Two letters:

Christina, Queen of Sweden (1626-1689), collector and patron: partly autograph and signed letter to Pierre Michon, called l'abbé Bourdelot (1610-1685), dated Rome, 20 March 1681; 2 pp. in quarto (inv. no. 2001-A.808)
 
This letter was written in Rome, long after Christina's abdication in 1654, and is addressed to her former advisor and personal physician in France. The main subject is a medal, one of the many which Christina ordered to be struck during her lifetime.
"The medal which you have just been sent" she writes," speaks so clearly that I am amazed to learn that it has prompted any discussion. The motif of the emblem does not merely represent the North, but the whole world, and the inscription: Ne mi bisogna, ne mi basta ['I do not need it, it is not enough for me'] refers to the entire world and not merely the North which is but a small part of it. Those here have found it magnificent, with one particularly perspicacious observer remarking that the medal expresses the feelings of Alexander and of Diogenes in a most noble manner."

There are indications that the 'perspicacious observer' refers to the sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). Christina goes on to explain that the true meaning is loftier than many seemed to think: "One can leave the World with joy, because it can not satisfy, nor confine a large heart made for something that is far greater than the entire World." The handwriting of the letter is that of Christina's private secretary and amanuensis; the signature her own. There is also a postscript in her own hand, in which she offers hasty comments on the political situation of the day. Even after her abdication, Christina's interests included affairs of state as well as art.

In addition to this letter, the Frits Lugt Collection includes a further letter by Christina of Sweden (to Isaac Vossius (1618-1689), inv. no. 4806) as well as a letter to Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687) by the French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650), who, writing from Stockholm, praises her for being "so removed from the weaknesses of other members of her sex" (inv. no. 5987). An inventory of part of Christina's collection was also recently acquired (inv. no. 1996-A.212).

Bibl.: Johann Arckenholtz, Mémoires concernant Christine reine de Suède [�], Amsterdam & Leipzig 1751-1760, vol. 3, pp. ii-vi, vol. 4, pp. 112-114



Gaston Chaissac (Avallon 1910-La Roche-sur-Yon 1964)
handwritten and signed letter to René Rougerie, not dated [21 maart 1946]; 3 pp. on folded quarto, with address on the fourth page (inv. no. 2001-A.498)
 
The seven short prose pieces which appeared in the third edition of the magazine Centres in February 1946 ('Peinture rustique moderne', 'Cinq contes' and 'Surréalisme !!!' ) are among Gaston Chaissac's first published writings. The artist had literary aspirations and was invited to contribute to Centres by René Rougerie, one of the magazine's its founders. In 2001, it became possible to acquire two of the twenty letters Chaissac wrote to Rougerie, most of which date from 1946 and 1947.

In this letter, Chaissac thanks Rougerie for the issue of Centres in which his contributions appear. Its arrival from Limoges, where the magazine was published, brings him to a design for ceramics he is working on, a project which is mentioned more than once in his letters to Rougerie. He also wishes to bring his pen-and-ink work to Rougerie's attention and includes a small sketch to give an idea. Various other topics follow in haphazard order: reminiscences of his grandparents, a cousin who makes watercolours, his poems, his accordion, his desire to own a hurdy-gurdy, and his job as a cobbler which pays so very little. He concludes with a reference to the part played by Otto Freundlich (1878-1943) and his wife Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss (1892-1966) in his development as an artist. A letter which he received from Kosnick-Kloss had revealed that she is facing difficult times and is still uncertain regarding the fate of her husband, who had been deported by the Nazis.

Chaissac had lived in the Vendée region since 1943. His wife was a village schoolteacher and was therefore able to support them both. To make and maintain contact with others, he was largely dependent on his correspondence. Chaissac's letters, with their idiosyncratic style and choice of topic, were much admired and often passed from hand to hand. The author was aware of this and on more than one occasion adapted sections of his letters to become articles and stories in their own right.

Bibl.: Gaston Chaissac, Je cherche mon éditeur � lettres, contes, documents, ed. G. Faucher, Mortemart 1998, pp. 57-60, repr.