In 1761, and again in 1762, the Princesses Adélaïde and Victoire visited Lorraine to take the waters at Plombières and to enjoy the extravagant hospitality of their grandfather King Stanislas. These occasions were the subject of several published narratives, which offer an great deal of, otherwise unavailable, circumstantial detail.
The accounts also contain some of the best descriptions of Stanislas's lost Rococo spaces, not only the permanent architecture, but also the extravagant ephemeral structures and carefully stage displays which gave them life.
We also catch a rare personal glimpse of the princesses, two lively and obliging young women who were surrounded by luxury but who also endured lives of incredible constraint.
 |
| Madame Adélaïde (right) and Madame Victoire (left). From a snuffbox in the collection of the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, dated to around 1761-2 [Wikimedia]. |
Here are some of the highlights, summarised from the two fullest (and most easy accessible) publications. The first is the Relation of Charles-Jean-Baptiste Delespine (1705-1787), huissier du cabinet to the Dauphine, who accompanied the princesses from France on their visit. Delespine ran the little printing works at the château of Versailles and was the son-in-law of the royal printer Guillaume II Desprez, so this is in effect the official account. The second is the Journal of Fillion de Charigneu, Lieutenant in the Footguards of the King of Poland (See References for details; the black-and-white pictures are from Delespine's book.)
Departure
On 30th June 1762, the princesses left Marly at nine o'clock in the morning, accompanied by an bevy of Court officials and ladies. The cumbersome machine of royal travel creaked only slowly into operation. Each of the ladies claimed their carefully assigned place: Madame Adélaïde's dame d'honneur, the duchesse de Beauvilliers, and Madame Victoire's dame d'atour, the comtesse de Durfort, rode with the princesses whilst the carriages and chaises which followed accommodated the comtesse de Civrac, dame d'atour to Princess Adélaïde; the marquise de de l’Hôpital; the comtesse de Narbonne; the marquise de Brancas and the marquise de Castellanne. They were preceded by the Baron de Montmorency, Chevalier-d'honneur to Adélaïde, and his three equerries. The entourage also included a doctor, a surgeon and an apothecary and, least their souls be neglected, a Jesuit confessor and his companion; to say nothing of an armed escort and a whole plethora of servants. The Dauphin, the Dauphine and Mesdames Sophie and Louise accompanied them as far as the first staging post in the Faubourg Saint-Martin. If the accounts are to be believed, they were constantly surrounded by crowds of enthusiastic well-wishers.
At Meaux the party ground to a halt whilst the bishop Monseigneur Marthonie de Caussade, Chaplain to Madame Adélaïde entertained the princesses to mid-day dinner at his country residence at Germiny-L’Evêque. It was not until five in the afternoon that the journey could resume.
 |
| The bishops' "maison de plaisance" at Germiny-L’Evêque, still survives and is currently the subject of a major restoration project. https://www.fondation-patrimoine.org/les-projets/ancienne-maison-de-plaisance-du-baron-menager/59686 |
More crowds turned out to greet them as they made their way through the French countryside:
In all the towns and villages they passed through, soldiers and militia were under arms, flags waving and drums beating; public joy was expressed in endless cries of "Long live the King and the Mesdames". The Villages at a distance from the main road also found ways to mark their joy and attachment: at one point a huge Crown of fresh flowers was found suspended over the highway where the princesses were to pass; elsewhere the road was strewn with rose petals; a little further on, was an assembly of gaily-dressed shepherds and shepherdesses, with a shepherd of five years old who had the honour of addressing a compliment to mesdames; under a cradle of foliage were two fountains of Champagne; from which the troupe invited the Princesses to refresh themselves... (Delespine, Relation, p.7-8)
At Ferté-sous-Jouarre they were treated to a particularly jolly ditty sung in praise of the local vintage:
Le monde dit qu’à Plombières
Vous allez prendre les eaux.
C’est une pauvre ouvrière
Que l’eau pour guérir les maux.
Tenez, le moindre ordinaire
Du vin de notre canton
Est cent fois plus salutaire
Que les eaux de grand renom.
Vous allez prendre les eaux.
