Louis XV Autograph Letter Signed on the Death of the Dauphine of France

  
Marly, 23 March 1767; 1/2 page in-4°. Fine red wax seal with the arms of France and Navarre. Autograph address on the fourth page: “To my brother and grandson Ferdinand, child of Spain, Duke of Parma and Piacenza.” Beautiful letter from the king mourning the death of the Dauphine of France, Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, wife of the Dauphin Louis of France, who died at the age of 36, two years after him.

Louis XV adored his daughter-in-law, in whom he placed great trust: “My dearest grandson, Since the last letter I wrote to you, our hopes are no longer here on earth and all appearances are that she is very happy [allusion to the death of the Dauphine Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, wife of the Dauphin Louis of France, son of Louis XV, on 13 March 1767]. I am returning shortly to Versailles. The first moment there will not be pleasant. On Thursday I shall therefore see you in portrait.

That will give me pleasure, though not as much as it would otherwise. I embrace you with all my heart, my dearest grandson.” Letter referenced in the correspondence “Letters of Louis XV to the Infante Ferdinand of Parma, Grasset Edition.