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Robert Surcouf

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:200.00 - 400.00 USD
Robert Surcouf

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Auction Date:2014 Apr 16 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
LS in French, one page, 8 x 10, May 9, 1821. Letter to Marion Pleudihen, in full (translated): “I need for my ship ‘The African’ ten logs of wood to burn. The ship is anchored in Saint-Malo. Please send the lumber and be careful it is the right weight, as I will not weigh it again on board, as it comes from you.” Intersecting folds, one through a single letter of signature, scattered toning and dampstaining, a few small areas of ink erosion to signature, and show-through from address panel on reverse, otherwise very good condition.

After a lucrative career as an officer and privateer in the Indian Ocean, during which he captured over forty vessels and amassed a fortune from his illicit dealings, including frequent slave trading, Surcouf returned to his home at Saint-Malo. Serving as a ship owner, a colonel in the National Guard, a chief of Legion during the Hundred Days, and finally a successful merchant, he never strayed from the sea. This letter, with its poignant reference to his early dealings in the slave trade with his ship name ‘The African,’ is an incredibly rare piece—the first Surcouf we have ever offered.