C’est une pauvre ouvrière
Que l’eau pour guérir les maux.
Tenez, le moindre ordinaire
Du vin de notre canton
Est cent fois plus salutaire
Que les eaux de grand renom.
[Everyone says that you are going to Plombières to take the waters; but the smallest dose of our renowned wine is a hundred times more salutary than any water]
They lodged for the night the night at Château-Thierry, where they attended the first of a dozen firework shows. The following day (1st July) they were on the road at eight, spending the second night at Vitry-le-François. Here the princesses showed themselves at the window to an appreciative crowd and took their supper in public in front of all the inhabitants. On 2nd July, after Mass, they moved on again and finally crossed into Lorraine.
At Commercy
The princesses were due to stay first at the Château in Commercy. An impatient Stanislas had been awaiting them since two o'clock in the afternoon at the Royal Fountain. We are told that their meeting, when it finally happened, was infinitely touching. The old man expressed his joy with endless embraces and many tears. They then set out for Commercy, where they dined in public in the beautiful salon of Stanislas's fantastical "Château d'eau".
Delespine evokes the setting:
The King of Poland [to whom Commercy reverted in 1745] has greatly embellished the exterior of the Château: in place of the vast area of marshland which once surrounded it, there is an attractive Canal, bordered on either side by a long alley of trees; at the end of this Canal is a Pavilion, as elegant as it is sumptuous, built by His Majesty: they call it the Château d'Eau. The decorative frieze, of stucco, represents flowers and vases. Everything is beautiful. There are large numbers of columns of water which, by the use of artfully positioned brass pipes, give the appearance of columns of crystal. Everything inside this Château is fine; the King of Poland, in building it, had a terrace at the level of the first floor, on which, to the left and right of the Pavilion, is a garden planted with shrubs, and flower beds filled with flowers, a fountain jetting in the middle; all of which makes this Salon a place of delight.
The Princesses, wanting to give the King time to arrive ahead, arrived only at nine o'clock in the evening. After presentations and speeches, the King led Mesdames into a superb Salon, where a Table was laid. In the centre of the table, water had been directed with great art and good taste, forming columns to admirable effect in the light; Mesdames took supper in public with the women of their entourage and the women of the Court of Lorraine who had been presented. (Delespine, Relation, p.13-14)
The following day, 3rd July, was spent in relaxation. There was a further excursion to the Royal Fountain and, in the evening, a promenade through Stanislas's splendid gardens, lighted up for the occasion by no less than seven thousand lanterns ("pots-à-feu"). The Château d'eau had also been specially illuminated by Richard Mique the King's architect. After supper, a magnificent firework display had been arranged but was sadly curtailed by an sudden unexpected downpour. The princesses braved the weather gamely but in the end had to content themselves with admiring the spectacle from their balcony.
The next day, Saturday 4th July, the party moved on to La Malgrange, by way of Nancy, where they arrived at seven in the evening. This was the opportunity for the municipal authorities of Nancy to demonstrate their loyalty to the French regime, with a carefully orchestrated display of rejoicing.
At two leagues from city the party was met by a guard of honour drawn from Nancy's newly-formed company of cavalry and thethree companies of bourgeois militia, all with their standards, trumpets and drums. As they approached closer cannons sounded, bells rang and cheers went up from an immense crowd. The shops were all closed and the houses festooned with greenery. At the Porte Saint-Stanislas the municipal officials and other dignitaries came out formally to greet them, obliging the long-suffering young women to endure the inevitable series of discourses and compliments.
From thence they progressed to the Place Royale, where the buildings were crammed with onlookers, crowding the balconies, the windows and even the roofs. By a fortunate coincidence, the sky, which had been menacing all day, now cleared completely. Rays from the setting sun illuminated Stanislas's splendid statue of Louis XV at the very moment that his daughters "contemplated it with love", a spectacle, so the chroniclers tells us, which "drew tears of joy from those present".
