Series of 9 Autograph Letters signed, written from Neuchatel to her daughter in Malines [Mechelen],

Bookseller Notes

A touching series of letters from a mother, living with her mother, sisters, and aunts in Neuchatel, but having some connection with London, and her daughter, living in Mechelen. The first letter is addressed to 'Cher fils [i.e. son-in-law], et tres chere fille', the two evidently just married, staying with the bishop of Mechelen (all the letters are c/o the bishop). The next, dated only a month later, is in response to the news that the husband had died (we do not learn the cause). The third, May 1782, is much happier, congratulating the daughter on the birth of her son. The next few letters are exchanges of good wishes, admonitions on the proper upbringing of children (let them fear the Lord, and don't spare the rod), reference to affairs in London (not explicit, but that's where the money is), and small financial assistance for the daughter's business (unspecified). The last two letters are melancholy, for the mother is getting old, and is ill. The average is only one letter a year, yet they are full of tender affection. An intriguing portrait of family life spread over the Continent of Europe, on the eve of the French Revolution.