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| Voltaire reading his play Seminaris to King Stanislas, lithograph by the 19c Spanish artist, Vicente García de Paredes (1845-1903). Private collection (Meisterdrucke) |
There is a whole scholarly industry centred on Voltaire and, now, almost as much ink spilt on on Émilie du Châtelet and her scientific works. What follows is merely intended to summarise Voltaire's various sojourns at the Court of Lorraine and ask what evidence remains to evoke his physical surroundings. The chronology of events is taken mostly from the René Vaillot's book in the "Voltaire en son temps" series, Avec Madame du Châtelet, published in 1988.
- The chronology of Voltaire's earliest trips to Lorraine has recently been revised. In a letter to the président Hénault, traditionally dated to 1729, he describes how he and two friends made a round trip to Nancy in order to avail themselves of an issue of government shares [D366]. This letter, and hence the episode, has now been redated to1720 to fit with in financial records for Lorraine. See André Courbet, "Voltaire en Lorraine: les séjours de 1720 et 1735", Cahiers Voltaire, No.13 (2014) p.51-67. https://c18.net/18img/cv13-specimen.pdf
- Nonetheless, Voltaire undoubtedly did accompany the duc de Richelieu to the spa at Plombières, and probably also to Nancy, on more than one occasion in the late 1720s.
- A more substantial sojourn took place in 1735. Voltaire had arrived in Paris from Cirey on 30th March, but six weeks later, on 12th May, he fled the capital for Lorraine in the company of the duchesse de Richelieu. His motives are not altogether certain - possibly he had delivered to an ultimatum to Mme du Châtelet to stay with Maupertius in Paris or retire to Cirey to study with him. The Duchess was on friendly terms with the dowager Duchess Elisabeth-Charlotte and Voltaire had left a reputation in 1729 as a gen d'esprit and was greeted with joyous familiarity. A court with reputation for its love of poetry, theatre, belles-lettres and the arts. In his letters frequents familiarly the prince de Beauvau-Craon and his numerous children, and attends balls, concerts, comedies; the Court had a theatre and troupe of actors. Physics was all the rage. He saw the "salle de machine" where the the duke's machinist Philippe Vairinge, "simple serrurier devenu philosophe" , built his own apparatus and gave lectures [D870, 15th May]. The duchesse de Richelieu even gave a lecture on the theories of Newton, at which the Jesuit Dallemant, caused amusement to onlookers by engaging in disputation [D882, c.20th June] .Voltaire returned to Cirey on 25th June.
Engraving of Voltaire by the Lunéville artist Jean-Joseph Bernard (1740-1803) ,
writing master to the pages and écrivain du roi from 1763. Musée du château.
AT LUNÉVILLE - January to April 1748. [Vaillot, p.305-20]
Voltaire and Madame du Châtelet left Paris on c. 17th January 1748 and were in Lunéville by 1st February.
- They travelled in the company of Stanislas's mistress Mme de Boufflers, who had been staying in Paris with her brother the prince de Beauvau-Craon. The duc de Luynes confirms, on 21st January, that the party had left for Cirey, and thence to the court of the King of Poland [Mémoires, viii, p.455].
- In a letter of 1st February to Mme Denis Voltaire writes that he is now in Lunéville [D3610].
- The party made a stopover at Cirey, though it must have been very brief. Voltaire's Memoirs mention an unexpected visit by the Lorraine Jesuit Father Menoux, who probably brought Stanislas's confirmation that he was willing to receive them.
- We do not know the exact motivation for the visit. Since 1746 Mme du Châtelet had been negotiating a senior military post for her husband (who was eventually made grand maréchal des logis du roi in November 1748). Voltaire maintained he followed her passively "en tourbillon", but his own vexations in Versailles provided sufficient motivation to leave. No doubt he was flattered by the opportune invitation from Stanislas.
This first stay at Luneville lasted three months until early May 1748
- On arrival Voltaire fell ill; but Stanislas's doctor and apothecary "worked wonders".
- Under the attentive supervision of King Stanislas, the pair enjoyed a succession of fêtes, spectacles, suppers and entertainments.
- Voltaire found the theatre at Lunéville "an amiable distraction". Destouches's Le Glorieux, was staged with great success, as was Voltaire's own Mérope [D3616 and D3625, 25th February 1748].