.
 |
| The Place Royale, Nancy c.1765. AI image based on an original watercolour by the writer and artist Georg(es) Billant. Posted on the "Nancy Retro" Group Facebook page, 12.03.2026. |
More pageantry followed. Our illustrious travellers were presented with two baskets decorated with flowers and lace, piled high with local delicacies - dragées from Verdun; sweet plums from Metz; gateaux confectioned in the town's convents. A splendid canopied float, decorated by the painter Senémont, ferried twenty-one daughters from notable families costumed as nymphs or vestals and armed with bouquets of flowers. Nicolas Durival, lieutenant of police, had the decency to keep his compliment brief.
 |
| Dominique Collin - Porte Saint-Nicolas in 1761 [Wikimedia] (A similar engraving by Collin shows the Porte Saint-Jean decorated for the princesses' second visit in 1762 [Wikimedia]) |
From thence the princesses left town via the rue des Dominicains and the rue Saint-Dizier to the Porte Saint-Nicolas, which had been renovated and specially decorated for the occasion. The effect is captured in a surviving engraving by Dominique Collin which shows the facade of the military arch incongruously embellished with cherubs and ornamental vases whilst a bust of Stanislas gazes benevolently down from on high.
Mesdames attended the theatre, then passed by the Royal Mission where they were graciously entertained by the Jesuit Father Menoux.
See Pierre-Hippolyte Pénet, "La Harpe De Madame Victoire, Un Cadeau Princier à Une Jeune Nancéienne." Le Pays Lorrain, 2023.[Available on Academia]
Finally the cortege made its way towards La Malgrange by way of the suburb of Saint-Pierre. After attending a sermon of welcome at the Church of Bon-Secours, the princesses arrived at the Château, where a magnificent feast awaited them. The "nymphs of Nancy" reappeared to serve them at table. The great and good of Lorraine filled the apartments, parterres and bowers, whilst a crowd of ordinary onlookers were permitted to admire at a distance; they were prompted to shout their approval: "Vive Mme Adélaïde et aussi la Victoire!"
On the 5th, Mesdames departed at half-past-eight in the morning for the spa at Plombières.
Lunéville
It had been decided that the princesses would take two successive cures at Plombières, as was customary, passing the intervening period with their grandfather. On 13th August, having completed the first cure, they left for Lunéville, stopping first to visit the abbey at Épinal. Interestingly enough, we have confirmation that fishing was indeed a popular pastime with aristocratic ladies: when the princesses paused to admire the waterfall over the Moselle, local magistrates rushed forward to offer them lines so that they could fish from their carriage; several carp and magnificent trout obligingly offered themselves for immolation.
Stanislas, in his enthusiasm, came to meet the party three hours early, at a spot four leagues outside Lunéville. He had occupied his ingenuity in devising yet more elaborate pageants. On the woodland road appeared a float bearing Diane, with her quiver of arrows, and no less than twelve nymphs, followed by a pack of hounds. Gifts of game and live birds were proffered, accompanied by much recitation of mawkish verses.
We learn that 400 workmen of all sorts had been employed for a month in making the Château ready, both inside and out. The whole town of Lunéville was illuminated - all the public monuments, the church towers, even private houses. The troops had long practised their manoeuvres, and now stood at arms to receive the Princesses.
The ingenious Mique had orchestrated yet more elaborate illuminations, which were duly admired for their "intelligence and vivacity". A huge triumphal arch erected in the Place du Château, featuring a colossal figure of Bacchus seated astride a barrel, with a painted wine cellar featuring fountains of wine. Four thousand lampions spelled out the names of the Princesses and the twin emblems of Lorraine and of France. Sadly a combination of torrential rain, high wind and "poor quality silk" yet again contrived to mar the show.
 |
| Mique by Johann Julius Heinsius (Wikimedia) |
Naturally there was a huge banquet of welcome laid on. Delespine takes a few pages out from his narrative to commend the devotion and efficiency of the kings officials, particularly Boyard, the Maître d'hôtel and Alliot, Intendant of the Royal Household (p.42-44).
Whilst at the Château, Mme Adélaïde was to lodge in the King's apartments, and Mme Victoire in those of the late Queen. Troop of cadets mounted a guard outside each morning with their flags, fifes and drums - let us hope the princesses were early risers!
