Auction Name: 2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts & Texana Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 47242

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47242

Marie Antoinette Autograph Letter. Eleven pages on two bifolia and two sheets (in French), 4 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches, [Tuileries Palace]; May 6, [1791]. An exceptional and historically momentous unsigned letter penned by Marie Antoinette during her confinement at the Tuileries, written just weeks before her ill-fated flight to Varennes. Though unaddressed, the letter is recorded in Lettres de Marie-Antoinette (La Rocheterie et al., 1895) as having been written to Florimond Claude, comte de Mercy-Argenteau. Mercy-Argenteau served as Austrian Ambassador to France from 1766 to 1790 and was a favored confidant of the Queen, affording him significant influence within the French court. Composed on gilt-edged paper in her elegant hand, the letter is a rare and candid account of the royal family's perilous circumstance in Paris, conveying the Queen's determination to flee the capital amid escalating revolutionary violence. The letter reads, in part (in translation):

"Our situation is dreadful, and such that those who are not here to witness it cannot even imagine it. There is only one alternative left for us here, especially since April 18th: either blindly do everything the rebels demand, or perish by the sword that is constantly hanging over our heads. Believe me, I am not exaggerating the dangers. But if we must perish, it will be with glory, and having done everything for our duty, our honor, and our religion.

The latest excesses that are still taking place here concerning the Avignon affair, the rights of sovereigns that are being violated, the Pope who was publicly burned in effigy, the threat of burning all the sovereigns in succession...Everything compels us to leave and flee...

I believe the provinces are less corrupt than the capital, but it is always Paris that sets the tone for the entire kingdom. The republican spirit is gaining ground every day in all classes, the troops are more restless than ever, and there would be no way to count on them if we delayed any longer; public opinion is at its breaking point...I am distressed that you were unable to find the money in Holland; it is absolutely necessary for us to find some, and we are looking everywhere...

You ask two questions: 1. Is it possible or useful to wait? No: the description of our situation at the beginning of this letter sufficiently proves the impossibility of this...2. Assuming the necessity of acting promptly, are we certain of the means of escape, of a place of refuge, and of a party strong enough to sustain itself for at least two months by its own forces? I have already answered this question several times...The means of escape can only exist through the quickest and most secret flight. There are only four people who share our secret, and those we intend to take with us will only know at the last moment. None of our people will follow us, and it is only thirty or thirty-five leagues from here that we will find some troops to protect our march, but not enough to reveal our destination, which is still Montmédy, a fortified town near the border...

Until the very moment of our departure, we must do everything that is required of us, and even appear to be anticipating their demands. This is perhaps a way, and the only way, to lull them into a false sense of security and save our lives."

On April 18, Louis XVI's attempt to travel to Saint-Cloud for Holy Week was thwarted by a mob of revolutionaries who threatened their carriage, and the royal family was forced to remain under guard at the Tuileries. Deeply shaken by this episode, Marie Antoinette realized that their personal safety could no longer be assured within Paris, and began pressing in earnest to escape.

Several earlier escape plans had failed, either because of the King's hesitation or the Queen's refusal to abandon him. When Louis finally committed to flight, he devised an elaborate plan to reach the royalist stronghold of Montmédy. The King and Queen disguised themselves as members of the household of an imaginary Russian baroness, "Madame de Korff," portrayed by the governess Louise-Élisabeth de Croÿ de Tourzel. They attempted their escape during the night of June 20-21, 1791, fewer than six weeks after this letter was written.

Unfortunately, the plan was doomed to failure. The royal party was intercepted at Varennes within twenty-four hours and forcibly returned to Paris, marking the definitive collapse of the monarchy's authority. Thereafter, the royal family was held under close surveillance at the Tuileries. Louis XVI was tried for treason and executed on January 21, 1793; Marie Antoinette was imprisoned until her own trial and was guillotined on October 16, 1793.

It is difficult to overstate the significance of this extraordinary letter, capturing both the fear and willful spirit of the most famous Queen in French history.

Condition: Lightly toned with smoothed folds. Left edges of first sheet and both bifolia reinforced with archival tape. A few very minor stains and ink blots.

Reference: La Rocheterie, Maxime de, and Gaston du Fresne de Beaucourt, eds. Lettres de Marie-Antoinette: Recueil des lettres authentiques de la reine. Tome II, pp. 235-240. Paris: Société d'histoire contemporaine, 1895.

Provenance: Librairie les Neuf Muses.

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