JEAN-FREDERIC PHELYPEAUX, COMTE DE MAUREPAS (1701-1781) Letter signed «Maurepas» Versailles, 17 April 1734

Letter from the Minister Phélyppeaux de Maurepas to M. de Launay (governor of the Bastille) authorising the wife of the Sieur de La Motte to see her husband detained in the Bastille. 1 p. 32 x 19 cm In French. Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas, was a French politician and Secretary of State for the Navy under Louis XV from 1723 to 1749. Principal Minister of State from 1776 to 1781. Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay (1740-1789) Last governor of the Bastille (1776-1789). Son of a previous governor, he was commander of the garrison on 14 July 1789, when the Bastille was taken, which led to his lynching and made him one of the first victims of the French Revolution.