Undeterred by the weather, Stanislas everyday invented new entertainments. On 14th August there was a tour to admire the mechanical marvel of the Rocher:
The next day, His Majesty took Mesdames to the Rocher. This was previously a contaminated area in front the left wing of the Château; but the King, with his knowledge and taste for the Arts, has made of it a pleasant place and amusement. Flat figures can be seen which move so easily that they surprise all the spectators. Water is conducted by hidden channels, falls onto different wheels and moves iron wires which are cleverly attached to the figures, creating admirable poses and movement.
Here, a Miller opens the window of his mill, looks to see if someone is calling him, then closes the window again; there, sheep graze on the hillside whilst the Shepherd plays his pipe and his dog, watching over the flock, is busy with two rams who fight. Two Gossips chat and gesticulate towards the door of a house where a woman is breastfeeding her baby; one of them has a placard addressed to "Madame Fortune". Sawyers and Carpenters work; the Smiths in their forge strike rhythmically on a glittering iron bar; in one corner a Drunkard knocks at the door of a cabaret, but the mistress, rather than open up, throws a pot of water on his head. Further one two Soldiers walk to their sentry box, guns on their shoulder, standing guard below the view where the Queen, with her Ladies, appears on the balcony. (Delespine, Relation, p.44-45)
In the evening one of the royal guards, a certain M. Chevalier, masterminded a pyrotechnical display featuring a giant pyramid, again with the royal names picked out in fire.
.jpg) |
On the following day, the 15th, came a military parade below the windows of the Château. This was the famous occasion when, to general delight, the dwarf Bébé marched sword in hand at the head of the grenadiers. A "Chinese" chariot with a grotesquely costumed coachman for some time also commanded appreciative attention.
Charles-Jean-Baptiste Delespine, Relation du voyage de Mesdames Adélaïde et Victoire à Plombières: depuis leur départ de Marly, le 30 juin 1761, jusqu'à leur retour à Versailles, le 28 septembre de la même année ( Paris : Desprez, 1762)
The 16th was reserved for one of the hightlights of the visit, a "nautical fête". The King dined with the princesses at the Cascade Pavilion. Just as fruit was served, came the news that a ship flying the Dutch flag was approaching along the canal - everyone rushed to watch from the balcony as a dozen pairs of sailors and "sailorettes" disembarked, the men with oars on their shoulders and pipes in their mouths, the young women bearing garlands of flowers. The sailors were elaborately decked out in yellow with black trim, the girls in lemon and silver, with jaunty little hats. The couples then danced a ballet hollandais, each man delivering a decorous compliment to the princesses as he passed before them. We learn that Suster, the King's premier valet de chambre, who had orchestrated the pageant, carefully chose the prettiest girls with the best figures - fortunately they also proved to be accomplished dancers. So delighted was Stanislas that he was allowed the impresario to kiss his hand. (In 1766 it was this same Suster (or Sister) who was to drag his master from the terrible fire in his chamber.) Mesdames returned on foot to the Château, carrying, "to the great joy of the people", the gaily painted oars with which they had been presented; here they were greeted by further dancers, this time Alsatians in national costume. All this was the mere prelude to a great ball, presided over by Stanislas, who embraced both his granddaughters in turn: "one could see the joy and satisfaction written on his face" (Fillion, Journal, p.21) They dined at eight in the evening.
On the 17th there was an afternoon excursion to Stanislas's maison de plaisance at Einville: Delespine notes the fine interior:
The outside of this Château does not announce the grandeur that surprises one in the interior. In the arrangements of the rooms, it is easy to see the good taste of the Prince, to whom it belongs; there are admirable sculptures, excellent oil paintings and frescoes and bas reliefs worthy of the regard of connoisseurs; there is a very beautiful Gallery. His Majesty, who has perfect command of the hydraulic arts, has taken full advantage of the terrain to distribute waters through the park to agreeable effect. (Delespine, Relation, p.54-5)
On the following day, the 18th, a Sunday, the baptism took place of the son of the comte de Clermont-Tonnere who was given the names Stanislas-Marie-Adélaïde. Finally on the 19th the princesses visited Chanteheux, where yet more winsome shepherdesses presented them with a lamb bedecked in ribbons. Once again, the entourage was struck by the informal splendour:
On the 19th, following Mass, Mesdames went by carriage to dine at Chanteheux, a pavilion which is novel in form, of a good taste and magnificence that commands attention; the interior echoes the exterior perfectly; everything is very well chosen, but with a sort of ease that means one is hardly aware of the art which has gone into it. The staircase is a masterpiece of the genre; I will not attempt to give a full description this edifice, since it would fall too short of reality.(Fillion de Charigneu, Journal p.29-30).