- In addition to the professional actors employed by Stanislas, the courtiers themselves formed an amateur "troupe de qualité." (Those involved included Mme de Boufflers, Mmes de Lenoncourt, de Lutzelbourg, de Lambertye, Mlle de La Galaizière, le chevalier de Beauvau, le vicomte de Rohan and Panpan Devaux) . Mme du Châtelet was triumphant in the role of Issé and was asked to give two further performances. Stanislas furnished her with lavish costumes.
- To Voltaire's pleasure, Stanislas enjoyed private readings of "ses pièces légères et ses contes badins".
- Mme du Châtelet embarked on passionate love affair with the poet Saint-Lambert. According to her letters, she first became attracted to him at a dinner at La Galaziere's residence in late February or early March.
- There were occasional visits to La Malgrange. In a letter to Dom Calmet, dated 4th March 1748, Mme du Châtelet reported that she was going there the next day.
- Whilst Mme du Châtelet entertained the hope of residing in Lorraine semi-permanently, Voltaire was soon impatient to depart. He had promised his niece to return to Paris by March and was eager to see his new play Sémiramis staged; forced to tarry into April, he grew disenchanted with this little court, whose chief occupations were "lansquenet and love" [D3633, April 1748].
- They left at the beginning of May and finally reached Paris on 13th May. (A stopover of two days at Cirey lengthened to eight or ten, when Mme du Châtelet indiscreetly invited Saint-Lambert to join them, then visited him in Nancy.)
- In the rue Traversière, whilst Émilie poured her feelings into numerous love letters to Saint-Lambert, Voltaire received a flattering epistle from Stanislas who declared that Voltaire's fertility of mind was surpassed only by the greatness of his heart. [D3650, 17th May 1748]
Paul-Louis Cyfflé, Biscuitware bust of Voltaire, Musée lorrain, Nancy
Cyfflé was still a pupil of Guibal at the time of Voltaire's visit and there is no evidence he was given a sitting, but he could certainly well have met Voltaire. The bust was widely reproduced by the Manufacture Cyfflé The example in the Musée Lorrain was given by Panpan Devraux to his friend Monsieur de Latran, with an inscribed dedication.
NOTES
The accommodation at Lunéville
According to Gaston Maugras, writing in 1909, the party was received with great demonstrations of welcome and installed in the best apartments:
"Mme du Châtelet, was lodged on the ground floor, next to the King in the former apartments of Catherine Opalinska. The rooms were high-ceilinged, richly furnished, and looked out over the gardens. Voltaire occupied part of the first floor at the corner of the palace, above Stanislas's rooms. From his chamber he would have seen Chanteheux, Jolivet etc. An internal staircase facilitated discreet communication between the couple." [Maugras, p.272-3].
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| From the Recueil of Héré: "H" is the King's bedroom; "I" his Dayroom and "K" further private apartments. The rooms marked "Q" are the enfilade of the Queen. The third from the left is the former "Chambre verte" of Duke Francis. |
This may not be strictly accurate: it seems quite probable that Maugras based his account on evidence relating to the later 1749 sejourn; certainly Mme du Châtelet occupied the Queen's apartments during this final visit. His immediate source may well be an article by Pierre Boyé published in 1891 which unfortunately is not available on the internet (See References).
Mme de Boufflers' private apartment in the Château, would certainly have been close by and had its own separate entrance. Here the mistress and her friends could amuse themselves. As well as playing cards, they held play-readings, musical soirées, and supper parties after Stanislas had retired for the night. Saint-Lambert complained that suppers in Mme de Boufflers's apartments were always meagre; but the in-crowd enjoyed the warm conviviality: "we died of hunger, cold and laughter".[letter by quoted Maugras, p.279]. Various flattering épîtres and compliments composed by Voltaire for members of the court, survive from this time [Maugras, p.274-6]. The dating of these pieces is vague, but they give a good idea of the intimate, slightly playful tenor of the society which gravitated around Mme de Boufflers.
