Louis-Philippe I, King of the French autograph
A clear handwritten signature, c1830
Author
Publisher
Printing Details
This is a cut signature of Louis Philippe, undated, but taken from a letter and has been pasted down along the top edge to a piece of card, with the bottom corners neatly slipped in to holes to secure it. The card measures 16 × 8cm, and the signature is on paper measuring approx 11 × 4.5cm. Undated but a previous owner has annotated it as 1830.
Louis-Philippe I (1773–1850), known as the "Citizen King," was the last king to rule France (1830–1848). Initially styled the Duke of Chartres, he was a figure of immense political complexity; though born into the highest royalty, he embraced the early ideals of the French Revolution, fighting with distinction at Valmy and Jemappes before fleeing the Reign of Terror into a nomadic 21-year exile. Following the July Revolution of 1830, he was brought to the throne not as King of France, but as King of the French—a constitutional title marking a deliberate shift from divine right to popular sovereignty. His eighteen-year reign, the July Monarchy, represented the Juste Milieu (Middle Way), balancing between radical republicanism and absolute monarchy while presiding over France's industrial revolution, railway expansion, and the colonization of Algeria. He was ultimately deposed by the Revolution of 1848, dying in exile in England.
Condition
The signature is clear, there is a little age-related toning to the paper and card.
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