Joseph de MAISTRE (1753–1821). 2 letters, St. Petersburg, 1804 and 1806, to a knight; 1½ pages and 2¼ pages, in-4. On Napoleon’s threats. August 9 (21), 1804. He thanks the knight for having the Piedmontese officers deliver Spanish wax and a map of Europe to him; three of them “are already paying the price” and are ill. He laments “the rapid pace of events and the usurper’s flight; there may well be scissors in the world to clip his wings, but where are the hands to grasp the tool? He watches and acts while everyone else sleeps. It is not for lack of people who have sounded the alarm.” He is concerned that he has received no response to the book he sent him and asks that it be returned. July 5 (17), 1806. He has letters passed on to him to be sent. “War preparations are proceeding here with incomparable fervor; where will all this lead us? We are paid […] not to build castles in the air; grief is suffocating me, I assure you. I go out as little as possible and scribble or turn the pages of a book to pass the time.” Correspondence with Cagliari seems to have ceased… Former collection of Maurizio Seyssel of Aix.