On the 20th an evening tour to the Kiosque allowed the extraordinary gardens to be shown off to full effect:
A Evening Promenade
The King had had illuminated la Chinoise (ie. the Kiosk), a pavilion with a fine Italianate salon inside. The surrounding groves were also illuminated, to admirable taste and effect. This area, either side of the building, was ornamented with chestnut arbours, shrubberies, bowling greens, water jets of different forms and sizes, many orange trees; there was also a beautiful théâtre de verdure, with a representation of the pavilion at Commercy as a backdrop. This latter was a chef-d'oeuvre of art: the grand canal was so well rendered that the light reflected in it seemed truly to come from the water. In front of it was the "bridge of water", the columns of water, with their ornaments, perfectly recreated.
To either side of the theatre were representations of pyramid-shaped fountains, in the form of three shells with sprays of flowers in grottos of greenery, from which it appeared that water really spurted. This illusion was created by light reflected from a triangle of glittering metal placed some distance behind the canvasses. Mesdames did not tire of admiring the beauty, particularly Madame (Adélaïde)...finally they demanded to understand the mechanism, which was very simple but required a great deal of ingenuity to design and execute.
There were all sorts of curious vistas to admire, especially the one adjoining the walls of the palace opposite the Chinoise pavilion. Here there rose up an attractive portico made of foliage, supported by eight ornamented columns; pots of flowers and vases formed the crown. In the highest part were to be seen Mesdames' initials, surmounted by a royal crown and held aloft by cherubs; the whole showing much intelligence and delicacy.
The bottom of the portico was adorned by a fine fountain emerging from a rock, on which sat a naiad who watched the water flow with a distracted air, giving us to understand that her mind was elsewhere. To her left and right were four figures on pedestals, who, by their demeanour, seemed to have given themselves over to public rejoicing. All these figures were painted with such art that they seemed to have been sculpted.
The bowers in quincunx patterns had porticos with double columns at each corner. The lattices which edged the alleys around the enclosure (which was considerable in size) were also modelled into porticos, with impressive exactitude. Specially made lamps were placed in the middle, with spheres between each portico, surmounted by greenery and with a ribbon running the length. The effect was the most beautiful in the world. Lamps placed regularly in the branches of the chestnut trees, the jets of water, where the different effects created by fire pots were reflected a hundred-fold - all this conspired to send the spectators into a sort of rapture....
One thing which drew the attention of the crowd for a long time was the effect produced by the light on the underside of the chestnut leaves. Ceaselessly to be admired was this tender, fresh green, this velvet texture, which changed according to the beams of light which hit the leaves from three directions, perpendicular, oblique and horizontal
This description falls far short of the real thing...I will finish by saying that his Majesty's taste, which informs everything which surrounds him, has guided his architect in such a way that nothing lacked to make the fête complete, and worthy of the great King who gave it. (Fillion de Charigneu, Journal p.31-35).
On 22nd Mesdames dined "à la Chinoise", allowing us to glimpse the interior of this long-lost pavilion, with its flying table and glittering waters:
Lunch at the Kiosk
p.38: On the 22nd August [1761] Mesdames dined "à la Chinoise" (ie.in the Kiosque). All the waters were made to play, in the grotto as well as in the fountains inside the Salon. The surtout which formed the centre of the table was a very curious piece: Water jetted out everywhere and took different forms without deviating in its initial trajectory. His Majesty, who has designed these surtouts, has them in all his maisons de plaisance; the one at La Malgrange, above all, is a chef-d'oeuvre of the genre.
