquished its claims to the country of Oregon north of the 42 degrees parallel. The U.S. ceded to Spain its claims to Texas west of the Sabine River--a bitter pill for those who felt the U.S. should have secured Texas for the U.S. at that time. M. de Neuville was the French minister to the U.S.; he served as arbitrator and go-between for Adams and Onís.
The letter is toned but boldly penned. Matted with a small hand-tinted engraving of Lafayette and housed in an 11¼ x 13¼ in. period frame (some chipping) with an inlaid medal with a bust of Lafayette; above: "Le Général Lafayette. Né en 7ere 1757", and below: "Comdt. de la Gde. Nat.le Parisienne en 1789."
Estimated Value $1,500 - 2,000.
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