Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
Paris, France, March 7, 1796
Rare Joseph-Ignace Guillotin Signed Doc Dating From the French Revolution, With JSA COA
MDS

A 2pp manuscript document in French boldly signed by French physician and politician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814) as "Guillotin" on the second page at center. 17 vent?se l'An 4 [March 7, 1796.] Paris, France. Also co-signed by ?tienne-Fran?ois Le Tourneur (1751-1817), who later became a prominent leader of the French Directory and French Revolutionary Army general, as "Le Tourneur." On laid paper with a partly printed letterhead depicting a Marianne seal; the letterhead reads in part: "Libert? / ?galit? / Bureau du Domaine National / du D?partement de la Seine" [Liberty / Equality / Bureau of the National Domaine / Department of the Seine."] Contemporaneously docketed at upper left. Expected wear including minor toning, scattered foxing, and isolated edge darkening and ink bleed-through. Else near fine. 8.25" x 12.5." Ex-Dr. John K. Lattimer. Accompanied by a JSA COA.

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was a physician whose interest in the medical field, criminal justice system, and capital punishment led him into politics and political activism. During the earliest days of the French Revolution, Guillotin belonged to the National Assembly, where he belonged to committees investigating issues of health, poverty, and medical reform. He also promoted criminal justice reform, seeing a crying need to modernize and humanize methods of French capital punishment then in practice, which included being broken bone by bone on a wheel or being burned alive. Antoine Louis's machine - which later became known as the guillotine - aimed to do just that: to decapitate those condemned to execution quickly, painlessly, and efficiently.

This document reveals more about Joseph-Ignace Guillotin's involvement in French politics after the Reign of Terror, following his arrest and brief imprisonment. Guillotin and fellow commissioner ?tienne-Fran?ois Le Tourneur were tasked to facilitate a probate request involving "Citizen Martin Dumeurant" of 577, Rue Helevetius, in the D?partement de la Seine (a now defunct commune corresponding to the city of Paris and its environs). Dumeurant's wife, Marie Claudine Joinville, had died, and several heirs were still yet to be located. Dumeurant requested that a commissioner be nominated to oversee the various parts of the legal settlement of his dead wife's estate: to help locate the missing heirs; to make an inventory of goods; to sell furnishings in order to satisfy debts; and if necessary to establish a mechanism to reestablish the absent heirs' portions of Joinville's estate. The two commissioners Guillotin and Le Tourneur nominated one "Citizen Remy" to fulfill this role.

The Bureau du Domaine National provided property oversight during this era. It administered the confiscation and nationalization of private property formerly belonging to aristocrats, ?migr?s, and ecclesiastical communities during the French Revolution. As we can see from this document, it also managed individual estate details.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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8.25" x 12.5."
Ex-Dr. John K. Lattimer. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity from James Spence Authentication (Parsippany, New Jersey), certification number YY33322, dated May 3, 2023. Two previous catalog descriptions are also included.