In addition, Mme de Boufflers would have had access to the various Beauvais-Craon properties in Lunéville and Nancy, and also to the family seat at Haroué. Mme du Châtelet mentions in one of her letters that she is staying at the Hôtel Craon, presumably the family residence which adjoined the park of Les Bosquets in Lunéville.
Émilie herself had at her disposal a town-house in Lunéville which belonged to her elderly uncle, the marquis du Châtelet de Trichâteau. See Pascale Debert, Couleurs XVIIIe [blog] post of 08.09.2015.
A lovers' triste - Notes and harps
The love affair between Mme du Châtelet and Saint-Lambert was necessarily conducted under conditions of great constraint. They were obliged to rely heavily on the discretion of Saint-Lambert's faithful valet-de-chambre Antoine and the marquise's chambermaid Mlle Chevalier. When Saint-Lambert fell ill, Émilie wrote him attentive letters advising him on diet and care, brought food secretly to his room and even ventured inside to gaze on him lovingly.
It was apparently Émilie too who came up with the expedient of secretly leaving little notes hidden in a harp. The instrument in question in Stanislas's salon, where Mme de Boufflers would play. The billets-doux could be discreetly retrieved when Stanislas retired for the night. [Maugras p.291].
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| The harp in the salon de musique at the Château de Breteuil [Wikimedia] |
Some of the letters and notes in question were once in the collection of the 19th-century diplomat and writer Felix Feuillet de Conches (Do they still exist? I'm not sure). An article in published in the Revue des Deux Mondes in 1845 described them as "still perfumed with amber and written on the elegant paper of the era, with green or pink edging [petits filets verts ou roses]". Voltaire's biographer Desnoiresterres, who had also seen them, recalled "a laced border of pink or blue" [Voltaire et la société française, vol.3, p.183]
A lovers' triste - Saint-Lambert's secret room
We are told that Mme de Boufflers had, for her own earlier liaison with Saint-Lambert, secretly furnished an abandoned chamber in the Château at Lunéville, set apart from the occupied apartments, and that this she now obligingly put at the disposal of the lovers:
"Far from showing the guilty parties the slightest resentment, Mme de Boufflers put on a good face, took them under her protection and showed extreme good grace in facilitating their rendez-vous. She pushed complaisance so far as to allow Saint-Lambert the use of the little secret apartment that she had put at his disposal near the chapel and the library. It was their that the divine Émilie, following Mme de Bouffler's example, went by night to visit her lover" [Maugras, p.297].
Saint-Lambert, who was confined to his bed through sickness at this time, must indeed have been staying somewhere in the Château, but the idea of a secret love nest is probably romanticised.
Once again, exact references are difficult to track down. In a letter to Saint-Lambert tentatively dated to July 1748, Mme du Châtelet refers to his use of "an apartment near the chapel and the library, where a bed has been put up". Based on the dating, René Vaillot concludes that this room was at Commercy [Vaillot, p.325]. But Lunéville seems more likely, especially since Émilie mentions in the same letter that she herself was currently staying with Mme de Boufflers at the Hôtel de Craon. [D3687; Theodore Besterman, ed., Les Lettres de la Marquise du Châtelet, vol. II (1958), Letter 387 p.196.]
In 2017 the author Pascale Debert was shown the "petit appartement des amours secrètes" by a local expert, the late Michel Bouard. The room in question was situated in the entresol of the Château near the chapel. She published several photos of this room itself and of the nearby staircase on her blog (posts of 20.04.2017 and 19.05.2017) Sadly, in a comment Thierry Franz identified the space more prosaically as the dining room once used by the demoiselles d'honneur. The apartments of the demoiselles are open for heritage days and occasional tours; to judge from published photos, this is indeed the room in question. Of Saint-Lambert's chamber, if it ever existed, there no trace remains.
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| Staircase and dining room of the appartements des demoiselles d'honneur Photos from a recent tour 'L'Est Républicain, 29.10.2025 |
The theatre at Lunéville
The Salle de spectacle, which was begun in 1733, was the last major building project undertaken by the Dowager Duchess at Lunéville. It adjoined the ducal apartments (see plan below). Part of the décor by Francesco Bibiena from the opera at Nancy had been transferred there in 1735 and Stanislas moved the rest, including the lodges, in 1738. According to the Mercure, it was rated as one of the most attractive theatres in Europe. At Stanislas's death control passed to the municipality. The theatre, Théâtre de la Méridienne, has since been completely rebuilt on several occasions, so that no trace of the original 18th-century furnishings now remains.