The table is also a very ingenious piece, again the invention of the King, not for the mechanism (which was known under Louis XIV at the magnificent fête given by M. Fouquet) but for the general conception and ornament. As soon as the meal is cleared, a table rises up from below the ground, forming a sort of tableau, with scenery, houses, all sorts of trees and animals, parterres with real flowers, streams; everything that can be imagined to create an agreeable scene; the whole thing is made out porcelain to match the surtout, which remains fixed.
This salon is ornamented by two fountains. Several birds, of natural size, seashells, crabs, spirals and other shapes, send the water in different directions; Shepherds on the sides near the rockeries, play the flute. All the animals, and the shels, are coloured gold; the assemblage is very attractive to see. This salon is always very cool because, as well as the water, in both the surtout and the fountains, there is woven cane rather than glass in the windows, which allows the air to circulate.
Opposite the door, in a sort of vestibule, there is a sort of grotto with a cascade of rocks where all sorts of figures, both water and land creatures, throw in different basins, which is provide an attractive view from the salon. (Fillion de Charigneu, Journal, p.38-40)
Phew! I am beginning to tire of celebrations, as no doubt did the princesses themselves......On the 23rd, Mass was followed by a ball, again orchestrated by the admirable Suster. On the 24th, after an excursion to Jolivet, Stanislas planned to keep the young women up until 11 o'clock at night to see yet more illuminations to mark the Fête of Saint-Louis. In the event the weather proved infelicitous and the festivities had to be postponed to the next day. We learn that the king wished the show to begin promptly at seven o'clock; fortunately, Mique's careful distribution of workers allowed everything to be lit in the space of quarter-of-an-hour. The princesses went on foot to the gate to observed the spectacle better; they then crossed the courtyard to a house opposite to watch from a first floor window. The King, aged as he was, had himself carried in his armchair as far as the gate.
On 28th Mesdames finally left again for Plombières, via further festivities and entertainments in Nancy.
Following the completion of their second cure, they set out to return to Paris on 24th September. The peasantry were once again eager to see them and perhaps benefit from their alms. The story is told that when they stopped off at La Malgrange, a huge crowd gathered in the evening outside the gates. At first the guard successfully imposed silence, but when Madame Adélaïde was sighted, cries of joy went up. In response she got one of her women to light two candles and gamely appeared at the window; Victoire, who had already gone to bed, was quickly roused to join her (Barthélemy, Mesdames de France p.183)
The visit of 1762/ Fire at the Kiosk
In 1762 the princesses came again to Lorraine to take the waters, which necessitated a repeat of the whole elaborate performances. (see Pfister, p. 846-48) On 10th July, on their return to Lunéville between cures, they were once again greeted by ostentatious demonstrations of goodwill. The King came as far as Gerbévillier to meet them and the whole town was illuminated. The following day it was reckoned that 15,000 people congregated on the terrace of the Château for the evening firework display: some of the workmen, overcome by the heat and smoke, missed their cues, but it was still judged a spectacular show.
That night the Kiosque caught fire. The alarm was raised at one in the morning. Despite desperate efforts, the flimsy wooden building was consumed rapidly by the flames: with a great festival planned, the roof had been replaced, newly varnished and decorated with flammable garlands. Mique, in charge, was soon obliged to switch his attention to the houses that abutted the gallery - despite his prompt action, three caught fire. Having clambered onto the roofs to better direct the efforts, he was for some time completely cut off but was nonetheless able to rescue a workman who was left hanging on only by an axe after the roof had given way beneath him. The fire took six hours to extinguish. Madame Victoire, whose apartment overlooked that part of the park watched from her threshold of her apartment. The King and Adélaïde, however, were spared the alarm. Since the valets-de-chambre did not want the task, it fell to Alliot, the Intendant of the Royal Household to give Stanislas the bad news, which he received with characteristic aplomb.
