Louis-Guillaume OTTO (1754-1817) diplomat. L.A., [Luxembourg prison] 10 frimaire [II: November 30, 1793], to his wife Fanny Otto; 7pages in-4 (qqs small stains). A long and moving letter from prison, a testimony to the gaols of the Terror. [Otto had married América-Frances, known as Fanny de Crèvecœur, in 1790 in the United States, where he was secretary to the legation. Appointed by the Committee of Public Safety to the political direction of Foreign Relations, he was arrested after the fall of the Girondins, and narrowly escaped the guillotine]. "It is midnight. A sweet sleep has already closed the eyelids of the unfortunates around me. Everything, right down to the infernal jaws, which, from sunrise, make the vast corridors of this ancient castle resound, is enjoying rest, if not of the soul, at least of the even grosser part of their being. Here and there, an innocent oppressed man still moans about the suffering of his grieving wife and destitute children. The concierge has already reviewed the iron bars that uselessly close the castle's windows, for where would the unfortunates inside go? Where would they be safe from justice, vengeance or slander? Already the half-asleep, cold-penetrated factionnaires have begun their mournful cries of Sentinelle prisés garde à vous!"... Etc.