Receipt signed, certifying a payment received for diplomatic activities in England. [manuscript] [6 June 1605.]

Receipt signed, certifying a payment received for diplomatic activities in England. [manuscript] [6 June 1605.]

[France], [6 June 1605.]

1 item ; 27 x 17.5 cm

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France -- Paris, -- production place.

273101 MS

From dealer's description: "3. LE MAÇON, Robert.] [Receipt signed, certifying a payment received for diplomatic activities in England.] [France, 6 June 1605.] Manuscript receipt signed, ink on singles sheet of vellum. Oblong 4to (approx. 27 x 17.5cm) in French, signed at foot “R. Lemacon”, small filing holes in left margins, verso with contemporary endorsements, old folds, very good. Bearing the signature of Robert Le Maçon, sieur de la Fontaine (1534-1611) a Huguenot who fled to London after the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of 1572, this receipt records a payment of 1000 escus made to Le Maçon by French king Henry IV (1553-1610) for his diplomatic service at the Jacobean court. A long-term resident in London (see: ODNB), he became the unofficial representative of the French crown in England and was one of the principal diplomats coordinating the joint Anglo-French war effort against Spain in the 1590s. On the receipt here he is described as “resident po[u]r la service du Roy d’Angleterre.” A Protestant minister, he was involved in the French church at Threadneedle Street, writing A catechisme and playne instruction ... (London, 1580) and a volume of sermons, Les funerailles de Sodome ... (London, 1600)."

Ordered from Samuel Gedge Ltd., 2025-02-19, A gallimaufry of ephemera 100 items c.1550 to c.1850, item #3.

Purchase made possible by The Georges Lurcy Acquisitions Fund.

273101