Books and Manuscripts

Versailles, January 1, 1776. Two sheets folded and tied with silk ribbon to make eight pages, 14 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. (375 x 241 mm). Manuscript document in French, in a secretarial hand, signed by future King Charles X of France, as Charles Phillippe, Count d'Artois, listing projected equestrian-related expenditures for the year 1776, including coaches, saddles, blankets, as well as wages for blacksmiths, squires, or other caretakers, with a total budget of $202,274 livres; counter-signed by the later Comptroller-General of Finances under King Louis XVI, Charles Laurent de Villedeuil (1742-1828). Creasing from contemporary folds, scattered separations along same; some chipping to margins; sheets lightly toned; small tear at the bottom of pages.

Charles and his brother Louis Stanislas (future King Louis XVIII of France) were known for their lavish spending throughout the 1770s. The Count d'Artois (Charles) reportedly amassed debts which at one point totaled over 21 million livres, but were soon paid off by the crown by order of his older brother Louis XVI. Year's later involvement in foreign conflicts such as the Seven Years War and the American War for Independence would bankrupt the French monarchy, and be one of the many causes of the French Revolution that forced Charles to flee the country in exile.