Wednesday primary source #10 - French sailors

This week's primary source is a collection of correspondence between 2 brothers, both French naval officers, in the years immediately preceding the Revolution.

Author: de Saint-Laurent family

Title: Correspondence, 1786-1791.

Physical Description: 60 letters.

Summary: The letters reflect the numerous naval assignments and

ports visited by the brothers; occasionally one

brother or the other lived in Paris. There are good

descriptions of Toulon society and particularly its

women, details of daily life including the expense of

laundry, wigs, and hairdressing, room and board; also

descriptions of hospitals in Martinique and

Guadaloupe, and references to the participation of

French naval vessels in the American revolution.

Note: The correspondence is between two brothers who were

French naval officers based in Toulon in

pre-revolutionary France, at just the time the navy

was threatened with dissolution.

SPEC-COLL CALL NUMBER COPY LOCATION

1)MISC 338 1 MANUSCRIPT