Details
KENNEDY, Jacqueline, First Lady. Autograph letter signed ("Jacqueline Kennedy") to the Baroness Rothschild, [New York], 10 December 1963. 2 pages, 4to, on black-bordered mourning stationery, with autograph envelope bearing a second signature. Fine.
JACKIE'S THOUGHTS OF MARIE ANTOINETTE, TWO WEEKS AFTER THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND
A gracious, very poignant letter of thanks following a visit for tea: "If only I could express to you how much I enjoyed coming to tea with you on Tuesday. So many visions of beautiful things are still going through my head. I cannot sort them out or decide which I loved the most - The Guardi, the bronzes, the canes, the sunflower clock, the drawings of Marie Antoinette's departure from Vienna and arrival in France - They touch me especially because I think of her...I am sure you have shown many people those treasures - but you did it on Tuesday in such a charming way that one's joy of discovery was not diminished. I will never forget it."
The reference to Marie Antoinette is particularly telling, so recently after the loss of Jackie's husband. In June 1791 Marie and her husband, Louis XVI, had attempted to escape from France to her native Austria, but were captured at Varennes. They were brought back to Paris, imprisoned, and eventually sent to the guillotine. Although the signature on the envelope appears to be a free frank, Mrs. Kennedy did not have franking privileges at this time.
JACKIE'S THOUGHTS OF MARIE ANTOINETTE, TWO WEEKS AFTER THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND
A gracious, very poignant letter of thanks following a visit for tea: "If only I could express to you how much I enjoyed coming to tea with you on Tuesday. So many visions of beautiful things are still going through my head. I cannot sort them out or decide which I loved the most - The Guardi, the bronzes, the canes, the sunflower clock, the drawings of Marie Antoinette's departure from Vienna and arrival in France - They touch me especially because I think of her...I am sure you have shown many people those treasures - but you did it on Tuesday in such a charming way that one's joy of discovery was not diminished. I will never forget it."
The reference to Marie Antoinette is particularly telling, so recently after the loss of Jackie's husband. In June 1791 Marie and her husband, Louis XVI, had attempted to escape from France to her native Austria, but were captured at Varennes. They were brought back to Paris, imprisoned, and eventually sent to the guillotine. Although the signature on the envelope appears to be a free frank, Mrs. Kennedy did not have franking privileges at this time.