Inventaire des Diamans de la Couronne
Royal copy of the Gift of "The Inventory of the Crown Diamonds" bound in green morocco with the arms and weapons of Queen Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793) at the end of the year 1791.
The last binding decorated with the arms and weapons of Marie-Antoinette.
Two parts in one octavo volume, green morocco, gilt chain border on the boards, gilt fleur-de-lys at the corners, centrally stamped gilt coat of arms, smooth decorated spine, red morocco title label, gilt fillet on edges, inner roll-tool, gilt edges. Contemporary armorial morocco binding made in late 1791. 197 x 125 mm.
ROYAL PRESENTATION COPY OF The Crown Diamonds BOUND IN CONTEMPORARY GREEN MOROCCO WITH THE ARMS AND ARMORIAL DEVICES OF QUEEN MARIE-ANTOINETTE.
At the Revolution, State property was no longer at the king’s disposal. The Crown jewels, which had been in Versailles, were brought back to the Garde-meuble de la Couronne, Place Louis XV. By decrees of 26, 27 May and 22 June 1791, the National Constituent Assembly resolved to have an inventory drawn up of the Crown’s diamonds and precious stones. The inventory included 9,547 diamonds, 506 pearls, 230 rubies and spinels, 71 topazes, 150 emeralds, 35 sapphires, and 19 other stones. The value of the jewels was estimated at 23,922,197 livres. The "Regent" was estimated at 12 million, the "Hope Diamond" ("bleu de France") at 3 million, and the "Sancy" at 1 million.
On Sunday (August 5) and Monday (August 6), before (Friday) August 10, 1792, which marked the end of the monarchy, six chests were secretly removed from the Garde-Meuble (National). They belonged to the son-in-law of Thierry de Ville-d’Avray, Baude de Pont-l’Abbé, and were taken to Prévost d’Arlincourt, a former tax farmer who, like most of his former colleagues, had managed to send funds to enemy territory.
Marie-Antoinette-Josèphe Jeanne de Lorraine, Archduchess of Austria, married the Dauphin, later Louis XVI, at Versailles on May 16, 1770; becoming queen on May 10, 1774, she exerted increasing influence over the king from 1781 onward. Her imprudent behavior, extravagance, Austrian origin, and the slanders spread by her enemies made her extremely unpopular. Imprisoned in the Temple on August 13, 1792, then in the Conciergerie on August 1, 1793, she was condemned to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal on October 15, 1793, and guillotined the following day in the Place de la Révolution, thus, it was said, paying with her life for everyone else’s mistakes.
