Maurepas collection

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 4614

Scope and content

Manuscripts, documents, and correspondence from Maurepas's administrative files, documenting his activities as overseer of the country's maritime affairs and of the royal household. Includes letters and documents concerning the War of the Austrian Succession, France's support for the Jacobite cause of Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, in England, and other aspects of French foreign policy; the finances of the French navy; diplomatic relations and commerce with other countries such as Spain, Russia, and Portugal; shipbuilding, navigation, scientific expeditions, and taxation. Papers concerning Maurepas's management of the royal household document his patronage of the arts, including the Comédie Française and dancers of the Royal Academy. Also included are personal letters to Maurepas from his politically powerful aunt concerning life at the court of Versailles; and a report on naval affairs written by Joseph Pellerin for Voltaire, which Voltaire used later in his Précis du siècle de Louis XV.

Scope and content

Correspondents include Maurepas; his father, Jérome Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain, and grandfather, Louis de Pontchartrain, who preceded him as Secretary of the Navy; his aunt, Armande de la Porte Mazarin, marquise de Mailly-Nesle; Charles Edward, the Young Pretender; King George II of England; Louis François Armand, duc de Richelieu; Joseph Pellerin; and Voltaire.

Dates

1694 - 1749
Majority of material found within 1740 - 1749

Creator

Maurepas, Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de, 1701-1781. (Person)
Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, comte de Maurepas, 1701-1781. (Person)
Pontchartrain, Jérome Phélypeaux, comte de, 1674-1747. (Person)
Pontchartrain, Louis, comte de. (Person)
Mailly-Nesle, Armande de la Porte Mazarin, marquise de. (Person)
Charles Edward, Prince, grandson of James II, King of England, 1720-1788. (Person)
Richelieu, Louis François Armand Du Plessis, duc de, 1696-1788. (Person)
Louis, King of France, XV, 1710-1774. (Person)
Pellerin, Joseph. (Person)
Voltaire, 1694-1778. (Title of work: Précis du siècle de Louis XV..) (Person)
Saint-Simon, Louis de Rouvroy, duc de, 1675-1755. (Person)
France. Ministère de la marine (Organization)
France. Ministère de la maison du roi (Organization)

Language of Material

French.

Biographical / Historical

Secretary of the Navy in France, 1723-1749; Secretary of the Royal Household, 1715-1749; member of France's Conseil d'en haut, the most important of the royal councils.

Extent

4.8 cubic feet.

4 microfilm reels.

1 folders.

Additional Description

Arrangement

Organized into these series: Correspondence; documents; Jerome Phelypeaux de Pontchartrain correspondence.

Arrangement

Arrangement: Chronological within each series.

Ownership and Custodial History

Most of collection purchased at auction in 1962 with funds provided by Arthur H. and Mary Marden Dean; remainder added in 1968 by the Deans.

Alternate Form Available

Microfilm available.

Bibliographic References

Location in source not given -- Described in: Filion, Maurice. "Maurepas, Minister of the Navy, 1723-1749: A New Portrait." Cornell Library Journal, No.2 (Spring 1967): 34-47.

Bibliographic References

Location in source not given -- Also described in: Parke-Bernet Galleries. The Maurepas Papers: A Unique Collection of French XVIII Century Historical Documents. Catalog 2092. New York: The Galleries, 1962.