A reconstruction of Issé
The opera Issé, in which Mme du Châtelet performed to such acclaim, was revived in in 2017 as part of the programme Emilie(s) organised in Lunéville to celebrate the 310th anniversary of her birth. Performances, by a local operatic group, Les Voix de Melpomène, took place at the Théâtre de la Méridienne on 2nd, 3rd and 4th June; The staging was based on meticulous archival research by the director Vinent Tricarri and, for the choreography, by Guillaume Jablonka of the dance company Divertimenty. It was the first full-scale production for 270 years.
See:
FranceTV CultureBox, "Après 270 ans de sommeil, l'opéra "Issé" de nouveau joué à Lunéville"earticle of 02.06.2017 [archived]
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| Noble shepherdess and shepherd - theatrical costumes; designed by Louis-René Boquet (1717-1814) https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8455672j.item |
The concurrent exhibition at Lunéville's Hôtel abbatial, "Emilie(s) ou l’art de vivre au XVIIIe siècle", included a memoir giving details of her costume as a Shepherdess, which was covered with 14 dozen (1668) flowers individually sown on by her Parisian tailor.
See Pascale Debert, Couleurs XVIIIe [blog] post of 16.06.2017.
More recently, in 2023, the fantasy world of rococo theatre was memorably evoked at Lunéville when the museum at the Hôtel abbatial hosted the CMN's touring exhibition "Fantaisies pour un palais". For the Lunéville version there were additional exhibits focussing on the dukes of Lorraine "in their palace". At present, quite a lot of evocative images can still be found on the internet:
Presentation from the Lunéville website [pdf]:
"Voltaire chez lui": Echoes of Voltaire's stay
"Voltaire chez lui "was another exhibition at Hôtel abbatial, curated by Jean-Louis Daviet in collaboration with the the CMN and the Centre international d'étude du XVIIIe siècle, Ferney-Voltaire. Having debuted at Ferney, it ran at Lunéville from 14th December 2019 to 30 April 2020. The section relating to Voltaire's stay in Lorraine was enriched by items lent by local private collectors.
The fact that the exhibition coincided with Lockdown has led to the odd situation that there are many photographs and videos on the internet, including a 20-minute virtual tour, but not much information about individual exhibits (Even the "dossier de presse" seems to have disappeared).
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Report from France 3 Grand-Est featuring Jean-Louis Daviet
Virtual tour of the exhibition:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EFq417bfo/ The section on Lunéville starts 6 mins through.
2. A SUMMER SEASON AT COMMERCY AND LUNÉVILLE, June - December 1748 [Vaillot, p.320-64]
- Although Sémiramis had not yet been produced, Mme Châtelet, was soon anxious to rejoin the court at Commercy where Stanislas was passing the summer season.
- The party left Paris on 28th June. Voltaire's secretary Longchamp reports an acrimonious dispute over the purchase of some bouillon, which took place when the coach changed horses at Châlons-sur-Marne [Longchamp, Mémoires (1826), p.195].
- Two letters of Mme du Châtelet, testify to Voltaire's anger over her affair with Saint-Lambert at this time [D3642 and D3640, tentatively dated to April-May 1748]. In a famous anecdote Longchamp recalls a dramatic confrontation at Commercy between Voltaire and the lovers, which eventually resulted in Voltaire's reconciliation with Saint-Lambert. The episode is usually dated to mid-October but is perhaps better placed in the summer before the court returned to Lunéville.
- At Commercy, as at Lunéville, there were further amateur theatricals. Mme du Châtelet appeared in the opera Zélindor and Le Double veuvage by Dufresny. Voltaire staged his own new one-act farce La Femme qui a raison (later expanded to three acts, but only ever performed privately.) He would also have been working on the proofs of Zadig which was published in its final form in September 1748.
- At the end of August Mme du Châtelet was obliged by Stanislas to accompany Mme de Boufflers to the spa town of Plombières to take the waters. Voltaire, who was determined to remain only briefly in Commercy, took the opportunity to return to Paris with Stanislas.. However, following the premiere of Sémiramis on 10th September, he hurried back to Lunéville, where the court was now residing; Longchamp tells us that fell seriously ill at Châlons and his arrival was delayed for a week.
