JULES FERRY - Lettre autographe signée - 1880

Type of document: Signed autograph letter (L.A.S.)
Character: Jules Ferry (1832–1893)
Language: French
Country of origin: France
Date: Undated (pencil annotation: "28 January")

Manuscript letter on a half-sheet with J.F embossed, blanked, on laid paper. Size 18 x 23 cm when unfolded, written in black ink in a rapid, nervous hand typical of politicians of the Third Republic. The text fills one recto page and two lines on the verso. A later pencil annotation "Jules Ferry 28 January" is at the top of the sheet, probably added by a collector or archivist. Quality paper, slightly ivory-toned, watermarked. About ten lines in black ink. Beautiful signature
✦ Content of the letter
Addressed to "Mon cher Monsieur Abou[t]" — most likely Edmond About, journalist and republican writer close to Ferry — the letter reads:
"M. Koechlin has informed me of everything that has been prepared. I have asked my friends to subscribe to it completely. I do not doubt they will do so. I would have liked to see you on the first Sundays, but I am not in Paris. Please therefore officially notify the meeting on Sunday:
M. Béclard, general councilor, at Saint-Maurice (Seine) (3,000 francs)
M. Dumesnil, mayor of Créteil (Seine) (he will subscribe 2,800 francs)"
On the recto: "Thank you, dear Sir, my best regards. Jules Ferry."
This document is of political and historical interest: Jules Ferry coordinates a political or electoral subscription in the Seine, mobilizing his republican networks — general councilors and suburban mayors of the Paris area — within the framework of consolidating the Republic. The mention of Koechlin (likely the Alsatian republican industrialist Nicolas Koechlin or a family member) strengthens the document’s value for the political history of the Third Republic.
✦ Significance of the piece
Jules Ferry (1832–1893) is one of the guiding figures of the French Third Republic. Prime Minister on two occasions (1880–1881 and 1883–1885), he was the author of the great school laws establishing public, secular, compulsory, and free primary education (1881–1882), which still bear his name. Architect of French colonial policy, he remains one of the most studied figures in French political history.
Autograph letters signed by Jules Ferry are rare on the market and highly prized by institutions, libraries, and collectors of French political history.