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Auction: 329 - The Numismatic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 965

Roland, Jean-Marie (1734-1793). Vicomte de la Platière, leader of the Girondist faction in the Revolution, served as Minister of the Interior in the 1792 government of Louis XVI. Opposed the Montagnards and hostile to the Paris Commune; Roland's attacks on Robespierre made him unpopular. During the trial of the king, Roland and the Girondists demanded that Louis' fate should be decided by a poll of the French people not the National Assembly. Roland resigned two days after the king's execution. Soon after, the Girondists came under attack and Roland was denounced. He fled Paris and went into hiding, his was wife was taken and executed. When he learned of her death, he wandered out of his refuge in Rouen, wrote "From the moment I learned that they had murdered my wife, I would no longer remain in a world stained with enemies" on a paper which he attached to his chest, sat up against a tree and ran himself through with a cane-sword. Letter Signed "Roland" as Minister of the Interior. One page, 7 x 9 ¼", Paris, 7 January 1793. Writing to Madame Hubert, two weeks before the execution of the king, Roland notes that he has received her letter regarding the state of affairs of a certain property and has written to the Département de la Haute Loire in that regard. Red wax seal effaced at top. Fine.

Estimate
$75 to $125