- On November 30th Mme du Châtelet reported from Lunéville that she was "constantly appearing in plays". Among the pieces staged were the ballet Les Éléments, L’Oracle by Saint-Foix and L’Étourderie by Fagan - in which Voltaire himself had a part; at the end of the evening he addressed a well-turned "compliment" to Stanislas ("Au roi Stanislas à la clôture du théâtre de Lunéville").
- Voltaire and Mme du Châtelet finally left Lunéville for Cirey and Paris on 19th December.
NOTES
Lodgings at Commercy
Stanislas had only relatively recently taken possession of the château at Commercy after the death of the Dowager Duchess in 1744; he stayed there for the first time in 1747 and was still at work reconfiguring the gardens.
The description of his guests' accommodation relies on the memoirs of Voltaire's secretary Longchamp.
The latter tells us that Mme du Châtelet and Voltaire were lodged in the left (south) wing of the château. The marquise occupied an enfilade on the ground floor with doors and windows overlooking the main court, a situation favourable to her rendez-vous with Saint-Lambert; Voltaire was given a chamber on the upper floor with views over the garden. Mme de Boufflers, "who never left the King", had rooms in the little bathhouse behind the château, near the orangery. It was here that her habitual soirées took place. Stanislas never failed to attend them. Voltaire would read from his prose writings, among them Zadig. Once Stanislas had retired to his bed, the company became more animated. Mme de Boufflers presided over supper-parties, the food fetched from the royal kitchens by the guests' personal servants.
Saint-Lambert, whom Stanislas disliked, lodged discreetly next door with the curé of Commercy, whose presbytery had a communicating gate onto the orangery. A strategically placed lantern told him when the King had departed. He would then join the group by the same back door that Stanislas himself had used, into the cabinet behind the baths and thence to Mme de Boufflers' apartment. Sometimes Saint-Lambert would arrive early to snatch a private moment alone with Mme du Châtelet. It was on one such occasion that a furious Voltaire surprised the lovers.
See:
Longchamp et Wagnière, Mémoires sur Voltaire et ses ouvrages, vol. 2 (1826), p.198-200.
Longchamp's account of the famous confrontation is nicely translated into English in James Parton, Life of Voltaire (1881) p.551-61.
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| The "Maison Voltaire", 1 rue des Juifs Commercy, is said to have been occupied by "those who accompanied" Voltaire to Commercy in 1748. See L'Est-Républicain, 20.02.2019 |
3. THE FINAL SOJOURN AT LUNÉVILLE June to September 1749. (Vaillot, p.366-394)
- Whatever the strains of their relationship Voltaire refused to abandon Mme du Châtelet who, finding herself pregnant, wished to have her baby in Lorraine. Émilie gained the co-operation of Mme du Boufflers and also of Stanislas who invited her to stay with him during his visit to the Trianon in the Spring of 1749 [See D3942: to Saint-Lambert, c.10th June 1749]. Stanislas offered her hospitality at Lunéville and even rearranged his plans to be there at the time of the birth. Saint-Lambert was permitted to journey to Commercy at the beginning of July so that they could spend time together; Émilie reconciled herself to the idea that her lover would initially have to lodge with the "gracious curé". [D3942 Besterman ed. Letter 476 p.293.]
- On 25th June 1749 Voltaire and Émilie arrived from Paris at Cirey, where they stayed several days. Stanislas's court now held little attraction for Voltaire: he confessed to d'Argental that he was reluctant to leave "his pleasant apartments, his books and his liberty" merely to wile away time playing comet. [D3950, 28th June 1749]
- They made the journey to Lorraine at the end of June. They went first to Commercy, where Stanislas's court was residing, but in practice it proved difficult to meet Saint-Lambert who had once again taken up lodgings with the curé. After a fortnight the three of them therefore rejoined the marquis du Châtelet, now grand maréchal of Stanislas's Household, and Panpan Devaux in Lunéville.
