Proces de Louis XVI

The collection consists of two quarto volumes, both titled Proces de Louis XVI, detailing the events of the French Revolution (dated from 1/1/1793 through 12/24/1795). Each volume contains an assortment of printed documents and handwritten manuscript copies of published articles.

The first volume covers the events from 1/1/1793 through 1/30/1793, and focuses on the trial and eventual execution of Louis XVI. The volume contains a number of Journal des Débats et des Décrets of the Convention Nationale and supplements to these pamphlets, the pamphlet Dénonciation à la Convention Nationale par M. Bertrand de Moleville, pages of the roll call for the sessions on January 15 & 19 1793 when the Convention Nationale voted on the sentencing of Louis XVI, followed by an in depth record of the sessions on 1/14/1793 through 1/20/1793 (p 93-416 from Le Pour et le Contre, Recueil Complet des Opinions prononcées à l'Assemblée Conventionnelle dans le Procès de Louis XVI), and two Décret de la Convention National: one ordering the trial of the defenders of the Tuileries and the other discussing the execution of Louis XIV and the murder of Michel le Pelletier. Interspersed between printed documents, there are handwritten pages which contain excerpts from additional editions of the Journal des Débats et des Décrets of the Convention Nationale, extracts from the official report (Procès Verbal) of the Convention Nationale and Louis XVI’s trial, and excerpts from the Journal de Paris. The volume concludes with various handwritten excerpts detailing neighboring countries’ reaction to the execution- including a letter from the King of England preparing for war, an excerpt from a German periodical (1/29/1793), and an excerpt from Journal des Débats et des Décrets of the Convention Nationale No. 134.

The second volume continues to detail the events from 2/1/1793 to 12/24/1795. This volume contains a large selection of the official decrees of the National Convention (Décret de la Convention Nationale), ranging in date from 2/1/1793 to 12/4/1793. Interspersed between the decrees are hand copied excerpts from various newspapers- such as Journal de la Quotidienne, Journal de Paris, and Mercure Français, and the occasional excerpt from Journal des Débats et des Décrets of the Convention Nationale. These excerpts generally concern reactions of neighboring countries to the new government (generally declarations of war), or information pertaining to French individuals such as the Duc d’Orleans (Philippe Égalité) or families, such as the Bourbons. The events covered in this volume include the declaration of war against England,the Netherlands, and Spain, the division of the lands of the nobles, banishment of the émigré aristocrats, arrest and trial of the the Duc d’Orleans, the arrest of the Bourbons, the trial of the Dauphin and Marie Antoinette and her execution. The end of the volume consists of 40 manuscript pages which cover the events through 12/24/1795.

The printed documents tend to be in their complete form. The pamphlets, Journal des Débats et des Décrets of the Convention Nationale, and decrees, Décret de la Convention Nationale, are included in full. However in volume 1, the roll call for the sessions on January 15 & 19 1793 is limited to pages 1-71, and the in-depth record of the sessions on 1/14/1793 through 1/20/1793 is a selection (p 93-416) from Le Pour et le Contre, Recueil Complet des Opinions prononcées à l'Assemblée Conventionnelle dans le Procès de Louis XVI.

The handwritten pages vary in their completeness. These excerpts follow published versions of printed articles, however there are cases when the handwritten copies are not complete copies. They may include one complete portion of the original source, or contain multiple selections from the original.