Rare Book Monthly

Articles - May - 2015 Issue

Cayenne, The Dry Guillotine. Part 2: Adjudant Ramel, By the River of Synamary

More Cayenne

 

Jean-Pierre Ramel wasn’t really welcome to England—see below. But Bonaparte soon gave him permission to come back to France, where he returned to the army. In 1799, he published his book about his stay in Cayenne (1 in-8° volume, Londres, IV + 174 + 11 pp), which was apparently reprinted twice the same year. The Third edition, here quoted (Londres, 1799), contains a letter of Ramel to the Directoire and «twelve previously unpublished notes». They are illustrated with a portrait of Barthelemy, a former member of the Directoire, deported with Ramel—though an important political figure, he’s not that present in the book, and a portrait of Ramel himself might have been more relevant. There’s another book closely linked to Ramel’s—they’re sometimes bound together; it is entitled Anecdotes Secrètes sur le 18 Fructidor, et Nouveaux Mémoires des Déportés à la Guiane (A Paris—no date). This follow-up compiles various testimonies regarding Cayenne and the deportees. It was printed at least twice—one title page mentions it was available “chez les marchands de nouveautés” while another one mentions Guiget & Cie., Imprimeurs Libraires. The 1814 edition (Paris) mentions J.B. Harmand (de la Meuse) as the compiler. The anonymous memoir about the stay of the runaway deportees in England underlines that Ramel “wasn’t authorized by the government to remain too long in England. His misfortunes hadn’t erased the fact he had denounced Malo in France, during the trial of La Villeheurnois; two days after his arrival, he was ordered to leave for the continent.” Approached by La Villeheurnois, General Malo and Charles Brottier from the Royalist Agency of Paris to overrun the Directoire in 1796, Ramel refused to join in and denounced the conjurors instead. In Synamary, he was incarcerated with the said Brottier—he spells his name Brothier—, whom he depicts as “a mean preacher”, and a close friend of another deportee, Billaud “The Tiger” Varenne, made infamous among the royalists as a fierce Jacobin, and one of the instigators of the Terror in 1793—he eventually died in Haiti in 1819. Among those royalists, Ramel was still something of a traitor.

 

This supplement is illustrated with a very nice frontispiece representing the death of Murinais—the first victim—, surrounded by his desperate friends. The caption reads: “I’d rather die innocent in Synamary than to live guilty in Paris.” It also includes the moving story of Rovère and his wife. When arrested in Paris, the said Stanislas Joseph François Xavier Rovère, had to leave his eight-months pregnant wife behind him, Mme Dagoult. On learning that they were taking her husband to Rochefort to embark for an unknown destination, she rushed there despite her pregnancy. “When she arrived, the corvette had just left,” writes Delarue, the author of the relation. She was at a loss for two months’ time, until she received a letter from him, which taught her his whereabouts—Cayenne! “She made up her mind to leave for Synamary... Nothing could hold her back... Her servants, the nurse of her young son, her old servant, they all embarked for Guyana (...). Yet, Rovère was guilty, and the forgiveness he asked for from the bottom of his heart demanded a great expiation.” Rovère had voted the death of Louis XVI, which was quite unforgivable among our authors—not to mention that Mme Dagoult had divorced her first husband—a terrible sin! Furthermore, Rovère was also involved in the “Bandes noires”, or dark bunches, that took advantage of the general confusion to loot the national heritage. This was too much for Providence to bear—or at least, not without a last sacrifice. “Willing to open him the doors of eternity,” resumes our author, “Providence still had to punish him... His wife is coming, he knows about her imminent arrival, he’s about to jump into her arms. But the divine justice strikes him, he dies suddenly.” Thus the “dry guillotine” was sometimes the tool of tyrants, sometimes of Providence.

 

Life—and death—After Cayenne

 

Rehabilitated, Ramel partook in the infamous Rochambeau’s expedition to Saint-Domingue (Haiti). There, he was severely injured, and remained inactive for a long while, before being appointed Governor of La Tortue, the famous buccaneer’s nest of the 17th century, off Hispaniola. Back to Europe, Ramel fought the campaigns of Italy, Spain and Portugal. Appointed Maréchal de Camp by Louis XVIII, he was sent to Toulouse to disarm some royalist militias. As a result, he was murdered during the famous Terreur Blanche (white terror), in 1815. In 1817, Louis XVIII posthumously made him Vicomte.

 

Ramel’s testimony, just like Pitou’s and Aymé’s, partook in the victimization of the nobles and royalists in the aftermath of the Révolution—they give interesting insight into a world in fusion and about to collapse, but which stood up after many uncertainties. It also shows that there’s always someone ready for you with a guillotine—whether dry or not. In Saint-Domingue, for instance, as the Governor of La Tortue, Ramel received some reinforcement troops and 28 dogs from Rochambeau, with a handwritten note from his superior: “I must inform you that you shall receive no money to feed these dogs. You must feed them on Negroes.” The “canine guillotine”...

Thibault Ehrengardt

 

 

 

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions