GALITZINE, Dimitri Alexeïevitch Prince (1738-1803),... - Lot 44 - Conan Belleville Hôtel d'Ainay

Lot 44
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Estimation :
300 - 400 EUR
GALITZINE, Dimitri Alexeïevitch Prince (1738-1803),... - Lot 44 - Conan Belleville Hôtel d'Ainay
GALITZINE, Dimitri Alexeïevitch Prince (1738-1803), man of letters and Russian ambassador, friend of Voltaire, Diderot (whom he will lodge in The Hague during his embassy), Buffon, Helvetius; his marriage in 1768 with Amélie VON SCHMETTAU (1748-1806), a highly educated young woman, is at the centre of Diderot's work, Mystification. Immensely wealthy, he devoted himself to the study of natural history and had set up a rich mineralogical practice. L.A.S. "G." (2 pp. in-4), continued by his wife Amélie (1 p.), [addressed to the philanthropist James Count de Findlater (1749-1811)]. Prague, March 24, 1795. Beautiful friendly letter evoking his travels through the stony roads of Europe and the Baron de GRIMM (1727-1807) who, during the Revolution, was minister of Russia in Lower Saxony. "I will ask you to tell Mr. de Grimm how much I will always regret not having been able to wait for him any longer; I lose there by the reason that I have long wished to know the man who saw (without quarrelling with her) put two thousand leagues between your protégée & him []". As for Amélie, she invites her to come to Russia "to my Hermitage to complain by the fireside about the harshness of our climate; if everything is frozen, our hearts are not frozen []".