Commentary on the machinations of a cardinal against a queen

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, French-Swiss philosopher and writer (1712-1778). Autograph manuscript with extract from and commentary on the Political Testament of Cardinal Richelieu.

€ 12.500,00

Reflections on women's power from one of the most important thinkers of the Enlightenment, at the time working for one of France's great forerunners of feminism. Between 1745 and 1751 Rousseau was employed by Louise Dupin as a secretary and tutor to her son, and this extract and commentary seems to have been copied on her behest, likely in connection with her work "Des femmes. Observation du préjugé commun sur la différence des sexes".

In this extract, Richelieu discusses the quarrel between Louis XIII and his mother, Marie de Médici, at first Richelieu's patron and later bitter enemy. Rousseau adds a barbed commentary on Richelieu's duplicity and dishonesty, accusing him of concealing how much power the queen actually had, and in fact entrusted him with, which he used to betray her: "Tout le monde sait, malgré ce qui est allégué ici, et les protestations du desir de l'union du Roy et de la Reine, la Reine avoit conservé beaucoup d'autorité avec laquelle elle avoit même favorisé le Cardinal [...] On trouve dans touttes les histoires les diverses disgraces que la Reine essuya, et les calamités qui accompagnérent la fin de sa vie. Il n'y a point d'honnétes gens qui puissent se les rappeler sans les imputer au Cardinal et sans lui en savoir mauvais gré".

The transcript is drawn from a 1688 edition of the "Testament Politique du Cardinal de Richelieu" (possibly the second, as the pagination cited is different from that of the first and third editions, which both appeared in the same year). In the first edition, it covers from the end of p. 7 ("Je promis [...]") to the top of p. 9 ("[...] en cet ouvrage"), followed by Rousseau's commentary ("Tout le monde sait [...]").

A testimony to the collaboration of two of the greatest male and female thinkers of the Enlightenment.