- Stanislas gave Émilie the use of a maison de convalescence at Jolivet which she would visit on foot, walking along the pleasant avenue where she had once been accompanied by Saint-Lambert [p.386]. The latter was often away with his garrison in Nancy or avoiding her. When he was not available, she consoled herself with gambling at cards or with study. She entrusted her manuscripts to the Bibliothèque Royale. Voltaire himself worked fitfully, then more energetically, recasting his play Catilina, now entitled Rome sauvée.
- When the court returned to Commercy in mid-August, Voltaire crossed swords with the pious Household stewart Alliot who begrudged him "bread, wine and candle" when he declined to dine at the communal table.
- On the night of of 3rd-4th September Émilie du Châtelet gave birth to a daughter. All seemed well at first but she developed a fever and a week later, on 10th September, she died. Longchamp depicts a distraught Voltaire stumbled on the steps outside her room. Voltaire later recalled with gratitude that Stanislas had come personally to his room to console him [D6687 to the comte de Tressan]. The King sent a carriage to take him to La Malgrange where he stayed until his departure for Cirey with M. du Châtelet. He was never to visit Lunéville again.
- The party stopped off briefly at Cirey on September 17th to ratify the formal inventory of Mme du Châtelet's possessions.
NOTES
The rooms occupied by Mme du Châtelet at Lunéville
According to the inventory drawn up after her death, Mme du Châtelet occupied the first three rooms of the late Queen's private enfilade, those closest to the gardens and the King's bedchamber. The principal room, where she died, had formerly been Duke Francis's beautiful "chambre verte".
From the Correspondence of Mme du Châtelet:
3rd April 1749 to Mme de Boufflers. Émilie reports that she is counting on the King to give her "le petit appartement de la reine" that she previously occupied, since she could not give birth in the main wing because of the smoke, noise and distance from the King and Mme de Boufflers herself. [Besterman ed., Letter 454, p.247]
3rd May 1749 to Mme de Boufflers:
Émilie confirms the arrangement. "[The King] is allowing me the Queen's small apartment; he's closing up the large one, and I'm very glad, I won't have that stumbling block anymore. The entrance is via 'l'escalier de la marsane' [? the staircase to Mme Marsanne's rooms perhaps], which leads to the King's little staircase. He has promised to install a little flight of steps in the green room out onto the bosquet, which will be very useful to me in my last month, when I will need to still take walks despite my condition. It could even be a way for the King to visit me in the summer; since his doorstep is only a step away." [Letter 466, p.278].
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| Digital recreation of the "Chambre verte" at the time of Duke Francis |
In 2025 Pascale Debert was able to visit this part of the Château and has posted a short video on her blog. She also transcribes the relevant sections from Mme du Châtelet's inventory. Émilie died surrounded by numerous possessions which had made the journey with her: books, dresses, jewels, even her collection of snuffboxes. We learn that the first of her rooms contained a large wardrobe and the second a further substantial cupboard with lockable doors; the main bed chamber held various items of personal furniture including a chest of drawers and her writing desk, and there was a further adjoining cabinet.
Pascale Debert suggests that the surviving trumeau mirror in the bedchamber, which features an armillary sphere and mathematical instruments, may have been installed specially by Stanislas for his mathematically-gifted guest.
Pascale Debert, "La chambre d’Émilie du Châtelet à Lunéville", Couleur XVIIIe, 27.10.2025.
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| Photograph taken in 2019 by Annie Jourdain, posted on Facebook, 09.11.2021 |
The summer house at Jolivet
The correspondance of Mme du Châtelet mentions a "petite maison" in nearby Jolivet which Stanislas was graciously having prepared for her use to avoid the summer heat. She reports that she was able to walk out to the domain despite her advanced state of pregnancy [Maugras, p.454]. She writes to Saint-Lambert:
"I have just been to see my little house. The blue colour is now charming. The way has been cleared; I should be able to inhabit it at the end of next week. I went there and back on foot. I felt a species of delight at retracing that same path that we once walked together...…"
See: Pascale Debert, "Au mont joli, je vais", Couleur XVIIIe, 09.09.2015.
