Welschinger - Les bijoux de Mme du Barry, documents inédits - 1881

Welschinger, H. The jewels of Mme du Barry, unpublished documents.

Frontispiece by Régamey.

Paris, Charavay publisher. 1881. In-12. 128 pages. Paperback with covers, including an illustrated front cover.

Original edition in very good condition except for tiny tears on the spine (fragile), cover slightly creased and foxing on the cover (see photos).

A charming book, as published, recounting the extraordinary theft of her jewels, recovered in London, repatriated to France, and sold after her execution by the Revolutionary Tribunal… Still relevant today…

Jeanne Bécu was the last favorite of King Louis XV, between 1768 and 1774 (and consequently the last official favorite of a French sovereign, as subsequent kings and emperors did not designate a favorite in title).
On the night of January 10-11, 1791, using a ladder found nearby, thieves from Paris broke into her château at Louveciennes and stole her diamonds and jewels. Countess Jeanne du Barry was in Paris, celebrating Epiphany with the Duke of Brissac and their friends. At the time of the theft, the only people at the château were Jean-Pierre Girardin (the doorman, the only one with keys to the Count's chamber) and Denis Morin (valet, steward, and senior member of staff). The ladder was discovered by Charles Béguin, a court boy who went to wake them: they claimed to have seen and heard nothing. The chamber had been ransacked, and the value of the stolen goods (mostly jewels) was considerable.
According to the reconstruction of the robbery by the quartermaster of Louveciennes, Pierre-Louis Campion, the brigands gained entry through the garden wall on the side of a hill known as Princess's Mountain, damaging the wall in the process. They tied two ladders together (one found in a field, the other in the castle garden), broke through the shutters, and smashed a window, from which they then only had to lift the latch. For such an operation, the thieves must have been very familiar with the premises and aware of Madame du Barry's absence.
Jeanne du Barry was immediately notified and hurried home. On January 12, to supplement her valet's statement regarding the stolen goods, she went to her notary, Maître Rouen, to find out what steps to take. With Vandenyver, she drew up a list of the missing items from memory, a copy of which was sent to Marshal Campion. To recover them as quickly as possible, Maître Rouen advised the Countess to publicize the matter widely.

A very interesting book, published in 200 copies, recounting the theft of the jewels of Madame du Barry, the last mistress of Louis XV…