Angélique de Fougeret, comtesse de MAUSSION (1772-1851). Autograph manuscript, Memoires ou portraits de famille, [1814-1832]; one volume in-4 (26 x 20 cm) of 142-69-[5] pages, later binding in marbled brown basane, Maussion arms and motto on upper cover. Important manuscript of memoirs, from the end of the Ancien Régime to the beginning of the July Monarchy, and a precious testimony to life in revolutionary prisons. These memoirs were published, with variants, under the title Rescapés de Thermidor, with a preface by the Duc de Castries (Nouvelles Éditions Latines, 1975). The manuscript does not include the very last pages of the work, "Suite et fin des mémoires" (p.169-184). The manuscript is written in legible brown ink, with erasures, corrections and marginal additions. The first part is dated: "Finished April 8, 1814". At the end of part 2, a late pencil note reads: "Fait à Fossoy 18/4/1842 par Mme de Fougeret de Maussion. Relié par le cousin Louis de La Bastide"; the date is that of the "Suite et fin" (p. 184 of the edition), written ten years after the completion of Part 2, which dates it to 1832. The last 3 leaves of the manuscript are the memorialist's copy of an "extract from the Moniteur of Wednesday December 11, 1813" and an "extract from the report of January 18, 1814 of the operations of the board of directors of the Société de la Charité maternelle in Bordeaux" (p. 110-113 of the book). These memoirs, as Mme de Maussion (author of six other published works) points out in the very first lines, were written for her children, but resuscitate "in a striking way the atmosphere of one of the most turbulent periods in our history, evoked by a superior woman whose gifts never prevent her from remaining simple and modest. It is impossible to read these unpretentious memoirs without being frequently moved, and without feeling deep sympathy for the woman who wrote them for the instruction and honor of her descendants" (Duc de Castries). Mme de Maussion begins by recalling her youth at the Château de Châteaurenard, in the Gâtinais region, a former Coligny stronghold; her family and grandfathers, M. d'Outremont, close to the Princesse de Talmont, and M. de Fougeret de Montbron; family friends, including Dr Trioson and Abbé Coisnon; the founding by her mother, with Mme de Cossé and Mme Necker, of the Société de la Charité maternelle, under the protection of Marie-Antoinette. The Revolution came; the whole family was arrested and imprisoned at Port-Libre; she "paints a remarkably vivid picture of these prisons of the Terror" (Duc de Castries), where she met the tragedian Larive, Malesherbes and his family, with the dreaded call of the prisoners for the guillotine, including her father. Thermidor set the survivors free, along with Louis-Urbain de Maussion, who had supported them during their captivity, and whom Angélique married (January 18, 1795). After the evocation of his in-laws, the return to Châteaurenard, devastated by the villagers, and the sale of the château, the Maussions settled in Paris; in 1807, Angélique bought back the Fossoy land from her brother-in-law. Maussion was appointed rector of the Amiens academy (1809-1815), where he befriended the prefect La Tour du Pin-Gouvernet and his wife. The first part ends with the illness and death of Angélique's mother on September 13, 1813, written as France awaits the return of the monarchy. The second part opens with Louis XVIII's return to France and his passage through Amiens; Maussion, who had hoped for the prefecture, was replaced by Alexandre de Lameth. On Napoleon's return, the eldest son of the Maussions follows Louis XVIII to Ghent; on his return to France, Maussion is appointed Prefect of the Meuse, in Bar-le-Duc, and tries to temper the harshness of the Russian occupation; he discovers Marie-Antoinette's last letter in the house of the conventional Courtois; on this occasion, Angélique reveals that Mme de Tourzel had thought of her to take Marie-Antoinette's place, in order to help her escape. The Prussian occupation goes well; during his visit to Ligny, the King of Prussia decorates Maussion, who, under attack, is retired, before being appointed to the Royal Council of Public Instruction. The family moved to Fossoy, where they welcomed Mme de Raigecourt, a friend of Mme Élisabeth. Angélique de Maussion talks about her sons' careers, her literary beginnings and works, her work at the Charité maternelle... The July Revolution retires her husband, and he dies on November 4, 1831: "In your bosom, my God, that is where my mind is