Series I: Manuscripts
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Scope and Contents
This series consists of notes and commentary by Lafayette and other prominent people; transcribed extracts from newspapers, books and letters; drafts of Lafayette's addresses and speeches; newspaper articles about Lafayette; poems, songs and addresses written as tributes to Lafayette; and papers dealing with family finances and properties. In "Note relative à ma fortune personelle," possibly written while he was in prison, Lafayette takes stock of the financial and property losses he had incurred in the Revolution. There are copies of the 16 letters, transcribed and bound with pink silk ribbon by Adrienne, which Lafayette wrote to her from America. Copies of Lafayette's letters from prison form a 44 page booklet. Papers associated with Lafayette's domain near Cayenne, French Guiana, provide information about colonial law, administration, labor and economic production and reflect Lafayette's interest in the cause of emancipation. Lafayette purchased the property in 1785 intending to make his plantation the site of an experiment in the "gradual emancipation" of the blacks who worked there. Related items include a list of the names, ages and families of the black people brought in to work on the plantation, a description of slave ships, a "Plan for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in the U.S.", a proposal for a model settlement in French Guiana which was submitted to the National Assembly, and an ambitious and idealistic prospectus forLa Société de Grandes Cultures Coloniales, which outlines in detail the establishment of large plantations for coffee, cocoa, indigo and cotton. In contrast to prospecti, an 1815 "exposé" by Geneste, Lafayette's agent in French Guiana, criticizes in detail the actual operations and productivity of plantations in Cayenne. Other topics covered include: the abdication of Napoléon; the 1824 American Tour; membership of the Society of the Cincinnati, etc.
Dates
- 1520-1973.
Creator
- From the Collection: Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834. (Person)
- From the Collection: Lafayette, Marie Adrienne de Noailles, marquise de, 1759-1807. (Person)
- From the Collection: Lafayette, Georges Washington Louis Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1779-1849. (Person)
- From the Collection: Noailles de Tessé, Adrienne-Catherine, comtesse de, -1814. (Person)
- From the Collection: Tessé, René Mans de Froullay, comte de, 1736-1814. (Person)
- From the Collection: Beauchet, Philippe. (Person)
- From the Collection: Hénin, Etiennette de Montconseil, princesse d\'. (Person)
- From the Collection: Staël, Madame de (Anne-Louise-Germaine), 1766-1817. (Person)
- From the Collection: Pinckney, Thomas, 1750-1828. (Person)
- From the Collection: Du Pont de Nemours, Pierre Samuel, 1739-1817. (Person)
- From the Collection: Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851. (Person)
- From the Collection: Bentham, Jeremy, 1748-1832. (Person)
- From the Collection: Owen, Robert, 1771-1858. (Person)
- From the Collection: Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826. (Person)
- From the Collection: Marshall, John, 1755-1835. (Person)
- From the Collection: Madison, James, 1751-1836. (Person)
- From the Collection: Adams, John, 1735-1826. (Person)
- From the Collection: Monroe, James, 1758-1831. (Person)
- From the Collection: Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845. (Person)
- From the Collection: Calhoun, John C. (John Caldwell), 1782-1850. (Person)
- From the Collection: Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852. (Person)
- From the Collection: Clay, Henry, 1777-1852. (Person)
- From the Collection: Sparks, Jared, 1789-1866. (Person)
- From the Collection: Willard, Emma, 1787-1870. (Person)
- From the Collection: Wright, Frances, 1795-1852. (Person)
- From the Collection: Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790. (Person)
- From the Collection: Cadet de Gassicourt, C.-L. (Charles-Louis), 1769-1821. (Person)
- From the Collection: Carnot, Lazare, 1753-1823. (Person)
- From the Collection: France. Armée. Garde nationale (Paris) (Organization)
Language of Materials
Collection material mainly in French, with a few items in English.
Conditions Governing Access
MU-3163 (sword with leather sheath kept by Lafayette) by appointment only.
Conditions Governing Access
Access to Boxes 63, 72, 187, and 189 restricted to the permission of the curator.
Extent
49.6 cubic feet. (49.6 cubic feet.)
Repository Details
Part of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Repository
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)
rareref@cornell.edu