Nicolas Durival wrote to his brother of the events:
This cruel adventure, which kept me on my feet from two o'clock in the morning, has deprived us of what would have been the most attractive and entertaining fête of all those that the King has prepared for Mesdames. There is little doubt that the cause of the accident was a flaming bundle from one of Chevalier's firework guns; fragments of it were found scattered all around the buildings. As you know, the roof like everything else, was just made of pinewood, varnished and extremely flammable. The preparations for the illuminations made things worse. Add to this, the fact that the whole interior was covered by 15 or 20 coats of varnish, and you can imagine the conflagration. It was impossible to contain the fire in the building which was all one single room. They say that within quarter-of-an-hour the blaze had became general; it was at that instant that I saw it. The fire soon spread to the roofs of the adjoining properties. To try and stop it they were forced to knock down a house, which belonged to one of the King's hussars... There was every reason to fear; "paries cum Proximus ardet" as Horace says ["when your neighbour's wall is on fire, your own property is at stake"] For two hours I was uncertain whether they could contain the spread which would otherwise have reached the Theatre and the Hôtel Craon. Madame Victoire was awakened by the first sound of bells and enjoyed the spectacle at the height of its terrible beauty; the princess was greatly moved. But the King when he woke, once assured that only he had suffered loss, only laughed; no doubt he is already planning a new edifice in his imagination. The heat of the fire had scorched several of the neighbouring trees but the bridge was left unscathed. The stables belonging to an innkeeper had been levelled as a precaution, and the fodder was strewn all over the streets and on the Place neuve. By five in the morning there was nothing left of the Kiosque and the danger of further fire passed, thanks to the capable direction of M. Mique. M. de Solignac greatly regretted the loss of a collection of stamps from the Kiosque but one of Mesdames' bodyguards had managed to save the paintings.
MS papers of Durival. Quoted in Pfister, Histoire de Nancy, vol.3, p.469 nt.
On 12th July, the day after the fire, Stanislas had planned to dine with the Princesses at Chanteheux, but the orders were revoked after it was gently pointed out to him that the Royal Household had been up all night fighting the blaze. Instead they went the day after. The remainder of the stay was filled with more excursions to Einville and Jolivet, visits to the Cascade and the Rocher, fireworks, theatricals and musical concerts.
The princesses left for Plombières for the final time on 25th July.
References
Contemporary accounts
Critical edition in Anne-Muratori-Philip Stanislas Leszczynski (2005), p.261ff. Available to borrow on Internet Archive:
Fillion de Charigneu, Journal de ce qui s'est passé à l'arrivée et pendant le séjour des Mesdames de France, Adélaide et Victoire, à Lunéville, au château de la Malgrange et à Nancy. Nancy: Lescure, [1761]. https://books.google.co.uk/booksid=uMtSAAAAcAAJ &printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Summarised by Fréron in the Année littéraire, 1761, p.51-65.
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t5396213h/f5
Summarised by Fréron in the Année littéraire, 1761, p.51-65.
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t5396213h/f5
Also ascribed to Fillion: Rélation du second voyage de Mesdames de France en Lorraine en 1762. Nancy, chez Haener, [1762]. See: Année litteraire, 1762, p.64-72. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t53868558/f72.item
Louis-Edme Billardon de Sauvigny, Voyage de Madame et de madame Victoire. Lunéville; F. Messuy, 1762. 25p.
See Année littéraire, 1761, p.65-67.
This pamphlet, written by the poet and playwright Edme-Louis Billardon de Sauvigny (1738–1812) while serving in Stanisls’s bodyguard, is mostly a fanciful melange of verse and prose, opening with the a complaint from the Seine over the princesses’ departure to some insignificant, faraway stream.
Collection offered for sale by Bernard Quaritch
Also consulted:
Antoine-Sébastien Guerrier, Annales de Lunéville (1818) p.54-68
Édouard de Barthélemy, Mesdames de France filles de Louis XV (1870), p.173-189.
Christian Pfister, Histoire de Nancy, vol.3 (1908) , p.841-8.
Pierre Boyé, "Le Roi Stanislas grand-père (1725-1766)", Mémoires de la Société d'archéologie lorraine ( 1922). Series 4, vol.15: p.217-370: p. 287-90.
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2004379/f294.ite
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k2004379/f294.ite
No comments:
Post a Comment