On 31st August, in her last letter to Saint-Lambert, she complains of her sufferings but confirms that she had once again walked out to the little house. [Letter 485, p.305]
It is not clear whether this "little house" is Stanislas's manor house of Jolivet itself or, some smaller property nearby. Gaston Maugras assumes the former, which is certainly not impossible, if Émilie intended to sleep there, given the cumbersome paraphernalia which accompanied every aspect of aristocratic life.
An ill-fated staircase
Where was the staircase in the Château where Voltaire so poignantly stumbled?
According to Longchamp the grief stricken Voltaire missed his footing at the bottom of a flight of stairs, near the sentry box where guards stood regular watch, and cracked his head on the stone floor. (As his footman and Saint-Lambert helped him to his feet, Voltaire turned, the tears streaming down his face, and looked at Saint-Lambert: "In God's name, what possessed you to give her a child?")
Pierre Boyé gives details of the location. On the opposite side of the interior parterre to the apartments of Catherine Opalińska, was the wing containing the lodgings of the Commander of the Guards. Close by, a flight of steps from the town, gave direct access to the Queen's antechamber/Salle des suisses, so that courtiers could attend separate audiences and receptions with the Queen. A sentry guarded the entrance. This was where Voltaire fell. In the late 19th century the staircase led to the apartments of the commander of cavalry at Lunéville. [See Boyé's article in Revue Lorraine illustrée Vol. 2 (1907) p.38]
Last glimpses of Émilie
A final letter
The last known letter in Émilie Du Châtelet's hand is a note, from 1st September 1749, addressed to Claude Sallier, librarian of the Bibliothèque du roi. It accompanies her translation of Newton's Principia, which she sent to him for safekeeping in the event she did not survive childbirth: "I would ask you to be so kind as to give these manuscripts a number and have them registered so that they will not be lost." The precious original is conserved still in the Bibliothèque Nationale. (Manuscrit autographe BNF, Manuscrits, Fr 12267, f. 4]).[Letter 436, p.306]
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| Reproduced from https://classes.bnf.fr/pdf/Chatelet.pdf |
The inventory
A copy of the inventory Mme du Châtelet's possessions at Lunéville was sold, by Christie's in 2012. [See my post of 2015]. We now learn that it was acquired by the Communauté de Communes du Territoire de Lunéville à Baccarat (C.C.T.L.B.) It was displayed for the first time in 2017, together with a second inventory for her Parisian hôtel in the rue Traversièr, as part of the exhibition "Emilie(s) ou l’art de vivre au XVIIIe siècle" at the Hôtel abbatial (27th May-30th September 2017).
For details see the review in Proantic, 20.07.2017.
General references
René Vaillot, Avec Madame Du Châtelet 1734-1749, Vol.2 of "Voltaire en son temps" (Voltaire Foundation, Oxford: 1988).
Gaston Maugras, La Cour de Lunéville au xviiie siecle (1904)
Pierre Boyé, "Les châteaux du roi Stanislas: Lunéville" Revue Lorraine illustrée Vol. 2 (1907): p. 25-40
_____, La Cour de Lunéville en 1748 et 1749, ou Voltaire chez le roi Stanislas, Nancy, Crépin-Leblond, 1891[not consulted]
See also:
Albert Jacquot, "Notes pour servir a l'histoire du theatre en Lorraine", Réunion des sociétés des beaux-arts, 1892, p.561-688: p.594ff.
Ferdinand Baldensperger "Voltaire et la Lorraine", Le Pays Lorrain 1934,
January, p. 1-20: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6580344t/f15.item
April, p.209-228: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6580344t/f243.item
1935, February p.56-69: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65791541/f74.item
Jean-Claude Bonnefont, "Voltaire et la Lorraine", Mémoires de l'Académie de Stanislas, Vol. 25, 2010/11. [Available online on the Académie website]
https://www.academie-stanislas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/tomexxv-bonnefont.pdf
https://www.academie-stanislas.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/tomexxv-bonnefont.pdf
Paweł Matyaszewski, "Voltaire dans la Lorraine de Stanislas". 11 janvier 2015. Revue Voltaire, 15 (2015), p. 141-150 [open-access article]
https://sev.hypotheses.org/files/2024/03/RV15_1_10_PMatyaszewski.pdf
https://sev.hypotheses.org/files/2024/03/RV15_1_10_PMatyaszewski.pdf
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